In 2012, the group called People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) promoted to the scientific community that they would provide a one million dollar reward to the first scientist who can develop in vitro meat. In vitro meat, or cultured meat, is meat that has been produced and later harvest out side of an animal so as to not cause harm to the animal. In order to grow this meat resource, one would be required to take cells from a live animal and then grow them into the meat with the purpose of using it for human consumption. This process is considered to be a solution to the commercial farm factory situation that some describe as inhuman, unsanitary, mismanaged and an example of modern animal cruelty. It is also considered to be a solution to some of the ecological influences on global warming due to the significant level of greenhouse gases this process entails.
Great strides are being taken in this area of study. There are two main approaches that the article discusses, the scaffold-based technique and the self-organizing method. Both of these methods have their own positives and negatives pertaining to the end results, but studies on them are continuing. They are both performed in labs at this time which is a long and complicated process. At this time, this is also a very expensive process of generating meat, however it is suggested that this process will eventually become more affordable assessable once the technology is further developed. In the end, the winner of PETA’s reward will obtain the title if, and only if, the meat sample they provide is indistinguishable from the real natural product.
Parr, Viggy. (2012). New on Aisle 4: Future of the In Vitro Meat Industry. Triple Helix Online. Retrieved from http://triplehelixblog.com/2012/06/new-on-aisle-4-future-of-the-in-vitro-meat-industry/2147483647/
Art & Sustainability 