Marcus Johannes "Mark" Post (born 20 July 1957)
is a Dutch
pharmacologist
Pharmacology is the science of drugs and medications, including a substance's origin, composition, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, therapeutic use, and toxicology. More specifically, it is the study of the interactions that occur between ...
who is Professor of Vascular Physiology at
Maastricht University
Maastricht University (abbreviated as UM; ) is a public university, public research university in Maastricht, Netherlands. Founded in 1976, it is the second youngest of the thirteen List of universities in the Netherlands, Dutch universities.
In ...
and (until 2010) Professor of Angiogenesis in Tissue Engineering at the
Eindhoven University of Technology
The Eindhoven University of Technology (), Abbreviation, abbr. TU/e, is a public university, public technical university in the Netherlands, situated in Eindhoven. In 2020–21, around 14,000 students were enrolled in its Bachelor of Science, BS ...
. On 5 August 2013, he was the first in the world to present a proof of concept for
cultured meat
Cultured meat, also known as cultivated meat among other names, is a form of cellular agriculture wherein meat is produced by culturing animal cells ''in vitro''; thus growing animal flesh, molecularly identical to that of conventional meat, ou ...
.
In 2020, he was listed by
''Prospect'' as the ninth-greatest thinker for the COVID-19 era.
Education
Post received his medical degree from the
Utrecht University
Utrecht University (UU; , formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public university, public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2023, it had an enrollment of ...
in 1982 and trained for a PhD in Pulmonary Pharmacology, graduating from the Utrecht University in 1989.
Early career
Post joined the KNAW Interuniversity Cardiology Institute of the Netherlands in 1989 before being appointed full-time Assistant Professor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA (1998–2001). Five years later, he moved with his lab to
Dartmouth Medical School
The Geisel School of Medicine is the medical school of Dartmouth College located in Hanover, New Hampshire. The fourth oldest medical school in the United States, it was founded in 1797 by New England physician Nathan Smith. It is one of the sev ...
, Hanover, NH, and was appointed Associate Professor of Medicine and of Physiology (2001–2010).
In July 2002, Post returned to the Netherlands as a Professor of Vascular Physiology at Maastricht University and Professor of Angiogenesis in Tissue Engineering at
Eindhoven University of Technology
The Eindhoven University of Technology (), Abbreviation, abbr. TU/e, is a public university, public technical university in the Netherlands, situated in Eindhoven. In 2020–21, around 14,000 students were enrolled in its Bachelor of Science, BS ...
(until 2010). Since January 2004, he has been Chair of Physiology and Vice Dean of Biomedical Technology at Maastricht University.
Cultured meat research
As the Dutch government cut down subsidies for cultured meat development at the universities of Utrecht, Amsterdam and Eindhoven in 2009, jeopardising the Netherlands' international leading role, Maastricht University was able to attract an anonymous foreign investor (in 2013 revealed as
Google
Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...
co-founder
Sergey Brin
Sergey Mikhailovich Brin (; born August 21, 1973) is an American computer scientist and businessman who co-founded Google with Larry Page. He was the president of Google's parent company, Alphabet Inc., until stepping down from the role on D ...
) and resume the research.
In December 2011, Post and his team announced plans to conduct practical experiment into the production of lab-grown meat. They planned to produce a cultured
hamburger
A hamburger (or simply a burger) consists of fillings—usually a patty of ground meat, typically beef—placed inside a sliced bun or bread roll. The patties are often served with cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, bacon, or chilis ...
by September 2012.
The costs of the world's first in-vitro burger were 250,000 euros.
Eventually, it was presented to the public, cooked and eaten on 5 August 2013 at a press conference in
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
. Austrian nutritional scientist
Hanni Rützler judged it to be just like meat, although not yet as juicy.
In June 2013 and October 2015, Post claimed that in the future, it would be possible for citizens themselves to grow their own meat at home within a period of 7 to 9 weeks.
Also in October 2015, Post and food technologist Peter Verstrate announced the launch of their new company
Mosa Meat, which seeks to bring cultured meat on the market in 2020.
Post estimated that if the traditional
meat industry
The meat industry are the people and companies engaged in modern industrialized livestock agriculture for the production, packing, preservation and marketing of meat (in contrast to dairy products, wool, etc.). In economics, the meat industry is ...
were to be entirely replaced by lab-grown meat, the global cattle population could be reduced from 0.5 billion to about 30,000.
In 2016 he was selected to join the SingularityU The Netherlands faculty due to his pioneering work in cultured meat and the sustainability of food production.
From April 2017 on, Post's team was experimenting with tanks of 25,000 litres to grow meat in. The scientists were looking for an alternative for the
foetal calf serum (a by-product of animal agriculture) to grow the cells in to be able to operate independently from the regular meat industry.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Post, Mark
category:1957 births
Living people
Dutch pharmacologists
Academic staff of the Eindhoven University of Technology
Harvard Medical School faculty
Academic staff of Maastricht University
Utrecht University alumni