Each and every one of us is born with a conscience. Although our conscience may be different, they all act as a moral compass to help us and guide us in life. There are certain things that our conscience may allow us to do but in most cases, our conscience is not all going to allow us to do specific things. Included in the list of things that we are not going to allow ourselves to do is to eat human flesh. The thought of it is repugnant to most people, but it seems as if one company is developing a product that is a new type of human derived meat.
The product that we are speaking of is named Ouroboros Steak, which is after the mythical creature that is a snake eating its own tail. These kits provide an opportunity for people to grow steak in three months and they use cells that are taken with a cotton swab from their cheek and deposited in premade scaffolds made out of mushroom mycelium. The product is a brainchild of an artist, an industrial designer, and a scientist. It was originally part of a commission job by the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Ouroboros Steak grow-your-own human meat kit is "technically" not cannibalism https://t.co/tzggfIgqZo via @dezeen
— ourochef (@ourochef) November 16, 2020
As it turned out, this design was rather popular. The London-based design Museum gave it the ‘design of the year’ award. He uses human cell cultures purchased from research and development and then arranged the stakes on a small plate. Even though the product is not yet available-for-sale, they are experimenting with ways of developing meat in this way.
“Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are.” – Anthelme Brillat-Savarin pic.twitter.com/xvcInFamAr
— ourochef (@ourochef) October 17, 2019
The scientists claim that they are not promoting eating ourselves as a way to solve the situation in which humans need protein. What they are doing is asking the question, what sacrifices are necessary to consume meat in the same way as we are now? People may not be able to afford meat easily in the future and culturing meat from their own cells may be the only option they have available.
In the end, it is something that may not take off. It’s interesting that science has a way of turning our heads and in this case, perhaps turning our stomachs.