…I exaggerate: absent a Singularity, it would take too long for the technology to percolate through the Third World to guarantee extinction events for our food animals. But the possibility is there:
Scientists turn stem cells into pork
LONDON – Call it pork in a petri dish — a technique to turn pig stem cells into strips of meat that scientists say could one day offer a green alternative to raising livestock, help alleviate world hunger, and save some pigs their bacon.
Written by someone who hasn’t seen a pig lately, I’d wager. Pigs are large, aggressive, dangerously smart animals that know why we keep them, and who aren’t averse to returning the favor if they can manage it. It’s not like they’re horses; people don’t really like them much, except for maybe the potbellied subspecies. Replace them with a vat of regenerating bacon and most people will never miss the species once it’s gone.
Moe Lane
PS: To sort-of reference Harry Turtledove