Wagyu meat is famous for its high intramuscular fat content, more commonly referred to as excellent “marbling” or sashi. This gives the meat its rich flavor and its distinctive texture. However, the process of raising cattle and producing these in-demand cuts of beef is deemed unsustainable due to the disproportionate amount of climate emissions they produce.
By utilizing stem cells from Japanese Wagyu cows, scientists from Osaka University have been able to 3D print synthetic meat complete with marbling that closely resembles the real thing. The team used two types of stem cells called bovine satellite cells and adipose-derived stem cells, which under the right conditions, can be manipulated to match the types of cells needed to produce the meat.
Individual fibers including muscle, fat, or blood vessels were fabricated from these cells using bioprinting. The fibers were then arranged in 3D, following the histological structure, to reproduce the structure of the real Wagyu meat, which was finally sliced perpendicularly, in a similar way to the traditional Japanese candy Kintaro-ame.
“By improving this technology, it will be possible to not only reproduce complex meat structures, such as the beautiful sashi of Wagyu beef, but to also make subtle adjustments to the fat and muscle components,” senior author Michiya Matsusaki says. This would make it possible for consumers to customize the contents of their meat in line with health considerations as well as their desired fat content and taste.
Image: Science Blog
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