Now THIS is pretty gross, but think about the ramifications.

[Kali]

Where would this fit with the animal rights/vegan crowd?


TEST TUBE MEAT NEARS DINNER TABLE
By Lakshmi Sandhana
Wired
June 21, 2006


What if the next burger you ate was created in a warm, nutrient-enriched soup swirling within a bioreactor?

Edible, lab-grown ground chuck that smells and tastes just like the real thing might take a place next to Quorn at supermarkets in just a few years, thanks to some determined meat researchers. Scientists routinely grow small quantities of muscle cells in petri dishes for experiments, but now for the first time a concentrated effort is under way to mass-produce meat in this manner.

Henk Haagsman, a professor of meat sciences at Utrecht University, and his Dutch colleagues are working on growing artificial pork meat out of pig stem cells. They hope to grow a form of minced meat suitable for burgers, sausages and pizza toppings within the next few years.

<snip>

A single cell could theoretically produce enough meat to feed the world's population for a year. But the challenge lies in figuring out how to grow it on a large scale. Jason Matheny, a University of Maryland doctoral student and a director of New Harvest, a nonprofit organization that funds research on in vitro meat, believes the easiest way to create edible tissue is to grow "meat sheets," which are layers of animal muscle and fat cells stretched out over large flat sheets made of either edible or removable material. The meat can then be ground up or stacked or rolled to get a thicker cut.

<snip>

more at http://www.wired.com/news/technology/1,71201-0.html

[Warpy]

1. No more factory farming! No more rainforest destruction

to clear land for grazing! What a great idea!

Of couse, one does wonder what the raw materials for Bionic Beefsteak might be.

In any case, I'll stick with my beloved Quorn filets and Boca Burgers for now. I like 'em better, anyway.

[Triana]

2. Won't touch it...

...it's bio-engineered - who knows WTF kind of effect this crap would have on one's body and health or if could be even worse than eating real meat? I don't need meat. I certainly don't need man-made meat. Blech! I won't touch it. I'll stick with tempeh, thankyouverymuch.

Of course, I can only speak for myself. Other vegans / vegetarians might eat it. But I won't.

[Occulus]

3. No chance of mad cow

No actual animals killed in the process
No need for growth hormones

...

It depends on the taste, and whether it's completely safe. Would I try it, given it's safe and tastes good? Sure. Why not?

[karlrschneider]

9. Same here, I'd have no problem trying it out.

;-)

[Kali]

20. the concept grossed me out but after giving it some thought

I would probably try it. I picture it in the same way as other overly-processed meat - hot dogs, baloney, pizza "topping", "chili" etc...I admit I eat that kind of crap on occasion.

[iamahaingttta]

12. I suspect it's MOSTLY growth hormones...

I mean, what the hell else could it be?

[whistle]

4. Actually, most beef tastes like it has been grown in a test tube...

...already.

[Kali]

18. Just need to know where to get it.

:9 http://www.eatwild.com/

[progdonkey]

5. I agree, gross but cool...

I mean, protein is protein and if it's nutritious, hygenic, and palatable, then why not? Especially when you have to worry about meat contaminated with fecal bacteria, etc., that might find its way to beef or pork in a meat-packing plant, not to mention mad cow.

But of course, I must end with, "IT'S PEOPLE!!!!" :9

[nuxvomica]

13. I would worry about superbugs

Doing this on a large scale without the presence of an active life form might provide the opportunity for some accidentally introduced mutant microbe to thrive that wouldn't otherwise survive against the immune system of a cow or among the natural bacteria in a cow's gut. The comparison to yogurt in the article doesn't really jibe for that reason. Nutritious and palatable are probably going to be easier to achieve than hygienic.

[Kali]

17. after my initial reaction (revulsion) this came to me as well

not that the "natural" way is any safer. Mass distrubution of homogeneous food products is the real risk, IMO.

[giant_robot]

6. I wouldn't mind eating it, but I wonder if this is economically feasible.

I've worked in a lab that does cell culture, and I wonder how they can scale it up, keep it sterile, and provide a growth medium that isn't prohibitively expensive. If they can do it, more power to them, I guess.

[undeterred]

7. I'd be more interested in seeing if they can grow human organs

which are universally compatible with human immune systems. Take away the need to harvest organs from accident victims, no competition for organs, no rejection drugs to take the rest of your life. Now that would be a great use of tissue culture biotech.

[Mythsaje]

8. Interesting...

If viable, it would be a good thing.

Of course, it's viable enough for me to use it in one of my novels.

Thanks for posting it.

[MaraJade]

10. Oh shoot!

I was going to use the idea in one of my stories. . .

Anyway, I wouldn't eat it, but it might provide an answer to starvation
in certain areas, sort of as an emergency source of protein until something
better can be provided.

[Mythsaje]

11. I don't see any conflict...

It's not going to be a major part of anything I write...just an explanation of how some worlds have gotten away from factory farming and the like.

I suppose I'd eat it. It's hardly more disgusting than how we already get our meat, and at least nothing has to die to provide it.

[originalpckelly]

14. Very interesting...

I know the science behind, and I am not grossed out one bit at all. I have actually been waiting for miracle technologies like this. This could solve world hunger.

[Kali]

16. "World hunger " is generally a result of politics, not amount of food

production is more than adequate now. Distribution and corruption are the problems. (no claims for sustainability with this statement!)

[HeeBGBz]

15. Do we have a Star Trek replicator now? n/t

[madmom]

19. can you say....soilent green?????

[Kali]

21. well, that was more recycling than "production"

but I sure had the same reaction!

[Odin2005]

22. Yuck, the meat would probably be flavorless.

A lot of the flavor of meat comes from what the animal ate, IIRC.

[Radio_Lady]

23. Yes, Soylent Green. "To serve mankind..." Great old movie.

[LeftyMom]

24. I'd not eat it

Animal cells would still be needed to start the process, so the result is not vegan.

Pressed sheets of meat sound suspiciously like that cheap lunch meat Dad put in my lunches as a kid. I didn't like them then and they don't sound appetizing now.

Sure, I think it'd be a step up if some of the animal suffering, water waste and contamination and pollution associated with large scale animal farming could be replaced with this stuff. Unfortunately I think it'd be a hard sell to convince people that this stuff isn't really any more un-natural than the caged, medicated GMO-fed meats most Americans eat today.