Is the meat cultivated by the laboratory really the future?

summary

• The meat planted with the laboratory addresses environmental and ethical challenges.

• Challenges include high costs of production and general awareness.

• The taste is mixed. Cultural standards affect the acceptance of laboratory meat.

Unless it is vegetarian or vegetarian, you may eat and enjoy meat. It is one of the most important sources of food for our types, and perhaps why we have developed our great brains in the first place, but meat has its problems.

Whether the cost of industrial meat production, or ethical issues about animal therapy, meat is more controversial whenever we go in the future. So what about cultivation of burgers in a laboratory instead of a cow?

From imagination to reality, laboratory meat here

The idea of ​​”planted” meat was in many science fiction stories. In 1952 SpacecraftFor example, “Chicken“It is a giant point of meat that continues to grow only, and humans cut meat from it to feed the world. Many science fiction stories are characterized by foods made, which include basic meat protein, but you can find lists of Stories with “cultivated” meat On the web if you are interested.

The important point is that, in imagination, the authors were studying the idea that we can simply make meat or a suitable alternative to meat without a chaotic process for animal breeding and slaughtering them, and since technology has advanced, scientists and engineers in the real world have taken that ball and ran with it.

In 2013, we had The first laboratory growth burgerDr. Mark Post provided it at a cost of $ 330,000! Since then, and The Food and Drug Administration approved companies such as upward foodsTo sell meat implanted in the United States of America.

There are still a lot of challenges to overcome

This may seem like meat implanted in the laboratory, just around the corner for a local supermarket, but the fact is that we only achieved the proof of the concept stage. We know that it can be done, but this differs from knowing how to expand meat production, and produce it on a scale where it is cheap enough to compete with natural animal meat sources.

It is also difficult to compete with the current infrastructure in the current meat industry. Meat cultivation will need vital reactions, growth and other decisive equipment. Someone must pay for that and risk, so it is not surprising that a few companies have been stimulated so far this new industry.

Then you have the issue of public perception, whether the product is a good taste or not, and a retreat from the current meat industry on issues such as signs of cow meat made from the laboratory as “beef”, which it clearly does not want.

Does this actually solve any problems?

Meat cultivated with the laboratory has the ability to treat or even solve some problems that come with the production of traditional meat. There is a great concern about energy and water costs to produce beef, for example. Even there are climate concerns, because cows produce methane, which is a very greenhouse gas. Therefore, it is assumed that it can be diluted by planting meat in a controlled environment.

Regardless of the hopes of the environment and energy, there is also the moral dimension. The transplanted meat does not have a nervous system or a brain. There is no possibility of suffering or abuse. However, at the present time, meat cultivation needs Fetal cows serum To work, which means that there is still slaughter of animals. This is the main issue that scientists must eliminate before we can say that meat cultivated in the laboratory is really ethical.

If the meat planted in the laboratory suddenly becomes competitive with prices through the production of natural meat, and it began to eat in its share in the market, there are also the moral effects of what happens to millions and millions of animals that have been raised and did not exist except to become food for us. Maintaining it costs the money, so there is a ghost of the collective disposal process if the change occurs very quickly.

It is also not clear whether energy requirements will not compensate for any environmental benefits, but there are many factors, such as clean sources of power and techniques for recycling, for example, the water used in this process.

What do people say about taste?

All reactions to the taste of meat cultivated in the laboratory that I have seen, heard or read so far are very mixed. Its taste is like meat, because these muscle cells are as in a real meat slice or chicken breast. The thing is that real animal muscles are not just a handful of the cells accumulated together. It is a complex structure that is formed through animal exercise and lifestyle. So the meat that is cultivated in the laboratory is easier to make it palatable if it is a full or processed floor in the chicken nuggets, but it is not as if we can repeat a slice of meat yet.

But do you eat it?

It is also important to keep in mind that what tastes good is not only a chemistry. It relates to what you have arisen with, what is part of your culture, and your beliefs that pre -food. while Eating insect protein is normal in most South AmericaFor example, the North Americans are likely to be very solid.

Likewise, my mother is the brains of sheep and fish soups delicious, but I think it is huge. I love the tongue of beef, but my wife believes this total, because she is part of the country where people are not eaten.

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Personally, I am very adventurous when it comes to trying new foods. I ate insects, I ate the impossible burger, and I will definitely try some meat that I grow in the laboratory if another person pays for this experience!