Interesting, but kind of has the ‘y tho?’ factor to it. Others note the land and water use issue vut it seems there are a lot of other crops that would be bigger targets on those fronts. Lab meats, now that I can see a big reason for, the lack of need for slaughter and the amouny of feed and space needed for beef production is massive for what we get out of it.
It probably has to do with difficulty of cultivation. Meat is a real pain to grow in the lab, the methods are already pretty complex and production is still low. At the end of the day it’s adapted to be in an animal. On the other hand, cotton is just pure cellulose, which any number of organisms can produce including bacteria.
It’s the same issue with cotton; it takes a lot of water and land. With this, one can feasibly use less land for more product; as well as avoiding child and slave labour which has been associated with cotton production in countries with lax or non-existent labour laws.
At scale, there is still the risk of cotton-growing in labs being outsourced as well, similar to how a lot of cheap shit comes from factories in China with terrible conditions. That can still be an issue.
Still, there tons of potential benefits to this.
And, given how huge the demand is for cotton, and how relatively simple/cheap it probably is to produce vs lab grown meat and other things or vs the usual cotton farming methods, it’s gonna be a cash cow for the companies that make it. And for the companies that buy it at lower prices than farmes cotton, too (see also: microbial rennet having largely supplanted rennet harvested from calves, for cheese, because it’s cheaper).
Interesting, but kind of has the ‘y tho?’ factor to it. Others note the land and water use issue vut it seems there are a lot of other crops that would be bigger targets on those fronts. Lab meats, now that I can see a big reason for, the lack of need for slaughter and the amouny of feed and space needed for beef production is massive for what we get out of it.
It probably has to do with difficulty of cultivation. Meat is a real pain to grow in the lab, the methods are already pretty complex and production is still low. At the end of the day it’s adapted to be in an animal. On the other hand, cotton is just pure cellulose, which any number of organisms can produce including bacteria.
Mandatory mention that I didn’t read the article.
It’s the same issue with cotton; it takes a lot of water and land. With this, one can feasibly use less land for more product; as well as avoiding child and slave labour which has been associated with cotton production in countries with lax or non-existent labour laws.
In short: Efficiency and ethics.
At scale, there is still the risk of cotton-growing in labs being outsourced as well, similar to how a lot of cheap shit comes from factories in China with terrible conditions. That can still be an issue.
Still, there tons of potential benefits to this.
And, given how huge the demand is for cotton, and how relatively simple/cheap it probably is to produce vs lab grown meat and other things or vs the usual cotton farming methods, it’s gonna be a cash cow for the companies that make it. And for the companies that buy it at lower prices than farmes cotton, too (see also: microbial rennet having largely supplanted rennet harvested from calves, for cheese, because it’s cheaper).