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 ")
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
Will AIs Give Better Results If You're Rude To Them?
'I said, "Listen up, motherf*cker.'
Cybertruck Robotic Arm F10 Drone Launch!
Drone away!
Black Fungus Blocks Radiation
'You were surrounded by Astrophage most of the time'
Liuzhi Process Now In Use In China
'He was in a high-ceilinged windowless cell with walls of glittering white porcelain.'
Reflect Orbital Offers 'Sunlight on Demand' And Light Pollution
'I don't have to tell you about the seven two-mile-diameter orbital mirrors...'
Will Robots Become Family Caregivers?
'The robant and the tiny old woman entered the control room slowly...'
Chinese Tokamak Uses AI To Keep Fusion Plasma Stable
'Guy named Otto Octavius winds up with eight limbs... What are the odds?'
Time Crystals Can Now Be Seen Directly
'It is as you thought when you constructed the time crystal, my master Vaylan.'
RoboBallet The Dance Of Cooperative Robots
'...an integrated seven-unit robot team.'
Chrysalis Generation Ship to Alpha Centauri
'This was their world, their planet —
this swift-traveling, yet seemingly moveless vessel.'
Alexa+ And Its AI Brain Improvements
'What's it do?' he asked. 'It amuses.'
Does CloneRobotics Offer A True Android?
Is this What Little Girls Are Made Of?
Brain Implant Is Able To Capture Your Inner Dialogue
'So you see, you can hide nothing from me.'
Are AIs Going Rogue Like Hal 9000
'I know that you and Frank were planning to disconnect me...'
Animated Tumblebugs On Astounding Cover!
'Gaines and Harvey mounted tumblebugs, and kept abreast of the Cadet Captain...'
LingYuan Vehicle Roof Drones Now Available, ala Blade Runner 2049
Accompanied by a small selection of similar ideas from science fiction.
