Leather and meat without killing animals | Andras Forgacs

譯者: Ron Chao 審譯者: YI LING LIN

When my father and I started a company

父親和我創立公司

to 3D print human tissues and organs,

從事3D列印人體組織和器官

some people initially thought we were a little crazy.

當初有些人覺得我們有點瘋狂

But since then, much progress has been made,

但進展今非昔比

both in our lab and other labs around the world.

不只在我們的實驗室，全球皆然

And given this, we started getting questions like,

因此有人開始問我們

"If you can grow human body parts,

「如果你們能製造人體部位

can you also grow animal products like meat and leather?"

能否製造動物產品？例如肉和皮革」

When someone first suggested this to me,

當我第一次聽到有人這麼提議

quite frankly I thought they were a little crazy,

老實說我覺得他們才有點瘋狂

but what I soon came to realize

但是我很快就明白

was that this is not so crazy after all.

畢竟這沒什麼瘋狂

What's crazy is what we do today.

我們現行的做法才瘋狂

I'm convinced that in 30 years,

我確信30年以後

when we look back on today

回顧今天

and on how we raise and slaughter billions of animals

我們飼養並屠宰數十億牲畜

to make our hamburgers and our handbags,

以製作漢堡和手提包

we'll see this as being wasteful

我們會明瞭這既浪費

and indeed crazy.

又很瘋狂

Did you know that today we maintain

你是否知道我們現在飼養了

a global herd of 60 billion animals

全球共600億牲畜

to provide our meat, dairy, eggs and leather goods?

提供我們所需的肉、乳、蛋、和皮製品？

And over the next few decades,

未來數十年

as the world's population expands to 10 billion,

世界人口將增至100億

this will need to nearly double

牲畜的需求數目幾乎將倍增

to 100 billion animals.

約1000億才足夠

But maintaining this herd

但是養這麼多牲畜

takes a major toll on our planet.

造成地球的沉重負擔

Animals are not just raw materials.

牲畜不僅是原料

They're living beings,

也是活生生之物

and already our livestock

我們的牲畜已經是

is one of the largest users of land,

土地最大的使用者之一

fresh water,

最大的淡水消耗者之一

and one of the biggest producers of greenhouse gases

最大的溫室氣體排放者之一

which drive climate change.

溫室氣體導致氣候變遷

On top of this,

除此之外

when you get so many animals so close together,

這麼多動物密集飼養

it creates a breeding ground for disease

會造成疾病的溫床

and opportunities for harm and abuse.

和動物被傷害和虐待的可能性

Clearly, we cannot continue on this path

顯然這條路難以為繼

which puts the environment, public health,

因為環境、公共衛生

and food security at risk.

食品安全都面臨風險

There is another way, because essentially,

但是有另一條路，因為基本上

animal products are just collections of tissues,

動物製品是由組織構成

and right now we breed and raise

我們現在飼養的

highly complex animals

是高度複雜的牲畜

only to create products

我們要的卻只是

that are made of relatively simple tissues.

他們身上相對簡單的組織

What if, instead of starting with a complex

我們與其著手於複雜

and sentient animal,

有知覺的動物

we started with what the tissues are made of,

不如著手於組織的成分

the basic unit of life,

也就是生命的基本單位

the cell?

細胞

This is biofabrication, where cells themselves

這是生物製造(biofabrication)，利用細胞

can be used to grow biological products

培養生物產品

like tissues and organs.

例如組織和器官

Already in medicine,

醫學界已經

biofabrication techniques have been used

使用生物製造技術

to grow sophisticated body parts,

培養複雜的身體部位

like ears, windpipes, skin, blood vessels and bone,

例如耳朵、氣管、皮膚、血管、骨骼

that have been successfully implanted into patients.

都已成功地植入病人體內

And beyond medicine, biofabrication can be

醫學用途之外，生物製造也可以是

a humane, sustainable and scalable new industry.

人道、永續、容易調整規模的新工業

And we should begin by reimagining leather.

我們應該從改造皮革開始

I emphasize leather because it is so widely used.

我著重於皮革因為其使用廣泛

It is beautiful, and it has long been a part of our history.

它美麗又歷史悠久

Growing leather is also technically simpler

製造皮革的技術較簡單

than growing other animal products like meat.

不像製造肉那麼困難

It mainly uses one cell type,

皮革以一種細胞為主

and it is largely two-dimensional.

大體上是平面的構造

It is also less polarizing for consumers and regulators.

對於消費者和監管單位也較無爭議

Until biofabrication is better understood,

在更暸解生物製造之前

it is clear that, initially at least,

顯然，至少剛開始時

more people would be willing to wear novel materials

較多人會願意穿戴新奇的材質

than would be willing to eat novel foods,

較少人會願意吃新奇的食物

no matter how delicious.

無論有多好吃

In this sense, leather is a gateway material,

從這個角度，皮革是個途徑

a beginning for the mainstream biofabrication industry.

可以開創主流生物製造工業

If we can succeed here,

如果皮革成功了

it brings our other consumer bioproducts like meat

其他消費性生物製品，例如肉

closer on the horizon.

就有一線希望了

Now how do we do it?

我們是怎麼做到的？

To grow leather, we begin by taking cells

製造皮革首先要做簡單的切片

from an animal, through a simple biopsy.

取出動物的細胞

The animal could be a cow,

該動物可以是牛

lamb, or even something more exotic.

羊、甚至較奇特的動物

This process does no harm,

這個步驟不會傷害動物

and Daisy the cow can live a happy life.

牛小姐可以繼續快樂生活

We then isolate the skin cells

我們然後分離皮膚細胞

and multiply them in a cell culture medium.

以便在培養液裡繁殖

This takes millions of cells

數百萬的細胞

and expands them into billions.

繁殖到數十億

And we then coax these cells to produce collagen,

然後我們誘導細胞製造膠原蛋白

as they would naturally.

這是其天然功能

This collagen is the stuff between cells.

在細胞之間的膠原蛋白

It's natural connective tissue.

是天然的結締組織

It's the extracellular matrix,

是細胞外基質

but in leather, it's the main building block.

但在皮革裡是主要的成分

And what we next do is we take the cells and their collagen

下一步是萃取細胞及膠原蛋白

and we spread them out to form sheets,

將其鋪展成薄片

and then we layer these thin sheets on top of one another,

再把薄片堆疊起來

like phyllo pastry, to form thicker sheets,

形成較厚層，像酥皮糕點

which we then let mature.

然後待其成熟

And finally, we take this multilayered skin

最後這種多層的皮膚

and through a shorter and much less chemical tanning process,

再經過較短少的化學製革程序

we create leather.

皮革於焉而生

And so I'm very excited to show you,

我以激動的心情向各位展示

for the first time,

我們首次

the first batch of our cultured leather,

第一批培養出來的皮革

fresh from the lab.

實驗室剛剛出爐

This is real, genuine leather,

這是真的皮革

without the animal sacrifice.

沒有動物被殺害

It can have all the characteristics of leather

它能具有皮革全部的特性

because it is made of the same cells,

因為組成的細胞相同

and better yet,

但更勝一籌的是

there is no hair to remove,

不用除毛

no scars or insect's bites,

沒有疤痕或蟲咬

and no waste.

也不會有浪費

This leather can be grown in the shape of a wallet,

這種皮革能一體成型，長成皮夾

a handbag or a car seat.

手提包或汽車座位的形狀

It is not limited to the irregular shape of a cow

不限不規則的形狀像是牛皮

or an alligator.

或鱷魚的皮

And because we make this material,

因為這是我們製造的

we grow this leather from the ground up,

從頭開始培養的皮革

we can control its properties in very interesting ways.

我們可以控制其性質，很有趣

This piece of leather

這個皮革

is a mere seven tissue layers thick,

組織僅有七層

and as you can see, it is nearly transparent.

可以看得出幾乎是透明的

And this leather is 21 layers thick and quite opaque.

這個皮革是21層，相當不透明

You don't have that kind of fine control

這種細緻的操控

with conventional leather.

是普通的皮革所無

And we can tune this leather for other desirable qualities,

我們能調整其他想要的性質

like softness, breathability,

例如柔軟度、透氣度

durability, elasticity and even things like pattern.

耐久度、彈性、甚至花樣

We can mimic nature,

我們可以模仿自然

but in some ways also improve upon it.

但有些方面也能加以改進

This type of leather can do what today's leather does,

現有皮革的功能，這種皮革都有

but with imagination, probably much more.

但運用想像力，功能還可能更多

What could the future of animal products look like?

動物產品的未來如何？

It need not look like this,

不必像這個樣子

which is actually the state of the art today.

其實這已是目前最先進的

Rather, it could be much more like this.

但是更可以像這樣

Already, we have been manufacturing with cell cultures

我們已經把培養的細胞用於生產

for thousands of years, beginning with products

並有數千年歷史，最早的產品

like wine, beer and yogurt.

包括酒、啤酒、酸酪乳

And speaking of food, our cultured food has evolved,

說到食品，培養食品歷經演變

and today we prepare cultured food

現在的培養食品來自

in beautiful, sterile facilities like this.

這種美麗、殺菌過的廠房

A brewery is essentially a bioreactor.

啤酒廠基本上是生物反應器

It is where cell culture takes place.

細胞的培養在此進行

Imagine that in this facility,

試想在這個廠房

instead of brewing beer,

不是釀造啤酒

we were brewing leather

而是培養皮革

or meat.

或肉

Imagine touring this facility,

想想看參觀這個廠房

learning about how the leather or meat is cultured,

學習皮革和肉的培養

seeing the process from beginning to end,

觀察從頭到尾的製造程序

and even trying some.

甚至試吃試用

It's clean, open and educational,

清潔、開放、具教育意義

and this is in contrast to the hidden,

這截然不同於現在

guarded and remote factories

隱秘、門禁森嚴、偏遠的

where leather and meat is produced today.

皮革工廠和肉工廠

Perhaps biofabrication

或許生物製造

is a natural evolution of manufacturing for mankind.

是人類製造方式的自然演進

It's environmentally responsible,

它環保

efficient and humane.

有效率又人道

It allows us to be creative.

我們得以發揮創造力

We can design new materials, new products,

我們能設計新材質、新產品

and new facilities.

新廠房

We need to move past just killing animals

我們應該超越殺害動物

as a resource

不必為資源而殺生

to something more civilized and evolved.

應該轉向更文明與進步的方式

Perhaps we are ready for something

或許我們已準備迎接

literally and figuratively more cultured.

更多培養的、文明的產品

Thank you.

謝謝

(Applause)

（掌聲）