Scientists grow meat for cat food in London lab
- Published
- comments
A food company in London has managed to grow meat in a lab - but it's not for humans to eat, it's for cats.
Scientists have been researching how to make meat in a lab for a while, and in some places around the world, you cab buy lab-grown meat in restaurants and shops.
The idea behind it is to allow people to eat meat without having to harm animals in the process.
The lab-grown meat will go on sale in the UK within the next few months.
How is lab-grown meat made?
Every living thing is made up of cells, which can form special tissue like nerve or skin cells.
Scientists can take cells from an animal and multiply them.
Eventually, from one tiny muscle cell, tens of billions of cells can be grown. These join together to form muscle tissue - which is meat!
Last year, scientists used DNA from a mammoth, which is an extinct animal, to create a giant meatball of mammoth meat in a lab.
Lab-grown meat is mainly aimed at people who might want to live a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle, but still want to eat meat.
This is because the meat is grown from DNA, rather than being taken from killing an animal.
A vegetarian is someone who does not eat any meat or fish, but eats eggs and milk.
You might have also heard of a pescatarian - this is when you eat fish, but no meat.
Vegans don't eat any meat or any products from animals. This can vary from person to person, but most vegans don't eat any food containing any form of dairy, like milk or eggs, or honey - made by bees. They also often try to avoid use animal products like leather.
People can choose to be vegetarian or vegan for lots of different reasons, such as their religion, their feeling about the environment, ethics, health, or their culture.
Lab-grown cat food - what do you think?
The first meat that Meatly will be selling is chicken, which has been made using cells from a hen egg.
They say they're making the food for people who want to give their pets meat, whilst still being conscious of the environment or keeping to a vegetarian lifestyle.
Would you feed your cat lab-grown meat? Let us know in the comments!