If the biotech industry has its way, ordering a hamburger might soon sound something like this: “one charbroiled cloned-beef patty, with genetically modified cheese, lab-grown bacon and vitamin-C-fortified lettuce, on a protein-spiked bun.” The burger of the future is delicious, nutritious and contains more engineering than a stealth bomber.

What if you could carve off a chunk of the most succulent slab of steak you’ve ever eaten, clone a bull from it, then produce weeks of identically delectable dinners?