Lab-Grown Pig Even Vegetarians Can Eat
Dutch scientists are doing their bit to address the food crisis, the climate crisis and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals by growing pork meat from muscle cells harvested from a live pig. Their hope is to turn the cells from one animal into the meat from a million without killing any. (continued)
Dutch scientists are doing their bit to address the food crisis, the climate crisis and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals by growing pork meat from muscle cells harvested from a live pig. Their hope is to turn the cells from one animal into the meat from a million without killing any.
Right now, you wouldn’t go near the stuff. It’s a few soggy centimeters of meat grown in the nutrient-rich blood juices of animal fetuses.
It all sounds pretty horrific, but the researchers behind the project firmly believe that if they can get the end result to look and taste like the meat products we’re used to (no soylent green, please), people will go for it.
That’s a good thing for a world that is overfished, overgrazed and doubling in population.
PETA is on board, as long as the meat in question “is no longer a piece of a dead animal.” — PZS
WAIT, BEFORE YOU GO…Times of London:
[Mark] Post and his colleagues have so far managed to develop a soggy form of pork and are seeking to improve its texture. “What we have at the moment is rather like wasted muscle tissue,” Post said.
“We need to find ways of improving it by training it and stretching it, but we will get there. This product will be good for the environment and will reduce animal suffering. If it feels and tastes like meat, people will buy it.”
At present there is a question mark over the taste as laboratory rules prevent the scientists eating the fruits of their labour.
If you're reading this, you probably already know that non-profit, independent journalism is under threat worldwide. Independent news sites are overshadowed by larger heavily funded mainstream media that inundate us with hype and noise that barely scratch the surface. We believe that our readers deserve to know the full story. Truthdig writers bravely dig beneath the headlines to give you thought-provoking, investigative reporting and analysis that tells you what’s really happening and who’s rolling up their sleeves to do something about it.
Like you, we believe a well-informed public that doesn’t have blind faith in the status quo can help change the world. Your contribution of as little as $5 monthly or $35 annually will make you a groundbreaking member and lays the foundation of our work.
Book Review
A new book argues that many animals we find loathsome are often made so because of our own actions.
As climate change decimates our fauna, we must remember that the loss of our fellow species will harm us directly, too.
Activists, actors and politicians defy tradition and work to prohibit cruelty to animals.
Analyses show that a shocking United Nations report was eclipsed by news the Duke and Duchess of Sussex had their first child.
We have a finite amount of time left to coexist with large parts of the biosphere, including thousands of species of plants and animals.
Something’s going on in the natural world that may prove more devastating than a mass of species extinctions, and it's our job to address it.
There are currently no responses to this article.
Be the first to respond.