A mammoth meatball has been created by sequencing the DNA of this extinct animal millions of years ago and no one dares to try it.
In recent weeks there has been a lot of talk about Artificial Intelligence, but there are more findings than AI. Among the main innovations that have been announced is the development of artificial meat in a laboratory that has led to the creation of a mammoth meatball. Yes, you read it right. It has been created meat of an extinct animal.
Not only has meat been generated from an extinct animal millions of years ago, it has been shaped into a meatball and now it could be eaten. Of course, they have not yet done so. We are going to give a bit of context to this situation that seems to be taken from a science fiction movie due to how irreverent the idea and its development are.
The Australian company Vow is behind this spherical-shaped mammoth meat that has already gone through the pan. How have you managed to develop meat from an animal that has been dead for years? The answer is quite easy: using a DNA sequence. The difficult thing has been to find a complete sequence and, in fact, it has been impossible.
So how did they create this meat without having the full sequence? They have used the closest living mammal to a mammoth that we have today inhabiting our planet. Yes, the elephant’s DNA has been the key behind this entire process aimed at creating synthetic mammoth meat for human consumption.
The latest in synthetic meat is the creation of a mammoth meatball
Despite the technical complexity involved in creating this mammoth meatball, the laboratory behind its creation has made it clear that the process has been easier than they could have imagined. As indicated, it only took them a week to get the mammoth meat to make this meatball.
Of course, they have not tested it. It is not a matter of bravery or a lack of scientific curiosity, it has more to do with the fact that mammoth meat is made of protein that the digestive system of modern humans does not know and, therefore, it is more than likely that it poses a risk to people.
In short, this mammoth meatball is just a sample of what can be achieved through science. The creation of synthetic meat may be the answer to the production problems generated by the meat industry. We will have to see how this develops proposal in the future and if they use their full potential.
