Mammoth Meatballs: Australian company Vow cultivates prehistoric protein in the lab

In a bizarre yet innovative move, Australian cultivated meat company Vow has created lab-grown mammoth meatballs. The company's aim is to raise awareness of lab-grown meat as a tasty, cruelty-free, and environmentally-friendly alternative to traditional meat sources. Because who wouldn't want a bite of the Ice Age, right?

Vow's choice of the woolly mammoth as the protein source is meant to symbolize the loss of wildlife due to human activity and climate change. While the concept is a head-turner, it's also making people think about the future of food.

Picture this: You're hosting a dinner party and casually mention your prehistoric entrée. It would kinda look like this.

Making Mammoth Meat 101: To create the mammoth meat, Vow scientists first obtained the DNA sequence for myoglobin, a skeletal muscle protein found in mammals, from mammoth remains. They then filled in the gaps with elephant DNA. The mammoth myoglobin sequence was inserted into sheep muscle stem cells, which were then allowed to grow for several weeks, resulting in a meatball that's mostly mammoth. Jurassic Park, but make it culinary.

Zoom Out: While the company doesn't plan to sell the mammoth meatballs due to potential safety concerns, it hopes that the unusual project will help generate interest in lab-grown meat. So, no mammoth burgers just yet, but stay tuned.

• Vow is also working on bringing other cultured meat products, like quail, to restaurants, with Singapore as a potential market, where lab meat has already been approved for human consumption.

Who knows? Maybe someday, we'll all be feasting on eco-friendly dino-dogs!