PETA Offering $1M Prize for Test Tube Meat

PETA is offering a $1 million reward to the first researchers who can figure out a commercially viable artificial meat-production system, the New York Times reports. Scientists have been working on in vitro meat for years, hoping to grow edible tissue cultures that could replace slaughtered livestock. But there was a “near civil war” within the animal-rights group over the reward.

In vitro meat wouldn’t just be more humane—it would, theoretically, also be more environmentally friendly, free from disease and cheaper. But many PETA members still opposed even test-tube meat consumption. “Animals are not ours to eat,” said one PETA vice president. “I remember saying I would be much more comfortable promoting eating roadkill.” (More PETA stories.)