What will the menus of the future be like? There are many plausible answers. It seems pretty clear that they could contain insects. Or even freeze-dried food, like the ones consumed by astronauts. There could even be products made on 3D printers. It is also possible that we can eat laboratory-grown meat. But would it be possible to go beyond meat products? The objective is to preferably replace foods of animal origin and the truth is that there are already quite a few advances in this regard with products such as milk or eggs. So much so that you can create a whole menu based on artificial foods.
Perhaps the term “artificial foods” is not the most correct, since they are still real foods, with nutritional properties practically equivalent to traditional ones. The only difference is that they would not come from animals, but would be manufactured in the laboratory thanks to the latest advances in genetic engineering and cell culture techniques.
Taking all this into account, we could prepare a menu consisting of first course, second course and dessert. Omelette, a good lab-grown beef steak, and to finish, a milkshake. All apparently very basic, but with a lot of science behind it.
Not everything is artificial food on this menu
Artificial foods or, more correctly, obtained in the laboratory, will be the main ingredient of this menu. However, we must not forget that to eat in a balanced way we must follow the proportions of the Harvard plate and, therefore, we should add a good amount of vegetables, whole grains and healthy fats to the proteins represented by eggs and meat grown in the laboratory. Once that is clear, let's see what each dish consists of.
Omelette with very special eggs
Unsplash Bacteria can be used as small factories for countless useful substances for humans. It can occur naturally, such as when grape juice is fermented into wine. But it may also require the intervention of scientists, who introduce in certain microorganisms the genes necessary for them to manufacture these substances. This is what happens with insulin, for example.
In the past, this much-needed hormone for diabetics was obtained directly from the pancreas of pigs. However, it could cause allergies, not to mention the damage caused to animals. For this reason, when the improvement of genetic engineering techniques made it possible, modified E.coli bacteria began to be used to generate this substance.
The DNA of microorganisms can be modified so that they synthesize the proteins that we want
Over time, a large number of compounds have been obtained. They can be substances derived from fermentation or proteins that are manufactured directly in the bacteria, thanks to the instructions introduced between their genes. As in humans, the information present in the DNA of bacteria is transcribed into RNA and then carried to the ribosomes, where the instructions are used to synthesize proteins. What is done with genetic engineering is to modify the instructions of the bacteria so that they make the proteins that we want.
This can also have an application in obtaining artificial foods, such as eggs. In fact, the US company Clara Foods has been researching for years to obtain proteins from egg whites using genetically modified microorganisms. Then they could do the same with the yolk. It is true that a complete egg would not be obtained, but it has turned out to be sufficient to obtain meringues, pancakes and scrambled eggs nutritionally equivalent to those obtained with traditional eggs. For this reason, the tortilla on our menu could be made with the help of these proteins.
A good lab-grown beef steak
Unsplash Lab-grown meat is the queen of artificial foods. In this case, rather than genetic engineering, what is exploited are cell culture techniques.
For its preparation, stem cells are obtained from the muscles and are exposed to the necessary parameters for their proliferation and development into adult cells. It is not necessary to continuously carry out biopsies on cattle, because once the first ones are obtained, a small sample can be taken to obtain more.
The first step consists of obtaining samples of stem cells from the muscles of the animals
A perfusion system similar to blood irrigation is also used, through which the necessary nutrients and oxygen are supplied for its growth. In addition, they are grown together with other types of cells, such as fat cells or adipocytes, so as to guarantee an adequate supply of chemical messengers. In short, the natural conditions in which these cells proliferate in the organism of the animals from which the stem cells were extracted are emulated.
Then, with proper processing, all kinds of artificial foods can be obtained, from steaks to hamburgers and sausagess.
And for dessert: smoothie
Unsplash We could cook some pancakes for dessert using the eggs from the first course. However, in order not to repeat ingredients, the dessert on our menu will consist of a milkshake made with milk and any other ingredient. Basically, since we are talking about artificial or cultured foods, what we are interested in here is milk.
This product was obtained for the first time in 2014, by a mechanism similar to that of eggs. It was another American company, Muufri, that managed to genetically modify yeasts so that they could synthesize milk proteins.
To obtain artificial milk, proteins obtained from microorganisms, fatty acids with their modified structure and water are used
Again, protein alone is not enough. However, as these scientists explained in statements collected by Science Alert, milk consists of a very simple recipe, since 87% of its composition is just water. In their case, they added six proteins synthesized with the help of genetically modified yeasts. And also eight fatty acids that contributed to give it flavor.
The latter were obtained from plants, but were modified so that their structure was more similar to that of the fatty acids in milk. In their day they recognized that the result is much more expensive than conventional milkl. It's logical, actually. However, the goal is that over time all the ingredients of this laboratory menu will be accessible to the entire population. We haven't gotten to that yet, but everything will work out. It may just be a matter of time.
