October Swansea Science Cafe – Using stem cells to make food: Understanding 'In Vitro Meat'
The Swansea Science Cafe offers opportunities for anyone to find out more about new, exciting and topical areas of science. Designed to be informal and entertaining, the cafe typically runs on the last Wednesday of every month at the Dylan Thomas Centre. Entry is free and talks start at 7:30pm.
Title: Using stem cells to make food: Understanding 'In Vitro Meat'
Speaker: Dr Neil Stephens, ESRC Centre for Economic and Social Aspects of Genomics, Cardiff University, organised by the Wales Gene Park
Date: Wednesday 19th October 2011
Time: 7.30pm
Venue: The Dylan Thomas Centre, Swansea (www.dylanthomas.com/)
Admission: Free, all welcome
Summary: In a small number of laboratories around the world, scientists are using the techniques of stem cell science and regenerative medicine to grow cells taken from pigs and cows into muscle tissue for people to eat as meat.
The technology is still in its early stages and some distance from being a commercial reality, yet it still opens up a range of questions for us all about how to understand this meat made without animal slaughter.
Over the last year and a half, Neil Stephens – a sociologist from Cardiff University – has been interviewing the scientists and advocates at the forefront of developing this technology.
During this session he will discuss his findings, explaining the current state-of-the-art in the field and exploring the social and ethical issues posed by this innovative intervention in what we might be eating in the future.
This news item has been posted for the Swansea Science Cafe by Bethan Evans, Swansea University Public Relations Office, Tel: 01792 295049, or email: b.w.evans@swansea.ac.uk.
