Companies are on the verge of selling lab-grown meat. The new products are touted as environmentally friendly, but is it what consumers want and where exactly are the lines when it comes to genetic engineering?
When a strawberry from Chile and a strawberry from the United States met in a genteel French garden 200 years ago — on a blind date arranged by gardeners who wanted to create a better berry — it was love at first sight.
NATURE AND ENVIRONMENT | 20.10.2016
Vegan haven Berlin
Veganz supermarket in Berlin (picture-alliance/dpa)
Previously, imported species from the US state of Virginia hadn’t produced much, while the fruits of European varieties were very small. As it turned out, the Chilean genes held the magic ingredient, and nearly every strawberry you buy in the market today comes from that strain.
Luscious strawberries may be among the the tastiest results of genetic tinkering, but they are not the only. Mesopotamians started propagating wild grasses with the biggest seeds 10,000 years ago, which eventually turned them into the crops we now call rice, wheat, barley, oats, millet and rye.
In the fertile floodplain of the Danube river, west of Vienna, farmers have been breeding plants for at least 5,000 years.
NATURE AND ENVIRONMENT | 13.07.2018
The world keeps losing forests
Tree in a deforested area in the middle of the Amazon jungle (Getty Images/AFP/R. Alves)
Scientists at the Department of Agrobiotechnology research facility in the Vienna University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Tulln, Austria, are tracking about 80 varieties of grains in outdoor plots and greenhouses, in some cases right down to the molecular DNA.
The work matters because about a billion people are malnourished around the world, and ensuring there is enough food for the rapidly growing global population through 2100 and beyond is a big challenge, says plant ecologist Hermann Bürstmayr, standing amidst waist-high test plots of goldening grains.
Read more: Climate change strips nutrients from food crops
In greenhouses, researchers carefully pollinate unique strains of grain, using plastic sheaths to keep the flowers isolated. In nearby labs, the seeds and plants are chemically analyzed, and even sliced and diced down to the cellular level.
Global Ideas Genmanipulation Arche Noah
More than 6,000 varieties of seeds are stored at the Arche Noah seed bank
“I’m worried. Global population is increasing, but the amount of land for agriculture is not,” Bürstmayr told DW.
“There is no single tool, but there are many adjustments we can make to agricultural systems for ensuring food supplies,” he said. “We’re decoding the genomes, but do we understand what they’re telling us?”
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Quantum leap

Working with other international teams, the scientists can alter the fundamental molecular structure of plants with a sharp snip of an accurate new genetic scissor called CRISPR, which has also been touted as a tool for “democratizing” genetic information.
Read more: Gene editing: The key to food security in a warmer world?
The latest advances in genetic technology have revived fundamental ethical debates about human manipulation of genetic material in plants and animals, especially because the discipline is heading into uncharted territory.
From modifying animals to make them more feedlot friendly, to genetically modifying algae and yeast to create lab products that could replace farm-grown food in so-called synthetic biology, genetic engineering is reaching a new level.
Read more: Food from labs for a sustainable future?
Investors are very excited about food that can be patented, says Stacy Caldwell, director of Right to Know, a California-based GMO watchdog group. Products made with the latest gene-modification technologies are fundamentally different and can be patented for profit, she points out.
“The food industry is spending massive amounts of money to convince people that we need high-tech food to feed the world,” she tells DW.
“Industrializing food production works for concentrating power and wealth in the hands of a few, but it’s not what people are asking for.”
Rehashing an old debate

“The concern is the industry is going down the road that it always has in the past,” Caldwell says, referring to how the widespread adoption of crops that have been genetically altered for pesticide tolerance have ended up increasing reliance on hazardous pesticides.
In general, technology is still outpacing society’s ability to establish effective regulations — and in the absence of those rules, the market becomes the main decider. Some of the latest gene-editing patents are currently being contested in high-stakes court battles.
Global Ideas Genmanipulation
Wheat lab: Researchers are decoding and cataloging a detailed genetic record of the plants
There is still debate about where the exact lines are when it comes to genetic engineering, from “regular” plant breeding to the inter-species insertion of genetic material.
But for Caldwell, new gene-editing techniques should be as regulated as the already accepted types of genetic modification.
Even if scientists aren’t adding anything new, the removal of genetic material could trigger unwanted changes, including potential loss of nutritional values, as suggested by some early studies.
“Genes fit within an ecosystem of an organism, and changing one part of that can have unexpected consequences,” she says.
“Using this in our food supply before fully understanding it is the last thing we should be doing.”
‘Rebound effect’ for food

When you view the question of secure food supplies at the global level over time, a clear picture emerges from the observed patterns, says Karlheinz Erb, a social ecologist at the University of Vienna.
“There’s one striking story: We have very strong rebound effects,” he told DW.
“When food production becomes more efficient, the increasing efficiency is over-compensated by increasing consumption.”
This “rebound effect” is also known from energy economics: A 10 percent improvement in efficiency might provide only a 9 percent reduction in energy use, since people end up using more if energy is more plentiful.
Erb believes addressing issues around global food solely by steering the production side is a false approach. “We have to look at the consumption side. We can’t combat malnutrition by forever producing more.”
Like with energy, the more we produce, the more we eat — but the root problem is that production is not distributed evenly around the world.
USA Fleischlos: Burger ohne tierische Produkte
Simply consuming less meat and considering alternatives like this plant-based burger could solve most of our food problems without the need for genetic engineering
Simply put, the Global North has an overconsumption and waste problem, which is leading to heart disease, obesity and diabetes — also a form of malnutrition. Eliminating global hunger requires a recognition of that imbalance, he said.
Simpler solutions?

A landmark 2016 diagnostic modeling study led by Erb showed that global food supplies for the projected population can be secured without radical genetic intervention, and even without any additional deforestation.
Read more: The world is losing vital forests quicker than ever
As many other recent studies have concluded, Erb also found that a massive switch to high-yield crops isn’t necessary. By for example reducing global meat consumption, “the world population can be fed healthily even with low cropland yields and little cropland expansion,” the study concluded.
Read more: Berlin: Vegan capital of the world?
The latest findings may inform agricultural policy, including ongoing European Union discussions in the area, says Erb.
Key revisions, including phasing out subsidies for fertilizers and pesticides, and promoting agro-ecology alternatives, would be major steps on the road towards a sustainable food future, he believes.

Bioplastic Fantastic (Johanna Schmeer)
CULTURE
Bioplastic Fantastic by Johanna Schmeer
Johanna Schmeer’s project explores how enzyme-enhanced bioplastics produce nutrients by being exposed to light. She’s among the 30 designers invited to imagine what and how we will eat in the future for the exhibition Food Revolution 5.0: Design for Tomorrow’s Society, on until September 30 at Berlin’s Kunstgewerbe museum. It shows how our decisions about the food we consume are highly political.
Hanan Alkouh (Hanan Alkouh)
CULTURE
Sea-Meat Seeweed by Hanan Alkouh
Since cattle farming alone produces more CO2 than driving cars, Kuwaiti designer Hanan Alkouh created a vision for a meat substitute made of seaweed, itself a superfood. To preserve “the theatrics of trade vocations like farmer, slaughterer or butcher,” the seaweed was designed to look strikingly similar to a huge piece of meat.
Officina Corpuscoli – Maurizio Montalti, System Synthetics (Maurizio Montalti )
CULTURE
System Synthetics by Maurizio Montalti
Exploring alternatives to fossil fuels, Italian designer Maurizio Montalti created a transparent system to show how one fungus can break down plastic, while another makes it into bio-ethanol. Here, chopped up rubber duckies demonstrate how micro-organisms can get rid of our waste.
Klaus Pichler, rotting strawberries (Klaus Pichler)
CULTURE
One Third by Klaus Pichler
Photographer Klaus Pichler’s photo project One Third takes its cue from a UN study that found that one third of the world’s food goes to waste, while 925 million people are threatened by starvation. These intricate still life photos, including these rotting strawberries, call attention to overconsumption.
Rabbit out of mealworm paste (Carolin Schulze)
CULTURE
Hare from Mealworm Paste by Carolin Schulze
Hoping to make Europe’s disgust of eating insects a thing of the past, artist Carolin Schulze created a rabbit shape out of mealworm paste with the help of a 3D printer. Could such a design have us eating worms — and enjoying them?
Projekt Essbares Wachstum (Bart van Overbeeke)
CULTURE
Edible Growth by Chloe Rutzerveld
Another project that makes use of new technology, Chloe Rutzerveld’s Edible Growth creates a 3D-printed dough that grows edible fungi in a pleasing form. Rutzerveld calls it a “high-tech but fully natural, healthy and sustainable food.”
Mobile Gastfreundschaft (chmara.rosinke)
CULTURE
Mobile Hospitality by chmara.rosinke
This mobile kitchen was created as a community project to unite 12 strangers who are required to sit together for the 1.5-hour duration of a three-course meal. “We were thinking about how to create a project where we get to know people, and the result was that we need a big table and food,” says designer Ania Rosinke.
Austin Stewart, Second Livestock (Austin Stewart)
CULTURE
Second Livestock by Austin Stewart
Creating a matrix for chickens, this project by American artist Austin Stewart imagines what would happen if industrial livestock were given VR headsets to simulate a happy, free-range farm life.
Pig stalls – from the photo series Food (Henk Wildschut)
CULTURE
Food by Henk Wildschut
A far cry from a quiet life in the countryside, Henk Wildschut’s photo series Food provides an inside look at how food is produced. These piglets are among the many animals that spend their lives in such c******l spaces before ending up in grocery stores around the world.
Bioplastic Fantastic (Johanna Schmeer)
CULTURE
Bioplastic Fantastic by Johanna Schmeer
Johanna Schmeer’s project explores how enzyme-enhanced bioplastics produce nutrients by being exposed to light. She’s among the 30 designers invited to imagine what and how we will eat in the future for the exhibition Food Revolution 5.0: Design for Tomorrow’s Society, on until September 30 at Berlin’s Kunstgewerbe museum. It shows how our decisions about the food we consume are highly political.
Hanan Alkouh (Hanan Alkouh)
CULTURE
Sea-Meat Seeweed by Hanan Alkouh
Since cattle farming alone produces more CO2 than driving cars, Kuwaiti designer Hanan Alkouh created a vision for a meat substitute made of seaweed, itself a superfood. To preserve “the theatrics of trade vocations like farmer, slaughterer or butcher,” the seaweed was designed to look strikingly similar to a huge piece of meat.
Officina Corpuscoli – Maurizio Montalti, System Synthetics (Maurizio Montalti )
CULTURE
System Synthetics by Maurizio Montalti
Exploring alternatives to fossil fuels, Italian designer Maurizio Montalti created a transparent system to show how one fungus can break down plastic, while another makes it into bio-ethanol. Here, chopped up rubber duckies demonstrate how micro-organisms can get rid of our waste.
Klaus Pichler, rotting strawberries (Klaus Pichler)
CULTURE
One Third by Klaus Pichler
Photographer Klaus Pichler’s photo project One Third takes its cue from a UN study that found that one third of the world’s food goes to waste, while 925 million people are threatened by starvation. These intricate still life photos, including these rotting strawberries, call attention to overconsumption.
Rabbit out of mealworm paste (Carolin Schulze)
CULTURE
Hare from Mealworm Paste by Carolin Schulze
Hoping to make Europe’s disgust of eating insects a thing of the past, artist Carolin Schulze created a rabbit shape out of mealworm paste with the help of a 3D printer. Could such a design have us eating worms — and enjoying them?
Projekt Essbares Wachstum (Bart van Overbeeke)
CULTURE
Edible Growth by Chloe Rutzerveld
Another project that makes use of new technology, Chloe Rutzerveld’s Edible Growth creates a 3D-printed dough that grows edible fungi in a pleasing form. Rutzerveld calls it a “high-tech but fully natural, healthy and sustainable food.”
Mobile Gastfreundschaft (chmara.rosinke)
CULTURE
Mobile Hospitality by chmara.rosinke
This mobile kitchen was created as a community project to unite 12 strangers who are required to sit together for the 1.5-hour duration of a three-course meal. “We were thinking about how to create a project where we get to know people, and the result was that we need a big table and food,” says designer Ania Rosinke.
Austin Stewart, Second Livestock (Austin Stewart)
CULTURE
Second Livestock by Austin Stewart
Creating a matrix for chickens, this project by American artist Austin Stewart imagines what would happen if industrial livestock were given VR headsets to simulate a happy, free-range farm life.