Amid growing concerns about food security due to climate change, scientists in New Zealand are pioneering lab-grown fruit tissue. In the past we heard about lab-grown meat, but experiments with fruit are less common.
Researchers from the Food by Design program at the government-backed Plant & Food Research institute in Christchurch are working instead to cultivate fruit tissue from plant cells from various fruits (blueberries, apples, cherries, feijoas, peaches, nectarines and grapes) that may be able one day to mimic the taste, scent, and texture of real fruit. This initiative seeks to enhance food security in New Zealand, particularly in light of population growth, urbanization, and climate change challenges, but also in case of pandemics and wars.
By producing only the edible part of the fruit and eliminating the parts that are usually discarded (think about the apple core and the rind of an orange), this approach also tackles food waste.
In a press release Dr. Ben Schon, scientist and leader of the Food by Design program stated, "Cellular horticulture currently has a smaller profile than cellular agriculture and aquaculture, but we believe this is a really exciting area of science where we can utilize our expertise in plant biology and food science to explore what could become a significant food production system in the future."
However, lab-grown foods, including fruits, are still in early development stages, facing regulatory approvals and consumer acceptance hurdles. Researchers highlight that their hope is to create an end product that is nutritious and has a taste, texture and appearance that consumers are familiar with, but are also investigating approaches to deliver a fresh food eating experience.
Lab-grown fruit tissue could also reduce transportation costs (as fruit may grow within cities) and carbon emissions and may help offset growers’ food losses caused by extreme weather events, which are becoming more frequent due to an unfavorable climate.
Researchers acknowledge that creating nutritious and enjoyable lab-grown fruit may take years or may not be achievable, but, as stated above, it could be a solution for a growing population, considering also the limited arable land and an increasingly adverse climate.
Now, if you're a fashion design student reading this piece of news consider the multiple inspiration in this story: from micro and macro plays on proportions (what about micro prints of vegetables or fruit? or micro designs turned into conceptual projects to take the piss out of the fashion industry?) to the concept of reducing waste (can we reduce garments and accessories to minimal modular parts and exchange them? in which ways?).
Last but not least, can we grow garments and accessories in a lab (well, there are already some experiments revolving around growing mycelium-based materials in labs...)? To do so you would need a Petri dish or an agar plate, commonly used in laboratories for various scientific and medical purposes, primarily for the cultivation and observation of microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi, algae, and other small organisms. The humble cell-culture dishes can indeed provide us with some wonderful inspirations (petri dishes recently inspired also the interior decor of a store).
If you have a friend studying biology and science or working in these fields, you can take some pics of microbial growth and develop with them a unique print (a while back the Wellcome Collection in London did a window display with petri dishes of bacterial colonies, even though they didn't contain real bacteria, but photographic representations).
There are fascinating images in the Wellcome Collection archive (that always offers us precious inspirations) - such as a photograph of a petri dish containing a growth medium on which Escherichia coli (E.coli) is growing. Obviously, as soon as you mention E.coli, our minds conjure up diarrhea, but the Escherichia coli is expressing a striking fluorescent red protein in this image.
But if you prefer, you can opt for a tower mutant colony of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (a species of yeast commonly used in baking, brewing and wine making) growing on an agar plate surrounded by normal colonies (in red, while the yeast cells are the ones growing upwards).
For those who want to push the inspiration further there are other alternatives instead, including joining the community of DIYbio.org, a prominent online organization that caters to DIY biologists and that comprises artists, researchers, and enthusiasts alike, all driven by a shared passion for playful explorations in biology.
Another option are the spaces and community labs around the world that embrace a similar ethos such as Biomakespace, a nonprofit community lab within the Cambridge Biomedical Campus (currently closed for relocation, but they have a Club and they organise meet up events if you're in the UK).
Most of these labs or communities engage in research fueled by curiosity and by the possibility of connecting different fields and expanding the possibilities of biotechnology in a variety of disciplines (community members have so far launched projects about waste management, agriculture and food, but also the beauty industry). Their collective dedication to innovation encourages indeed scientific experiments beyond traditional labs, much like a dynamic and ever-evolving petri dish of human creativity and ingenuity.
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