In vitro meat: Zombies on the menu?

Abstract

In April 2008 the In Vitro Meat Consortium held its first meeting at the Norwegian Food Research Institute. They are a group of scientists and advocates who seek to turn the techniques of tissue engineering to the production of food, producing meat in laboratories that has at no point been part of a living animal. This is a fascinating technology, and one that fits well with the topic of this SCRIPTed analysis section: the ‘zombification’ of meat products. I have been conducting interviews with scientists who are involved in In Vitro Meat research at the three main research sites to explore the emergent social, ethical and regulatory issues of the technology. In this discussion I first provide detail on the current level of scientific development in the field and then describe the social context and promise of In Vitro Meat, before finally returning to the central question of what exactly In Vitro Meat is: zombie or not?