Artificial, Vat-Grown Meat: Yum or Dumb?

[Ngeyä Sa'nok]

While it's probably a lot smarter than factory farming and wasting land for large herds, I personally like hunting better. It gets you outside and you build a connection with nature. 

[wisnij]

Nitpick: cultured meat is not "artifical".  It's real animal tissue, just grown in a different manner.

Simply growing muscle tissue is not difficult; we can do that today.  The challenges are making large-scale production feasible, and making the results palatable to humans (proper texture, connective tissue, etc).  In the long run, once the engineering details are worked out, in vitro meat is a very good idea.  It could be better for humans because we can control exactly what goes into it -- imagine beef that tastes the same but has some of its cholesterol swapped out for healthful fatty acids like omega-3s. It'd be better for the environment too because producing meat via livestock, especially cattle, is resource-intensive and generates a great deal of pollution.  It could also help reduce the overfishing of those species of fish we catch wild rather than farm.

[Txur’Itan]

Nitpick: cultured meat is not "artifical".  It's real animal tissue, just grown in a different manner.

Simply growing muscle tissue is not difficult; we can do that today.  The challenges are making large-scale production feasible, and making the results palatable to humans (proper texture, connective tissue, etc).  In the long run, once the engineering details are worked out, in vitro meat is a very good idea.  It could be better for humans because we can control exactly what goes into it -- imagine beef that tastes the same but has some of its cholesterol swapped out for healthful fatty acids like omega-3s. It'd be better for the environment too because producing meat via livestock, especially cattle, is resource-intensive and generates a great deal of pollution.  It could also help reduce the overfishing of those species of fish we catch wild rather than farm.

Once they modify the molecules that enter the cells, it takes on artificial attributes. Some artificial alterations can be beneficial as you say, others can be like high fructose corn syrup (tastes wonderful but is killing us)...

[Aröen]

All that story remind me on Matrix and the artificial meat that taste and look like natural, but its just a fiction. I could use something like that, for my figure 

[Robert Nantangä Tirea]

Interesting thread!

Personally? If it's food, I'll eat it. So yes, I would eat it. I"m not very "picky" so to speak.

But do they? Look at population trends worldwide; in places where there is plenty to eat (the "First World") the birthrate goes down as parents concentrate resources on raising one or two healthy kids. As it is, with food scarce, they breed like rabbits because they expect a high attrition rate. It's counter-intuitive, but there it is.

Indeed. Developed nations tend to have a reduced birth-rate.
This idea actually brings up an intersting thought. If you looked at the rate of technological advancement throughout history (difficult to formulate a "rate" because how do you define "technology"? but just go with it for now.) and compared to population growth, would you find a limiting function? Suppose if you projected the rates down the road x-number of years would you reach a point where the average technological development of the whole world is high enough that population growth approaches zero? (note this is growth we're talking about, not continuity. zero-growth rate in this case would mean an average per couple of 2 children + ΔP, where ΔP = {premature deaths + nonviables + gays}/{total population}. )

Are we actually destined to ensure the continuity of earth and avoid overpopulation? In that case techological innovation would be not only corporately desirable but also humanitarian. Take it a step in the mystical/spiritual direction, you could attribute this effect to a Gaia-type guiding force that to most people would seem to be the polar opposite of "technology" (technology is accused as seperating us from a connection to nature) is infact integral to technology. Technological advancement would then be a fundemental "tool" of a "Gaia"type force.

This reminds me of an old sci fi story I read once... The premise was that all meat was manufactured, but one man took his son out hunting, and had "real meat", which the child described as far more delicious and succulent than the synthetic. It ended with the child examining the oddities of the creature they had hunted, most notably its pinkish skin, extruding ears and nose, and tuft of fur on the top of its head... But I digress.

Yes, oe DO taste very good indeed  

Misgrown meat can mean misfolded proteins...

This is only the case if it's YOUR cells producing the misfolding protiens. In the case of the meat, the primary reason for eating meats (vitamins/minerals aside) is the protien source. But your body doesn't use the protiens the way they are. Your digestive system breaks down protiens into their amino acid components and then provides the cells of your body with these for the production of new protiens. Your body makes MOST but not all of the amino acids it's needs, so you have to get the rest from a variety of meats/seeds/vegitables.