The potential upside to printed meat

[2on2u]

Consider the amount of antibiotics that will need to be added to the culture in a sanitary environment.

Consider the amount of steroids that will be needed to make it grow in culture.

Consider the potential for herd born diseases, hoof and mouth, prions, mad cow, etc.

Consider the amount of water needed to culture the cells.

Consider the amount of corn needed to feed the culture.

In my opinion this will be no different from making beer, tofu or cheese and the energy expenditure and environmental impact will be a fraction of what is used to "grow it on the hoof".

[russspeakeasy]

1. I have no idea if this will take off, but damn, it's interesting.

[lunatica]

2. Don't forget the amount of methane flatulated into the atmosphere

Printed meat could literally be what stops the advance of global warming. And my guess it that printed meat could be used for every kind of meat, including fish.

There would be changes so profound that we can't even imagine them now.

[2on2u]

5. Imagine what it might be like 100 years from now!!

[lunatica]

22. Printed beans and gas!

[MyshkinCommaPrince]

3. Verrry intersting.

This is a fascinating and unanticipated development. Waiting to see how the details work out, if and when this actually enters our culture.

[RebelOne]

4. I can't wait to see it at the grocery.

I am a vegetarian and would love to have a good steak or pork chop as long as I know that no animal was killed.

[2on2u]

7. Damn, I hadn't thought of that, excellent point RebelOne, quite profound. n/t

[Aerows]

23. Exactly

And no animals treated inhumanely like they are at many factory farms. I am very much a carnivore, and might have quibbles because I know what delicious meat tastes like, but I have an open mind. Taking the burden off of our environment is a good thing.

[PD Turk]

6. This is kinda like Star Trek

"Replicated Meat"

[2on2u]

8. Update, good article on the efficiency of this technology, here come the numbers, read them

and smile.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/may/18/3d-printers-food-sustainable


Dutch scientist Mark Post holds samples of in-vitro meat, grown in a laboratory. Photograph: Francois Lenoir /Reuters

Before the end of the year, if Professor Mark Post of Maastricht University gets his way, the world's first test-tube burger will be flame-grilled by Heston Blumenthal at The Fat Duck in Bray and served to a celebrity guest. Meals at this restaurant don't come cheap, but this one will be the climax of a €250,000 research project – and a milestone in Post's quest to find new ways of feeding the world, without destroying the planet.

His petri-dish patty will be made from a mixture of fat and cow muscle grown from stem cells in a culture of foetal calf serum (that's blood plasma without the clotting agents) – a technology trialled in February. It may sound less appetising than a Big Mac – but it could bring huge environmental benefits. Producing beef this way results in a 96% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to rearing animals, and uses 45% of the energy, 1% of the land and 4% of the water associated with conventional beef production.

Meanwhile, at Cornell University in New York, PhD candidate Jeffrey Lipton has developed a 3D food printer that lays down liquid versions of foods, dot by dot and layer by layer, to build up edible meals. "So far we have printed everything from chocolate, cheese and hummus to scallops, turkey and celery", he says. At present, the technology uses liquid or melted versions of conventionally produced ingredients, but the aim is to create a range of 'food inks' made from hydrocolloids – substances that form gels with water. Homaru Cantu, a chef who has used the printer to make sushi, thinks this could have big implications for sustainability, not least because there would be no prepping of fresh ingredients, and therefore no food waste. "Imagine", he says, "being able to grow, cook or prepare foods without the negative industrial impact – from fertilisers to packaging. The production chain for food would nearly be eliminated."

[Viva_La_Revolution]

9. "At present, the technology uses liquid or melted versions of conventionally produced ingredient..

but the aim is to create a range of 'food inks' made from hydrocolloids – substances that form gels with water."

You've heard of "glued meat" right? well, this will be meat made from glue. sounds like they're not even close anyway.

[2on2u]

10. I wonder if the sushi was any good, or if it was still flippin on the plate.... n/t

[Viva_La_Revolution]

11. We should be getting closer to our food, not further from it. nt

[Aerows]

14. Why?

If it has the same nutritional content and is safer, I don't see a problem. I love rare steak, lamb and I love sushi. If it is the same, but safer, why wouldn't I want to try it? Do you mill your own wheat to make flour and then make bread? If you don't, you are still far away from your food. In my view, this is similar.

Opinions vary, I know, I'm just curious why lab grown meat is so much more horrible than factory farm meat. I would think that there is a benefit to it. I can see the issue with control, because if you control the food supply, you control the populace, but still, it is undeniable that lab grown meat could take a tremendous burden off of our environment.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

30. well, when they can show me it has the same nutrients and it's safe, then I'll consider it again.

so far I haven't seen a thing except glowing articles about how it's going to be great. not a word about nutrition or safety for that matter, you all seem to just be assuming it will be safe. and for the record, factory farm meat sucks compared to grass fed, we're all just conditioned to think it tastes normal.

[Aerows]

33. They have been working on synthesizing meat since the late 80's.

This is a developing industry, and I remember as early as 1987 reading about a lab created piece of ham from potato bacteria protein. This actually seems like it is closer to nature than that experiment.

It has a ways to go, and I don't think anyone is much more than optimistic that it *can* happen. I think most agree that it hasn't happened, yet, but that's no reason to stop trying .

[2on2u]

28. I don't imagine you've ever seen the meetyourmeat video... not a pretty sight, not for the faint

of heart or the mildly empathetic.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

35. I grew up on a cattle ranch. I lived it

you ever have your arm shoulder deep in a cow who can't get her calf out? I have.

We raised and butchered and lived off cattle and chickens. they were treated well and killed clean. never stressed let alone tortured like in the factory farms. one of my first memories is of our neighbor with tears in his eyes as he put down his favorite hog so his family would eat that winter. As the men were processing the hog, the rest of us, kids included were dealing with a flock of 100 chickens. by the end of the day they were cleaned and bagged. We understood how much work went into raising those animals, and we understood it was necessary.

[2on2u]

36. Again, you haven't viewed meet your meat, factory farms are an abomination to

humankind, you can leave the kind part out when it comes to factory farms, what you experienced was a little different... a lot more sane.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

43. back to the subject of the thread.. we were discussing 3D printed-food-resembling-substance

we all decided factory farms were disgusting 20,000,000 threads ago

[Aerows]

32. "Glued meat"

Like those "glued steaks" are those incredibly cheap, completely round "Filet mignons". They don't taste anywhere near like a real filet mignon, but I would prefer one of those (especially if ground up) in a heartbeat over a tofu burger. One is meat, and one ... isn't. I don't care how it got to the table and what you did to it. Tofu is not and never will be meat.

If this approaches the taste of meat, and it sounds very much like it will, it seems a superior solution to tofu and other "fake" meats. Those "fake meats" require a lot of processing, too. This is no different.

[Aerows]

12. If it tastes like a burger

smells like a burger, looks like a burger and has a texture like a burger... I don't particularly care how it came to the table, as long as I can get it medium rare just the way I like it .

I would think that meat grown this way would probably be safer than "on the hoof" meat at rare or medium rare - not that it has ever stopped me before or ever will.

[2on2u]

15. If they beat the tofu burgers and the tofu turkeys they get my vote. n/t

[Aerows]

18. Amen!

If they are even remotely closer than tofu, I'm all for it.

[HiPointDem]

13. why bother to 'grow' a beef analogue. we could just drink amino acid + glucose shakes.

even cheaper.

indeed, why bother to feed half the population anyway. they just take up space. less of them, more room for the 1%.

[Aerows]

20. I think that's a rather cynical view of something that could be helpful.

Realistically speaking, however, people starving to death would probably prefer amino acid and glucose shakes to starvation. I know I would, though it certainly wouldn't be my first choice

[HiPointDem]

38. fake meat could be helpful? why would it be more helpful than real meat, or amino acid shakes?

to whom would it be helpful?

[MineralMan]

16. Date yourself: Who remembers Chicken Little?

50 points to the house of the first person to identify the source of that one.

[2on2u]

24. Chicken Little

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002961893

[MineralMan]

34. Nope. Not the one I mean.

Frederick Pohl mentioned it in The Space Merchants in 1952. It was vat-grown food. They called it Chicken Little.

[Fumesucker]

40. He called it Reel Meet and Turr Kee in The Merchant's War..

By the time Pohl wrote the sequel he had a lot more experience as a writer, I think it was a better book although The Space Merchants was a good read..

[MineralMan]

42. I read those books when I was about 12.

I went through a period of about a year when I read pretty much only science fiction, and then I moved on. Back then, I was a book a day reader.

And now, it's time for my second cup of coffiest.

[tritsofme]

17. How long until there is printed human meat on the menu?

[2on2u]

26. I feel bad for using a photo from a Obama critical site, but I just can't help it, we will

be on the menu as soon as the ships start landing it would appear.

[alphafemale]

19. Let me guess.

Meat hasn't passed through your guts in 30 years.

I'm not eating printed meat.

[Aerows]

21. Meat - a rare ribeye as a matter of fact

is passing through mine at this moment (and wow, is it delicious) and I'd try it. Can't be worse than a tofu burger.

Hell, the "barbecue ribs" that vegans eat that are made of peanut butter are far worse than tofu burgers. Anything that is an improvement... is an improvement.

[undeterred]

25. Most sterile environments are kept that way through the use of antibiotics...

and tissue culture does carry the possibility of other kinds of contamination, including viruses.

[2on2u]

29. Ultra Violet Disinfection Process

http://www.themeatsite.com/articles/643/uv-disinfection-in-the-meat-processing-industry

A non-chemical disinfection method which is gaining increasing acceptance is ultraviolet (UV) disinfection. UV kills all known spoilage microorganisms, including bacteria, viruses, yeasts and moulds (and their spores). It is a low maintenance, environmentally friendly technology which eliminates the need for chemical treatment while ensuring high levels of disinfection.
How UV disinfection works

UV is the part of the electromagnetic spectrum between visible light and X-rays. The specific portion of the UV spectrum between 185-400nm (known as UV-C) has a strong germicidal effect, with peak effectiveness at 265nm. At these wavelengths UV kills microorganisms by penetrating their cell membranes and damaging the DNA, making them unable to reproduce and effectively killing them.

A typical UV disinfection system consists of a UV lamp housed in a protective quartz sleeve and mounted within a cylindrical stainless steel chamber. The liquid to be treated enters at one end and passes along the entire length of the chamber before exiting at the other end. Virtually any liquid can be effectively treated with UV, including raw municipal water, filtered wash water, process water, brines, marinades, pickles and process effluent.

[undeterred]

37. UV is used to induce mutations...

[lunatica]

27. This reminds me of a Science Fiction Short story I read once of a chef

in the distant future who carefully cooked something so new and so revolutionary that everyone was incredibly curious to taste it. As you've probably guessed by now he was cooking real food with real ingredients grown in real soil. When his guests found out what the delicious stuff was, they all gagged and threw up.

[HopeHoops]

31. But would you eat plastic?

[pinboy3niner]

39. WAITER: "I'm sorry, sir. We've tried and tried...

...but no matter what we do, it remains stuck in the printer queue."

[Fumesucker]

41. What meat would be the perfect food for humans?

It's only a matter of time until someone "prints" synthetic Long Pig..

I suspect there might be a substantial market for it, along with some fava beans and a nice chianti.