Scientists are working on perfecting the perfect, sustainable sushi platter

Each week, we spotlight a cool innovation recommended by some of the industry's top tech writers. This week's pick is lab-grown fish.

Overfishing and sky-rocketing demand for seafood have scientists working on the next dinner alternative: lab-grown sushi, said Lydia Mulvany and Josh Petri at Bloomberg. San Francisco-based Wild Type is following in the footsteps of successful faux-meat companies such as Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat. However, unlike those companies, which make plant-based meat alternatives, Wild Type intends to produce "lab-grown fish."

Courtesy Wild Type

For now, the company "can produce only small pieces of salmon, which become too flaky if heated above 212 degrees." In a tasting, the fish "appeared a bit dull, lacking some of the vibrant color of wild coho," and the taste, while not unpleasant, was "faint." The maker, though, says that it absorbs flavors from smoking very well, and plans to market a smoked version as one of its first products.