Sergey Brin invests in synthetic beef • Hacker News Board

Re: Sergey Brin invests in synthetic beef

#151

Post by paulnechifor » Mon, Aug 05, 2013, 5:10 PM UTC

antitrust wrote: post #130

I like the idea of being able to be a carnivore without being a killer. However, there is a trap in this. Right now, there are cows and pigs wherever there are humans. Fast forward 200 years when we can grow our own meat in the lab. Who's going to keep around livestock? For what reason? Pigs and cows would exist in a wild state in a small fraction of their former "territory." If at all.

>Who's going to keep around livestock?

The people who want to eat actual animals.

>For what reason?

I wouldn't be so quick to assume that cloning muscle cells is the same as meat and it will replace all animal products. What about (almost) raw pig skin [1]? It's delicious and people in this post say skin isn't so easily synthesized.

Pasteurization was invented a long time ago yet people still make natural milk products. If I'm not mistaken these are illegal in the USA.

[1] https://www.google.com/search?q=șorici

Re: Sergey Brin invests in synthetic beef

#152

Post by mistercow » Mon, Aug 05, 2013, 5:10 PM UTC

philwelch wrote: post #113

steveklabnik wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"don't bully people into your ethics" is itself an ethic, which you are yourself attempting to get the parent to conform to.

It's more of a social courtesy akin to not prosthelytizing or shilling commercial products. HN is not a very good place for those kinds of things, nor is it a good place to tell people they're not emoting correctly in a bid to bully them into caring about factory farming.

This isn't really about factory farms or anything specific. It's a broader issue of people thinking with their gut without calibrating their gut first. If you get chills about things that are irrational to be averse to, and don't get chills about things that make sense to be averse to, then you need to either figure out how to bring your instincts in line with reality, or learn when to ignore your instincts.

Re: Sergey Brin invests in synthetic beef

#153

Post by rmc » Mon, Aug 05, 2013, 5:12 PM UTC

spodek wrote: post #8

We have a lot of entrepreneurs here. Why don't we start with an easier lab-grown animal product than something we ingest? How about lab-grown fur coats (EDIT from evilduck's comment: or lab-grown leather for clothing, furniture, shoes, etc)? Who wouldn't want to wear a "mink" coat created with no animal pain? Develop the technology on something we don't have to eat, along with the associated health risks and sensitiv…

Lab grown meat scales much more. If you cracking it, suddenly you can attack the whole meat industry.

Re: Sergey Brin invests in synthetic beef

#154

Post by wnevets » Mon, Aug 05, 2013, 5:14 PM UTC

axblount wrote: post #141

fatjokes wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At the very least some animal product is necessary (e.g., dairy or eggs). See: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/21/opinion/21planck.html Vegetarians can go ahead and argue that vegans are too extreme while vegans fire back that vegetarians are just vegans who lack commitment.

I am vegan and have been for about a year and a half. Animal products are not necessary for a healthy diet. That goes for adults and infants. http://www.veganoutreach.org/enewsletter/20070523.html Crown Shakur did die because he parents didn't supply him with adequate nutrition, but there's no reason he couldn't have gotten what he needed on a vegan diet. Plenty of children are raised on a 100% vegan diet and thrive…

Can you link to a study or two that at-least suggest that infants can be raised vegan?

Re: Sergey Brin invests in synthetic beef

#155

Post by MattGrommes » Mon, Aug 05, 2013, 5:17 PM UTC

Goronmon wrote: post #3

Does it taste like despair? Seriously though, that's always my first thought when I read a story about something like this. It's like my brain can't help but cringe of the thought of eating something made this way, even if it's irrational.

Well, once they get the technology for proper fat inclusion in the meat, they can make it taste however they want.

But your (and by extension, the public's) mental "cringe" is probably going to be a much bigger hurdle for them to jump over than the technology was.

Re: Sergey Brin invests in synthetic beef

#156

Post by zevyoura » Mon, Aug 05, 2013, 5:23 PM UTC

rorrr2 wrote: post #124

rsl7 wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who eats an entirely plant-based diet, it sounds like a terrible idea. If it tastes half as good as actual meat, then it will be much worse than even the cheapest, overprocessed soy protein 'burgers' in the frozen food section of the grocery store. Seriously.

Bull. Shit. My wife is a vegetarian. I've tried probably 8-10 different brands of vegie burgers and chicken nuggets. They don't taste even remotely like meat. Some do taste alright, I admit. Another problem is price. You would think soy products would be cheaper than meat. Nope. So freaking expensive.

My parents are vegetarian, and I've had a similar experience, except for one product: Beyond Meat. Their chicken is unbelievably realistic; I could tell it apart in a direct taste test, but in the context of something like a burrito, I don't think I could.

Re: Sergey Brin invests in synthetic beef

#157

Post by philwelch » Mon, Aug 05, 2013, 5:24 PM UTC

mistercow wrote: post #152

philwelch wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's more of a social courtesy akin to not prosthelytizing or shilling commercial products. HN is not a very good place for those kinds of things, nor is it a good place to tell people they're not emoting correctly in a bid to bully them into caring about factory farming.

This isn't really about factory farms or anything specific. It's a broader issue of people thinking with their gut without calibrating their gut first. If you get chills about things that are irrational to be averse to, and don't get chills about things that make sense to be averse to, then you need to either figure out how to bring your instincts in line with reality, or learn when to ignore your instincts.

Where "reality" is evidently defined as agreement with you?

Re: Sergey Brin invests in synthetic beef

#158

Post by tdfx » Mon, Aug 05, 2013, 5:24 PM UTC

axblount wrote: post #128

api wrote: post #97

I can't wait to see the cognitive dissonance from the "natural" people. On one hand, it could quite possibly replace factory farming and eliminate a huge amount of waste, pollution, and animal cruelty. On the other hand, it's GMO. I love seeing True Believers in Movementarianism squirm. I'm equal opportunity here. I like pointing out the philosophical inconsistencies of dogmatic positivism to your typical Reddit /r/a…

Why are you assuming that meat consumption is necessary?

I keep a high level of protein my diet. I've tried veggie burgers and other substitutes and enjoyed them a lot, but I can't replace all my meals with them because they're just so damn high in sodium. Any suggestions?

Re: Sergey Brin invests in synthetic beef

#159

Post by chris_wot » Mon, Aug 05, 2013, 5:24 PM UTC

asciimo wrote: post #133

chris_wot wrote: post #15

While it's more ethical for the animal, I must question the carbon footprint and efficient and effective use of resources to make synthetic beef. Firstly, to make it scale you'll need a lot of machinery. Then you'll need the right nutrients. It will need a lot of technology, because to make beef grow it will need to have everything maintained and provided for it. In nature, beef cattle can be run on reasonably unprod…

Turning 100g of protein into 15g of protein is not "very effective and efficient."

How much energy was consumed making synthetic beef? And how much in total materials?

Re: Sergey Brin invests in synthetic beef

#160

Post by eddieplan9 » Mon, Aug 05, 2013, 5:24 PM UTC

amirhirsch wrote: post #69

Best quote from Sergey: "If what you're doing is not seen by some people as science fiction, it's probably not transformative enough"

Oh Please. Is OLPC kind of idea good for science fiction? Is it transformative enough? How about Khan Academy? How about Square's idea of empowering small businesses? How about Henry Ford's idea of mass producing cars? Or for god's sake, how about Google's original idea of "searching the web"?