In Vitro Meat: Fad or the future? 16 January 2013 In Vitro Meat,
where muscle tissue is grown from cells in laboratories, to eat
as food, is attracting global attention. The world’s first
laboratory-grown hamburger has been produced by Professor Mark
Post and his team in Maastricht, representing something
radically new in our world. Dr Neil Stephens, Research Associate
at Cesagen (Cardiff School of Social Sciences), has been
researching the social and ethical issues of this technology and
what this innovation in stem cell science might mean for us in
2013. Will we be eating burgers made in test-tubes in the near
future? That is probably unlikely considering Professor Post’s
burger costs around £200,000 to produce. However, the benefits
this new technology can deliver - according to the scientists -
include slaughter-free meat that is healthier and free from
animal to human disease. The meat could also be grown during
space travel and could have a much smaller environmental impact
than today’s whole-animal rea