American Startup Grows Chicken Schnitzel in a Lab

A San Francisco startup, Memphis Meats, announced yesterday that it has made history by successfully producing chicken schnitzel grown in a lab. The company reported that it asked a select group of professional tasters to sample the schnitzel, and everyone agreed it tastes just like real chicken.

"We are thrilled to offer the first chicken dish that doesn't require raising animals. This is a historic moment," said Uma Valeti, CEO of the startup.

In February 2016, the company reported creating the first lab-grown meatballs by cultivating cow muscle tissue in a sterile environment. The new schnitzel is also grown from cow cells. The company announced yesterday that it has also succeeded in growing duck meat in the lab, and it believes its products will be ready for market by 2021.

Memphis Meats is among several companies worldwide focused on creating lab-grown 'meat' products with completely natural flavors to reduce human reliance on raising and killing animals for consumption. Transitioning to lab-grown meat products would be more environmentally friendly; 18% of global greenhouse gas emissions are due to raising animals for food, which also consumes 70% of all water used on Earth.

Currently, Memphis Meats still needs animal embryonic cells to start the development process. However, the company plans to soon transition to plant cells as the basis for its products.

These changes alone aren't enough to make lab-grown schnitzels highly sought after: Memphis Meats will also need to find a way to reduce production costs. As of now, producing about half a kilogram of lab-grown chicken costs around $9,000.