Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
Will In-Vitro Meat Change Our Lives?
In a recent article in h+, Hank Hyena wrote a gleefully exuberant article on Eight Ways In-Vitro Meat Will Change Our Lives. Just for fun, I thought I'd give some of the sf writer arguments (and real life science arguments) in response to just three of his statements.
No more ranches.
Some people will pay twice the price just for better quality meat now. A few people pay ten times as much for "heirloom" meat varieties like Kobe beef. Also, it's a favorite device of sf writers to emphasize that people will always pay for natural beef; consider this quote from William Gibson's 1984 novel Neuromancer:
Healthier Humans
IVM will not be 100% muscle; nobody eats meat that lean, except maybe for chicken. Successful IVM will resemble real meat as closely as possible; if it's just as cheap to make well-marbled T-bone steaks (bone and all!), then people will certainly buy it and in larger quantities. Mind you, there will be meat like chicken breast that will be served up lean - ChickieNobs, anyone? Or maybe a Kzin's food brick, as described in Niven's 1970 novel Ringworld. It's just the thing when you can't chase down some real meat:
Exotic and Kinky Cuisine
Unusual animal meat (like bison and ostrich) is already being served in places like the lunchroom at Cabela's, the outdoor outfitter's favorite store. I don't doubt that there is a market for other rare IVM meats.
Human meat for human consumption? This creepy possible future has also been described by science fiction writers. Ian Banks described it in his 1991 story The State of the Art, in which "stewed Idi Amin" is served. Larry Niven described the same idea in his earlier work Assimilating Our Culture, That's What They're Doing, a 1978 Draco Tavern story. Hopefully, it won't include any products like brain, which may pass on prion-related illnesses like Jakob-Creutzfeldt disease.
Read Eight Ways In-Vitro Meat will Change Our Lives; thanks to Winchell Chung.
Since in-vitro meat will be substantially cheaper (half the price), no one will buy the full animal just to have its meat.
"Jesus," Molly said, her own plate empty, "gimme that. You know what this costs?" She took his plate. 'They gotta raise a whole animal for years and then they kill it. This isn't vat stuff." She forked a mouthful up and chewed.
In-Vitro meat will be 100% muscle.
Presently Speaker returned to the 'cycles. His mouth was not bloody. At his 'cycle he dialed, not for an allergy pill, but for a wet brick-shaped slab of warm liver. The mighty hunter returns, Louis thought, keeping his mouth firmly shut.
IVM versions of rare animals (and even you and me) will be made available.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 11/18/2009)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 8 )
Related News Stories - (" Food ")
3D Printed Cheesecake Not Quite Food Replicator Quality
With each successive print, our model needed to incorporate more structural ingredients to minimize print failures
Porcine Fat Cells For 3D-Printed Whole Pork Products
'I grabbed two Syntho-Steaks out of the freezer...' - Robert Heinlein, 1950.
Microbial Protein Production More Efficient Than Crops
'It's the food situation I'm worried about...' - James Blish, 1950.
NASA's Deep Space Food Challenge!
What's your favorite science fictional space food? How about your favorite REAL space food?
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Vast Apartment Living Will Get Even More Vast
'What is your population', I asked. 'About eighty millions.'
NASA Wants Self-Driving Or Remote-Controlled Vehicles For Lunar Astronauts
'THE autobus turned silently down the wide street of Hydropole. Robot-guided, insulated from noise and cold...'
Elon Musk Says Robotaxis Will Be Ready This August, 2024
'The car had no steering wheel, and no one drove!'
Moonwalkers AI-Controlled Electric Shoes
Now that's power walking that Hugo Gernsback would have approved.
Steve Jobs: 'Capture The Next Aristotle - With AI'
'It was disturbing to think of the Flatline as a construct...'
No Tips! Robotic Food Delivery In Phoenix
'...he rewired the delivery robot so that it would serve him midnight snacks.'
Electric Catamaran 'Explorer Eco 40m' Has 'Solar Skin'
'On went the electric-yacht faster and still faster.'
Orbital Mechanics, The Liftoff, The Turnover, The Retrograde Burn
'...the huge vessel had spun, with a sickening lurch, through a complete half-circle, the instant the power was reversed.'
Harvest Power From Tears And Blinking With Smart Contact Lens
'...he realized that it was not quite a clear lens. Speckles of colored brightness swirled and gathered in it.'
Europa Clipper Plate Carries A Special Message
'...a universal cryptogram — yet it is one which can be interpreted by any intelligent creature on any planet in the Solar System!'
Micro-Robots Are Smallest, Fully Functional
'With a whir, the Scarab shot from the concealing shadows of the corner where it had hidden itself.'
AI Enhances Images Your Brain Sees
'I could have sworn the psychomat showed pictures almost as sharp and detailed as reality itself'
Illustrating Classic Heinlein With AI
'Stasis, cold sleep, hibernation, hypothermia, reduced metabolism, call it what you will - the logistics-medicine research teams had found a way to stack people like cordwood and use them when needed.'
Deflector Plasma Screen For Drones ala Star Wars
'If the enemy persists in attacking or even intensifies their power, the density of the plasma in space will suddenly increase, causing it to reflect most of the incoming energy like a mirror.'
DIY Robotic Hand Made After Loss Of Fingers
'I made them... with the fine work of the watchmaker...'
Cheap Drunk Driver Detection From UofM
"Look, I can drive... Start, darn it!"
