Some people don’t eat meat for religious reasons but many people don’t eat meat due to ethical reasons. After all, meat production involves, in many cases, cruelty and ecological damage. What if there was a way to get meat without that though? Memphis Meats is the manufacturer of meat without animals.

This isn’t a soy or tofu substitute, this is real meat just without the slaughtering process. Instead, they raise cells which will become the meat we can eat. There are no brains, not feelings. Just muscle cells that will one day become a hamburger or chicken patty.

The science isn’t new, we’ve been able to grow cells in a petri dish for years but using it directly for meat production is something that has only been batted around as an idea, not an actual business plan. The hope is that lab grown meat will help cut down on the not just animal cruelty but the environmental impact of traditional farming for meat production. They’re still working out the kinks but in the future, your meatballs could be totally lab grown.