On the Menu Soon: Petri Dish Hamburger

Get ready for the first lab-grown hamburger—on the menu for just $330,000. Dutch scientist Mark Post has announced that he intends to have a burger made entirely from lab-grown meat and animal fat ready for eating by October—cooked by three-star chef Heston Blumenthal, and served to a celebrity taster, reports MSNBC. An anonymous donor, interested in "life-transforming technologies," put up the money for the expensive sandwich, says Post. If successful, scientists estimate the experimental meat could require 40% less energy to produce than real animal meat uses now.

Currently, Post's "meat" is pinkish-yellowish, and too small to be used—just half-an-inch wide and a slim one millimeter thick. But he says he should be able to make a golf ball-size portion of meat by October. Full industrialization is still a decade away, but PETA is already on board. If you want to try one of Post's burgers, you're in luck—Post estimates his second burger will cost just $263,000. (More meat stories.)