It seems that the whole article is trying to discredit the "science prize-iness" of the PETA reward, but I looked at the web site and they take great care not to call it a science prize.

They call it a Reward - not even a "Science Reward".

The idea is that the science is out there, or close to it, and it just needs to be refined and proven. Granted, one million isn't enough to really make it worth it just for the money, after a company has gone through all the work to create the product, get approval for human consumption, and get it to market, but look at the free marketing that this future company already got (and will continue to get) from PETA! Imagine Pamela Anderson chowing down on lab-created chicken breasts on YouTube, while shaking her lab-created human breasts.

Plus, it's likely that this prize will snowball. Wealthy donors, mainly from Hollywood, will probably tack on some money to this, and there is likely an optimum number that will really light the fires of industry to get this done.

Even for people like me, who don't mind eating real meat, this is a good idea. I mean, have you ever toured a chicken processing plant? Nasty! Not that it stopped me from eating chicken, but it did make me wish for a synthetic future. A little less worry about deadly bacteria and growth hormones might be nice too, although I can't imagine there won't be handling/infection accidents in this new industry from human contact, and who knows what kinds of strange biochemicals will be needed to grow the stuff.

But I still like the idea, and I'll start eating the synthetic chicken breasts 10 years after Hollywood has been eating them with no detrimental effects (although - how will we know whether any detrimental effects are from lab-grown meat or from the drugs, hormones, and STDs that already inhabit many of the Hollywood elite?). By then I'll probably have no choice, just like now when I can't get most of my bottled beverages in clean pure glass after this strange synthetic material called plastic became so popular.

This "reward" is like the offer of a free trip to the first senior citizen over the age of 75 who is accompanied by both biological pa

This "reward" is like the offer of a free trip to the first senior citizen over the age of 75 who is accompanied by both biological parents.

It is nothing but an image enhancer for PETA to show they support alternatives. That is why they get to veto the reward because the fake chicken has to be agreeable to non-meat eaters. Where is the logic in that other than to allow PETA (non-meat eaters) to veto the stuff? Who in there right mind would try to market meat to non-meat eaters? Most non-meat eaters are very passionate about not eating meat going way beyond preference although some deny that it is more.