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Cultured Beef
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Raising livestock takes a huge toll on the environment, including the water and feed that cows consume and the methane and waste they emit. That’s why Andras Forgacs co-founded Modern Meadow, a three-year-old biotech startup working to develop meat made by growing cow’s cells–but not the whole animal.

Forgacs argues that lab-grown meat is a more sustainable way to make a hamburger. But exciting technologies often have hidden costs, and not everyone thinks that’s a tidy answer to a global problem. Popular Science, Climate Confidential, and Modern Farmer cosponsored a live event to explore the technology’s upsides and downsides. Above is a short video to tell you what you need to know about the world’s newest food fight. (Popular Science attended a different debate about lab-grown meat and the future of burgers in the fall; here’s that video.)