Cell culture is the complex process by which cells are grown under controlled conditions, generally outside of their natural environment. In practice, the term "cell culture" now refers to the culturing of cells derived from multi-cellular eukaryotes, especially animal cells.
Victimless Leather – a prototype of a stitch-less jacket, grown from cell cultures into a layer of tissue supported by a coat shaped polymer layer.
Clarifications required are follows:
What is the span of making the actual size leather jacket and how the growth of it is stopped, is it by killing the alive cells? If it is by killing or stopping the growth of the cells, can it be called victimless leather (Making leather with cell culture). Is it really ethical? Is it not equivalent or partially equivalent to killing the animal?
Any body having knowledge on it please answer. Thanks in advance.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victimless_Leather
Maybe cells are people too? Or perhaps we must draw the line someplace. Don't vegetable cells deserve social justice? What if I swallow skin cells from the interior of my mouth? Isn't cutting my hair a crime?
Hi Mr. Scott, thanks for your valuable thought on it. It really makes me to think more.
Hi Vinoth, this is an interesting question. As far as I am aware there is currently no commercial method for making "in vitro" leather. Leather as you may be aware is mostly made from collagen (a triple helix protein that exists as several isoforms). Human skin is approximately 75% Collagen by weight. It also contains Elastin protein.
There are several hurdles to generate leather in vitro:
a) the cells (presumably fibroblasts as these are the main collagen excreting cells) would have to be induced to produce collagen in culture to the desired concentration/density - to do this would be very expensive (if it is possible at all, fibroblasts in 2d, i.e. growing as a sheet, produce collagen only very poorly. I have grown them in 3D and induced collagen expression but the amount of GF's etc required to make them do this is hideously expensive - the media I was using was ~ £2000 per litre).
b) assuming that they could make the collagen at desired concentration/density the cells would have to be killed (presumably by some sort of fixation) and the "leather" cured (as a hide would be).
http://www.all-about-leather.co.uk/what-is-leather/what-is-leather.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leather_production_processes
From an ethical point of view cells in culture do not have a nervous system and hence should not have the ability to think of feel pain. In the unlikely event that leather could be made "in vitro" this could be considered to be a "victimless leather".
As Scott (ironically :) ) pointed out above at some stage a decision has to be made as to what our ethical limit is with regards to animals and plants - eating a plant seed for example could be considered to be unethical as it is eating a plant's "embryos".
As it stands most people have no ethical or moral qualms about eating plants (as they do not have traditional pain sensors or nervous systems). In many ways cells in culture are even more simple and thus (from an ethical point of view) should fall below the use or eating of plants by humans.
Hope this helps,
Gary
Actually it is worth pointing out that to grow mammalian cells in vitro animal derivatives are currently used (Foetal bovine serum (FBS/FCS) is often used at 10% of the volume of the media used). To completely make "victimless" leather these animal additives would have to be removed and replaced.
Hi Mr. Gary,
I red your inputs by the time you have replied on my topic. It's a very valuable input. But I just noticed I have't addressed you, sorry about that. Thanks your very much for your writing on it.
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