The first burger to be grown in a laboratory will be unveiled in London today.
The burger was grown in an institute in Netherlands using stem cells taken from a cow.
The stem cells were turned into strips of muscle which were combined to form a patty.
The meat-growing project cost £215,000.
The project leader, Prof Mark Post from Maastricht University, told BBC News that growing meat is meant to supplement livestock production.
"Later today we are going to present the world's first hamburger made in a lab from cells. We are doing that because livestock production is not good for the environment, it is not going to meet demand for the world and it is not good for animals."
There are, however, scientists who do not believe that meat grown in a laboratory will solve the international need for food.
Prof Tara Garnett, the head of the Food Policy Research Network at Oxford University, told BBC News that other options have to be considered.
"We have a situation where 1.4 billion people in the world are overweight and obese, and at the same time one billion people worldwide go to bed hungry.
"That's just weird and unacceptable. The solutions don't just lie with producing more food but changing the systems of supply and access and affordability so not just more food but better food gets to the people who need it."
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