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It’s the go-to snack for many people after a boozy night out, and now chicken nuggets have been given a modern twist.

Scientists from JUST Meat have created lab-grown chicken nuggets - and they could go on sale by the end of 2018.

The firm’s products include a range of ‘cultured meats’ - such as chicken, beef, pork and seafood.

Rather than being made from animals themselves, the meats are grown in the lab using cells from live animals.

(Image: Just For All)

JUST Meat explained: “The whole idea is that that chicken in itself has an unlimited source of itself, and there is a way that you can take just a handful of cells and keep growing them, essentially infinitely.”

To initially get the chicken cells needed to grow the lab-grown nuggets, JUST Meat took one feather from the ‘best chicken’ they could find.

In the lab, the scientists then selected a single cell, which they grew into ‘chicken’ using nutrients obtained from plants.

(Image: Just For All) (Image: Just For All)

Thomas Bowman, Chef de R&D at JUST Meat, said: “For this first prototype, I said to myself, I’m going to make the best chicken nuggets ever.

“It was an out of body experience to sit there eating chicken, while having the chicken you’re eating running around next to you.

“We don’t need to cause death in order to create food.”

While it’s unclear when or where the lab-grown nuggets will go on sale, on its website, JUST Meat claims it could be before the end of 2018.