Japan scientist synthesizes meat from human feces

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Japan scientist synthesizes meat from human feces

Jeff June 15, 2011

It's being called the " poop burger " . Japanese scientists have found a

way to create artificial meat from sewage containing human feces.

Somehow this feels like a Vonnegut plotline: population boom equals food

shortage. Solution? Synthesize food from human waste matter. Absurd yes,

but Japanese scientists have actually discovered a way to create edible

steaks from human feces.

Mitsuyuki Ikeda, a researcher from the Okayama Laboratory, has developed

steaks based on proteins from human excrement. Tokyo Sewage approached

the scientist because of an overabundance of sewage mud. 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 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 poop meat red with food coloring and

enhance the flavor with soy protein. Initial tests have people saying it

even tastes like beef.

Inhabitat notes that “the meatpacking industry causes 18 percent of our

greenhouse gas emissions, mostly due to the release of methane from

animals.” Livestock also consume huge amounts of resources and space in

efforts to feed ourselves as well as the controversy over cruelty to

animals. Ikeda’s recycled poop burger would reduce waste and emissions,

not to mention obliterating Dante’s circle for gluttons.

The scientists hope to price it the same as actual meat, but at the

moment the excrement steaks are ten to twenty times the price they

should be thanks to the cost of research. Professor Ikeda understands

the psychological barriers that need to be surmounted knowing that your

food is made from human feces. 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.

Waste not; want not.

http://www.digitaltrends.com/international/japanese-scientists-creates-meat-out-\

of-feces/