Friday, January 16, 2009

The New Meat Culture



Anybody who's seen the fetus in fetu phenomenon may find it bizarre and quite disturbing. However, it demonstrates that a human-like tumor can grow without a brain. Known as a "parasitic twin," these tumors began their lives as twins, and then use the resources of the body for nourishment and growth. Literally, a human inside a human, minus the brain.

With advents in stem cell research, all of this begs the question about the future of meat. While growing meat in a lab may sound pretty creepy, it is an ethically superior solution to slaughtering animals for food. Meatus in fetu, if you will. I was going to write an article about my vision of the brainless meat farm future, but alas, many others have beaten me to the punch. So here are some links on the subject of lab-cultured meats:

"Is in vitro meat the future?" - TimesOnline

"In Vitro-Cultured Meat Production" - Tissue Engineering (Liebert Online)

"The Conscience of a Carnivore"- Slate


"Excuse my intrusion, but would the Sir like some wine with his cell culture?"

2 comments:

CFJr said...

This is one of the most thought provoking articles ive seen for genetic engineering in animals. Definitely a random thing i didn't know, or ever attempt to learn anything about

Alex Gray said...

Glad you enjoyed it.