Book 1 - Hola MaHigh-School - June 2022

After all, meat looks
like meat whether from
a cow, a pig or from a
lab. A ‘bean’ could be a
coffee bean, a red bean
and so on. The variety is
bigger.
Firstly, ‘lab’ grown
plants are possible
and the answer lies in
cellular agriculture. Cellular agriculture is a broad term for producing
agricultural products such as meat and dairy using biotechnology and
tissue engineering approaches.
However, this practice is seldomly seen in the development of food
plants (particulary for complex food plants such as grains or fruit)
because of the mere notion that it may not be as ‘urgent’ as producing
meat free meat. This is due to the fact that the production of meat free
meat is percieved as a way to curb the environmental effects and concerns
associated with livestock production. In fact, the environmental
impact of food plant production is lower than that of livestock production.
Yet, even though cellular agriculture is seldomly used in producing
food plants, there are some areas in the world that have looked into
this possibility.
Korea and China have
been able to grow Ginseng
using cellular agriculture.
In fact, the process itself
has been considered as
an established practice for
food supplement production.
Now, since it has been
established that there is a possibility for plants to be produced in the
‘lab’, what are some of the potential processes that can be involved in
producing lab grown ‘plants’.