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While off just a bit on the timing, Churchill's far-sighted prediction is almost here. Infact, as far back as 1908 Nobel laureate Dr. Alexi Carrel grew and sustained chicken heart tissue for years. Taking just a few cells, placing them in a petri dish with a special nutrient bath, the cells would live and reproduce. When the cell tissue filled the dish, he would take a few cells from that sample, discard the rest, and repeat the process in a new container.
It is the belief and hope of many that laboratory grown meat will solve a variety of problems. NASA hopes the process may create endless food supply for extended space missions. Fast food chains hope they will have a less expensive and better controlled food supply. PETA hopes in-vitro meats will put an end to factory farming.
In fact, PETA is offering a $1-million prize to the first company to successfully launch commercially viable in-vitro meat products. To win, the lab-grown meat must have a taste and texture indistinguishable from real chicken flesh, be produced in sufficiently large quantities to be sold commercially, and successfully sold at a competitive price in at least 10 states. Deadline is set at June 30, 2012.
Some of the hurdles that must be overcome:
The process is currently time consuming and expensive. Cultured meat products are not yet like a firm chicken breast or steak, but more like a soggy gel --not very appetizing. The current process still uses animal products such as blood and embryonic fluids, although scientists believe that once a method has been perfected, this will no longer be the case. Some researchers also believe that to create products demanded by consumers, genetic modifications may be explored.
While a lab grown T-Bone steak is not around the corner, early products will likely be in the form of hot dogs, ground beef, stews, and such foods that do not require a great deal of shape or texture from the meat itself. Sea food may be one of the first products, as fish cultures appear to grow better than others.
Will vegetarians and vegans go back to eating meat if they realize it is truly "cruelty-free?" Probably not, as meat is still considered unhealthy, and many also believe the focus should be on natural farming methods: growing food in nature's soil, instead of high-tech franken foods grown in a laboratory.
more info and opinions:
vegan activist blog
lime seattle
scientific american
wired magazine
beef magazine
new scientist
uk times
utne reader
npr news on peta
abc news on peta
future-past blog
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