WEBVTT - Can We 3-D Print Meat in Space?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff, Lauren bog Obam Here. If we're ever going

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<v Speaker 1>to abandon this planet and live on Mars or wherever,

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<v Speaker 1>we're going to have to have hamburgers. And A Russian

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<v Speaker 1>cosnaught named Alex Grupochka has gotten humanity a little closer

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<v Speaker 1>to that goal. On a recent trip to the International

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<v Speaker 1>Space Station, he accomplished making real meat without killing an

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<v Speaker 1>animal in space using a three D printer. Of course,

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<v Speaker 1>there's nothing special about space that makes it more possible

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<v Speaker 1>to three D print to hamburger. The scientists here on

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<v Speaker 1>Earth have been doing it since the first Hamburger patty

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<v Speaker 1>was printed in and the idea for lab grown meat

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<v Speaker 1>was first patented back in by Villain van Ellen, who

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<v Speaker 1>spent time in a Japanese prison camp during World War Two.

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<v Speaker 1>Conditions for van Ellen and his fellow humans were bad enough,

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<v Speaker 1>but he was so appalled by how the animals were

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<v Speaker 1>treated that he made it his life's mission to make

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<v Speaker 1>slaughtering animals a necessary in our food system. And since

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<v Speaker 1>NASA and other space programs are looking for a sustainable

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<v Speaker 1>way to feed astronauts as they pursue plans to send

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<v Speaker 1>humans deeper into space than ever before. Three D printing

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<v Speaker 1>seems like a great way to cut down on the

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<v Speaker 1>sheer volume of food luggage that these long voyages will require.

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<v Speaker 1>The hope is that future astronauts will just bring a

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<v Speaker 1>few plant and animal cells with them in addition to

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<v Speaker 1>a structure giving material called bioinc, and that they can

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<v Speaker 1>feed this slurry into a three D printer and walla

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<v Speaker 1>dinner is served. This is a great idea in everything,

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<v Speaker 1>but researchers knew that need to tweak the process to

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<v Speaker 1>work in the microgravity of space. Yeah of Riisler, a

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<v Speaker 1>representative from a Left Farms, the Israeli food tech company

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<v Speaker 1>in charge of the experiment, told space dot Com maturing

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<v Speaker 1>of bioprinted organs and tissues and zero gravity proceeds much

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<v Speaker 1>faster than an Earth gravity conditions. The tissue is being

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<v Speaker 1>printed from all sides simultaneously, like making a snowball. While

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<v Speaker 1>most other bioprinters cre at it layer by layer on Earth,

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<v Speaker 1>the cells always fall downward. In zero gravity, they hang

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<v Speaker 1>in space and interfere only with each other. Layer by

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<v Speaker 1>layer printing in gravity requires a support structure. Printing in

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<v Speaker 1>zero gravity allows tissue to be created only with cell

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<v Speaker 1>material without any intermediate support. On September nineteen, a Left

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<v Speaker 1>Farms gave screw Pochka a bunch of files of biopsied

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<v Speaker 1>animal cells cow, rabbit, and fish, along with a specialized

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<v Speaker 1>three D printer that does its job using the magnetic

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<v Speaker 1>fields and microgravity and instructions to manufacture a few pieces

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<v Speaker 1>of meat made from some muscle cells and bioinc And

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<v Speaker 1>it worked. Screwpoca was able to make a few small

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<v Speaker 1>pieces of each kind of animal tissue with the setup,

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<v Speaker 1>which means, thank goodness, we won't have to take cows

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<v Speaker 1>with us if we want to have cookouts on Mars.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's episode was written by Jessupine Shields and produced by

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<v Speaker 1>Tyler Clay. Brain Stuff is production of I Heart Radio's

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<v Speaker 1>How Stuff Works. From more in this and lots of

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<v Speaker 1>other media topics, visit our home planet, how stuff Works

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