How lab-grown meat became part of America’s culture wars

In June 2023 the US Food and Drug Administration granted permission for several companies to sell lab-grown meat, making America the second country, after Singapore, to allow the stuff. On a cellular level, cultivated meat is identical to its conventional counterpart. Animal cells are grown in a tank filled with nutrient-rich liquid, or on a scaffold made out of biomaterials such as synthetic polymers, to encourage structure. Most such products are, for now, prohibitively expensive. So far they have not appeared on a single supermarket shelf in America. Two restaurants in San Francisco and in Washington, DC, have served lab-grown meat, though it is currently off the menu at both eateries. If it becomes more popular, lab-grown meat might help reduce the environmental impact of livestock farming, which accounts for around 12% of greenhouse-gas emissions worldwide.