Linkage - Guardian article on the production of meat in a petri dish.

I don't know what to make of it, and i'm not talking in recipe terms. Technically, it is irrelevant to me, since the fact that an animal cell is used at the start of the process makes it not vegan. On the other hand, it is vegetarian since the animal is not killed (or, allegedly, harmed) to get the cells. (also chances are it will be produced by some biotech company that conducts animal research, which would put a lot of animal rights folks off buying it)
Maybe it is a good move. However the original cells are extracted (and you can take cells fairly non-invasively, including from humans) it is likely to cause less animal suffering than the meat industry if it replaces meat as part of the Western standard diet. It would also provide a source of protein (apparently - corporate assholery being what it is i'm not convinced) for people in developing countries. (remember GM crops were supposed to do that, hmmm...) A problem with campaigning for veg(etari)anism has hitherto been that there are always some people who would never give up meat, either because they regard it as necessary to their health (i'm so not getting into that debate right now) or because they just don't think they can live without the taste or do something they perceive as limiting their diet. Lab-grown meat might be a solution there - except that many meat-eaters wouldn't eat it. Ok, maybe i'm extrapolating solely from my own family who might be the only people in England with this view, but i know some folks are grossed out by the idea. (which is always a good opportunity to point out how gross meat is to a vegetarian, but anyway) So really, as i said, i don't know where i stand with this.
Oh yeah, and someone has suggested you could also grow human meat that way. Uh huh...