WEBVTT - How Could Lab-Grown Meat Change the Pet Food World? 0:00:01.920 --> 0:00:04.320 Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio. 0:00:06.200 --> 0:00:10.200 Hey brain Stuff, learn bog obamb Here in a new 0:00:10.240 --> 0:00:15.000 world of impossible burghers and beyond meat, where eating cicada's 0:00:15.120 --> 0:00:18.959 is considered an actual protein rich option and adopting a 0:00:19.040 --> 0:00:22.759 plant based diet can be a legitimate choice. What do 0:00:22.800 --> 0:00:26.560 we do with all those carnivores and omnivores sleeping on 0:00:26.640 --> 0:00:30.280 the backs of our sofas and chasing squirrels around our backyards? 0:00:31.360 --> 0:00:33.600 How do we ensure that what we feed our pets 0:00:33.720 --> 0:00:36.120 is not only good for them a rich in protein 0:00:36.200 --> 0:00:38.720 and all the nutrients needed to keep them healthy, but 0:00:38.920 --> 0:00:42.440 good for our planet. To as many of us reduce 0:00:42.479 --> 0:00:46.040 our meat intake or opt for more sustainable animal proteins, 0:00:46.600 --> 0:00:50.400 could we do the same for our pets. For the 0:00:50.520 --> 0:00:53.360 article this episode is based on how Stuff Works, spoke 0:00:53.400 --> 0:00:56.880 with Greg Aldrich, a research associate professor and the coordinator 0:00:56.920 --> 0:00:59.000 of the Pet Food Program in the Department of Grain 0:00:59.040 --> 0:01:03.280 Science and Industry at Kansas State University. He said, it's 0:01:03.280 --> 0:01:06.680 all doable. I can formulate a vegetarian diet for a dog. 0:01:07.040 --> 0:01:09.600 I can make a vegan diet for a dog. It's 0:01:09.640 --> 0:01:12.240 just a lot harder to get it all balanced and 0:01:12.280 --> 0:01:15.920 then to get them to like it. The Pet Food 0:01:15.959 --> 0:01:18.760 Institute estimates that more than a hundred and eighty million 0:01:18.920 --> 0:01:22.680 dogs and cats are living in US households, and the 0:01:22.720 --> 0:01:26.720 American Pet Products Association reports that Americans spent more than 0:01:26.760 --> 0:01:30.720 forty two billion dollars on pet foods and treats in alone, 0:01:32.240 --> 0:01:36.240 and all of that is rough on the planet. Paper 0:01:36.280 --> 0:01:39.480 written by u c l A researcher Gregory Oakin found 0:01:39.520 --> 0:01:42.280 that American dogs and cats are responsible, through the food 0:01:42.319 --> 0:01:44.800 they eat, for the release of up to sixty four 0:01:44.959 --> 0:01:50.640 million tons of harmful greenhouse gases each year. But it's 0:01:50.720 --> 0:01:53.360 not as if we're feeding our pets big slabs of 0:01:53.400 --> 0:01:57.360 Brontosaurus ribs and live chickens. Pet foods in the US 0:01:57.560 --> 0:02:01.560 generally have plenty of grains included. Corn is in fact 0:02:01.600 --> 0:02:05.160 the number one ingredient used overall in cat and dog foods, 0:02:05.360 --> 0:02:10.320 according to the North American Renderers Association, but most pet 0:02:10.320 --> 0:02:14.080 foods do have a huge animal component. The reason for 0:02:14.120 --> 0:02:17.679 that is simple. Dogs and cats and you and I 0:02:17.760 --> 0:02:21.640 need protein, and eating meat or meat by products is 0:02:21.680 --> 0:02:26.520 often the best, easiest and cheapest source of protein. Aldrich 0:02:26.600 --> 0:02:30.200 said the dog is an omnivore like humans, eating both 0:02:30.240 --> 0:02:33.919 plants and animals, but their nutritional requirements are such that 0:02:33.960 --> 0:02:37.960 they're easier or better supported nutritionally if they consume animal 0:02:38.000 --> 0:02:41.400 proteins and fats at least part of their diet. And 0:02:41.680 --> 0:02:46.079 the cat we consider to be an obligate, meaning biological carnivore. 0:02:46.880 --> 0:02:49.200 So what am I talking about there? Is it just 0:02:49.240 --> 0:02:51.960 because we label them as carnivores, so thereby we have 0:02:52.000 --> 0:02:55.200 to feed the meat. No, it really comes down to 0:02:55.240 --> 0:02:59.160 some of their nutritional requirements, the metabolic utilization of things 0:02:59.160 --> 0:03:03.720 like amino acids and fatty acids. The dogs and cats 0:03:03.760 --> 0:03:08.720 all riches, saying don't necessarily need meat itself, but they 0:03:08.800 --> 0:03:12.200 do need what's in it, and meat is easier for 0:03:12.320 --> 0:03:16.079 them to digest. So how can we feed so many 0:03:16.120 --> 0:03:19.919 animals who biologically need meat or at least are more 0:03:19.919 --> 0:03:22.960 easily or better fed with meat when the production of 0:03:23.000 --> 0:03:25.800 that meat can be both harmful to the planet and 0:03:25.960 --> 0:03:30.440 to some, especially in the case of industrial farming, morally objectionable. 0:03:31.600 --> 0:03:37.840 It's science to the rescue. Let's talk about cell cultured meat. 0:03:37.880 --> 0:03:41.440 Take for example, Bond Pet Foods, a pet food company 0:03:41.440 --> 0:03:46.400 in Boulder, Colorado that late announced that had produced the 0:03:46.400 --> 0:03:51.000 world's first quote animal free chicken protein to using pet foods. 0:03:52.080 --> 0:03:55.040 Bond took a blood sample from a live chicken, extracted 0:03:55.080 --> 0:03:58.200 the genetic code, then inserted it into the genetic code 0:03:58.240 --> 0:04:02.720 of some food grain yeats. These modified yeast, grown in 0:04:02.760 --> 0:04:07.200 a fermentation tank, according to Bond, Quote, churns out meat 0:04:07.240 --> 0:04:10.680 proteins that are identical to those typically produced on farm 0:04:10.720 --> 0:04:14.200 and field. It's a similar fermentation process that's been used 0:04:14.240 --> 0:04:17.159 for half a century to make enzymes for cheese, but 0:04:17.240 --> 0:04:21.479 Bond is reassembling the process to harvest high quality animal proteins. 0:04:23.320 --> 0:04:27.480 The process produces cell cultured meat, which is basically lab 0:04:27.560 --> 0:04:30.880 manufactured meat without the need or mess of raising and 0:04:30.960 --> 0:04:34.600 killing animals on farms, and Bond is not the only 0:04:34.640 --> 0:04:39.440 company experimenting with it. Another called Because Animals, is using 0:04:39.480 --> 0:04:43.280 a relatively similar process which harvests cells it grows them 0:04:43.279 --> 0:04:45.880 into tissue that can then be used in treats and 0:04:46.000 --> 0:04:51.000 foods for pets. A new era of pet foods made 0:04:51.040 --> 0:04:55.400 with reduced environmental impact, more sustainability, and more responsibility is 0:04:55.520 --> 0:04:59.080 hardly just around the corner, though this new way of 0:04:59.120 --> 0:05:01.799 feeding the household pet is going to take some time. 0:05:03.000 --> 0:05:05.520 The science, for as far as it's advanced, is not 0:05:05.680 --> 0:05:09.560 quite big time yet. For one, manufacturers will have to 0:05:09.640 --> 0:05:12.599 work out the best ways to ramp up the process. 0:05:12.880 --> 0:05:16.120 Large amounts of animal based material, blood or tissue or 0:05:16.160 --> 0:05:20.560 whatever might still be needed, at least initially. Aldridge said, 0:05:20.880 --> 0:05:22.720 whether or not they have got to where they can 0:05:22.760 --> 0:05:25.599 take it to scale, so instead of making a couple 0:05:25.600 --> 0:05:28.360 of grahams making a million pounds, I don't know if 0:05:28.360 --> 0:05:31.919 they've got that all worked out. Yet another question to 0:05:31.920 --> 0:05:35.640 be answered, and not an insignificant one. Once this cultured 0:05:35.760 --> 0:05:38.800 meat is produced, will your pets eat it? Will they 0:05:39.000 --> 0:05:43.440 like it? And furthermore, companies will have to educate the public, 0:05:43.640 --> 0:05:46.760 which may be picky about what goes into Fido's dish. 0:05:46.960 --> 0:05:50.279 They may have to overcome environmentalists and animal rights backers 0:05:50.360 --> 0:05:52.960 who may object still to the use of blood or 0:05:53.000 --> 0:05:55.760 other animal material that makes the base of the new food. 0:05:56.960 --> 0:06:00.920 They'll undoubtedly face stiff competition, as even the big pet 0:06:00.960 --> 0:06:04.200 food makers jockey for position in a market in which good, 0:06:04.240 --> 0:06:08.160 affordable protein is increasingly difficult to come by. The new 0:06:08.200 --> 0:06:12.440 guys will have to make their product affordable. But even 0:06:12.440 --> 0:06:15.640 though this new cell cultured product might not be taking 0:06:15.640 --> 0:06:17.960 over the pet food aisle at your local big box 0:06:18.000 --> 0:06:22.480 store anytime soon. The desire for options in meat, more humane, 0:06:22.640 --> 0:06:27.680 sustainable options is clearly there. Aldrich said it could be 0:06:27.760 --> 0:06:30.360 a viable niche in the marketplace in the next five 0:06:30.400 --> 0:06:33.279 to ten years. As long as we have what is it, 0:06:33.320 --> 0:06:35.599 a hundred and eighty million dogs and cats in the US, 0:06:35.960 --> 0:06:39.200 there's going to be demand for proteins, So any additional 0:06:39.240 --> 0:06:42.240 supply of protein is going to help. Whether or not 0:06:42.440 --> 0:06:45.640 that cell cultured meat becomes mainstream is probably going to 0:06:45.680 --> 0:06:52.960 be a ways away. Today's episode is based on the 0:06:53.040 --> 0:06:55.919 article how lab grown meat could change the pet food 0:06:55.920 --> 0:06:58.800 world on how stuff works dot com, written by John Donovan. 0:06:59.160 --> 0:07:01.520 Brain Stuff is product of iHeart Radio in partnership with 0:07:01.560 --> 0:07:03.920 hous neffworks dot com, and it's produced by Tyler Clay. 0:07:04.440 --> 0:07:07.000 Four more podcasts from my heart Radio visit the iHeart 0:07:07.080 --> 0:07:09.760 Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 0:07:09.760 --> 0:07:10.480 favorite shows.