Frankenburger!
The first hamburger grown in a lab was tasted this week. What does this mean for the future of meat? Here are 13 words to help with the science behind the so-called "Frankenburger." Drawn from Bring on the ‘Frankenburger<\a> New York Times, August 5, 2013
13 words
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Full list of words from this list:
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ethical
conforming to accepted standards of social behaviorIt’s been increasingly clear since then that there are both environmental and — obviously — ethical advantages to using technology to sustain omnivory on a crowding planet.
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sustain
supply with necessities and supportIt’s been increasingly clear since then that there are both environmental and — obviously — ethical advantages to using technology to sustain omnivory on a crowding planet.
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presume
take to be the case or to be trueThis presumes humans will not all soon shift to a purely vegetarian lifestyle, even though there are signs of what you might call “peak meat” (consumption, that is) in prosperous societies (Mark Bittman wrote a nice piece on this).
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consumption
the act of using something upThis presumes humans will not all soon shift to a purely vegetarian lifestyle, even though there are signs of what you might call “peak meat” (consumption, that is) in prosperous societies (Mark Bittman wrote a nice piece on this).
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prosperous
in fortunate circumstances financiallyThis presumes humans will not all soon shift to a purely vegetarian lifestyle, even though there are signs of what you might call “peak meat” (consumption, that is) in prosperous societies (Mark Bittman wrote a nice piece on this).
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in vitro
in an artificial environment outside the living organismNow non-farmed meat is back in the headlines, with a patty of in-vitro beef – widely dubbed a “frankenburger” — fried and served in London earlier today.
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conventional
following accepted customs and proprietiesOne taster, Josh Schonwald, a Chicago-based author of a book on the future of food [link], said “the bite feels like a conventional hamburger” but that the meat tasted “like an animal-protein cake.”
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viable
capable of being done with means at handDr. Post, one of a handful of scientists working in the field, said there was still much research to be done and that it would probably take 10 years or more before cultured meat was commercially viable.
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feasible
capable of being done with means at handThe enormous potential environmental benefits of shifting meat production, where feasible, from farms to factories were estimated in “Environmental Impacts of Cultured Meat Production,”a 2011 study in Environmental Science and Technology.
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cultivation
the process of fostering the growth of somethingA 2011 analysis estimating various environmental impacts of meat production found that lab cultivation would beat other sources in almost every category.
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emission
the act of causing to flow forth(“GHG” is greenhouse gas emissions.)
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husbandry
the practice of cultivating the land or raising stockIt’d be hard to find any argument that can justify the conditions in which animals are routinely raised for slaughter today in the concentrated, industrial-style form of husbandry that is required to provide cheap meat to growing and increasingly prosperous populations.
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refine
improve or perfect by pruning or polishingBut it’s great to see researchers like Mark Post, and entrepreneurs like Sergey Brin, pushing hard to refine basic processes for meat cultivation.
Created on Thu Aug 08 20:43:14 EDT 2013
(updated Fri Aug 09 11:33:22 EDT 2013)
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