James King. Dressing the Meat of Tomorrow.
Will there always be a need to kill an animal in order to eat meat? What if it was possible to grow meat in a lab? Advances in biotechnology may make this a possibility in the next 10 years. Using a process by which muscle cells are cultured and eventually grown into a slab of meat, scientists may solve a problem that can only get worse as the Earth's population continues to inflate.
Speculative designer James King ponders what strange shapes this meat may take in his project Dressing the Meat of Tomorrow. He explains:
The mobile animal MRI [Magnetic Resonance Imaging] unit scours the countryside looking for the most beautiful examples of cows, pigs, chickens and other livestock. Once located, the creature is scanned from head to toe, creating accurate cross-sectional images of its inner organs.
The most interesting and aesthetically pleasing examples of anatomy are used as templates to create moulds for the in-vitro meat (we wouldn’t choose to eat the same old boring parts that we eat today). The result is a satisfyingly complicated and authentic form of food.
James King. Dressing the Meat of Tomorrow.
So what does it taste like? Well, it depends from what animal the cells originated. You wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the in-vitro meat from chicken cells and the meat from a dead chicken.
Links:
James King's Website
NPR story, "Burgers From A Lab: The World Of In Vitro Meat"
TIME article, "In Search of a Test Tube Hamburger"
