21. IN VITRO MEAT

♤ In vitro meat, also known as cultured meat or shmeat, is an animal flesh product that has never been part of a complete, living animal. Alternative names include hydroponic meat, test-tube meat, vat-grown meat, victimless meat and vitro meat. This form of meat has been described, sometimes derisively, as "laboratory-grown" meat. A long-term goal for in vitro meat laboratories would be to grow fully developed muscle tissue after they made the first-generational products economically feasible for most people. Cultured meat is currently prohibitively expensive, but it is anticipated that the cost could be reduced to about twice that of conventionally produced meat. Potentially, any animal's muscle tissue could be grown through the in vitro process, even human.

♤ In vitro meat production is a specialized form of tissue engineering, a biomedical practice in which scientists try to grow animal tissues like bone, skin, kidneys and hearts. Proponents say it will ultimately be a more efficient way to make animal meat, which would reduce the carbon footprint of meat products.

♤ With the costs of conventional meat farming techniques constantly increasing and an increased demand from a rising world population, in vitro meat may be one of several new technologies needed to maintain food supplies by the year 2050.

♤ Shmeat is a nickname given to lab-created meat grown from a cell culture of animal tissue.