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Title: When meat is not murder
Source:
The Guardian (UK)
URL Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/genes/article/0,2763,1548451,00.html
Published: Aug 12, 2005
Author: Ian Sample, science correspondent
Post Date: 2005-08-12 23:01:20 by robin
Keywords: murder, When, meat
Views: 120
Comments: 11
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. According to researchers, meat grown in laboratories would be more environmentally friendly and could be tailored to be healthier than farm-reared meat by controlling its nutrient content and screening it for food-borne diseases. Vegetarians might also be tempted because the cells needed to grow chunks of meat can be taken without harming the donor animal. Experiments for Nasa, the US space agency, have already shown that morsels of edible fish can be grown in petri dishes, though no one has yet eaten the food. Mr Matheny and his colleagues have taken the prospect of "cultured meat" a step further by working out how to produce it on an industrial scale. They envisage muscle cells growing on huge sheets that would be regularly stretched to exercise the cells as they grow. Once enough cells had grown, they would be scraped off and shaped into processed meat products such as chicken nuggets. "If you didn't stretch them, you would be eating mush," said Mr Matheny. The idea of doing away with traditional livestock and growing steaks from scratch dates back at least 70 years. In a horizon-scanning essay from 1932, Winston Churchill said: "Fifty years hence we shall escape the absurdity of growing a whole chicken in order to eat the breast or wing by growing these parts separately under a suitable medium." Several decades too late, Churchill's vision finally looks set to become a reality. 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. "Right now, it would be possible to produce something like spam at an incredibly high cost, but the know-how to grow something that has structure, such as a steak, is a long way off," said Mr Matheny. Kerry Bennett, of the Vegetarian Society, said: "This is certainly an interesting development, and one that is bound to prompt many different responses from individual vegetarians - largely depending on why those individuals have chosen vegetarianism. "The Vegetarian Society is concerned that while this has the potential to decrease the number of meat-producing animals in factory farms, there are still a number of question marks regarding the origins of the cells and the method of harvesting. "It won't appeal to someone who gave up meat because they think it's morally wrong to eat flesh or someone who doesn't want to eat anything unnatural," Ms Bennett added. "Personally I wouldn't want to, but I suppose if they're going to make chicken nuggets with it, then it's probably not going to taste much different."
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#1. To: robin (#0)
Do you suppose they'll be able to grow the stuff they need for hot dogs this way?
Hydroponic protien cultures blood splash irrigation...
We should thank the Nazis for giving us all those stark, frightening images. How else we gonna learn not to act like that? On the other hand, monkey see...
I have Type 2 diabetes. One way I keep it under control is to eat a diet heavy in meats. I find it hard to believe meat-eating is not perfectly natural, when for some of us it is close to a necessity.
You could also just wait for the cow to get sick and die before eating it. This wouldn't be murder either.
Will they be able to grow leather coats and purses?
Shut up and eat your ritalin, meat boy! See, I should be making the big bucks for this material. Are you a communist by any chance?
We should thank the Nazis for giving us all those stark, frightening images. How else we gonna learn not to act like that? On the other hand, monkey see...
Sorry guys. I can't give up meat. It's just tastes good. Well, not if my ex-wife cooked it. Those were dark days. Most men gain weight after getting married. I lost weight. I'm sure that was partially due to the stress of being married to a psycho hose-beast, but that woman could screw up ice cubes.
"If you're not cynical, then you're not paying attention."
How about really depressed cows? I mean, if they want to die, who are we to stand in their way?
#2. To: avian virus (#1)
#3. To: robin (#0)
#4. To: Dakmar (#2)
#5. To: Dakmar (#2)
#6. To: aristeides (#3)
I have Type 2 diabetes. One way I keep it under control is to eat a diet heavy in meats. I find it hard to believe meat-eating is not perfectly natural, when for some of us it is close to a necessity.
#7. To: robin (#0)
#8. To: avian virus (#4)
You could also just wait for the cow to get sick and die before eating it. This wouldn't be murder either.
 | Gold and silver are real money, paper is but a promise. |
#9. To: orangedog (#7)
When I was young we were too poor to afford a stove. My dad would would put the hamburger patties on the car engine while he drove home from work. I thought meat tasted like motor oil until I got married and moved out of the house.
#10. To: Elliott Jackalope (#8)
Tourist: Why does your cow only have 3 legs? How about really depressed cows? I mean, if they want to die, who are we to stand in their way?
Farmer: Well, our son nearly drowned and the cow swam out to save him.
Tourist: Wow, didn't even know cows could swim. So that's when she lost the leg?
Farmer: No, not exactly. We had a house fire and the cow dragged our daughter from the burning building.
Tourist: Ah, so that's when the cow lost her leg.
Farmer: No, not exactly. I was working in the garage underneath the truck. The cow somehow sensed that the truck was going to fall on me and managed to lure me out in time.
Tourist: Wow! That's some cow!
Farmer: Darned right. She's a good cow, and smart too.
Tourist: So that's when she lost the leg? In the garage?
Farmer: No, with a cow like that it didn't seem right to eat her all at once.
When prosperity comes, do not use all of it. - Confucious
The nation is prosperous on the whole, but how much prosperity is there in a hole? - Will Rogers
#11. To: avian virus (#9)
That's nothing. I was so poor we got up before we went to bed, ate rocks and had sand for dessert, couldn't afford shoes so we wore shoeboxes, the wind was so bad we walked backwards ten miles to school every day!
When I was young we were too poor to afford a stove. My dad would would put the hamburger patties on the car engine while he drove home from work. I thought meat tasted like motor oil until I got married and moved out of the house.
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