THE FINANCIAL TIMES
Pink rice serves up alternative to carbon-intensive meat 


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The rice is pastel pink. It has a nutty, umami aroma. A slightly brittle texture. But, most surprising of all, each grain contains beef cells. It is a hybrid rice, laced with muscle and fat cells and nurtured in a petri dish to create something novel: part cow, part grain.

Its inventors, academics at Yonsei University in South Korea, wanted to create a sustainable and affordable source of protein — and believe they have done so. According to their calculations, the hybrid rice produces less than a tenth of the carbon of real beef and costs a fraction of the price. Announcing their invention in February, the scientists were evangelical about its potential: “A novel food ingredient that can overcome humanity’s food crisis has been created.”