LTE: new disease

To the editor,
While the topic has faded from public discussion, the threat remains of another pandemic, à la COVID-19, spreading around the globe and leaving devastation in its wake. To help prevent this possibility, our political leaders should support state and federal funding of cultivated-meat research. The new protein is grown from livestock cells, without slaughter. Animal agriculture is a frequent cause of zoonotic diseases making the jump to humans.
While growing cultivated meat is now technologically feasible, it’s too expensive to mass produce. Further study will fix this. Let’s build facilities like the Tufts University Center for Cellular Agriculture at schools across the country. I have no doubt that, working together, researchers can overcome the remaining scientific barriers to making cheap, slaughter-free meat. Among other things, this will be a significant boon for public health.
Jon Hochschartner
Granby, CT