Bioengineered Meat and it’s Potential Contributions to Food Security in the Future- A Literature Review

Abstract

The theoretical possibility of bioengineering meat grown in an industrial setting has long captured scientists' imagination. Almost a century after Churchill wrote that we should be growing separate parts of a chicken in a suitable medium, we still grow the whole animal to consume roughly 68% of it. Animal farming is responsible for 15% of the global GHG emissions, but also provides income and food security for farmers in developing countries. With a predicted rise in consumption of meat, reaching 374MT in 2030, due to developing countries increased access to animal-sourced foods, the environmental impact of livestock follows an ascending trend. The question is if bioengineered meat can break the trend while proving to be a viable product for mass consumption. We aim to evaluate the possible beneficial contributions of bioengineered animal products to ensuring food security for a growing population, through reducing the environmental cost of animal farming for food purposes. An extensive review of the existing scientific literature reveals that currently, a thorough life cycle analysis for bioengineered meat is still based on incomplete data, although said data is gathered directly from the industry, and has some degree of uncertainty regarding the levels of environmental impact and potential for development.

Keywords

• bioengineered meat
• environmental impact
• food security