Will We See Meat Even Vegetarians Can Love?
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals - PETA
June 01, 2006
By Ingrid E. Newkirk
Imagine tucking into a plate of sausages, popping chicken nuggets into your mouth and dining on a sumptuous steak — all with the approval of the most ardent vegan animal rights activists.
This may not be just wishful thinking, for meat-eaters or activists, because scientists at the University of Maryland say that it is possible to grow huge quantities of meat in laboratories and market it to consumers.
This is truly science that will benefit everyone, and I urge legislators, government agencies and officials to support it.
Here's how it would happen: Scientists extract muscle cells by taking biopsies from cattle, pigs, chickens, fish and other animals. From this tissue, they isolate the cells that are the precursors to muscles, and these would multiply in the laboratory to form the muscle tissue — or meat — that people eat.
Researchers say it could be grown in sheets and when it's ready, some could be sliced off for sale and consumption. U.S. and British researchers say it's possible right now to produce hamburger, sausages, nuggets and Spam-like meat. Steak may take a little more work, but it probably won't be long before that, too, would satisfy devotees of rib eye. It's as natural, say the scientists, as wine-making.
Think what this would mean for animals, people and our world. An end to the misery suffered by more than 10 billion animals, not even counting fish, who are killed for their flesh in the U.S. alone. No more castration without anesthetics. No more filthy, overcrowded sheds into which hogs and chickens are crammed. The day the last slaughterhouse closes down will be the happiest day of my life.
Can you envision an end to world hunger? The University of Maryland's Jason Matheny, who co-authored a paper on the subject recently published in the journal Tissue Engineering, says that it should be possible to grow millions of pounds of protein from a single cell.
For the environment, the ramifications are far-reaching. In the United States, the meat producers, who use more natural resources than any other industry, wreak havoc on water, air and soil. Lab-cultured meat would mean no more greenhouse gases from cattle. The giant manure-filled lakes that ruin waterways and underground wells would dry up forever. Soil erosion from grazing cattle would be a thing of the past.
The only cause for concern may be the fact that too much animal fat is linked to a host of ailments, including heart disease, diabetes and some cancers. But meat grown in the laboratory will not contain antibiotics or growth hormones, and scientists will be able to eliminate mad-cow disease, listeria, salmonella and other threats to people. Perhaps, in the Brave New World, they can do away with much of the fat as well.
Seldom have I seen a better way to eliminate so many of the world's woes. We owe it to ourselves and the animals to get behind this new biotechnology right now.
Newkirk is author of "Making Kind Choices, Everyday Ways to Enhance Your Life Through Earth- and Animal-Friendly Living" and president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), 501 Front St., Norfolk, VA, 23510; www.GoVeg.com.
Imagine tucking into a plate of sausages, popping chicken nuggets into your mouth and dining on a sumptuous steak — all with the approval of the most ardent vegan animal rights activists.
This may not be just wishful thinking, for meat-eaters or activists, because scientists at the University of Maryland say that it is possible to grow huge quantities of meat in laboratories and market it to consumers.
This is truly science that will benefit everyone, and I urge legislators, government agencies and officials to support it.
Here's how it would happen: Scientists extract muscle cells by taking biopsies from cattle, pigs, chickens, fish and other animals. From this tissue, they isolate the cells that are the precursors to muscles, and these would multiply in the laboratory to form the muscle tissue — or meat — that people eat.
Researchers say it could be grown in sheets and when it's ready, some could be sliced off for sale and consumption. U.S. and British researchers say it's possible right now to produce hamburger, sausages, nuggets and Spam-like meat. Steak may take a little more work, but it probably won't be long before that, too, would satisfy devotees of rib eye. It's as natural, say the scientists, as wine-making.
Think what this would mean for animals, people and our world. An end to the misery suffered by more than 10 billion animals, not even counting fish, who are killed for their flesh in the U.S. alone. No more castration without anesthetics. No more filthy, overcrowded sheds into which hogs and chickens are crammed. The day the last slaughterhouse closes down will be the happiest day of my life.
Can you envision an end to world hunger? The University of Maryland's Jason Matheny, who co-authored a paper on the subject recently published in the journal Tissue Engineering, says that it should be possible to grow millions of pounds of protein from a single cell.
For the environment, the ramifications are far-reaching. In the United States, the meat producers, who use more natural resources than any other industry, wreak havoc on water, air and soil. Lab-cultured meat would mean no more greenhouse gases from cattle. The giant manure-filled lakes that ruin waterways and underground wells would dry up forever. Soil erosion from grazing cattle would be a thing of the past.
The only cause for concern may be the fact that too much animal fat is linked to a host of ailments, including heart disease, diabetes and some cancers. But meat grown in the laboratory will not contain antibiotics or growth hormones, and scientists will be able to eliminate mad-cow disease, listeria, salmonella and other threats to people. Perhaps, in the Brave New World, they can do away with much of the fat as well.
Seldom have I seen a better way to eliminate so many of the world's woes. We owe it to ourselves and the animals to get behind this new biotechnology right now.
Newkirk is author of "Making Kind Choices, Everyday Ways to Enhance Your Life Through Earth- and Animal-Friendly Living" and president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), 501 Front St., Norfolk, VA, 23510; www.GoVeg.com.
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