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I think folks are missing the point of this technology - this is designed for the animal agriculture industry to compete against synthetic meat, by streamlining
by ArkanExplorer 6y ago
I think folks are missing the point of this technology - this is designed for the animal agriculture industry to compete against synthetic meat, by streamlining the genetic engineering feedback loop, and the administration of hormones and antibiotics. Animal milk and meat production would thus be mechanised from cradle to grave.
We have been trying to engineer plant cells to be more like animals (eg Impossible Meats) but the solution might be to engineer cattle and swine to be more like plants (eg. minimise the growth of unnecessary biological components like bones, hoofs, brains, sensory organs).
The end point could basically be a semi-conscious 'animal', with food administered by stomache tube, suspended inside a barn, with sufficient brain material only to operate the digestive, respiratory, and circulatory systems, and without eyes, reproductive organs, or ears. The lack of locomotion would also render the meat more tender.
It would be horrific, but probably more humane and efficient than our current system of factory farming and feedlots.
- mmastrac 6y agoMore horrific than killing an animal on the same consciousness spectrum as us? Definitely not. It might be more the ick factor than anything. It's a good idea.
- riggsdk 6y agoIt also fuels the imagination for things like all-in-one lab grown clones of yourself (but without the brain) for replacement "parts".
- nitrogen 6y agoThere was a Michael Bay movie about this concept. I actually really like the movie, but it's way more entertaining if you don't know the premise ahead of time, so I'm not going to name it because it's a pretty major spoiler.
- Dylan16807 6y agoThose had brains.
- nitrogen 6y agoBut they weren't supposed to.
- Dylan16807 6y ago"supposed to" by what metric, the implications of the marketing department? At the technical/engineering/medical/logistical levels they had brains and they were supposed to have brains.
- m00x 6y agoWe're very far from that. The brain is extremely important for development and regular maintenance of the body. We could, however, remove consciousness (artificially induced coma).
- whatshisface 6y agoHey boss, the intern accidentally hooked a saline barrel to the anesthetic intake. We think it will take a few hours to purge the system.
- scohesc 6y agoThat's absolutely horrifying and funny at the same time.
- Geee 6y agoHow about replacing the brain with a dog brain. Or a mosquito brain. Would it be ethical to use them as pets or slaves?
- heavyset_go 6y agoLife support is expensive and we're a ways away from creating cattle that aren't conscious, don't feel pain or suffer, but yet their bodies still function.
- beambot 6y agoReminds me of Frederik Pohl's "Chicken Little" from the book Space Merchants: """ He swung open her door. “This is her nest,” he said proudly. I looked and gulped. It was a great concrete dome, concrete-floored. Chicken Little filled most of it. She was a gray-brown, rubbery hemisphere some fifteen yards in diameter. Dozens of pipes ran into her pulsating flesh. You could see that she was alive. Herrera said to me: “All day I walk around her. I see a part growing fast, it looks good and tender, I slice.” His two-handed blade screamed again. This time it shaved off an inch-thick Chicken Little steak. (Ch. 9) """
- h0l0cube 6y agoI find these arguments unsettling, but it reminds me of this: https://we-make-money-not-art.com/farming_the_unconscious/ https://we-make-money-not-art.com/farming_the_unconscious/ > As long as their brain stem is intact, the homeostatic functions of the chicken will continue to operate. By removing the cerebral cortex of the chicken, its sensory perceptions are removed. It can be produced in a denser condition while remaining alive, and oblivious. > The feet will also be removed so the body of the chicken can be packed together in a dense volume. > Food, water and air are delivered via an arterial network and excreta is removed in the same manner. Around 1000 chickens will be packed into each ‘leaf’, which forms part of a moving, productive system.
- djantje 6y ago"You are what you eat" comes to mind
- amelius 6y ago> this is designed for the animal agriculture industry to compete against synthetic meat It can be used for disease models too, I suppose. Not sure what to think of it, though.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- Apofis 6y agoI would much prefer Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat to... vat grown meat goo. Just sounds gross, but that's just me. /s Next thing you know, Umbrella Corp will get involved.
- rowanG077 6y agoThat's weird to me. Vat grown meat sounds much cleaner to me. Sterile environment. No or little antibiotics. No risk of weird stuff being in your meat, like abscesses or fecal matter if the butcher was not carefull. In contrast impossible foods Just sounds like ultra processed unhealthy to me.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- ehwhyreally 6y agoWhy does the matrix come to mind.
- an_opabinia 6y ago> ...this is designed for the animal agriculture industry... I appreciate you are sort of writing a piece of dystopian science fiction, not really a statement of certain fact or even mere speculation. The research is basic science, near term enabling a really interesting mouse model, long term advancing immunology and obstetric and reproductive endocrine therapies.
- NetOpWibby 6y agoTo be frank, that sounds friggin’ disgusting. However, if people don’t have to see it it’ll be good for business.
- geijoenr 6y agoWhat you describe sounds indeed horrific. It reminds me "Chicken Little" from science fiction novel "The Space Merchants" by Frederik Pohl.