Food Technology: Vat Beef, Aeroponics, Organics, etc.

Have you guys heard of this?

Google's president financed a project to create a hamburger patty grown entirely from stem cells. Stem cells can grow into anything, and they start out with "instructions" of what they will later become. So stem cells from a full-grown cow were taken, and those grew separately into meat, which was then cooked and eaten.

People who tasted it said it tasted mostly normal, though it was lacking in fat (no fat stem cells were used).

If meat can be grown from cow stem cells, then that could result in numerous changes. The cost of meat could go down, due to it being easier to make. Cows won't have to be raised specifically for slaughter; only a few would have to be raised for their stem cells. Cows won't be fed antibiotics, growth hormones, or poor diets. Thus our overexposure to antibiotics (studies are cropping up that suggest overuse of antibiotics and poor bacterial makeup may be linked to the rise in food allergies and autoimmune disorders) will be reduced a bit, and we won't be eating meat that may have remnants of growth hormones in them.

There are people who say the idea seems "gross" and unnatural, and such food is on the same level as genetically-modified food. I disagree, since the way I see it, stem cells are themselves natural, and they grow into whatever. I see no difference, in terms of what the burger is, between one made from an actual cow (who is, essentially, made of stem cells that have grown into different things), and one made from stem cells that turned into a part of a cow.

What do you guys think?

You know, I'm usually the guy arguing in favor of nature over culture, but if you can grow chunks of cow from nothing and then eat those, that's actually pretty sweet. I'm all for this.

Assuming, of course, that it's more cost-effective to grow a cow's worth in meat than it is to grow a cow.

edited 8th Aug '13 8:20:38 AM by TobiasDrake

Vat meat is real! We live in a sci-fi setting.

You found about that on Cracked, didn't you?

Personally, I'm pretty excited. There are too many logistics issues with standard meat production, so an alternative would be welcome.

Nope,...it was in the paper yesterday,and I know someone personally who works for Google.

I wonder if people who wont eat meat because of killing animals would be fine with this.

As awesome as this is - and as much I do think this is the way of the future - it does raise a few questions: what about all the out-of-work farmers around the world? What happens to all the left over cows (and, in due time, pigs, chickens, etc)?

Species extinction for them of course. We don't keep cow sized animals around if we got no use for them.

edit: ok, maybe we'll put some in zoos or a museum of human history or something.

edited 8th Aug '13 8:36:16 AM by nightwyrm_zero

Because that's sure what corporations do, pass on the savings of improved production to their customers.... ;D

By and large, though, I only see benefits from this. While there may be some job loss as a result, innovation has always caused that. You combat it by creating new jobs in a different sector or by giving them a solid social security net. And I wouldn't expect much job loss in transitioning from factory farming to lab-grown meat... it's not like the old days of a farmer's family and his free-grazing little herd of cattle anymore.

Anyone arguing that it's 'unnatural' in some meaningful way has their head up their ass. Domesticating animals is itself unnatural. We've selectively bred these poor buggers for meat quality. This is just cutting out the middleman - the actual animal - and getting straight to the product, which is desirable for the consumer, the producer, and even the animal.

In the long run I see most traditional farm animals being kept on as pets. Take pigs, for example - they're as intelligent as dogs, if not more so, and very amiable.

edited 8th Aug '13 8:43:18 AM by Karkadinn

I guess most farmers will have to re-spec as meatplant workers, while actual meat will become a carefully managed delicacy, much like Kobe beef is today. It'll still be around, but instead of poor-quality steaks and processed leftovers, it'll be just the better-grown (and more expensive) cuts.

edited 8th Aug '13 8:46:06 AM by indiana404

Wait. Where are we getting these stem cells from? Cows?

Yes, the stem cells were taken from cows, cultured and grown into muscle tissue, then frozen. When they had enough, they thawed the tissue, ground it up together, and used some additives (beet juice, bread crumbs) to give it color and texture.

edited 8th Aug '13 8:51:57 AM by Fighteer

Plus there's other products that we can't make from stem cells.

So we're still going to need some real cows for favouring, stem cells, fancy "real meat" burgers and people who don't trust food made in a lab. This isn't going to kill of the cattle industry, but it may well kill of factory farming, since who needs factory farming when you can just produce your meet in a real factory.

So, this will kill off beef farming, but dairy farming will remain. So those who specialised in farming for the meat will just re-spec into dairy farming.

I welcome this. No-guilt meat. I'm not a vegetarian myself, but if we cut the price down (I heard it was actually around $215,000 a pattie) that's a real step into stopping world hunger, deforestation and global warming all in one.

Livestock farming won't die off, as I highly suspect vat-grown meat won't taste the same or have the same texture, at least initially.

I suspect Livestock Farming will (long-term) turn into a luxury good business.

You get Vat Meat for the usual, but if you have to celebrate a PHD, a really important promotion etc, you go in a restaurant and pay a lot of money for a "bio-steak."

Like buying a really good red wine, as opposed to a normal one.

(and the Militant Vegans will still cry.)

edited 8th Aug '13 2:36:44 PM by 3of4

Pretty much. It'll supplement real meat, but we're still at least a decade or two away before seeing it in stores or anything. And, given peoples' resistance to eating anything "unnatural," we're probably 50-100 years away from it becoming anywhere near as common as regular meat. And while they said it tasted like a regular burger, there's so much variation in meat quality that that's basically meaningless. Did they mean "as good as Mcdonalds", "The kind of burger you'd get at a sit-down restaurant" or "Backyard barbecue"

Still, I'm all for it. I'd definitely try one before just writing it off. Hell, why stop at cows? I wouldn't mind eating a vat-grown hippo burger or something.

I dunno if I trust Google with my food. Google brings me info, Google brings me news, Google brings me porn... but I'd rather Google didn't bring me food, considering all the things I've seen on Google.

edited 8th Aug '13 2:43:03 PM by MarkVonLewis

Google, I know where your hands have been.

edited 8th Aug '13 2:44:09 PM by TobiasDrake

The price can come down. However, even if it becomes so cheap that everyone can eat it every day, real cows and real cow meat may become a simi-luxry type item. It also means that we can do what amounts to hydroponic (Horrible word for this) meat.

Its not Google, its a guy from Google financing it. *nitpicks*

I saw this and am interested. I'm just glad that it didn't taste like despair.

I for one welcome our new Googledonalds.

It may take a bit to make this viable enough to supplant meat cow ranches. Don't get all hyper excited just yet. The current methods take a fair bit of effort to make meat.