Molecular farming company Moolec has inserted pig genes into soy beans to generate meaty-tasting proteins that can be grown in plants.

I’m naturally quite cautious about things like this, but I’m curious to hear your thoughts.

    • dat_math [they/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
      9·
      11 months ago

      I did. The article is riddled with blind support for plant based capitalism and suggests using the tech to improve existing meat products. I also read a little about moolec, which itself grew out of is quite cozy with the pork industry. Finally, where are they getting the DNA subsequences? Is such a company going to build a small library of DNA and then never grow/purchase new pigs to deconstruct to catalog taste, texture, and genetic material?

      Soybeans are good, and they don’t need to taste or feel like pigs for people to enjoy them.

      • davel [he/him]@hexbear.netEnglish
        71·
        11 months ago

        It’s Wired: of course it’s going to be riddled with blind support for capitalism.

        Finally, where are they getting the DNA subsequences?

        From the industrial scale pig torture infrastructure that was already here.

        Soybeans are good, and they don’t need to taste or feel like pigs for people to enjoy them.

        Scolding people into eating their beans has been going great so far.

        • dat_math [they/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
          6·
          11 months ago

          From the industrial scale pig torture infrastructure that was already here.

          That’s exactly my point.

          Scolding people into eating their beans has been going great so far.

          Stating that we don’t need to grow animal proteins inside plants for beans to be good is not the same thing as scolding people for not eating their beans.

          All I’m trying to say is that I think we shouldn’t be growing or using the meat industries to develop alternatives to animal products, and I am quite confident that there is more profit to be made for moolec if they continue trading with meat processors (both to acquire new animals for testing and dna extraction, and also in supplying meat processors with cheaper protein) than if they were to immediately halt any further development that depends on growing or harvesting new animals and only grow or sell from seed stock they’ve developed so far.

    • Gay_Wrath [fae/faer]@hexbear.netEnglish
      4·
      11 months ago

      Chinese people have been making plant based umami tofu since before fictional Jesus Christ was around

      There’s literally no reason to bring a pig into it when you could just use mushrooms or something else for umami flavor

      Crackkkers trying to reinvent the soy wheel, badly, with more animal cruelty