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Scientists in South Carolina Work to Grow Meat in A Lab

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Weenerz

Banned
The_Technomancer said:
Why? If they get it to taste the same and feel the same and look the same whats the difference?

I only enjoy food when I know an animal was slaughtered to make it.
 

Dali

Member
The_Technomancer said:
Why? If they get it to taste the same and feel the same and look the same whats the difference?
I doubt they'd get the final product indistinguishable from the real thing anytime soon. People can taste the difference between corn fed and grass-fed beef. I know people that don't like the taste/texture of farm-raised fish. You think scientists will be able to duplicate the texture and taste of real meat.

... but if they ever perfected it I guess nutrient bath-fed synth meat is just as good as grass-fed dead animal flesh.
not really
 

pelicansurf

Needs a Holiday on Gallifrey
The_Technomancer said:
Why? If they get it to taste the same and feel the same and look the same whats the difference?
He probably has a shotgun next to him while having a lip full of dipping tobacco. Some people are too dumb thus they fear change.
 

Tabris

Member
The more I think about, the more I think this would be the best thing to happen to the world if they could simulate cow meat. As long as it was priced the same or cheaper. All that land could then be used for agriculture, thus you would be able to feed a lot more people on both simulated cow and new vegetables/wheat/etc. You would get rid of the 3rd largest generation of CO2 on this planet, thus you would make enough of a difference to global warming where we could start reversing the damage we've done.
 

Vague

Member
I'd supplement my current diet with it but it wont be nutritionally the same so it wont be able to replace the real thing except in the experience of taste and texture.

We still can't even get baby formula to match mother's milk after decades of trying and vitamin supplements still aren't as effective as vitamins absorbed directly from food.
 

distrbnce

Banned
Jeeze, terrible name in "Charlem" but I'm not against the idea. I'm still ready to fight when food is reduced to pill form though.
 

besada

Banned
Been waiting for commercial vatmeat for nearly a decade. Bring it on, but you better have a selection of long pig for me, too.
 
"It will be functional, natural, designed food," Mironov said. "How do you want it to taste? You want a little bit of fat, you want pork, you want lamb? We design exactly what you want. We can design texture.

Sure and I'll believe it when I taste it.
 
Normally, I'd be concerned that such a development could put all of my family and friends in agriculture out of business, but the reality is that this will never gain widespread public acceptance.

People freak out enough over GMOs, so the idea that the public will embrace in vitro meat is absurd.

And for what it's worth, there has been a ton of progress in making livestock farms more environmentally friendly. Methane digesters are already operational on some farms, and the hope is that they'll eventually become commonplace. They allow livestock farmers to harvest their own waste to power their farms - and perhaps allow them to sell the excess power. It's really cool stuff.
 

Nocebo

Member
I wouldn't be surprised if vegetarians lead the charge to public acceptance of synthesized meat. Get a bunch of vegan celebs in on it and BAM!
 

davepoobond

you can't put a price on sparks
if this actually became edible, i honestly don't think you could call it "meat." because its NOT meat.

it would have to have some sort of euphemistic alternate name.
 

UltimaKilo

Gold Member
The_Technomancer said:
Why? If they get it to taste the same and feel the same and look the same whats the difference?

Absolutely nothing. This would be better for the environment, make food prices cheaper and perhaps make meat leaner and healthier. I think it's a pretty good idea but we're probably not going to see this done in a major scale in our generation.

I could see a day where meat harvested from animals is considered primitive and unhealthy.

MAKE IT HAPPEN
 

BocoDragon

or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
Last year when the possibility of grown meat came up, I discussed it with my vegetarian hippie cousin, and asked her if she would eat it.

Her response was that it was "terrible" somehow, and no she probably wouldn't eat it. I was surprised.

I said:

If you don't eat meat because you don't like the nutrition that it provides, then I get it. But if you don't eat meat because of the animal cruelty or the fact that you are consuming a sentient being, then there should be no question: this should be fine to eat. As safe to eat as plant life, which is living too, it just doesn't have a brain (pretty much because it doesn't need motor functions as it reproduces via germination).

Her response was that animal "energy" (in the woo sense) was different than plant energy. Even meat grown in a lab will have that animal "energy".

Jesus.
 

distrbnce

Banned
BocoDragon said:
Last year when the possibility of grown meat came up, I discussed it with my vegetarian hippie cousin, and asked her if she would eat it.

Her response was that it was "terrible" somehow, and no she probably wouldn't eat it. I was surprised.

I said:

If you don't eat meat because you don't like the nutrition that it provides, then I get it. But if you don't eat meat because of the animal cruelty or the fact that you are consuming a sentient being, then there should be no question: this should be fine to eat. As safe to eat as plant life, which is living too, it just doesn't have a brain (pretty much because it doesn't need motor functions as it reproduces via germination).

Her response was that animal "energy" (in the woo sense) was different than plant energy. Even meat grown in a lab will have that animal "energy".

Jesus.

Ugh, how weird/gross. It's crazy how much magic plays into some people's eating habits.
 
I am glad for this technology as long as it can encourage people to kill less to eat. However it will take a long time I am sure before it would be part of the market. I can't see agricultural companies allowing this to happen if this disturbs their profit and dominance over the market (unless they are in charge of this).
 

Ri'Orius

Member
I love the people in here crying that they'll never touch the stuff. I mean, first we get the guys saying they'd never use transporters, now they don't want to eat food from a replicator.

C'mon guys, this is the future we've been waiting for. I swear, some of you would probably never ride a hoverboard because you're afraid of antigraviton-induced skin cancer or something.
 

distrbnce

Banned
Ri'Orius said:
I love the people in here crying that they'll never touch the stuff. I mean, first we get the guys saying they'd never use transporters, now they don't want to eat food from a replicator.

C'mon guys, this is the future we've been waiting for. I swear, some of you would probably never ride a hoverboard because you're afraid of antigraviton-induced skin cancer or something.

This is generally the case for any new technology, our natural Luddite tendencies revolt at first, but as the benefits start to outshine the risks, the general public accepts it as normal.
 
Dali said:
I doubt they'd get the final product indistinguishable from the real thing anytime soon. People can taste the difference between corn fed and grass-fed beef. I know people that don't like the taste/texture of farm-raised fish. You think scientists will be able to duplicate the texture and taste of real meat.

... but if they ever perfected it I guess nutrient bath-fed synth meat is just as good as grass-fed dead animal flesh.
not really

Oh, another person afraid of new technology and progress.
Calling it synth meat or something with similar negative connotations is what the people who lobby against this will use in their commercials. Once they develop the technology far enough to be able to make it truly 'designer' meat there will be no difference between the meat at the carnery and the meat at the butcher.

But wow, they really should not call it charlem, sheesh. It's like a horrible mashup of charnel, char, and harlem.

EDIT: And woah, transporters (I assume teleporters) is a completely different situation. From what I know the idea of a teleporter is not physically possible with what we know. So it's pretty much impossible to say if you would use it or not if there's not even a concept of how it would work.
 
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