Over the summer, IMSE welcomes undergraduate students to spend a day working side to side with our Operations team. They help us explore new topics in the field of molecular science and engineering and design outreach activities. In August, Wynsee Lau (Medical Biosciences undergraduate) and Mekumi Chan (Biological Sciences undergraduate) combined their interest in scientific research and public engagement to write a blog. They chose to write about the exciting potential of the cultivated meat field and situated it in the context of a well known event, the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Aiming for a gold medal in sustainability at the Olympics games
As we enjoy the last month of summer, the most memorable event of this season has to be the Paris Olympics. Whether it was memorable because of the unique opening ceremony, I’m sure we’ve all seen some TikTok of the Olympic village and Paris’ attempt for a more ‘sustainable’ games. One of Paris’ approaches was to half the amount of animal products compared to any other Olympics. Instead of meat, they introduce more plant-based foods. This decision led to a decrease in carbon emissions; however, there were also complaints from some of the athletes. What can future Olympic hosts do to cut down these alarming carbon emissions whilst also fueling the athletes with the appropriate nutrients needed? In the growing industry of biotechnology, many startups are investigating the possibility of growing meat in the lab.