Reythia
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Lab-grown meat -- FOR REAL!
We've heard about it in scifi before, of course. Any time a high-tech society wants to consume the tastiness of animal flesh without having the negative ecological effects, they've constructed a meat substitute in a lab. And now it's possible that it's not just scifi!
CNN: "In-vitro Meat: Would lab-burgers be better for us and the planet?
Now, obviously, there'd need to be a whole lot of testing done on this lab-grown meat before I'd want to eat it. On the other hand, assuming it proves to be at least as safe as regular meat -- and assuming it tastes and textures similarly -- then I'd be willing to give it a shot. Anyone else?
---  -- YAR! |
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8/11/2009, 8:09 pm
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QS2
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Re: Lab-grown meat -- FOR REAL!
Ah, I'm all in favour of this, it's been in development for some time by now as well. Biggest problems as always for an early R&D effort are the costs, though considering it's more efficient in theory, there is great hope they can bring it down below that of the more traditional method.
As for safety and such... well it's partially related to research on cloning organs I believe, where you use stemcells to grow replacement parts. So I figure they should be able to figure something out that is safe. Actually, I'm actually having trouble figuring out all to much in the way of dangers really... the background should be fairly alright after all... well unless the cell cultures make something dangerous on purpose... and I do hope they make sure that can't happen. Aside of that, there biggest problem really is most likely making it in quantity at reasonable prices.
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8/11/2009, 8:46 pm
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Firlefanz
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Re: Lab-grown meat -- FOR REAL!
Very interesting indeed.
I doubt it will completely replace "real" meat, but that kind of meat could become a high end product - a luxury item where good animal care will become important. Just look at that ridiculously expensive Japanese beef, from cows that are pampered all through their lives. We might even be able to go back to old, proven races that are more efficient to keep and breed on small farms than the turbo-races developed for intense farming.
The majority will be eating lab-meat, I'd say, because if it scales it will be much cheaper to produce than meat from real animals. We will need it to feed the world's appetite for meat while avoiding many of the problems associated with intense farming.
At any rate, it's an idea that's really bringing us into the future as painted in SF. And that brings me to an entirely different topic. 
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8/12/2009, 6:27 am
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Reythia
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Re: Lab-grown meat -- FOR REAL!
quote:
Firlefanz wrote:
I doubt it will completely replace "real" meat, but that kind of meat could become a high end product - a luxury item where good animal care will become important.
See, I was thinking about the opposite end of the spectrum, actually. Imagine if in 20 years, we could make lab-grown meat very, very cheaply. (Which, since it's basically just a chemical process, is a fairly likely thing, once the R&D is done.) Now, maybe people who can AFFORD "real" meat might still turn up their noses (especially depending on taste and texture issues), but for people who can't afford to buy much meat or much highly-nourishing food in general? Even if fake-cow ground beef doesn't taste 100%, I bet they'd be happy to cook with it. It's amazing how little it matters where the food comes from, if it's able to keep your kids well fed.
--- -- YAR! |
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8/14/2009, 1:09 am
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Firlefanz
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Re: Lab-grown meat -- FOR REAL!
I guess I worded that badly. I meant that "real" meat would become the luxury item, a connoisseur's choice.
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8/14/2009, 6:08 am
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Reythia
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Re: Lab-grown meat -- FOR REAL!
Ah, I see what you mean. I read that backwards, sorry! And yes -- I quite agree!
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8/14/2009, 5:06 pm
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