Stem Cell Steak: Growing Your Own Meat by N. Brown - Article Example

Post uses cells called myosatellites, these are muscle cells, which are used normally to repair damaged muscle tissue. These cells can be extracted without necessarily killing the animal, and they develop into a muscle cell; it is easier to control the development of these cells (Brown, 2011 p1). For the cells to develop the muscle cells must be exercised regularly, this can be done by giving the cells minute electric shocks that stimulate their growth. However, the professor wants the muscle cell to exercise on their own; pieces of velcro act as anchor points and are fitted into a Petri dish where they create tension in the muscle cells.

Naturally, the cells will try to contract, but the velcro provides the necessary resistance, which stimulates the cells to grow and increase their bulk (Brown, 2011 p1). After a few weeks, the cells will have grown into strips, which are a couple of millimeters thick and 2-3 centimeters long. The professor has not yet managed to grow them any bigger; this is until he finds a means to enable nutrients and oxygen to access the cells that are at the center of the strip. The professor is hopeful that, in a few months coming, he will have developed an intricate meshwork that will enable the nutrient and oxygen to reach the center of the strip and produce strips that will be thick enough (Brown, 2011 p1).

According to the professor, the research that he is carrying out has the potential to change the meat production methods. With laboratory production of meat, we shall still need small herds of cattle to donate the stem cells, but the traditional livestock farming will be outdated. Although no one has tasted the meat yet, even if the hamburger does not taste good, it still represents a very significant breakthrough that could reduce carbon emissions and transform the face of farming (Brown, 2011 p1).

Source definition The professor has had a lot of experience in the field of vascular physiology. The document was obtained from a website called the Human Invent “www.humansinvent.com”. Furthermore, the document also has proper referencing at the bottom of the article. Additionally, the stated article is biased in that it looks only on the positive side of the laboratory meat production. The article neglects the negative impacts of production, which includes the issue of farmers who are likely to be put out of business.

The experiment also has ethical problems. The article was written in the context of a third person narrative and used a lot of scientific evidence to support the validity of the research. The article is an argumentative essay that states the benefits of the research and the negative impacts that it might have.