In vitro meat

{{DISPLAYTITLE:''In vitro'' meat}}{{foodnav}}{{cquote| Fifty years hence, we shall escape the absurdity of growing a whole chicken in order to eat the breast or wing, by growing these parts separately under a suitable medium.|||[[Winston Churchill]]<ref>Yes, [http://news.sciencemag.org/2013/08/here-it-comes-…-375000-lab-grown-beef-burger he actually said that.]</ref>}}
'''''In vitro'' meat''', '''cultured meat''', or '''test tube meat''' is flesh for consumption that is grown in an artificial environment rather than harvested from a slaughtered [[animal]]. Although no product has been produced for public consumption, many research projects have successfully produced enough meat for it to be compared with equivalent meat products. Those who have tried it claim that it's close enough to replace a McDonald's patty when it comes to taste, but the texture and presentation still need work.<ref>https://www.inverse.com/article/57865-how-does-a-lab-grown-burger-taste-similar-to-mcdonald-s-say-scientists/</ref>

The concept of ''in vitro'' meat was one of the results of the Space Shuttle program; [[NASA]] [[Scientist|scientists]] and astronauts wanted a way to be able to eat fresh meat in [[space]]. Bringing meat from [[Earth]] would be impractical because of refrigeration, space and cooking problems.<ref group=note>So in 50 years when someone complains about how the STS program was one of the downers in NASA's history, just say that it might have inadvertently solved the [[food crisis]].</ref> In one of the [[stopped clock|better things they've ever done]], [[PETA]] offered a million-dollar prize in 2008 for whoever could produce commercial quantities of ''in vitro'' meat.

==How it's made==
''In vitro'' meat is made by taking the muscle cells from the desired flesh (for example, [[You have two cows|cow]] or chicken) which are then are attached to a biodegradable scaffolding and treated with chemicals, to produce the desired tissue: long, sturdy fibers of flesh.<ref>[http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/05/23/110523fa_fact_specter "Test Tube Burgers,"] ''The New Yorker.'' 5/23/11. Specter, Michael.</ref> Recently, steps have been made to avoid the tissue scaffolding (since it would be expensive to produce); instead, the cells are grown to interact with each other chemically to produce convincing meats.

==Benefits and problems==

Supporters of ''in vitro'' (aka "lab-grown", "cultivated" or "cultured") meat as opposed to traditional meat claim there are several benefits:

* No animals must be killed or slaughtered to produce ''in vitro'' meat.
* Far less animals are required (only for biopsies of animal cells).
* "Cruelty free" (high [[animal welfare]]).
* The cultivated meat would not produce any of the waste parts (internal organs, bones) of traditional meat.
* ''In vitro'' meat is less harmful to human health by eliminating or avoiding bacterial meat-borne diseases.
* The process of making ''in vitro meat'' produces fewer greenhouse gas emissions and is more environmental friendly.

Concerning the latter since less animals must be raised for biopsies, much less animal feed is required and less fecal matter in the production of ''in vitro'' meat. Cow and pig livestock contribute to the problem of [[global warming]] primarily through [[methane]] emissions; since ''in vitro'' meat requires less livestock this reduces the metabolism that produces methane and the problem of global warming from these livestock is arguably reduced while ''in vitro'' meat is likely to require a lot less land and water. On the other hand, when compared to conventional chicken production, the difference in greenhouse gas emissions is not as remarkable<ref>https://edepot.wur.nl/563404</ref> and one study has argued "cultivated" meat’s environmental impact is likely to be “orders of magnitude” higher than retail beef when emissions from its biotechnology are taken into account,<ref>https://www.ucdavis.edu/food/news/lab-grown-meat-carbon-footprint-worse-beef</ref> though other studies disagree.<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultured_meat#Environment</ref>

Aside from currently being very expensive to produce, ''in vitro'' meat &mdash; much like [[genetically modified food]] &mdash; causes a lot of people to go "Ewww! that's gross!" (despite the gruesomeness of traditional harvesting methods) and "that's [[Appeal to nature|unnatural]]". Complicating matters is that the texture in some forms of meat requires connective tissue, fat, or blood vessels to be present, which would be far more complex to engineer than muscle alone. 

''In vitro'' [[pork]] or shellfish might be [[kosher]] for [[Jew]]s; though no actual pigs or shellfish are involved in any but the vaguest way, the principle of "''Mar’it Ayin''" might be a complicating factor, as it is a prohibition against doing things that look as if they are something forbidden. Fake pork might look too much like real pork to be kosher.<ref>[https://www.jta.org/2011/06/17/ny/artificial-meat-kosher-or-not "Artificial Meat: Kosher or Not?"], ''The Jewish Week.''</ref>

The initial step to creating ''in vitro'' meat is to procure animal cells by a biopsy from a living animal but these have been questioned as harmful by some [[animal rights]] activists.

===Fetal bovine serum===

Critics of "lab-grown" meat point out it is not slaughter or cruelty free. The production of ''in vitro'' meat requires a growth agent to support cell growth which is usually foetal bovine serum [FVS] obtained from the fetus of slaughtered pregnant cows.<ref>https://slate.com/technology/2017/07/the-gruesome-truth-about-lab-grown-meat.html</ref><ref>https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2022/03/lab-meat-fetal-bovine-serum-blood-slaughter-cultured/</ref> As Moyano-Fernánde (2023) notes:

{{quotebox|Cultivated meat requires fetal bovine serum for food growth in the laboratory, a culture based on calf stem cells. After a mother cow has been slaughtered and gutted, her uterus, which contains the fetus, is removed. Only fetuses older than three months are used, otherwise the heart is too small to perforate. Although there are already tests with other culture media that do not require animal embryonic cells, such as algae, the most widely adopted option which offers the best results remains the use of mammalian fetuses.<ref>https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10806-022-09896-1</ref>}}

==Culture war woo==
In May 2024, despite cultured meat being nowhere near ready for the common marketplace, [[Ron DeSantis]] signed a protectionist bill (backed by state cattle ranchers) prohibiting lab-grown meat from being sold in the state of [[Florida]].<ref>[https://apnews.com/article/labgrown-meat-cultivated-ban-8dee6ce8e1282efe953ca4115db4b2c2 "Lab-grown meat isn’t on store shelves yet, but some states have already banned it"] by Dee-Ann Durbin, Associated Press, 2024 May 30</ref> Aside from the protectionism, the bill was also clearly nakedly political, designed to appeal to [[reactionaries]] who embraced the [[culture war]].<ref name="econmeat">[https://archive.ph/gA9yo "How lab-grown meat became part of America’s culture wars"], Economist, 2024 June 3, archived on 2024 June 3</ref>

In signing the bill, DeSantis alluded to a [[World Economic Forum#I will not eat the bugs, I will not live in a pod|World Economic Forum conspiracy theory]], stating that "Florida is fighting back against the global elite’s plan to force the world to eat meat grown in a petri dish or bugs to achieve their [[authoritarian]] goals." Florida Commissioner of Agriculture {{wpl|Wilton Simpson}} added that "lab-grown meat is a disgraceful attempt to undermine our [[appeal to tradition|proud traditions and prosperity]], and is in direct opposition to authentic agriculture".<ref>[https://www.flgov.com/2024/05/01/governor-desantis-signs-legislation-to-keep-lab-grown-meat-out-of-florida/ "Governor DeSantis Signs Legislation to Keep Lab-Grown Meat Out of Florida"], Ron DeSantis, press release, 2024 May 1</ref>

It is unclear whether DeSantis and Simpson's vision of "authentic agriculture" refers to the realities of the modern meat industry, composed of giant, massively consolidated conglomerates (in the US, just four firms controlled 85% of the US steer and heifer slaughter in 2022),<ref>[https://thehill.com/opinion/congress-blog/3545769-meat-industry-consolidation-creates-a-costly-cookout/ "Meat industry consolidation creates a costly cookout"] by Jack Payne, Hill, 2022 July 4</ref> where animals were often raised using artificial growth hormones<ref>[https://www.bbc.com/news/business-37352553 "US farmers go 'natural' for profits"] by Hilary Niles, BBC, 2016 September 19</ref> and large amounts of [[antibiotics]].<ref name="econmeat"/>

==Sources==
*''Engineering & Technology'' (17509637); 2/20/2010, Vol. 5 Issue 3, p.30-32, Edwards, Chris
==Notes==
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==References==
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[[Category:Food]]
[[Category:Biotechnology]]
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Categories: Food, Biotechnology, Science