From the BBC, via Snowmit:

Developments in tissue engineering mean that cells taken from animals could be grown directly into meat in a laboratory, the researchers say. . .

To industrialise the process, researchers suggest the cells could be grown on large sheets that would need to be stretched to provide the ‘exercise’ for the growing muscles.

“If you didn’t stretch them, it would be like eating mush,” said Mr Methany. . .

The new techniques could also provide a dilemma for vegetarians.

Some may feel able to eat meat that has been grown without an animal being harmed.

The whole fake meat thing has always seemed just around the corner, the way we grow and produce flesh at this point just isn’t scaling well enough into a 6 billion human market. I for one will be willing to try the stuff at least once, if only for the transhumanist/neophillic implications and cause meat that is less real is meat that I can get behind.

My favorite part, though, is the stretching of the muscles to keep them toned. Thinking about the giant sheets of muscle fibre, completely out of context, being “worked out” by robots gets me all grossed out and excited at the same time. It’s just one of those things that actually feels like the future.

I can’t wait to chew on some bovine cell replicate jerky while soaring through the sky with my new jetpack. The jetpacks are coming any day now right?