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"Science fiction and science have always danced around each other. Science fiction is the subconscious of science."
- Greg Bear
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| 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. |
| Technovelgy 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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Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Islands in the Net
More Ideas
and Technology by Bruce Sterling
Tech news articles related to Islands in the Net
Tech news articles related to works by Bruce Sterling
Scop-related
news articles:
- Can Bacteria Provide Food In Space?
| A Beautiful Visualization Of Compact Food |
| Thermostabilized Wet Meat Product (NASA Prototype) |
| Edible Meat-Like Fungus Like Barbara Hambly's Slunch? |
| Holland Factory 3D Printing 500 Tons Of Steak Per Month |
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'...there's a narrow belt where the climate is moderate.'
'... with the Master-operator all you have to do is push one! A remarkable achievement!'
'Not like me. A T-1000, advanced prototype. A mimetic poly-alloy. Liquid metal.'
'It was riddled with holes that were the mouths of tunnels.'
'The massive feet working the pedals, arms and hands flashing and glinting...'
'There were cubic miles of it, and it glistened like a silvery Christmas tree...'
'Jason had been guiding the caravan of cars as usual...'
"The robot solemnly hit a ball against the wall, picked it up and teed it, hit it again, over and again...'
