Engineering the $325,000 Burger

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Engineering the $325,000 Burger

Posted by samzenpus on Sunday May 12, 2013 @10:08AM from the hold-the-cheese dept.

Dr. Mark Post hopes to bring the dream of cultured meat one step closer to reality when he unveils his high tech hamburger in London. The five ounce burger is composed of 20,000 strips of beef muscle tissue grown in a laboratory at a cost of $325,000 (provided by an anonymous donor.) From the article: "The hamburger, assembled from tiny bits of beef muscle tissue grown in a laboratory and to be cooked and eaten at an event in London, perhaps in a few weeks, is meant to show the world — including potential sources of research funds — that so-called in-Vitro meat, or cultured meat, is a reality."

20 of 353 comments (clear)

Min score:

Reason:

Sort:

I hope by rossdee · 2013-05-12 10:10 · Score: 5, Funny

You get lots of fries for that price
(And your coke in a real glass, not a plastic cup)
1. Re:I hope by maxwell+demon · 2013-05-12 10:14 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  But then, it's not made out of animals. So it's clearly vegetarian food.
  
  --
  The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
2. Re:I hope by femtobyte · 2013-05-12 10:15 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  You get lots of fries for that price
  Yep, you get plenty of fries from a parallel research project, codenamed "raise dolphins that grow potato tumors and kill them to make fries," thanks to a generous donation from the Society for the Promotion of Cruelty to Animals.
3. Re:I hope by maxwell+demon · 2013-05-12 10:39 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  Yeah, I also wouldn't accept imaginary coke. Nor complex coke, because it always has an imaginary part.
  
  --
  The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
4. Re:I hope by Culture20 · 2013-05-12 10:39 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  And the health-issues variety. "Vat grown meat exacerbates my wifi allergy!"
5. Re:I hope by PolygamousRanchKid+ · 2013-05-12 10:52 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  - ethical vegetarian
  - ethical vegan
  Things that I eat include:
  - edible vegetarian
  - edible vegan
  
  --
  Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
6. Re: I hope by 93+Escort+Wagon · 2013-05-12 11:28 · Score: 1, Funny
  
  You are aware that BILLIONS of people live perfectly healthy lives without meat right?
  If you call that living.
  
  --
  #DeleteChrome
7. Re:I hope by BasilBrush · 2013-05-12 12:39 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  My own concern is: how will I know for sure it's fake beef and not fake horse?
8. Re:I hope by Culture20 · 2013-05-12 13:06 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Whether or not you buy it from the UK?
9. Re:I hope by Samantha+Wright · 2013-05-12 15:58 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  Early experiments with in vitro meat had no muscle tone. (Past stories here have pointed this out.) The closest natural experience would be eating a fetus—not exactly good steak.
  
  --
  Bio questions? Ask me to start a Q&A journal. Computer analogies available for most topics!
10. Re:I hope by AdamWill · 2013-05-12 19:04 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  You forgot '- think that eating seafood and the occasional hamburger counts as vegetarian'
11. Re:I hope by avandesande · 2013-05-13 04:28 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Heck, maybe you could market it based on donor identity? Beyonce rump roast anyone?
  
  --
  love is just extroverted narcissism
The price is perfectly realistic, really... by Type44Q · 2013-05-12 10:43 · Score: 3, Funny

The price is perfectly realistic, really; in fact, it's quite well thought-out. By the time these are ready for large-scale roll-out, inflation will have caught up nicely.
Re:I dont want to live on this planet anymore by aardvarkjoe · 2013-05-12 10:45 · Score: 5, Funny

GMO agriculture by a fascist system (Monsanto and govt) HFCS in one form or another is in almost everything, now this (lab grown meat), i seen enough of this planet and i want off
The upside is that you're still going to be able to have burgers without having to figure out how to herd cattle in space.

--

How can we continue to believe in a just universe and freedom to eat crackers if we have no ale?
Bacon ftw. by Nyder · 2013-05-12 11:00 · Score: 5, Funny

First they replaced my natural flavor with imitation, and I ate it anyways.
Second they replaced sugar with corn syrup, and I kept on getting fatter.
Then they replaced my natural crops with genetic modified crops, and I kept eating.
Now they are trying to replace my natural cow grown meat with vat grown meat? WTF?
When will this stop? We are very close to losing bacon in the name of progress.
Think of the bacon, this must be stopped.

--
Be seeing you...
1. Re:Bacon ftw. by labnet · 2013-05-12 12:02 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Think of the bacon, this must be stopped.
  
  Ten years ago we had Steve Jobs, Johnny Cash, and Bob Hope. Now we have no Jobs, no Cash and no Hope. Please God don't let Kevin Bacon die!
  
  --
  46137
Re:I dont want to live on this planet anymore by Anonymous Coward · 2013-05-12 11:03 · Score: 1, Funny

Why are you so negative about lab grown meat? No more animal suffering, a lot less impact on the environment, what's not to like?
What's not to like? Well the I don't like the lack of animal suffering. The suffering makes the meat taste better.
Re:Speaking as a meat eater... by blue+trane · 2013-05-12 11:38 · Score: 4, Funny

Were you a slave-owner in a previous life?
Re:Speaking as a meat eater... by multiben · 2013-05-12 13:27 · Score: 4, Funny

It's not my fault if my employees fail to negotiate good working conditions.
Did I hear... by grumpyman · 2013-05-12 15:56 · Score: 3, Funny

Anonymous McDonor?