Meat from a petri dish?

Tezcatlipoca · 13-08-2005, 18:37

http://www.guardian.co.uk/genes/arti...html?gusrc=rss

Quote:

When meat is not murder

Would you eat steak if it had been grown in a petri dish?

Ian Sample, science correspondent
Saturday August 13, 2005
The Guardian

It is the ultimate conundrum for vegetarians who think that meat is murder: a revolution in processed food that will see fresh meat grown from animal cells without a single cow, sheep or pig being killed.

Researchers have published details in a biotechnology journal describing a new technique which they hailed as the answer to the world's food shortage. Lumps of meat would be cultured in laboratory vats rather than carved from livestock reared on a farm.

Scientists have adapted the cutting-edge medical technique of tissue engineering, where individual cells are multiplied into whole tissues, and applied them to food production. "With a single cell, you could theoretically produce the world's annual meat supply," said Jason Matheny, an agricultural scientist at the University of Maryland.

(snip)

Stuart · 13-08-2005, 18:38

I'd have no problem as long as it passed relevant safety checks...

marky · 13-08-2005, 18:43

but would millions of cows etc not be slaughtered because we wouldnt need them

13-08-2005, 18:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by markymoan

but would millions of cows etc not be slaughtered because we wouldnt need them

I'm sure they'll be given cushy new jobs, maybe customer services at NTL?

13-08-2005, 19:31

If it tasted nice....

13-08-2005, 20:02

as the best they seem to be able to hope for, at the moment, is something like a chicken nugget, I think I will pass. I don't even eat 'real' chicken nuggets (I think there is an oxymoron, there, actually

)

Angua · 13-08-2005, 22:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by homealone

as the best they seem to be able to hope for, at the moment, is something like a chicken nugget, I think I will pass. I don't even eat 'real' chicken nuggets (I think there is an oxymoron, there, actually

)

I know exactly what you mean. But then where would we get our leather for shoes?

danielf · 13-08-2005, 23:03

Quote:

Lab-raised steaks will be off the menu for some time though. Scientists believe that while tissue engineering is advanced enough to grow bland, homogeneous meat, tasty and textured cuts will have to wait.

Sums it up really...

It's an interesting development nevertheless.

Mr_love_monkey · 13-08-2005, 23:08

Nah, I'd always want to know that some small furry animal died for my dinner

- it just wouldn't be the same

In all seriousness, if it tasted like the 'real thing' (and I admit that sounds like it's a long way away) what would it matter? - i eat meat for the taste/flavour/texture - if carrots tasted like steak, I'd be having them rare, with chips, and lots of mustard - it wouldn't matter to me where it came from...

Marge · 13-08-2005, 23:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by atlantis

I'm sure they'll be given cushy new jobs, maybe customer services at NTL?

oiiiiiiiiii

makikomi · 14-08-2005, 09:18

This sounds like a good idea. After all, I think most people would turn vegetarian if they had to raise livestock and then slaughter and butcher it. I know I would, but I love meat too much...

However, there are all sorts of issues to be resolved first. First of all, would it be safe? There could be that many chemicals and processes involved that it would be more like eating a chemical concoction. Having said that, if you read the ingredients on anything these days, you'll often start wondering whether you can purchase food without a prescription.

It could be argued that this would be a huge step forward. You wouldn't need to raise and then slaughter animals. There wouldn't be the need for farms, the moral issue of whether you should kill another sentient being to eat it would not be an issue any longer, and at least you could be sure that the meat in the petri dish hasn't been raised in a por environment, been slaughtered inhumanely, etc.

I can't help but think that at the end of the day, science is getting too involved in the food process. So much of what we eat is subjected to loads of unecesseary crap just to produce the food faster, cheaper and easier. It's easy to see why the organic food move has become so popular, and when you taste organic stuff, you really do notice a difference.

budwieser · 14-08-2005, 14:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by atlantis

I'm sure they'll be given cushy new jobs, maybe customer services at NTL?

Dodgy ground there Mate!
Don`t upset our Marge or there will be Hell to pay!

Graham · 15-08-2005, 01:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by Angua

But then where would we get our leather for shoes?

It wasn't shoes I was concerned about...!!!

Angua · 15-08-2005, 07:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by Graham

It wasn't shoes I was concerned about...!!!

No, it was the leather wearing non meat eaters (for sentimental reasons) I was getting at

patrickp · 15-08-2005, 19:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by Angua

No, it was the leather wearing non meat eaters (for sentimental reasons) I was getting at

So what's your problem with not eating meat and wearing leather shoes? I don't and do.