020350 Scientists Soak Meat in Liquid to Make It Grow

London - Scientists have managed to make chunks of fish grow bigger by soaking them in a broth of nutrients, suggesting meat could be manufactured, a science magazine said.

Chunks of goldfish muscle grew 14 percent after a week immersed in a nutrient- enriched liquid extracted from the blood of unborn calves, the New York-based scientists found.

"This could save you having to slaughter animals for food," project leader Morris Benjaminson was quoted as saying by the New Scientist magazine.

Benjaminson, who is working on a more varied diet for astronauts, said the enlarged fish chunks had been fried with olive oil, lemon, garlic and pepper.

"We wanted to make sure it'd pass for something you could buy in the supermarket."

But the United States Food and Drug Administration would have to give approval before the enlarged chunks could be eaten.

Benjaminson had also tried but failed to grow meat chunks in liquid mushroom extract, conceding people might be afraid of the transmission of mad cow disease through calf serum.

RETURN TO HOME PAGE

E-mail: sflanagan@sprintmail.com