In 2009, we heard the wonderful news that scientists at Holland’s Eindhoven University of Technology had successfully grown pork in a petri dish: a giant step toward the dream of eating a pork chop without slaughtering a pig for it. Unfortunately, the lab-grown meat was floppy, “soggy,” and structureless, not at all what you’d like to toss on your grill and tuck into.
Now, scientists at the same university have figured out a way to get cultured muscle cells to have structure and strength. Basically, you pull the muscle tight and attach each end of the tissue to a piece of Velcro, so as it grows it maintains its tense, stretched configuration.
Full Story: Engineers of Laboratory-Grown Muscle Figure Out How to Make It Firm and Strong