Review on cultured meat: ethical alternative to animal industrial farming

Abstract

It is estimated that around 8% of the entire world population identifies themselves as vegetarians. That leaves us with statistics of more than 90% of the world's population prefers a meat-based diet. Now with the alarmingly increasing population of over 7.8 billion, the demand for meat is skyrocketing. Due to the high demand, factors like land, water and greenhouse emission are becoming unsustainable. Even after taking all these concerns into account, why is it so difficult for us to eliminate/reduce meat from our diet? How is the future generation going to satisfy their meat cravings? However, through recent research, it seems there is an alternative, a solution to all these concerns, cultured/ lab-grown meat. Cultured meat is meat produced by in vitro cell culture of animal cells, instead of from slaughtered animals using various tissue engineering techniques. This invitro meat technology is still at its elementary stages but shows great potential in curbing the problem of livestock overcrowding and its impact on the environment. Cultured meat seems to promise a sustainable and reliable alternative for its consumers. This review aimed to provide an elaborate comprehension of the entire process of the production, processing and commercialization of cultured meat, and also provides an insight on the possible obstacles it encounters, especially overcoming ethical conundrums and social prejudice.