STRAIGHT FROM THE HORSES MOUTH

Duane A. Lienemann,

UNL Extension Educator,

 Webster County

June 17, 2011 Edition

I have always liked the science part of agriculture, so I just naturally gravitate many times to reading articles that deal with science and in particular if they are concerning any form of agriculture, and especially animal agriculture. I was not disappointed this past week as I found a lot of scientific reading. I have to admit though that what I am going to write about this week could be called “weird science”. Keep reading and you will see why.

Are you ready for this? Chinese scientists have successfully genetically modified cows to produce human breast milk. My first reaction was OMG! (I learned that acronym on Facebook). According to the overview, the cow's milk is exactly the same as authentic human breast milk, with the same antibacterial and immune-boosting qualities. You may recall Dolly, the cloned sheep – this event is very similar to that only on a bigger scale. Around 300 milk cows at China's Agricultural University in Beijing were created by the embryo transfer (ET) methodology. Now that is not remarkable, but the creation of the embryos is. These embryos were unique in that they had been inserted with human genes and then cloned, a process very similar to the one which created Dolly. The embryos were then implanted into surrogate cows, who carried them to a normal pregnancy, labor and delivery. The resulting mature cows are now producing milk.
The milk is still undergoing safety testing but if it passes these tests, then with Government permission the milk could be sold to consumers within three years. It is thought the milk will be marketed as a healthier alternative to cow's milk. From what I understand it is reported that the milk is sweeter and stronger than normal cow’s milk. It seems that this was developed along with other experiments involving making cows immune to Mad Cow Disease, and helping beef cattle produce more nutritious milk.
Of course many people are concerned about the ethical concerns with this project. When asked about this a spokesperson for the college made an interesting statement and I quote: "There are 1.5 billion people in the World who don't get enough to eat. It's our duty to develop science and technology, not to hold it back. We need to feed people first, before we consider ideals and convictions." It should be noted that China has embraced the idea of genetically modified food; while Europe has mainly rejected the idea. I would put the USA somewhere in between. It may interest you that in China, modified potatoes, tomatoes, cooking oil and papayas are already available, alongside insect-resistant corn and rice for livestock. They can say what they want, but somehow that is a little creepy to me.
Now the next weird science bid of information may even top the first one. I hope you are sitting down on this one. Japanese scientists have found a way to create artificial meat from sewage containing human feces. That’s right – I guess you could call this a “poop burger’ or perhaps an “excrement steak” – I’ll let you name it. Now this really reads like something from a science fiction novel, and a really absurd notion at that. I would agree, and in fact I can’t seem to hold back that gag reflex, but Japanese scientists have actually discovered a way to create edible steaks from human feces.
Leave it to the Japanese. Mitsuyuki Ikeda, a researcher from the Okayama Laboratory, has developed steaks based on proteins from human excrement. According to the scientific article, the city of Tokyo approached the scientist because of an overabundance of sewage mud. That would be plausible given the population density in that city and the country for that matter. They asked him to explore the possible uses of the sewage and Ikeda found that the mud contained a great deal of protein because of all the bacteria. The researchers at the lab then extracted those proteins, combined them with a reaction enhancer and put it in an exploder which created the artificial steak. The “meat” is 63% proteins, 25% carbohydrates, 3% lipids and 9% minerals. The researchers color the “fabricated” – ok I will say it “poop meat”- red with food coloring and then enhance the flavor with soy protein. The “enhanced flavor” kind of got to me. Initial tests have people saying it even tastes like beef. I really didn’t want to report that, but I suppose the secret is out already.
It may interest you that in the scientific briefs on this research they noted that “the meatpacking industry causes 18 percent of our greenhouse gas emissions, mostly due to the release of methane from animals.” They also noted that livestock also consume huge amounts of resources and space in efforts to feed ourselves. They also made mention of the controversy over cruelty to animals. They must be reading or listening to the plethora of information that is coming out of animal rights, Vegan, and/or extreme environmentalist groups that are constantly bombarding the livestock industry.

This recycled “poop burger” is not only being suggested to help the future problem of feeding the anticipated spike in human population, but to also reduce waste and emissions. The scientists hope to eventually price it the same as actual meat, but right now the “excrement steaks” are ten to twenty times the current price of steaks. The researchers understand the psychological barriers that need to be surmounted knowing that your food is made from human feces, but they hope that once the research is complete, people will be able to overlook that ugly detail in favor of perks like environmental responsibility, cost and the fact that the meat will have fewer calories. Oh gosh – that works for me! How much beer, humanized cow milk or other appropriate beverage would it take to wash that grilled “steak” down? To me, a rose is a rose… no matter the color! If nothing else – some food for thought! OK, I will stop with that.

The preceding information comes from the research and personal observations of the writer which may or may not reflect the views of UNL or UNL Extension. For more further information on these or other topics contact D. A. Lienemann, UNL Extension Educator for Webster County in Red Cloud, (402) 746-3417 or email to: dlienemann2@unl.edu or go to the website at: www.webster.unl.edu/home