Leo meets Léo

Our 7 months old bovine are growing fast, gaining about two pounds per day. Leonardo, Voltaire and Winston were born in December 2021 and weighted between 80 to 125 pounds (36.3 to 56.7 kg). Leonardo is Simmental breed, Voltaire is Limousin and Winston is Angus (now you know a little more on the origin of their names).

I was at the farm last week with my son Léo and my colleague William, as I do regularly to say hello and supervise the biopsies that we occasionally do (for more on our method, click here).

They were quite busy while we were there, having their long breakfast-lunch. Indeed, it lasts more than an hour, almost non-stop, eating about 12 kg of corn, soy, as well as some unlimited quantity of Sudan grass. They now weight over 400 pounds (181.4 kg) and soon, they will be over 1000 pounds (453.6 kg).

Leonardo, Voltaire and Winston are sentient

Every time I visit Leonardo, Voltaire, and Winston, I engage, as I talk to them and try to make a physical contact. Leonardo loves to be petted and scratched behind the ears. He’s very loving and welcomes interactions with kind people. Voltaire and Winston are more hesitant, but during our last visit, they were more relaxed towards us. Leonardo is particularly affectionate and wants to play, almost like a puppy.

But he is so strong that we need to be very careful. We need to take the time for them to get used to us. I predict that they will eventually adapt to their environment where human contact is friendlier.

The beginning of a great journey

I enjoy having Léo coming with me at the farm. He was there last year when we met Éric, the farm owner, for the first time. He sat patiently through more than 2 hours of a very interesting discussion I was having with Éric. Eight months later, we are enjoying this journey and are very excited of what we are currently working on.

I look forward to sharing some great news with you!

About Meatleo^®

Formed to tackle one of modern society’s greatest challenges now within reach, food biotech company Meatleo^® intends to apply its proprietary scientific process to produce delicious, nutritious beef without slaughter animals or harm to our planet.

By means of cell culture and a unique manufacturing bioprocess, we intend to accelerate the necessary and inevitable transition to sustainable meat consumption at scale.