I sure hope this works out. I described this enthusiastically in chapter 16 of my book.
I have read that the first "cultured meat" (in vitro meat) may not taste very good. It may lack flavor and the fibers may not stick together much, giving it an odd texture. Perhaps they can use it for filler, or sausage, or some other niche market. They can then gradually improve the technology and move into the mainstream market. This is the sales strategy described in the book "The Innovator's Dilemma," which I highly recommend. As I see it, there are two ways to approach this market: 1. From the low-end as I just described. 2. From the extreme high-end, that is, the medical market growing replacement human organs from the patient's own cells. You could charge $100,000 a pound for something like a replacement heart. There has been progress in growing human organs. I believe it is fundamentally the same technology as in vitro meat production. Descriptions of it sounds similar to me. They have grown a rat's heart, apparently, at U. Minnesota. See: http://singularityhub.com/2009/06/08/growing-organs-in-the-lab/ - Jed
