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"I kind of take it for granted that our great-grandchildren will regard us as a sort of precursor species. That they won't think of us as human and if we could see them, we probably wouldn't think of them as human either."
- William Gibson
 |
| Scop | ||
| Protein grown in bacteria-filled vats. |
Okay, you don't eat cows, chickens or fish. How about a smaller creature - really small? Single Cell Protein (SCP) is making competitive inroads on soybean and fishmeal for feed supplementation.
| David was a health-food nut, a great devotee of unnatural foods. After eight years of marriage, Laura was used to it. At least the scop was improving. Even the scop, single-cell protein, was better these days. It tasted all right, if you could forget the image of protein vats crammed with swarming bacteria. |
| From Islands in the Net,
by Bruce Sterling. Published by William Morrow in 1988 Additional resources -
|
The word "scop" is what you get when you try to say the acronym SCP (single cell protein) as a word.
Apparently, Russia is the only country that has been really serious about trying to adopt single cell protein as a meat substitute. The most successful use of "scop" as food is the commercial product mycoprotein:
Mycoprotein is a food made by continuous fermentation of the fungus, Fusarium gramineurum. The fungus is grown in a large fermentation tower to which oxygen, nitrogen, glucose, minerals, and vitamins are continually added. After harvesting, the fungus is heat treated to reduce its RNA content to World Health Organisation recommended levels before being filtered and drained. The resulting sheet of fungal mycelia is mixed with egg albumen which acts a binder. Flavouring and colouring may also be added. The mycoprotein is then textured to resemble meat, before being sliced, diced or shredded. (Vegetarian Society)
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- Can Bacteria Provide Food In Space?
| Electronic Tongues Will Rule The Kitchen |
| Mass Production Of In Vitro Meat From One Sample |
| Mealworms Food Of The Future |
| Self-Driving Domino's Pizza Car |
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Science fiction authors are serious about sleep, too.
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SF writers have thought about this since the 19th century.
