Ten start-up companies in Silicon Valley are growing meat from animal stem cells to see if lab-grown meats could subvert the environmental impact of traditional meat and livestock production.

“We are developing a way to produce real meat directly from animal cells using far less land, water and energy than conventional meat production,” says one of the start-ups, Memphis Meats.

Dubbed 'clean meat', the process involves growing real animal cells in disease-free nutrient bath. And before you scoff, these companies already have big backers, such as Microsoft owner Bill Gates and Virgin founder Richard Branson.

Australia is also following suit, with some entrepreneurs looking to produce meat products from plants or animal stem cells for a meat-minimal diet.

The cost of producing such meat is, at the moment, ridiculously high, with one clean meat burger reportedly costing around $400,000 to produce. However, the cost is coming down, with another lab claiming it's produced a kilo of lab meat for around $6000.

Already more than 11 per cent of Australians eat a meat-free diet, with a further 40 per cent looking to reduce their meat intake.

Would clean meat be an option for the growing number of vegetarians and vegans?

Co-owner of Smith and Deli, Shannon Martinez, who herself is not vegan but whose vegan restaurant services many non-meat eaters, says it could have a massive impact.

“My reasoning to cook vegan is to reduce consumption and, from my standpoint, clean meat is pretty amazing,” she told The New Daily.

“I don’t think it will appeal to many vegans, but it’s a positive step to fewer animals being slaughtered, and the impact of this for the meat- eating population will be massive.

“I think humans are pretty selfish – willing to change as long as it doesn’t change too much and that’s the attraction towards this sort of product.”

Vegans may not be fans of clean meat, because the process still involves sourcing animal cells from the bovine serum of unborn calves from the mothers after they had been slaughtered and could not be defined as vegan. There are also questions as to the nutritional value of such foods.

With livestock production responsible for 18 per cent of the greenhouse gases that cause global warming, there is a push to accelerate the development of cultured meat growing in Australia, so don't be surprised if some day in the future, your favourite steak is fake.

Would you eat lab-grown meats? If you;re vegan or vegetarian, would this type of meat appeal to you?