1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:06,560 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey 2 00:00:06,600 --> 00:00:10,119 Speaker 1: brain Stuff, Lauren bog Obam Here. If we're ever going 3 00:00:10,160 --> 00:00:12,880 Speaker 1: to abandon this planet and live on Mars or wherever, 4 00:00:13,280 --> 00:00:16,599 Speaker 1: we're going to have to have hamburgers. And A Russian 5 00:00:16,600 --> 00:00:20,520 Speaker 1: cosnaught named Alex Grupochka has gotten humanity a little closer 6 00:00:20,560 --> 00:00:23,639 Speaker 1: to that goal. On a recent trip to the International 7 00:00:23,680 --> 00:00:27,240 Speaker 1: Space Station, he accomplished making real meat without killing an 8 00:00:27,280 --> 00:00:31,640 Speaker 1: animal in space using a three D printer. Of course, 9 00:00:31,880 --> 00:00:34,919 Speaker 1: there's nothing special about space that makes it more possible 10 00:00:34,920 --> 00:00:37,280 Speaker 1: to three D print to hamburger. The scientists here on 11 00:00:37,320 --> 00:00:39,400 Speaker 1: Earth have been doing it since the first Hamburger patty 12 00:00:39,440 --> 00:00:43,720 Speaker 1: was printed in and the idea for lab grown meat 13 00:00:43,920 --> 00:00:47,720 Speaker 1: was first patented back in by Villain van Ellen, who 14 00:00:47,760 --> 00:00:50,800 Speaker 1: spent time in a Japanese prison camp during World War Two. 15 00:00:51,360 --> 00:00:54,000 Speaker 1: Conditions for van Ellen and his fellow humans were bad enough, 16 00:00:54,400 --> 00:00:56,600 Speaker 1: but he was so appalled by how the animals were 17 00:00:56,600 --> 00:00:58,800 Speaker 1: treated that he made it his life's mission to make 18 00:00:58,840 --> 00:01:03,400 Speaker 1: slaughtering animals a necessary in our food system. And since 19 00:01:03,480 --> 00:01:06,160 Speaker 1: NASA and other space programs are looking for a sustainable 20 00:01:06,160 --> 00:01:08,600 Speaker 1: way to feed astronauts as they pursue plans to send 21 00:01:08,680 --> 00:01:11,720 Speaker 1: humans deeper into space than ever before. Three D printing 22 00:01:11,800 --> 00:01:13,800 Speaker 1: seems like a great way to cut down on the 23 00:01:13,800 --> 00:01:17,480 Speaker 1: sheer volume of food luggage that these long voyages will require. 24 00:01:18,319 --> 00:01:20,840 Speaker 1: The hope is that future astronauts will just bring a 25 00:01:20,840 --> 00:01:23,440 Speaker 1: few plant and animal cells with them in addition to 26 00:01:23,520 --> 00:01:26,680 Speaker 1: a structure giving material called bioinc, and that they can 27 00:01:26,720 --> 00:01:30,400 Speaker 1: feed this slurry into a three D printer and walla 28 00:01:30,560 --> 00:01:34,120 Speaker 1: dinner is served. This is a great idea in everything, 29 00:01:34,360 --> 00:01:37,000 Speaker 1: but researchers knew that need to tweak the process to 30 00:01:37,160 --> 00:01:41,000 Speaker 1: work in the microgravity of space. Yeah of Riisler, a 31 00:01:41,080 --> 00:01:43,839 Speaker 1: representative from a Left Farms, the Israeli food tech company 32 00:01:43,840 --> 00:01:47,440 Speaker 1: in charge of the experiment, told space dot Com maturing 33 00:01:47,480 --> 00:01:51,040 Speaker 1: of bioprinted organs and tissues and zero gravity proceeds much 34 00:01:51,120 --> 00:01:54,200 Speaker 1: faster than an Earth gravity conditions. The tissue is being 35 00:01:54,200 --> 00:01:58,440 Speaker 1: printed from all sides simultaneously, like making a snowball. While 36 00:01:58,480 --> 00:02:02,360 Speaker 1: most other bioprinters cre at it layer by layer on Earth, 37 00:02:02,560 --> 00:02:06,280 Speaker 1: the cells always fall downward. In zero gravity, they hang 38 00:02:06,360 --> 00:02:09,920 Speaker 1: in space and interfere only with each other. Layer by 39 00:02:09,960 --> 00:02:13,880 Speaker 1: layer printing in gravity requires a support structure. Printing in 40 00:02:13,960 --> 00:02:16,960 Speaker 1: zero gravity allows tissue to be created only with cell 41 00:02:17,080 --> 00:02:23,480 Speaker 1: material without any intermediate support. On September nineteen, a Left 42 00:02:23,480 --> 00:02:26,400 Speaker 1: Farms gave screw Pochka a bunch of files of biopsied 43 00:02:26,480 --> 00:02:30,279 Speaker 1: animal cells cow, rabbit, and fish, along with a specialized 44 00:02:30,320 --> 00:02:32,959 Speaker 1: three D printer that does its job using the magnetic 45 00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:36,880 Speaker 1: fields and microgravity and instructions to manufacture a few pieces 46 00:02:36,919 --> 00:02:40,680 Speaker 1: of meat made from some muscle cells and bioinc And 47 00:02:40,760 --> 00:02:43,400 Speaker 1: it worked. Screwpoca was able to make a few small 48 00:02:43,400 --> 00:02:46,040 Speaker 1: pieces of each kind of animal tissue with the setup, 49 00:02:46,560 --> 00:02:49,680 Speaker 1: which means, thank goodness, we won't have to take cows 50 00:02:49,720 --> 00:02:51,799 Speaker 1: with us if we want to have cookouts on Mars. 51 00:02:57,080 --> 00:02:59,480 Speaker 1: Today's episode was written by Jessupine Shields and produced by 52 00:02:59,480 --> 00:03:02,239 Speaker 1: Tyler Clay. Brain Stuff is production of I Heart Radio's 53 00:03:02,240 --> 00:03:04,200 Speaker 1: How Stuff Works. From more in this and lots of 54 00:03:04,200 --> 00:03:06,839 Speaker 1: other media topics, visit our home planet, how stuff Works 55 00:03:06,880 --> 00:03:09,480 Speaker 1: dot com and for more podcasts. For my heart Radio 56 00:03:09,800 --> 00:03:12,280 Speaker 1: is the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 57 00:03:12,320 --> 00:03:13,639 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.