Re:SuperMeat raises $3M for lab-grown chicken
by burke on Tuesday January 02, 2018 @05:07PM
(#16056229)
It seems to me that there are a few ethical dimensions to analyze this on:
1. Suffering caused to conscious beings directly to produce a meal;
2. Suffering caused to conscious beings indirectly (e.g. crop monocultures impacting biodiversity; animal products used in the production of a "vegetarian" meal).
3. Total biomass required per calorie.
"Clean meat" seems likely a better performer in all three categories, unless animal-derived amino acids are required — but that feels like a non-starter. Why bother to liquefy and reconstitute a cow muscle?
Unrelatedly, this strikes me as one of those things where economies of scale will develop surprisingly quickly. Meat is a huge industry, and it costs a lot of money to actually raise animals. There's a lot of incentive to make cheaper meat. The fact that it can get bootstrapped by guilt-inclined non-vegetarians is just bonus runway.
1. Suffering caused to conscious beings directly to produce a meal;
2. Suffering caused to conscious beings indirectly (e.g. crop monocultures impacting biodiversity; animal products used in the production of a "vegetarian" meal).
3. Total biomass required per calorie.
"Clean meat" seems likely a better performer in all three categories, unless animal-derived amino acids are required — but that feels like a non-starter. Why bother to liquefy and reconstitute a cow muscle?
Unrelatedly, this strikes me as one of those things where economies of scale will develop surprisingly quickly. Meat is a huge industry, and it costs a lot of money to actually raise animals. There's a lot of incentive to make cheaper meat. The fact that it can get bootstrapped by guilt-inclined non-vegetarians is just bonus runway.