Modern Meadows and Memphis Meats
Brooklyn-based ‘Modern Meadow’ was the first company seriously attempting to expand and utilise lab-meat technology for the consumer market with animal-free leather.
Co-founded by Andras Forgacs, previous leader of Organovo – a company attempting 3-d printed transplant organs - Modern Meadow aims to mass produce cultured leather in the hope it will provide a ‘gateway’ to a fully ethical global animal industry.
“If we can succeed here, it brings our other bio products like meat, closer to the horizon,” he said.
Forgacs predicted that within 30 years, meat based products will be cultured in urban environments everywhere. Speaking at a Ted-x event, he said: “Already we have been manufacturing with cell cultures for thousands of years, beginning with products like wine and beer... a brewery is essentially a bioreactor. Imagine instead of beer, we are brewing leather.
“Perhaps bio fabrication is a natural evolution of manufacturing for mankind... It is environmentally responsible, efficient and humane.”
Forgacs managed to raise around US$13m (€12.27m) from backers including Li-Ka Shing, Hong Kong’s richest man. Modern Meadow’s technology also remains a secret, and Forgacs has refused in the past to comment in detail on its techniques.
Memphis Meats
In February this year, ‘Memphis Meats’ began developing in vitro meat for food.
After creating the world’s first cultured meat ball, the company is now attempting to crowd-source US$100,000 (€95,000) to fund further research.