Humans have been eating meat for millennia, but in the past half century, the amount of meat consumption has risen dramatically (especially in the U.S.), and with the demand for meat comes environmental impacts such as deforestation, pollution, and the potential for more zoonotic diseases like COVID-19, that jump from animals to humans.
Laboratory and agricultural scientists are trying to address these challenges through a variety of alternatives to mass-produced animal agriculture, from regenerative farming techniques, to plant-based meat substitutes, and even lab-grown, cell-based cutlets that bring the bite without the cow.
