[extropy-chat] wretched journalists strike again

Brett Paatsch bpaatsch at bigpond.net.au
Mon Dec 12 08:39:36 UTC 2005


Damien Broderick wrote:

> Finally, an idea worth talking about in reality (as it's been talked about 
> for many decades in sf), and of course some NYT morons declare that it 
> "may turn your stomach". (They mean "might turn", but hey.) Yep, so much 
> more vomitous than killing animals, pulling off their skin, scooping out 
> their guts, then cutting up their dead muscle to eat.

You've not provided a link Damien. I could find the December 11 New York
Times article but on the basis of what you've posted I can't say I'm 
surprised
either at the claim or the content so I don't know if there is another in 
the article
to bother chasing it.

Journos that don't have scientific training are as gullible are non-journos 
that
don't have scientific training AND they have a bias towards having a story 
to
report over not having one.

Scientists for their part have a need for funding for themselves, their 
colleagues,
their pet projects, their labs and their institutions and they aren't averse 
to
spruiking and hyping their own work on occassion.

There really isn't any getting away from understanding the subject matter or
cross checking references in order to find out whether a claimed scientific
breakthrough is real or hyped. Scientists are people too.

Sometimes the relationship between scientists and the media is almost as
strong as the relationship between politicians and the media. Free publicity
is free pubilicity.

> <December 11, 2005
>
>
> In Vitro Meat
>
> By RAIZEL ROBIN
>
> In July, scientists at the University of Maryland announced the 
> development of bioengineering techniques that could be used to 
> mass-produce a new food for public consumption: meat that is grown in 
> incubators.
>
> The process works by taking stem cells from a biopsy of a live animal (or 
> a piece of flesh from a slaughtered animal) and putting them in a 
> three-dimensional growth medium - a sort of scaffolding made of proteins. 
> Bathed in a nutritional mix of glucose, amino acids and minerals, the stem 
> cells multiply and differentiate into muscle cells, which eventually form 
> muscle fibers. Those fibers are then harvested for a minced-meat product.
>
> Scientists at NASA and at several Dutch universities have been developing 
> the technology since 2001, and in a few years' time there may be a 
> lab-grown meat ready to market as sausages or patties. In 20 years, the 
> scientists predict, they may be able to grow a whole beef or pork loin. A 
> tissue engineer at the Medical University of South Carolina has even 
> proposed a countertop device similar to a bread maker that would produce 
> meat overnight in your kitchen.>

BTW: I probably should apologise for my comments about eating Americans
- very poor taste that :-)

Brett Paatsch 





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