Why "biofabrication" is the next industrial revolution | Suzanne Lee

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Helen Chang

I started life as a fashion designer,

我一開始的工作是時裝設計師，

working closely with textile designers and fabric suppliers.

和紡織設計師及布料 供應商有密切的合作。

But today, I can no longer see or talk to my new collaborators,

但，現今，我看不見、 也不會跟我的新合作夥伴說話，

because they're in the soil beneath our feet,

因為他們在我們腳下的土壤裡，

on the shelves of our supermarkets

在超級市場的架子上，

and in the beer I'm going to drink when I finish this talk.

在我演講完之後要喝的啤酒裡。

I'm talking about microbes

我在談的是微生物

and designing with life.

以及用生命來做設計。

Fifteen years ago,

十五年前，我完全改變了

I completely changed both what I worked with

我工作使用的東西及工作的方式，

and how I worked

after a revelatory collaboration with a biologist.

這是在和一位生物學家 合作後得到的啟示。

Our project gave me a different perspective on life,

我們的專案計畫讓我 對生命有了新的觀點，

introducing a whole new world of possibility

讓我接觸到一個新世界，

充滿了設計和製造上的可能性。

around how we can design and make things.

I discovered a radical manufacturing proposition:

我發現了一種根本的製造論點：

biofabrication.

生物製造。

Literally, fabricating with biology.

字面上的意思是用生物學來製造。

What does that mean?

那是什麼意思？

Well, instead of processing plants, animals or oil

我們不用加工植物、動物，或油

to make consumer materials,

來製做消費材料，

we might grow materials directly with living organisms.

我們可以直接用活機體培養材料。

In what many are terming "the Fourth Industrial Revolution,"

在許多人所稱的 「第四次工業革命」中，

we're thinking about the new factories as being living cells.

我們在思考的是 把活細胞當作新的工廠。

Bacteria, algae, fungi, yeast:

細菌、水藻、真菌、酵母：

our latest design tools include those of biotechnology.

我們最新的設計工具 包括生物科技的工具。

My own journey in biofabrication

我自己的生物製造之旅

started with a project called "Biocouture."

始於「生物女裝設計」這專案計畫。

The provocation was that instead of growing a plant, like cotton,

理由是，我們不用在一塊田地裡

花數個月種植植物，比如棉花，

in a field over several months,

we could use microbes to grow a similar cellulose material in a lab

我們可以在實驗室裡， 只花幾天的時間

就用微生物培養出 類似的纖維素材料。

in a few days.

Using a certain species of bacteria in a nutrient-rich liquid,

將某種細菌放在 營養豐富的液體中，

we fermented threads of cellulose

我們就能發酵出纖維素線，

that self-organized into a sheet of fabric.

這些線會自我組織成為一片布料。

I dried the fabric I had grown

我把我培養出來的布料弄乾，

and cut and sewed it into a range of garments, shoes and bags.

剪裁並縫製成一系列

服裝、鞋子、包包。

In other words, in one lab we grew materials

換言之，我們在一間 實驗室中培養出材料，

and turned them into a range of products

再將材料轉成一系列產品，

in a matter of days.

過程只要幾天的時間。

And this is in contrast to currents methods of fabric production,

這和目前的織物生產方法 是很大的對比，

where a plant is grown,

目前的方法要種植植物，

just the cotton part is harvested,

只收割棉花的部分，

processed into a yarn,

將它們加工成紗線，

woven into a fabric

織成布料，

and then potentially shipped across oceans

接著可能還要運送過海洋，

before being cut and sewn into a garment.

接著再剪裁和縫製成服裝。

All of that can take months.

這個過程可能要數個月。

So these prototypes indicated a field

所以，這些原型意味著

offering significant resource efficiencies.

一個能提供顯著資源效率的領域。

From reducing the water, energy and chemistry needed

從減少材料生產過程中

對於水、能源、化學的需求，

in the production of a material,

through to generating zero waste,

到完全不產生廢物，

we grew fabrics to finished form --

我們培養出來的織物 是已完成的形式——

if you like, "biological additive manufacture."

你也可以說它是「生物增材製造」。

Through biofabrication,

透過生物製造，

I had replaced many intensive man-made steps

我把許多密集的人工步驟換成

with one biological step.

一個生物步驟。

And as I engaged with this living system,

參與這個生物系統，

it transformed my design thinking.

也改變了我的設計思維。

Here was biology, with no intervention from me

這是生物學，我對它做的唯一干預

other than designing initial conditions for growth,

就是設計初始的生長條件，

efficiently producing a useful, sustainable material.

它便能有效率地生產出 有用、永續的材料。

So now I can't help but see all materials through the lens of biofabrication.

現在我情不自禁會透過

生物製造的透鏡來看待所有材料。

In fact, there's a growing global community of innovators

事實上，全球有越來越多創新者

rethinking materials with biology.

用生物來重新思考材料。

Multiple companies are now growing mushroom materials,

很多公司現在在培養蘑菇材料，

but not literally mushrooms --

但並不是真的蘑菇——

using mycelium, which is the root system of fungi,

用菌絲，也就是真菌類的根系，

to bind together agricultural byproducts.

將農業副產品結合在一起。

It's a process that's been described as "nature's glue."

這個過程被描述為 「大自然的黏著」。

A common way to do this is to take a 3-D mold,

常見的做法是拿一個 3D 模子，

fill it with a waste crop like corn stalks or hemp,

將它裝滿不要的作物， 如玉米桿或大麻，

add water,

加上水，

wait a few days for the mycelium to grow throughout,

等幾天，讓菌絲能生長至各處，

remove the mold,

除去模子，

and you're left with a grown 3-D form.

你就能得到長好的 3D 形狀。

Incredibly, we can grow all kinds of structures

很不可思議，你可以用活機體

using living organisms,

培養出各種結構，

from foams that can replace plastics in footwear,

從可以取代鞋類用塑膠的泡沫，

to leather-like materials without animals.

到不用動物製成的似皮材料。

Furniture, flooring -- all are currently being prototyped.

家具、地板材料—— 這些目前都在製作原型階段。

Fungi are able to grow materials that are naturally fire retardant,

菌類能培養出天然防燃材料，

without any chemicals.

不用任何化學物質。

They're naturally hydrophobic,

它們天生就有斥水性，

meaning they won't absorb water.

意思就是它們不會吸水。

They have higher melt temperatures than plastics.

它們的熔解溫度比塑膠還高。

Polystyrene can take thousands of years to degrade.

聚苯乙烯的降解 可能要花上數千年。

Mushroom packaging materials

蘑菇包裝材料

can be naturally composted in your back garden

可以在你的後花園自然變成堆肥，

in as little as 30 days.

只要不到三十天的時間。

Living organisms are transforming waste

活機體會將廢物轉換

into cost-competitive, performance-matching materials

成為成本有競爭力、 效能相當的材料，

that can start to replace plastics

可以開始取代塑膠

and other CO2-emitting materials.

以及其他會排放二氧化碳的材料。

And once we start growing materials with living organisms,

一旦我們開始 用活機體來培養材料，

it starts to make previous methods of manufacture seem illogical.

便開始讓以前的製造方法 看起來不合邏輯。

Take the humble house brick.

以粗糙的造房磚塊為例。

The cement industry generates around eight percent

全球的二氧化碳排放中，

水泥業佔了 8%。

of global CO2 emissions.

That's more than all the planes and ships each year.

比每年所有的飛機 和船隻加起來還多。

The cement process requires materials to be fired in a kiln

水泥製造過程會需要 將材料放在窯內燒，

at over 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

溫度高達華氏兩千度以上。

Compare this to bioMASON.

把它拿來和 bioMASON 比較。

They use a soil microbe to transform loose aggregates,

他們用土壤微生物 來轉換鬆散的聚集物，

like sand or crushed stone,

如沙子或碎石，

into a biofabricated, or biocement, brick.

成為生物製造磚塊， 或生物水泥磚塊。

Their process happens at room temperature,

這個製造過程在常溫下進行，

in just a couple of days.

只需要幾天時間。

Think: hydroponics for bricks.

想想看：磚塊的水耕法。

An irrigation system feeds nutrient-rich water

灌溉系統會將富含營養的水送到

to trays of bricks

磚塊托盤中，

that have been inoculated with bacteria.

托盤裡已經灌輸了細菌。

The bacteria produce crystals

細菌會在每一粒沙子

that form around each grain of sand,

周圍形成結晶，

locking together all the loose particles

把所有鬆散的粒子都鎖在一起，

to form a solid brick.

形成一塊堅固的磚塊。

We can now grow construction materials

現在我們可以像大自然一樣

用優雅的方式來培養出建材，

in the elegant way nature does,

just like a coral reef.

就像珊瑚礁。

And these biofabricated bricks are nearly three times stronger

這些生物製造的磚塊比混凝土塊

還要堅固近三倍。

than a concrete block.

And in stark contrast to traditional cement production,

和傳統水泥生產是很大的對比，

they store more carbon than they make.

它們儲存的碳比造成的碳還多。

So if we could replace the 1.2 trillion fired bricks

每年製造出來的燒成磚 有一兆兩千億個，

如果我們能把它們都取代掉，

that are made each year

with biofabricated bricks,

換成生物製造磚塊，

we could reduce CO2 emissions

我們就能將每年的二氧化碳排放量

by 800 million tons every year.

減少八億公噸。

(Applause)

（掌聲）

Beyond growing materials with living organisms,

除了用活機體來培養材料之外，

we're even starting to design products

我們甚至開始設計鼓勵 活機體生長的產品。

that encourage their growth.

And this comes from the realization

背後的原因是因為了解到

that the very thing we've been trying to marginalize -- life --

我們一直在試圖邊緣化的東西——

生命——

might actually be our greatest collaborator.

可能其實是我們最棒的合作夥伴。

To that end, we've been exploring all the ways

為此，我們一直在探索各種方式，

that we can grow healthy microbes in our own ecosystems.

設法在我們自己的生態系統中 培養健康的微生物。

A great example of this is architects

一個很好的例子就是建築師

who are imagining the skin of a building

想像建築物的外皮

to function like the bark of a tree.

能有像樹皮一樣的功能。

But not as a cosmetic green layer.

但並不是裝飾表面的綠化層，

They're designing architectural barks

他們設計的建築樹皮

as hosts for evolving ecologies.

是要當作進化生態的宿主。

These surface structures are designed to invite life in.

這些表面結構被設計成 能夠邀請生物進住。

And if we applied the same energy we currently do suppressing forms of life

若我們能把目前我們壓制生命形式

所用的能源拿來培養生命，

towards cultivating life,

we'd turn the negative image of the urban jungle

我們就能把都市叢林的負面形象

into one that literally embodies a thriving, living ecosystem.

轉變成讓生氣蓬勃的生態系統 能夠體現的新形象。

By actively encouraging surface interactions with healthy microbes,

主動鼓勵和健康微生物 做表面交互作用，

we could improve passive climate control,

我們就能改善被動的氣候控制、

stormwater management

暴雨水管理，

and even reduce CO2 emissions

甚至減少二氧化碳排放，

by lowering the energy used to heat or cool our buildings.

因為可以減低用來加熱 或冷卻建築物用的能源。

We're just beginning to realize the potential

我們才剛開始了解 以自然為基礎的科技

of nature-based technologies.

有多大的潛力。

I'm excited that we're starting to design and biofabricate

我們要開始設計和用生物製造 一個新的材料世界，

a new material world.

這讓我感到很興奮。

It's one that moves away from the exploitation

這個世界會減少利用

of nonrenewable resources

不可再生的資源，

to working with the original, renewable life.

和原始、可再生的生命合作。

Instead of designing out life,

我們不是排除生命來做設計，

we're designing with it and for it.

而是用生命來做設計， 為生命來做設計。

Packaging, fashion, footwear, furniture, construction --

包裝、時尚、鞋子、家具、建築——

biofabricated products can be grown close to centers of demand,

生物製造的產品可以 更接近需求的核心，

with local resources, less land, energy,

用當地的資源， 減少需要的土地、能源，

and even harnessing industrial waste streams.

甚至利用工業廢棄物流。

It used to be that the tools of biotechnology

以前，生物科技的工具

were the preserve of powerful,

是強大的跨國化學和生物科技企業

multinational chemical and biotech companies.

才能所獨享。

In the last century, we expected material innovation

在上個世紀，我們本來期望杜邦、

陶氏化工、巴斯夫這類企業 會做出材料創新。

to come from the likes of DuPont, Dow, BASF.

But this 21st-century material revolution is being led by start-ups

但引領這個二十一世紀材料革命的

卻是只有小團隊 和有限資本的新創公司。

with small teams and limited capital.

And by the way, not all their founders have science degrees.

順道一提，這些公司的創辦人 還不見得有科學學位。

They include artists, architects and designers.

創辦人中也有藝術家、 建築師，和設計師。

Over a billion dollars has already been invested

已經有超過十億美金被投入到

in start-ups biofabricating consumer products.

新創公司的生物製造消費產品。

I don't think we have a choice but to biofabricate our future.

我認為，我們唯一的選擇 就是用生物製造我們的未來。

From the jacket you're wearing

從你穿的外套，到你坐的椅子，

to the chair you're sitting in

to the home you live in,

到你居住的家，

your designed material world shouldn't compromise your health

這個設計材料的世界不該損害

你或我們星球的健康。

or that of our planet.

If materials can't be recycled

如果材料無法回收，

or naturally composted at home,

或無法在家中自然形成堆肥，

we should reject them.

我們就該拒絕它。

I'm committed to making this future a reality

我致力要讓這個未來成真，

by shining a light on all the amazing work

我做的是讓現今已經 在進行的不凡努力

being done today

能被更多人知道，

and by facilitating more interactions

並促進設計師、科學家、投資者，

between designers, scientists, investors and brands.

和品牌之間進行更多的互動。

Because we need a material revolution,

因為我們需要材料革命，

and we need it now.

且現在就需要。

Thank you.

謝謝。

(Applause)

（掌聲）