Neal Blaikie <nrb@porterville.k12.ca.us> writes:
> This is only slightly off the subject, but I've noticed a couple of
> people here mentioning "vat meat" or "the idea of growing meat in a
> vat." Since this is the first time I've heard this mentioned outside
> of science fiction (I admit, I may be slightly out of touch here), I
> was wondering if anyone could point me to links that deal with this
> subject. Is it real? Still in the theoretical stages? A fantasy?
> Very fascinating . . .
Growing muscle cells in vitro is already done, although mainly for
tissue engineering research. However, there is a patent by some Dutch
scientists for a method of using this for food production
(unfortunately I can't find the link or patent in my messy
office). Currently you just get a cell suspension, perhaps suitable
for Swedish falukorv but not much else, and it needs nutrient
solutions ironically extracted from meat production. However, tissue
engineering is likely to produce methods of growing muscle fibers,
although it remains to see just how cost effective the tanks are
compared to other means of meat or meat substitute production.
-- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Anders Sandberg Towards Ascension! asa@nada.kth.se http://www.nada.kth.se/~asa/ GCS/M/S/O d++ -p+ c++++ !l u+ e++ m++ s+/+ n--- h+/* f+ g+ w++ t+ r+ !y
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