I know you guys like to trash Bill Gates, but here’s something he’s funding that could change the world in a truly immense and positve way: Lab grown meat.

The FDA recently approved lab grown chicken on a small scale, and is working on approval of lab grown beef, pork and tuna. This is an emerging industry that still has some big technical, social and political challenges to overcome, but we need to be rooting for it. Here’s some of the benefits of lab grown meat:

Greatly reduced climate harm. Livestock contribute to 10-15% of global greenhouse gases. The Amazon rainforest is being burned down to make grazing ground for cattle.

No dangerous bacteria like ecoli in the meat, and thus less anti biotics as well.

No growth hormones. Animal cells are grown with amino acids and nutriants.

No parasites in the meat. Something we all try not to think about when having our dinner.

Far less saturated fat, which means less heart attacks and strokes, less deaths, lower overall heathcare costs for society, etc.

Greater nutritional value. Lab grown techniques could make the food much healthier in many ways.

Potentially better taste. We’re not there yet but it’s a nascent industry and when it matures flavor will be better.

Potentially lower costs. Again, we are far from there yet, but if viable techniques can be scaled up to feed the entire planet it’s hard to image it won’t be more cost effective than raising livestock.

And certainly not least, no loss of animal life. The documentary “Food Inc” created a lot of vegetarians. The horrible cruelty of factory farming is difficult to even describe adequately. I’ve often mused that to chickens, cows, pigs and a few other animals, the planet Earth is like some science fiction Hell.

Props to the Gates Foundation and others trying to make lab grown meat a reality. I believe someday someone will succeed. Yes the livestock farming industry is powerful but no one (and no industry) can stand in the way of progress forever.