PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, has announced that it offers a $1 million prize to a scientist who can mass-produce fake meat which imitates real meat perfectly. The deadline is the summer of 2012. The silly prize offer also wants the meat to be produced at a price comparable to that of real chicken meat.

The NYT reports that there has been quite a strife within PETA over the announcement. The only "fake meat" available now is that from soy, which does not have the texture nor taste of real meat.

The fake meat would apparently have to be produced from animal stem cells. PETA wants to set up a panel to examine the meat. It's hard to see why anybody would take on the challenge to create really artificial meat, as if artificially grown animals and poultry wouldn't be enough. Obviously, PETA has a "reason" which is the sparing of the billions of animals, poultry and fish which are "killed" in "horrific ways" to feed the United States' "meat addiction".

Reaction to the strange PETA announcement was more against than pro, with most people arguing that while cruelty should be eliminated, the test-tube meat is not a realistic alternative. No actual meat was ever produced in vitro, but an In Vitro Meat Consortium symposium held its first conference in Norway two weeks ago.

The symposium actually struck down PETA's hopes, concluding that while making artificial meat is possible, it will not happen soon and, at least in the beginning, it will cost at least double the price of real meat. Also, the technology is at least 10 years away, given proper research funding.

The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) organization was founded in 1980 and has allegedly 1.8 million members and supporters. They also claim PETA is the largest animal rights group in the world.