To The Editor,

To The Editor,

By Jon Hachschartner

      As experts predict another surge of coronavirus, Senators Marco Rubio and Tim Scott should help prevent the next pandemic, specifically by investing more government resources into cultivated-meat development. For those who don’t know, cultivated meat is grown from animal cells, without slaughter. Since livestock are removed the process, the risk of zoonotic diseases making the leap to humans is eliminated.

Factory farms, and animal agriculture in general, are a perfect breeding ground for pandemics. We need to bring cultivated meat to market as quickly as possible at a competitive price with slaughtered meat. This can be achieved with increased federal funding for open-access research into cellular agriculture. Our legislators should support the effort for the sake of public health, in addition to animal welfare and environmental benefits.