"A day in the future": Being vegetarian without actually being vegetarian, thanks to tissue engineering

"A day in the future” is a series of posts about fictional and "mundane" conversations people will have in the future. The goal for me here is to present futurists day to day interactions from a human point of view.

But first, I want to share with you some information about today's subject

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Our world is advancing so fast that most people are not aware of big changes coming thanks to innovations in technology and science, in this opportunity we will discuss a technology that will affect what we eat and subsequently, our overall health.

One of the most important of these innovations that can be a breakthrough in food production and therefore, in our health, is tissue engineering.

What is tissue engineering?

Tissue engineering is nothing more than “the use of a combination of cells, engineering materials, and suitable biochemical factors to improve or replace biological functions in an effort to improve clinica l procedures for the repair of damaged tissues and organs” | Source

NASA has been interested in this type of technology since years ago because it can help them in feeding the astronauts more easily, who in the future will be subjected to long space travel, initially to planets in our solar system (there are already missions to Mars in planning as we all know) and in the long term to other stars.

What is the state of tissue engineering?

Tissue engineering is in its infancy. While certain clinical procedures routinely use tissue engineering (an example is rotator cuff repair), there is still a lot of fundamental research in the design of scaffolds that must be followed by extensive clinical trials. This is a rapidly changing scene, so the opportunities for the use of tissue engineering will surely change year-by-year. | Source

"This conceptual mind map illustrates the primary elements for development and production of clean meat at large scale. Illustration courtesy of The Good Food Institute" | Source

This type of meat is called “clean meat”, which consist in:

genuine animal meat grown by farming cells directly rather than via rearing and slaughtering an animal. | Source

Even thought the technology is already real, the next goal for this would be to manage the increase in production and achieve affordable prices in order for it to really compete in the market with traditional meat

Among the benefits that can be expected are eventually lower production costs (since there will be no need to keep a cow or pig for example), better nutritional properties (they can be made without fat for example, and with extra doses of vitamins, minerals or proteins that we need), and a reduction in pollution in the environment from the waste of breeding animals. Likewise we could expect all kinds of flavors different to the animals of today, and in all kinds of versions (resistant to long periods in storage, easy to cook, soft, hard, etc.)

I think its fair to say that in the future, people especially kids, will be perplexed when discovering that their ancestors could eat dead animals and even worse, to think they were delicious.

Note that apart than the fact that this can greatly reduce the killing of animals (and eventually eradicate it completely thanks to cloning), this will allow us the capability of developing new flavors never before tasted since there is not only the potential to perfectly clone the flavors of the best meats in the world, but also there will be the possibility to create new flavors, which is something that I think will be unavoidable and will create an industry even greater than the regular and classic meat industry.

"This schematic illustrates one conception of the process of clean meat production at scale. The first stage is proliferation of the cells, followed by a differentiation and maturation stage where cells are seeded onto scaffolds and allowed to mature into the cell types required for meat. Each of these stages presents its own design requirements for the media, scaffolding, and bioreactors. Figure courtesy of The Good Food Institute" | Source

The pattern we can see with this technology is clear

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If we right now we have like 20 or 30 different flavor in every type of meat, with this technology we could create countless more twists in each flavor, creating new exquisite and never taste before delights for our mouths. Likewise these meats could be made with all kinds of textures, juiciness, and even with first-rate vitamin properties, and even with "light" variations for those who live on a diet.

This means that vegetarianism will probably end up disappearing, since now not only can meat be eaten that does not come directly from animals, but also these meats can be modified to be super healthy in every way.

In simple words, in the near future, thanks to technology and science innovations, we will be able to enjoy tasting delicious food, without sacrificing our health or sacrificing animals. This is literally having the best of both worlds.

I present you here, a brief dialogue from the future between a young boy and his father, discussing a “disgusting” issue about eating dead animals

Being vegetarian without actually being vegetarian, thanks to tissue engineering

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-Son: daddy, is it true that people used to eat animals?

-Dad: Well, yes, but ...

-Son: What? It is true? I thought my friends played a joke on me! How could they do that, eat a dead animal?

-Dad: My boy, I imagine what you feel when you simply think that we used to eat dead animals, but remember that this was a habit that we had for thousands of years, and it was part of our natural subsistence. In many cases if we did not kill to eat we died.

-Son: But dad, I thought that when they said they ate chicken or beef they were referring to the flavors we have today, not that they really killed a chicken or a cow!

-Dad: well my love, look what happened ... Do you remember NASA? Well, at the end of the last century, they began experiments to create artificial flesh, with a natural flavor, and without the need to kill animals.

The idea was to be able to provide the astronauts with food that was familiar to them on their long journeys through space. However the commercial industry became interested in the idea, and soon they began to develop techniques to improve the work of NASA. That's why today we have more than 1000 types of different flavors of chicken, cow, and any other animal that you can imagine, even the experts who were alive at the time say that the variety and taste of the new artificial meats was very superior to the original of those days.

-Son: daddy, tell me the truth, did you ever eat meat from dead animals?

-Dad: Well, I'm not going to lie to you, yes, when I was a young boy like you ...

-Son: ewwwww !!!

-Dad: remember that I was only a child, and for me that was as normal as your eating this meal today! Now come here my boy and leave that ugly face you have put on as if I were a wild animal ...

-Son: daddy, I do not know how they could do that ... I really do not imagine it, it's the most disgusting thing I've ever heard in my life, aarrgghhh, I even have nausea !!!

-Dad: look son, history is like that, what for some is a pleasure in an era, for others a long time after is unthinkable ...

-Son: a pleasure? dead animal? On my plate? And certainly not even vitamins!

-Dad: Well, you're wrong there, those meals were very nutritious then, although not as nutritious or healthy as the synthetic versions of today ...

-Son: If you say it ... yuuuck!

Do you think tissue engineering will allow us to create flavors never tasted before?

How do you believe the kids and even some adults from the future will react when they realize we use to eat dead animals? Would they care at all? Find it disgusting? Interesting?

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If you enjoy it, these are the most recent "A day in the future" entries

"A day in the future": Using our body's kinetic energy to power a micro GPS

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"A day in the future": Nanobots taking care of our health

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References

What is Tissue Engineering?

Is the Future of Meat Animal-Free?

Environmental impact of animal production

Tissue Engineering, Stem Cells, and Cloning: Opportunities for Regenerative Medicine

Image sources

1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5

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