Eating 'mush' Tissue engineering techniques were first developed for medical use and small amounts of edible fish tissue have been grown in research conducted by Nasa. To industrialise the process, researchers suggest the cells could be grown on large sheets that would need to be stretched to provide the 'exercise' for the growing muscles. "If you didn't stretch them, it would be like eating mush," said Mr Methany. Whilst the technology to produce processed meat is here now, producing a steak or chicken breast is still quite a way off, the researchers say. Questions The new techniques could also provide a dilemma for vegetarians. Some may feel able to eat meat that has been grown without an animal being harmed. Others feel that question marks remain about the way the cells would be taken from animals. "It won't appeal to someone who gave up meat because they think it's morally wrong to eat flesh or someone who doesn't want to eat anything unnatural," Kerry Bennett of the UK Vegetarian Society told the Guardian newspaper. How regulators might react is also unclear. The US Food and Drug Administration has asked companies not to market any products that involve cloned animals until their safety has been evaluated.