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
 |
InVitroMeat Foundation
Someone sent me a link to the InVitroMeat Foundation, a european organization dedicated to the idea that cultured meat (or pseudoflesh, as Frank Herbert put it), is just what we need.
The problem?
The above-mentioned problems will make themselves felt even stronger in the near future as worldwide meat production supply will dramatically fall short of demand generated by an exponentially growing world population. Alternatives such as organic farming and vegetable meat substitutes are not sufficient to eradicate the global problem outlined above.
The solution?
Using animal embryonic stem cells, the Vitro meat technology produces, on an industrial scale, healthy, genetically completely unmodified, high-quality, safe meat for human consumption.
Stalwart science fiction writers like H. Beam Piper were preparing us for this future almost fifty years ago; take a look at his description of carniculture from his 1961 novel Four-Day Planet.
Margaret Atwood point out that the waste parts of animals can be eliminated. Would you like some ChickieNobs from her 2003 novel Oryx and Crake?
What they were looking at was a large bulblike object that seemed to be covered with stippled whitish-yellow skin. Out of it came twenty thick fleshy tubes, and at the end of each tube another bulb was growing.
"What the hell is it?" said Jimmy.
"Those are chickens," said Crake. "Chicken parts. Just the breasts, on this one.
Take a look at the InVitroMeat Foundation website and find out more.
To produce 1 kg of beef requires approx. 6 kg of vegetable feed and no less than 7,000 kg of water. Besides, only a fraction of the slaughtered animal can be used for meat consumption, leaving the rest of the carcass as “waste” (with all the problems that entails)...
There is a strong need for a radical change, for an industrial, sustainable approach to the meat production process, one which does not generate any of these problems. The Vitro meat technology is based on the principle that meat production, which has always been “in-vivo” (i.e. in the form of livestock), can now take place “ex-vivo” (so without the use of livestock), in a scientific and economically totally viable way on the basis of newly developed stem cell technology, with all the positive results that that entails.
"This is the latest," said Crake.
(Read more about ChickieNobs)
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 3/24/2008)
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 ( 3 )
Related News Stories - (" Food ")
Holland Factory 3D Printing 500 Tons Of Steak Per Month
'...I don’t understand technical things — tell me, does it ever feel anything?" - Margaret St. Clair, 1955.
Robochef Robotic Food Prep
'No hand touched the food...' - Edgar Rice Burroughs, 1912.
Drone Deliveries Instead Of Waiters In Restaurants?
'It was a smooth ovoid floating a few inches from the floor...'- H. Beam Piper, 1962.
SliceIt! Why Not Teach Robots To Use Knives?
'One building now gushed forth smoke and another stench that was unmistakable.' - Anne McCaffrey, 1996.
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
Quaise Uses Beams Of Energy To Dig Geothermal Wells
'The peculiar quality of this light, which gave it its great preeminence over all other penetrating rays...'
Robots Repair And Modify Themselves
'The overworked leg motor would have to cool down before he could work on it...'
Waymo And Tesla 'Autonomous Cabs' Are Piloted By Remote Drivers
‘Where to, sport?’ the starter at cab relay asked.
Robot Janitors Get To Work
'A few mechanical cleaning devices crept here and there...'
Robots Learn To Install Charged Batteries Into Themselves
This is nothing new for science fiction fans!
Robot Rabbits Entice Pythons
'That little robot rabbit knew what it was talking about...'
LLM 'Cognitive Core' Now Evolving
'Their only check on the growth and development of Vulcan 3 lay in two clues: the amount of rock thrown up to the surface... and the amount of the raw materials and tools and parts which the computer requested.'
Has Elon Musk Given Up On Mars?
'There ain't no such thing as a free lunch.'
Bacteria Turns Plastic Into Pain Relief? That Gives Me An Idea.
'I guess there's nobody round this table who doesn't have a Crosswell [tapeworm] working for him in the small intestine.'
When Your Child's Best Friend Is An AI
'Figments of his mind in one sense, of course, for he had shaped them...'
China's Drone Mothership Can Carry 100 Drones
'So the parent drone carries a spotter that it launches...'
Drones Recharge In Mid-Air Like Jets Refuel!
'...nurse drones that would cruise around dumping large amounts of power into randomly selected pods.'
Australian Authors Reject AI Training Of Llama
'It's done with a flip of the third joint of the tentacle on the down beat.'
Is China Mining Helium-3 On The Moon's Farside?
'...for months Grantline bores had dug into the cliff.'
Maybe It's Too Soon To Require Autonomous Mode
'I hope all those other cars are on automatic,' he said anxiously.
Is Agentic AI The Wrong Kind Of Smartness?
'It’s smart enough to go wrong in very complicated ways, but not smart enough to help us find out what’s wrong.'
