There has been a fair amount of talk about artificial meat. This article says that some will be ready soon (made from cattle stem cells). The article says that there might be enough of the test-tube gunk to make some hamburgers later this year, but I'm not sure when it might hit the maket. If it works, it could theoretically replace many meat products (depending on the prices).

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/02/19/f ... bps.reddit

Yep I've been interested to watch the public reaction to this pretty big international story. It gives some preview of how the public might react when this stuff is actually rolled out.

Was expecting a lot of freaking out over disgusting test tube meat. In fact, many of the top rated comments on the Daily Mail story were cautiously supportive, citing the need to reduce factory farming (despite one version of the story being slanted with a "look at what those egghead scientists are up to now" angle). To be fair, the Mail (world's biggest newspaper website), despite being social conservative, does seem to skew pro-animal. The comments on the Fox News story were predictably negative ("I'm not touching anything that god didn't make"/this is a liberal/scientist conspiracy). Liberal blogs seemed neutral/amused or supportive.

spindoctor wrote:"I'm not touching anything that god didn't make"

Is that a direct quote or a paraphrase?

In general, I wonder whether in-vitro meat will be kosher / halal.

I doubt it. The impression I've got of kosher from speaking to sceptical Jews is that it's basically a moneymaking scheme. Don't know if halal is the same, but it seems likely enough.

I'm not touching anything that god didn't make

How exactly did he write that comment without touching a keyboard?

Perhaps he dictated it. While nude. And outside.

In general, I wonder whether in-vitro meat will be kosher / halal.

If you count in-vitro meat as a land animal/bird/seafood depending on what you made it from, only the birds would be kosher. There's a list of birds that aren't, and it seems unlikely any of them are in-vitro meat. Then again, there are a few where we don't know what it's the name of anymore, and if it was in-vitro meat, that would explain why. Land animals have to have cloven hooves and chew their cud. Seafood has to have fins and scales. If you count in-vitro meat as a life-form of its own, there's no prohibition, so it's all good.

The impression I've got of kosher from speaking to sceptical Jews is that it's basically a moneymaking scheme.

Of course it's a moneymaking scheme. That's how capitalism works. You don't get something done by asking someone to do it out of the goodness of their heart. You get it done by offering them money.

DanielLC, your literalness amuses me.

I think the comment was "If God didn't make it, I'm not eating it".

The relevant hurdle for most people here is overcoming the naturalistic fallacy that is so pervasive, especially when people think about food. Natural = good, artificial = bad.

Appeals to nature (and the closely related appeals to tradition) seem to plague both the socially conservative right and the liberal left in equal measure. Many on the right oppose same sex marriage, for example, because homosexuality is not "natural" and gay marriage is not "traditional". Meanwhile, many liberals support all manner of dubious alternative remedies, Chinese traditional medicine, organic foods, locavorism -- and indeed wilderness preservation and environmentalism in general -- because what is natural and/or traditional is per se good.