How would you feel knowing your burger was grown in a petri dish? As freaky as it sounds, this 100% lab cultured, edible meat is actually not far from the processed hot dogs and chicken nuggets we're all quite accustomed to. Plus, it's healthy. You've probably seen the idea on Star Trek: synthetic meat served up to the crew of The Starship Enterprise, or perhaps in the form of "man-made" chickens in David Lynch's horror, Eraserhead. So what exactly is in-vitro meat? How do you produce animal meat, without actually eating the animal? The answer is using tissue-engineering. Stem cells taken painlessly from live animals are grown in a nutritious culture, without any genetic manipulation, and slivers of muscle grow. More protein can be then made in the cells by shocking them with an electric current, which has led to the rather unappealing term "Frankenmeat". They're then minced, coloured, mixed with fats and then shaped into burgers. Once we get over the unnaturalness of it all, though, we'll see that it's quite an extraordinary revolution. Eating real meat in 2035 is likely to be morally questionable, not to mention expensive. Livestock and their byproducts account for at least 32.6 billion tons of carbon dioxide per year, or over half of greenhouse gas emissions... that's more than cars. Not only will we be taking stem cells from pigs rather than killing millions in factories; we'll be making a 90% reduction in greenhouse gases. That gives it the ethical seal of approval if you ask us. It's inevitable that this stuff isn't going to have the same appeal as a chopped-up animal, but all food futurologists agree that we can't go on eating the way we have. Dutch biologist Mark Post created the first cruelty-free burger just over a year ago. He's determined to take the project further and make in vitro meat widely available. Will it be the "next big thing", though? It's pretty clear we don't have a choice.
