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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."

15 of 353 comments (clear)

  1. I hope by rossdee · · 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 · · 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 · · 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 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Of course there are also the people who think that any food that has even just come close to a lab is the devil. That group might have a considerable (but not complete) overlap with the ethical vegetarians/vegans.

      --
      The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
    4. Re:I hope by Culture20 · · Score: 5, Funny

      And the health-issues variety. "Vat grown meat exacerbates my wifi allergy!"

    5. Re:I hope by PolygamousRanchKid+ · · 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 BasilBrush · · Score: 5, Funny

      My own concern is: how will I know for sure it's fake beef and not fake horse?

    7. Re:I hope by Culture20 · · Score: 5, Funny

      Whether or not you buy it from the UK?

  2. Reminds me of an old joke by symbolset · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Q: How can you know why somebody is a vegan?

    A: Don't worry. He'll tell you.

    --
    Help stamp out iliturcy.
  3. Re:I dont want to live on this planet anymore by dingen · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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?

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    Pretty good is actually pretty bad.
  4. Re:I dont want to live on this planet anymore by aardvarkjoe · · 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?
  5. Bacon ftw. by Nyder · · 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 · · 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!

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      46137
  6. Re: I dont want to live on this planet anymore by crmarvin42 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    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.

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    Bureaucracy expands to meet the needs of the expanding bureaucracy.-Oscar Wilde
  7. Re:Japanese by DasSquid · · Score: 5, Interesting
    The main issue with Kobe beef is that... well... it is all marketing. I live in Japan and I import meat from Australia, I know the industry well. The cultural difference between here and Australia in regards to agriculture is mind blowing. In Japan, tradition is king. If you do not do what your region/your family tells you, then the price of your cow will plummet, I've been to the cattle auctions here and they really are an interesting artifact.

    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'.