Would You Eat Hamburger from a Printer?

The changes in technology over the last 15 years have been very rapid, but in ways we may be just starting to scratch the surface.  We have talked before about how the future of 3D printers will impact our lives and society, and found this talk by Andras Forgacs, the CEO of a company called Modern Meadow, which is working on printing leather and meat products fascinating.

Here is a picture from his talk about what is needed to produce a 1/4 burger, which I enjoy on a regular basis:

Now imagine that the average person consumes about 220 pounds of meat a year, and it is not hard to envision the potential impact of 3D Printing of food.  Winston Churchill even opined on this 80 years ago:  “…we shall escape the absurdity of growing a whole chicken in order to eat the breast or the wing by growing these parts separately under a suitable medium.”

If you want to hear the full 14 minute talk it is embedded below: