Try turning lab-grown meat tech to other uses
Brian Kateman argues that lab-grown meat firms should focus on staple foods before they produce versions of exotic meats. In this way, we can increase public acceptance of cultured foods and reduce the adverse impacts of animal farming (14 October, p 21).
Surely the effort involved in persuading people to eat lab-grown chicken and beef would be better spent persuading them to eat another form of protein altogether, one that is already available, palatable and healthy: beans!
Meanwhile, the technology used to grow animal muscle tissue could be redirected to other animal tissues, those used in traditional medicines that contribute to illegal animal trade and poaching of endangered species. How about growing rhino horn, pangolin scales or leopard bones and putting the poachers out of business?
More views on the many microbiome claims (1)
Being a microbiologist, I get tetchy about some claims made of the colonic microbiome. I concede its importance in young infants and possibly in obesity. Undoubtedly, some evolutionary adaptations have led to many interactions with it. But calling these critical or of prime importance is somewhat overdoing it, in my opinion (7 October, p 30).
The “elephant in the room” is a whole cohort of many thousands of people, such as myself, who have had their colon removed through total colectomy with ileostomy 鈥� and live happy and fulfilled lives of normal span without ill effects. Perhaps more could be learned from those in whom the colonic microbiome is absent than from those in whom it is present. I have seen no mention of this negative control group anywhere.
More views on the many microbiome claims (2)
Claims made about our gut microbiome and health greatly exceed the causal evidence. It is telling that the European Food Standards Agency hasn’t, to date, approved any health claims for probiotics, foods or supplements that intentionally contain live bacteria. Its decisions are based on the sum of evidence reviewed by independent experts 鈥� clearly, they aren’t convinced.
On the other hand, extraction of calories from dietary fibre by gut microbes is an advantage, at least if calories are in short supply. But it is harder to understand why evolution would have left our central nervous system, and hence our mental health and behaviour, vulnerable to changes in our diet or its associated microbiota.
The reasons why native plants can be a better bet
Having read James Wong’s take on native versus non-native plants, I agree that more research on this is needed, but I wish he hadn’t attributed a preference for native plants solely to “cultural bias”. In fact, there are good reasons to think that native plants will tend to be better (30 September, p 44).
This comes down to co-evolution and co-adaptation: native insects, birds and other organisms have evolved together with native plants. They have deep evolutionary synergies based on flowering time, scent, colour and many other attributes. Some insects will lay their eggs only on native plants; some birds will forage and nest only, or preferentially, in native trees. These synergies haven’t evolved with non-native plants.
Legacy may bring other benefits too
Conor Feehly writes interestingly about the psychological reasons for “the legacy paradox”, but omits possible evolutionary ones. Striving to be remembered by future generations may get you noticed by your contemporaries, enhancing reproductive success, thereby propagating the putative LEG-AC.Y gene (14 October, p 40).
Dig deep for the perfect moon base
When it comes to a perfect site for a moon base, solar radiation can be a danger on the surface. If we could find a cave big enough, that would be a good solution. But lunar dust makes it hard to dig a hole in a conventional way. Some suggest drilling a hole, dropping an explosive in and setting it off at the bottom. Using robots to build a base before we launch people could cut risks further (30 September, p 12).
At this rate, we will fail to meet net-zero goal
In 2020, as part of the UK’s push for net zero, the government set a target of 600,000 heat pump installations per year from 2028. However, there are over 20 million domestic gas boilers in the UK with an average life of about 15 years, so about 1.5 million new ones are needed annually. After 15 years of installing 600,000 heat pumps per year, 9 million homes will have converted from gas, but conversion then ceases as the first tranche of heat pumps whose useful life has ended need to be replaced. Installations and life-cycle replacements have to exceed 1.5 million a year for the transition to succeed (30 September, p 13).
How does free will apply to an artist?
I apply conflicting theories about free will to myself 鈥� do we have agency over our actions, thoughts and imaginings, or are we the result of a “zillion” influences? This gets tricky for artists like me, with imagination, lateral thinking, heightened aesthetic sensibilities, creativity, emotions and originality thrown into the pot (30 September, p 32).
We can beat the creeping threat of sea level rise
Guy Cox can’t see civilisation surviving 6 to 9 metres of sea level rise. It can. Most land and many great cities are higher than that, so we would still have plenty of room. In any case, it would take centuries for the sea to rise that much, and most buildings don’t last that long anyway, so new buildings would simply be built on higher ground (Letters, 7 October).
For the record
The company that created the “mammoth meatball” is simply called Vow (14 October, p 21).
It was Robert Stewart of San Francisco, California, who contributed to a recent Last Word (16 September).