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KFC is trying to create the world's first chicken nuggets made, not from an actual chicken, but produced in a laboratory.

The chicken restaurant chain will work with Russian company 3D Bioprinting Solutions to develop technology that will 'print' chicken meat, using chicken cells and plant material.

It says these bioprinted nuggets would be more environmentally friendly to produce than standard chicken meat, and would be part of a "restaurant of the future".

KFC in Russia plans to provide the bioprinting firm with ingredients like breading and spices "to achieve the signature KFC taste" and will seek to replicate the taste and texture of genuine chicken.

According to a study by the American Environmental Science & Technology Journal, the technology of growing meat from cells has minimal negative impact on the environment.

New food production techniques like this allows energy consumption to be cut by more than half, greenhouse gas emissions to be reduced by 25% and 100 times less land to be used than traditional farm-based meat production.

KFC hopes it can get a final product for testing by autumn 2020 in Moscow, but there is no word on when or if the printed nuggets might be available for KFC customers to sample.

Raisa Polyakova, General Manager of KFC Russia & CIS said: "Our experiment in testing 3D bioprinting technology to create chicken products can also help address several looming global problems.

"We are glad to contribute to its development and are working to make it available to thousands of people in Russia and, if possible, around the world."

No company has so far managed to create such complex products from animal cells, but it isn't the first time KFC has tried something innovative to create a new product.

Last year it became the first US fast-food chain to test out plant-based chicken, working with a company called Beyond Meat.