Scientists Sucessfully Bioprint World's Largest Lab-Grown Steak

Okay, that's pretty cool.

Lab Grown Steak

Israeli lab-grown meat company MeaTech 3D says it has successfully bioprinted a 3.67 ounce steak that's composed out of layers of lab-grown fat and muscle cells — making it the world's largest lab-grown steak.

The company claims it's the "largest cultured steak produced to date," meaning it would serve as an "important milestone toward the goal of scaled production of cultivated bio-printed steak."

Its looks may leave something to be desired — and we have yet to find any real-world reviews to know what it actually tastes like. Besides, 100 grams of steak still isn't going to be the most satiating of meals.

But the technology, while is still in its infancy, could open many doors, dramatically reducing our reliance on raising and slaughtering animals, and our food's carbon footprint as well.

Fat and Muscle

MeaTech 3D is hoping to launch a pilot of its steak and other products that use cultured animal fat next year, according to The Guardian.

Whether the company will be able to sufficiently scale up its operations to offer its lab steaks at reasonable prices is still unclear — an uncertainty that plagues the entire nascent industry.

But MeaTech 3D isn't the only company working on industrializing the process. The company is part of a much larger trend of businesses, many in Israel, betting heavily on a lab-grown meat future.

It's an especially exciting prospect considering the possibilities: printing layers of fat and muscle could allow us to one day grow custom steaks, something not even the real thing can reliably or affordably deliver.

And as companies make moves to roll out their cultured meats to a broader audience, the real test is still to come: if consumers are even willing to try it. Whether it will play out like the massively successful shift to plant-based meat alternatives, in other words, is anything but certain.

READ MORE: World’s largest lab-grown steak unveiled by Israeli firm [The Guardian]

More on lab-grown meat: California Factory Producing 50,000 Lbs of Lab Grown Meat Per Year