- but consumers will need convincing

Scientists are cultivating proteins from the stem cells of livestock and poultry in labs in a bid to create more sustainable meat, but will anyone want to eat it?

Key points:

• Scientists say lab-grown food could be critical to sustainability as the world's population increases
• But consumers have concerns about the taste of 3D-printed meat and how ethical it is to produce
• Experts stress that meat grown from stem cells is not the same as GMO produce

Using stem cells from cows or DNA from chicken eggs, lab technicians are developing products they say will taste, feel and look exactly the same as a product directly from an animal.

University of New South Wales food and health professor Johannes le Coutre said cultivated meat was likely to be on supermarket shelves by 2030 and that as the human population increased the environmental impact of livestock farming would become unsustainable.

"You can grow material into edible tissue without harvesting plants or killing an animal — that's what makes it attractive," Dr le Coutre said.