SEBERANG PERAI, Sept. 9 -- Beef, unagi, and grouper grown in a laboratory may sound like science fiction, but Penang engineer Jason Ng has made it a reality, with plans to launch the products in Singapore next year.

Two years ago, Ng, the founder of Cell AgriTech, set up a laboratory in Seberang Jaya to research cultivating meat from animal cells.

The success of that research has led to the establishment of the company's first manufacturing plant in Singapore, slated to open next month.

The idea, Ng explained, was born from a personal dilemma.

"[My] mother-in-law is vegetarian, but I am a meat lover. I wanted to look for a meat substitute that tasted like (real) meat," he said during an interview at his company's premises today.

This...