According to the article PETA Launches Victimless Nuggets, PETA created an animal-meat alternative snack by cloning cells from their President, Ingrid Newkirk. Yes, Newkirk is a human, and cells were taken from an upper arm biopsy and sent to labs that have been working to grow animal tissue with the taste, texture, and "muscle mass" of chicken. I was curious to know where this study has gone since it was published in 2008, but I could not find any other information online.
This article brought me back to our discussion with Professor Wyatt Galusky of Morrisville State College, who told us about similar meat manipulation endeavors. We talked about the process of and ethics behind cloning cells from animals and then eating them. It has been a while since this discussion, but I do not believe we talked about the possibility of cloning human cells for food. Would eating human cells considered cannibalism? Or have these cells been manipulated and mixed with other nutrients enough to escape this connection? This victimless meat could also help America away from our heavy reliance on unsustainable, factory-produced meat products. After all, Ingrid is "100% free range, grain fed, white meat" herself.
This article brought me back to our discussion with Professor Wyatt Galusky of Morrisville State College, who told us about similar meat manipulation endeavors. We talked about the process of and ethics behind cloning cells from animals and then eating them. It has been a while since this discussion, but I do not believe we talked about the possibility of cloning human cells for food. Would eating human cells considered cannibalism? Or have these cells been manipulated and mixed with other nutrients enough to escape this connection? This victimless meat could also help America away from our heavy reliance on unsustainable, factory-produced meat products. After all, Ingrid is "100% free range, grain fed, white meat" herself.
See Dani's post "Pre-Cannibalism" on rice with human genes, too!
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