South Carolina scientist works to grow meat in lab

[kennyc]

CHARLESTON, South Carolina (Reuters) – In a small laboratory on an upper floor of the basic science building at the Medical University of South Carolina, Vladimir Mironov, M.D., Ph.D., has been working for a decade to grow meat.

Rest here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110130/...ratory_feature

[TGS]

Maybe that explains why pork is so cheap in Denmark, and yet one never sees pigs!

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by TGS

Maybe that explains why pork is so cheap in Denmark, and yet one never sees pigs!

Or maybe that's LONG Pork...

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

I think if the Danish were eating long pig, we'd know about it.

I've postulated grown meat in a number of my books... given the wastefulness and cruelty of present meat production, I think it will be the future of meat products.

[tubemonkey]

I already thought they were growing meat in a lab. How else do you explain this?

[CyGuy]

Tastes like chicken...

[coinín]

I can't quite bring myself to eat red meat because I've loved my pets of various species so much, and think that there probably isn't that much different between my beloved dog and a pig, but for circumstances and social perception.
I could easily get behind lab-created meat. It'd be grown in controlled, sanitary conditions and cruelty-free. That sounds pretty good.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by coinín

I've loved my pets of various species so much, and think that there probably isn't that much different between my beloved dog and a pig.

There isn't much difference between a dog and a pig. Pigs are probably as intelligent, and can be trained like dogs (even house trained).

Sheep and Cattle, however, are pretty stupid animals.


But I'm all for lab-grown meat. It's probably the only way we'll be able to grow enough meat to meet demand without ruining the planet, as well as being less cruel.

[tubemonkey]

Be leery if this cultured meat is green.

Spoiler:

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Be leery if this cultured meat is green.

i've finally remembered a really good short story that's appropriate to this thread.

The Food of the Gods by Arthur C Clarke (not Asimov!)

It's a government committee meeting, to discuss a new food product, "Ambrosia", that's been launched recently, and which has taken the market by storm.

Spoiler:

Cultured meat is now common. So common, most people have forgotten that it used to come from living animals. The very idea of eating the flesh of once-living animals is now disgusting, so even though most cultured meats on sale are actually patterned after the meat from specific animals — cows, sheep, pigs, etc. — the brand names do not reflect this, to hide the origin from sensitive consumers.

At first no-one has any idea why the new product is so popular. On analysis, it's simply mammalian meat, like beef or mutton. But the government analysts have now made an unsettling discovery. So they have to introduce the committee to another archaic and almost forgotten word, which they spell out to reduce the shock...

Spoiler:

C-A-N-N-I-B-A-L

[LCF]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

i've finally remembered a really good short story that's appropriate to this thread.

The Food of the Gods by Arthur C Clarke (not Asimov!)

It's a government committee meeting, to discuss a new food product, "Ambrosia", that's been launched recently, and which has taken the market by storm.

Spoiler:

Cultured meat is now common. So common, most people have forgotten that it used to come from living animals. The very idea of eating the flesh of once-living animals is now disgusting, so even though most cultured meats on sale are actually patterned after the meat from specific animals — cows, sheep, pigs, etc. — the brand names do not reflect this, to hide the origin from sensitive consumers.

At first no-one has any idea why the new product is so popular. On analysis, it's simply mammalian meat, like beef or mutton. But the government analysts have now made an unsettling discovery. So they have to introduce the committee to another archaic and almost forgotten word, which they spell out to reduce the shock...

Spoiler:

C-A-N-N-I-B-A-L

I just read it - great story!