As Pablo noted, concerns over the uncertain impact of cell-cultured products aren’t new
For onlookers, articles that are strongly against cultured meat feasibility have appeared in the last 12 months:
The Counter article—“New research suggests the industry may be on a billion-dollar crash course with reality”.
Linch Zhang and Neil Dullaghan analysis—“Linch [turned] from a cultured meat optimist to being broadly pessimistic. Neil wants to be more agnostic until further research from Rethink Priorities and others.”
These two analysis draw a lot on the Humbird article, published in December 2020 , [Linch and Neil summarize] “Cheap at scale (<$200/kg) cultured meat with “wild-type” cells is simply not feasible”.
Linch and Neil at Rethink Priorities are very respected by EAs. At the same time, the non-EA, liberal Counter article also said the same thing with a distinct analysis, and I think EA opinion is further moved by corroborating “outside” views. The Humbird article is funded by Open Phil.
For changing EA opinion, I think the above is a very strong signal and would inform or change many minds. (This could explain changing ACE recommendations.)
I am writing this because onlookers may not get this sense of these updates in 2021.
My knowledge is not deep—honestly, Linch and Neil’s article is basically my education. If people don’t agree with the above, please let me know!
(Note: I agree with the concerns that currently dominate comments on this post and upvoted each such comment—there’s at least 5 different people who share them. The reason why New Harvest was recommended is not explained.)
For onlookers, articles that are strongly against cultured meat feasibility have appeared in the last 12 months:
The Counter article—“New research suggests the industry may be on a billion-dollar crash course with reality”.
Linch Zhang and Neil Dullaghan analysis—“Linch [turned] from a cultured meat optimist to being broadly pessimistic. Neil wants to be more agnostic until further research from Rethink Priorities and others.”
These two analysis draw a lot on the Humbird article, published in December 2020 , [Linch and Neil summarize] “Cheap at scale (<$200/kg) cultured meat with “wild-type” cells is simply not feasible”.
Linch and Neil at Rethink Priorities are very respected by EAs. At the same time, the non-EA, liberal Counter article also said the same thing with a distinct analysis, and I think EA opinion is further moved by corroborating “outside” views. The Humbird article is funded by Open Phil.
For changing EA opinion, I think the above is a very strong signal and would inform or change many minds. (This could explain changing ACE recommendations.)
I am writing this because onlookers may not get this sense of these updates in 2021.
My knowledge is not deep—honestly, Linch and Neil’s article is basically my education. If people don’t agree with the above, please let me know!
(Note: I agree with the concerns that currently dominate comments on this post and upvoted each such comment—there’s at least 5 different people who share them. The reason why New Harvest was recommended is not explained.)