Korean research team develops perfectly nutritious beef rice

A South Korean research team developed "beef rice,” a lab-created combination of rice and cow stem cells cultivated for increased protein and fat content. It hopes to supply a great nutritional food source to famine-stricken regions, troops, or space rations.

Professor Hong Jin-kee of the Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering at Yonsei University published a study on “beef rice” in the global academic journal “Matter” on Wednesday (local time). Nature featured details of the development project on the same day, praising it as an excellent idea that just a bowl of this rice is all you need to take care of everything.

The research crew covered beef-cultured rice with cow muscle and fat stem cells, which is reminiscent of beef sushi – a rice roll with a beef slice on top. Professor Hong explained that it had occurred to him that rice could serve as a valuable scaffold for developing clean meat.

Clean meat, also referred to as cultured meat, is meat that is cultivated from cow or pig stem cells in lab environments. Cell culture requires scaffolds to support cells as they grow. Soy meat and other plant proteins have conventionally served as a supporting system. In this project, the scientists used rice to support the growth of cow stem cells, enabling them to cultivate on the surface and inside of the rice scaffolds, which turned into beef rice with a high nutritional value.

The thesis found that beef rice contains 0.01 grams more fat and 0.31 grams more protein per 100 grams, a 7 percent and 9 percent upgrade, respectively, compared to conventional rice. The research team plans to enhance protein and fat content levels by increasing the number of cow stem cells and optimizing cell culture conditions.

“We aim to develop this invention into pet food first,” Professor Hong said. “Flavored products of this rice, once developed, could be put in a cup-shaped container to feed troops and astronauts.”


최지원 기자 jwchoi@donga.com