Will We All Soon Eat Lab-Grown Meat?

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Soy grown in Amazon

I doubt that the veggy members of PETA will end up eating soy grown in the Amazon because most of it goes to Europe for livestock feed. Most people prefer not to know the personal history of the meat on their plate, simply because they know it is a far cry from those images of lovely flocks happily munching away in the countryside. I think PETA is doing a great job by trying to revolutionise the way we think of what meat really means.

Iris @ Apr 24, 2008 17:06:32 PM

PETA is a bunch of hypocrites

This is among the more hypocritical things PETA has done in recent memory. Almost as hypocritical as its puppy-killing operation.

See www.PetaKillsAnimals.com for that one.]

Any reasonable attempt at culturing chicken cells will have to involve a laboratory serum. And within the four-year window PETA has prescribed, the only reasonably economical choice will be the widely available "fetal bovine serum." This protein-rich fluid is derived from the fetuses of unborn calves. Yes. the fetuses of unborn calves.

Many of these animals would otherwise become "veal," no doubt eliciting naked restaurant protests from the same PETA activists.

And before any lab-processed chicken-replacement could be brought to market, it would have to be extensively safety-tested on animals in order to satisfy the FDA.

PETA's president has insisted that "even if animal testing produced a cure for AIDS, we would be against it." But in the service of promoting a vegan utopia, animal testing suddenly is suddenly more "ethical" to these zealots?

Why? Could it be the promise of free media coverage?

Give me a break.

David of VA @ Apr 24, 2008 12:32:43 PM

Lab grown meat is a very good idea:

While 100 million tons of grain will be used to produce biofuel worldwide this year, a staggering 760 million tons will be used to feed chickens, pigs, and other farmed animals, so lab grown meat (or a vegetarian diet) makes a lot of sense.

For me, it's still about the animals:

www.Meat.org.

And the environmental argument is well-made here:

www.GoVeg.com/eco.

Bruce Friedrich of VA @ Apr 24, 2008 11:47:59 AM

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Thinking Harder

This blog is the public workshop of U.S. News writer and editor Ben Harder. In articles published in the magazine, he has covered a range of sciences, including medicine, human behavior, prehistory, and evolution. Here, he can explore those and other scientific fields more fully and more informally than is possible in print. He'll share whatever seems noteworthy or potentially useful, and he invites readers to do the same.

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On Feb. 24, 2008, Ben discussed the link between artificial light and cancer on WTOP radio. Listen to the interview at WTOP News. He again talked about light pollution on WTOP on March 22, exploring its environmental effects.

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