Dangerous Ideas

Ingrid Newkirk of PETA wrote an op-ed piece encouraging research into biotechnology that would allow people to grow meat from cells (e.g., it’d still be meat, but no animals would necessarily be killed in the process). I remember talking with a vegan friend about this a few years ago … if it were possible to grow meat in a lab, without hurting animals, would we eat it? I’m not sure I would, but it’s a very intriguing idea.

Here’s how it would happen: Scientists extract muscle cells by taking biopsies from cattle, pigs, chickens, fish and other animals. From this tissue, they isolate the cells that are the precursors to muscles, and these would multiply in the laboratory to form the muscle tissue — or meat — that people eat.

Researchers say it could be grown in sheets and when it’s ready, some could be sliced off for sale and consumption. U.S. and British researchers say it’s possible right now to produce hamburger, sausages, nuggets and Spam-like meat. Steak may take a little more work, but it probably won’t be long before that, too, would satisfy devotees of rib eye. It’s as natural, say the scientists, as wine-making.

I’d question the “as natural as wine making bit”, but I admit, the idea of being able to wean people off of dead animals with this hypothetical meat is great. It’d open up all sorts of issues, though:

• Laboratory grown meat might even make it legal to eat human flesh. Even if no humans are hurt in the making, this is bound to be controversial. Of course, there already is vegan human flesh alternative.
• Will this come with the same host of issues that GMOs come with? It doesn’t sound as bad, but it still sounds like a lot more research needs to be done.
• Unless they can grow milk in the lab, there will still be veal, since the dairy industry will keep generating calves.
• I wonder how the cattle industry (and others) would respond to this? I can’t imagine they’d just roll with it.

That’s just the tip of the ice berg.