Recently, I heard about a disgusting thing called LAB MEAT which could eventually end up in our supermarkets. Those in favor of growing meat in a petri dish say that it will help our planet and cut down on the needless slaughter of animals. In fact, PETA has offered a $1Million reward for the first person who can grow a chicken in the lab.
What?!!
"I have zero interest in making a new food just for vegans.
I am making a food for people who are
comfortable eating meat and who want to continue
eating meat. I want to reduce the human
footprint on this planet by 50%." - Molecular Biologist Patrick Brown
I am making a food for people who are
comfortable eating meat and who want to continue
eating meat. I want to reduce the human
footprint on this planet by 50%." - Molecular Biologist Patrick Brown
So would you eat meat if it were grown in the lab? I personally would not eat meat again for health reasons. To me, meat (whether grown in the lab or on land) is not a health food. To me vegetables are life and health.
“Meat is not a necessary or healthy food.
We don’t need to eat it,” says Amy Lanou, PhD,
senior nutrition scientist for the Physicians
Committee for Responsible Medicine in Washington, DC.
“If we as a country don’t take the big steps in
avoiding animal-based foods,
we are not going to see healthier people
or a decline in chronic diseases.”
We don’t need to eat it,” says Amy Lanou, PhD,
senior nutrition scientist for the Physicians
Committee for Responsible Medicine in Washington, DC.
“If we as a country don’t take the big steps in
avoiding animal-based foods,
we are not going to see healthier people
or a decline in chronic diseases.”
Below is an excerpt describing the method scientists use to grow the lab meat:
So how do you grow meat in a vat?
As a recipe, it is unusual, hard to follow and at first glance somewhat unappetising. But if its creator is right, in a few decades our descendants will be puzzled – indeed horrified – that we ever did it any other way.
First, you take a cow, pig or indeed just about any animal. Up to now, this animal will have led a charmed life, with several acres of grazing at its disposal, the finest winter feed and no abuse.
Then you kill it. The creation of in-vitro meat does require the slaughter of animals, but the point is that, in theory, a single specimen could provide the seed material for hundreds of tons of meat. Only a tiny fraction of the farm animals alive today would be needed to supply the entire human race.
The next stage is to extract a sliver of muscle tissue and transfer this blob of red matter to a petri dish. Then you use a mixture of chemistry and manual manipulation to tease apart the cells on the dish. What you are looking for are skeletal muscle satellite cells – stem cells – all-purpose repair modules that are there to create new tissue in case of damage. It is satellite cells in your muscles that swing into action should you injure yourself in the gym or have a nasty fall – dividing, then dividing again in rapid succession to create new muscle.
When you have a few thousand of these satellite cells, you place them in a warm broth, consisting of a mixture of 100 or so synthetic nutrients together with serum extracted from cow foetuses. "That will have to change in the final product," Post says (an admission that, in yuck terms, "foetal serum" is up there with quivering blobs of flesh). Then you wait for nature to take its course.
After a few days, your microscopic ball of cells has divided into a thin sheet of muscle tissue big enough to cover the bottom of a flask. At this stage the dividing cells need to be checked for genetic stability. It may be possible to tweak the growing tissue to produce, say, a surfeit of healthy polyunsaturated fatty acids. Fake meat could be a health food, Post says.
After a week there are enough cells to cover 10 flasks. Then, with extreme care, you wrap these little slivers of unformed muscle around Velcro "anchors" and you give them a jolt of electricity. "This is very good," Post says. "They actually start to contract spontaneously." - Mike Hanlon, Guardian, June 2012
What is this world coming to? Today, most American’s have no idea what they are eating. Genetically modified foods and highly processed foods low in nutrition and high in calories line the shelves of our grocery stores. Foods which contain animal feces, and unknown ingredients are sold and touted as health foods. And now, the newest line of synthetic meat--YUK!! Why can’t we just be happy with eating a plant-based whole foods diet?
I am!
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