Slashdot Mirror
Engineering the $325,000 Burger
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."
the nanny-state mentality that is gripping government first world countries will soon forbid the growing of beef-life tissue because of its increasing the risk of arterial clogging, etc.
the second is a quality consideration, I will accept nothing less than the flavor and texture of the very finest beef cuts in vat cultured tissue. else I will continue to support the inhumane raising and slaughtering of cattle. Also, I reserve the right to throw tissue cultures on the grill over charcoal, concerns of carcinogens be damned.
Does this meat technically qualify as vegetarian, as no animal was killed to make it?
Only on
Sure it would. For people who adhere to vegetarianism on an ethical basis strictly founded in the idea that they do not want to contribute to the death and/or suffering of animals, there is no reason why they would have any issues with meat, taken in the absence of animals, nor any reason why they would deny the "meatness" of this material. They're issue isn't with the meat itself: it's with the way that the meat is gathered. Lab grown meat would still be meat and would likely circumvent those objections.
Of course, I recall an episode of Better of Ted where the geeks try to grow meat in the lab. When the tester eventually eats it, they ask how it tastes, and from my recollection, I believe the answer was, "like despair".
Don't jump to conclusions. Every attempt I've ever heard of at cultured meat, or any other tissue for that matter, has been highly dependent upon nutrient solutions derived from living animals. Many are based on animal blood, some on liver or other tissue. I'd bet far FAR more animals went into this over prices burger than would have been necessary for the McDonalds my family had for lunch yesterday.
Bureaucracy expands to meet the needs of the expanding bureaucracy.-Oscar Wilde
As per the wiki article, the Tajima cow is the only cow considered for this meat, what it fails to mention is that the Tajima is just an Angus, and indeed an Angus that is brought up in conditions I do not agree with. They are brought up in a very small area, not allowed to exercise so as to get that delicious marbling. After visiting these farms I feel much better about how my cows are brought up in Australia, with one cow having an average of 2 acres as opposed to 20 square feet.
Anyway, rant aside Kobe beef just isn't all that good in comparison to the other meats available in Japan as they're all the same damned breed being brought up exactly the same, Japanese tradition just dictates that it's more expensive and 'better'.
What about real human?
Would that be either legal or ethical?
"I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."
Indeed, which is something that has been done here. Hence the "early" qualifier.
Bio questions? Ask me to start a Q&A journal. Computer analogies available for most topics!