For a Finnish researcher, it was gratifying to see a local scientific breakthrough receive international attention. The technology that allows protein to be grown “out of thin air” in a laboratory was created under the auspices of two public research institutions, and subsequently spun out as a tech company.
The same miracle that had been provided via ancient evolutionary pathways now has an artificial counterpart. It may sound a bit Star Trek, but it is true.
However, as a researcher, Finnish or otherwise, I was downhearted by George Monbiot’s prophetical approach to the topic in the Guardian. As Monbiot himself acknowledged, he is a bit of a Johnny-come-lately to straightforward technological enthusiasm. But he treads a well-worn path: a breakthrough in technology heralds a future where agriculture vanishes from the face of the planet. In a similar vein, vertical farms and many other innovations have been claimed to liberate humanity from soil, or rather soil from humanity.
