Introducing meat–rice: grain with added muscles beefs up protein

" Rice has been used as a scaffold to grow beef muscle and fat cells, resulting in an edible, “nutty” rice–beef combo that can be prepared in the same way as normal rice.

The study, published today in Matter1, uses manufacturing methods similar to those for other cultured meat products, in which animal cells are grown on a scaffold in a laboratory, bathed in a growth medium. Using rice as the scaffold has the benefit of adding nutrition to the rice, with the beef–rice having a slightly higher fat and protein content than standard rice.

The team of South Korean researchers behind the project hopes that the beef–rice will find use as a supplement for food-insecure communities or to feed troops, and will reduce the environmental impact of rearing cattle for beef. “Finding alternative protein sources or making conventional livestock production more efficient is critical,” says Jon Oatley, an animal biotechnologist at Washington State University in Pullman. “It’s probably one of the most important things facing the future of the human race.”

That need has spurred a variety of cultured meat projects in recent years, ranging from fully fledged salmon fillets to products similar to minced beef. As of last year, only the United States and Singapore had approved the sale of lab-grown meat."

For more details:

Introducing meat–rice: grain with added muscles beefs up protein

And a related book:

Clean Meat: How Growing Meat Without Animals Will Revolutionize Dinner and the World