3 ms·

Sounds like a perfect application for lab grown meat.

freehunter 9y ago
That's a great idea. Humans have refined tastes, we're going to criticize meat for not being marbled enough, or for tasting a bit "off", or for not being quite up to par. We will purposefully reject cuts like chuck when offered the option of a strip steak instead. Dogs wouldn't. They'd eat the strip steak and then eat the chuck and then chase down a mole, dig it out of the ground, and eat it whole. They don't have refined tastes and they are able to eat a much wider variety of meat than humans so their tastebuds didn't evolve to say "this tastes a little off, must be poison", so they'll eat almost anything. Housecats might be a bit pickier about fresh meant but if it's processed into food, again they're not going to care. And by the time the majority of pets are eating lab grown food, who knows? Maybe the science will have advanced enough that it's palatable to humans as well.
- shados 9y ago
  That would be an interesting way to fund and scale production capacity for that lab grown meat too. Some stuff is just hard to figure out until you try doing it at scale.
oh_sigh 9y ago
I don't think it even needs to be meat...just synthesizing the raw amino acids would probably be much easier, and dogs probably won't care that much since their primary sensory pleasure in eating comes from the proteins themselves.
- b5 9y ago
  I couldn't disagree more. Dogs definitely have tastebuds, can definitely taste foods, and definitely enjoy some foods more than others. Dogs can, and do, develop genuine, strong preferences for some foods over others. That's not because "their primary sensory pleasure in eating comes from the proteins themselves" -- that's because they derive pleasure from some foods. My dog loves blueberries and broccoli. These are pretty poor sources of protein, and her enjoyment comes from either the taste or the texture, or both. She also prefers chicken to other meats, and if presented with two otherwise similar bits of meat will choose the chicken first and foremost. She'll eat beef or lamb or pork, too, but will invariably choose chicken if presented with two options. "Just synthesise the required amino acids and feed them to a dog like that" will not make for a happy or healthy dog. It's basically the same rationale that led us to feeding animals dry food/kibble, and that's not good for them. On paper, though, it covers all of their essential needs.

That's a great idea. Humans have refined tastes, we're going to criticize meat for not being marbled enough, or for tasting a bit "off", or for not being quite up to par. We will purposefully reject cuts like chuck when offered the option of a strip steak instead. Dogs wouldn't. They'd eat the strip steak and then eat the chuck and then chase down a mole, dig it out of the ground, and eat it whole. They don't have refined tastes and they are able to eat a much wider variety of meat than humans so their tastebuds didn't evolve to say "this tastes a little off, must be poison", so they'll eat almost anything. Housecats might be a bit pickier about fresh meant but if it's processed into food, again they're not going to care. And by the time the majority of pets are eating lab grown food, who knows? Maybe the science will have advanced enough that it's palatable to humans as well.

shados 9y ago
That would be an interesting way to fund and scale production capacity for that lab grown meat too. Some stuff is just hard to figure out until you try doing it at scale.

oh_sigh 9y ago

I don't think it even needs to be meat...just synthesizing the raw amino acids would probably be much easier, and dogs probably won't care that much since their primary sensory pleasure in eating comes from the proteins themselves.

b5 9y ago
I couldn't disagree more. Dogs definitely have tastebuds, can definitely taste foods, and definitely enjoy some foods more than others. Dogs can, and do, develop genuine, strong preferences for some foods over others. That's not because "their primary sensory pleasure in eating comes from the proteins themselves" -- that's because they derive pleasure from some foods. My dog loves blueberries and broccoli. These are pretty poor sources of protein, and her enjoyment comes from either the taste or the texture, or both. She also prefers chicken to other meats, and if presented with two otherwise similar bits of meat will choose the chicken first and foremost. She'll eat beef or lamb or pork, too, but will invariably choose chicken if presented with two options. "Just synthesise the required amino acids and feed them to a dog like that" will not make for a happy or healthy dog. It's basically the same rationale that led us to feeding animals dry food/kibble, and that's not good for them. On paper, though, it covers all of their essential needs.