Cultured Meat Essay
1. Describe some of the reasons that scientists are trying to produce cultured meat. Do you think that these are valid concerns? Why or why not?
As the articles mention and explain, “The meat industry is a huge contributor to humanity’s environmental footprint, accounting for some 18% of our total greenhouse gas emissions. And that number’s deceptively low, because it includes roughly 40% of methane and 65% of nitrous oxide emissions, which are respectively 23 and nearly 300 times more potent climate warming agents than carbon dioxide.” It continues to explain how the amount of meat demanded is only increasing which inevitably means more demands are going to be placed on the farmers and ranchers to produce more, leading to an even bigger carbon footprint.
The articles also explained that the large amount of land required to produce the …show more content…
The concerns regarding the impacts of the traditional meat industry are valid, but so too are the concerns regarding the impact of a market revolving around cultured meat alone. There are also other industries that are creating a large carbon foot print with viable, current alternatives as solutions but that seems to be completely overlooked when it comes to this argument.
Another possible benefit to cultured meat is the opportunity for faster, more efficient genomic monitoring. The side effects of gene insertions or deletions can be monitored in real time as the meat is grown so the effect of those issues can be figured out and taken care of right away. With traditional meat there is no way to know what may be wrong until either after the animal is slaughtered and possibly distributed before anyone even knows what the issue looks like to keep from distributing it. This may also lead to medical break throughs associated with similar
As the articles mention and explain, “The meat industry is a huge contributor to humanity’s environmental footprint, accounting for some 18% of our total greenhouse gas emissions. And that number’s deceptively low, because it includes roughly 40% of methane and 65% of nitrous oxide emissions, which are respectively 23 and nearly 300 times more potent climate warming agents than carbon dioxide.” It continues to explain how the amount of meat demanded is only increasing which inevitably means more demands are going to be placed on the farmers and ranchers to produce more, leading to an even bigger carbon footprint.
The articles also explained that the large amount of land required to produce the …show more content…
The concerns regarding the impacts of the traditional meat industry are valid, but so too are the concerns regarding the impact of a market revolving around cultured meat alone. There are also other industries that are creating a large carbon foot print with viable, current alternatives as solutions but that seems to be completely overlooked when it comes to this argument.
Another possible benefit to cultured meat is the opportunity for faster, more efficient genomic monitoring. The side effects of gene insertions or deletions can be monitored in real time as the meat is grown so the effect of those issues can be figured out and taken care of right away. With traditional meat there is no way to know what may be wrong until either after the animal is slaughtered and possibly distributed before anyone even knows what the issue looks like to keep from distributing it. This may also lead to medical break throughs associated with similar