With the lab-grown meat turning many heads, a group of scientists from MIT is developing lab-grown wooden furniture made of plant cells.
Using zinnia leaf, the team was able to grow plant-like tissues that are tunable and adjustable, great for furniture making. The cell-cultured trees can be grown in the shape of a table or a rectangular board.
This land-free strategy is scalable and cost-effective, as plants are simply easier to grow in this way.
While the scientists have not yet grown a wooden table from a petri dish, their work, if widely adopted, could lead to huge reductions in CO2 emissions from deforestation and transportation. It will also help reduce waste products from trees that are shaved to shape into different furniture types.
What do you think of cell-cultured trees? What other advantages can you think of the innovation? Please comment your thoughts below.