荷蘭尼莫科學博物館（NEMO Science Museum）展出瞭一個用已滅絕的猛獁象的脫氧核糖核酸（DNA）制成的肉丸。澳大利亞公司 Vow Foods 為一個尋找替代肉類生產方法的項目培植瞭這個肉丸，為世界首例。
Sadly, I’m yet to taste the woolly mammoth meatball. But I can tell you it’s been made by making the DNA sequence for a muscle protein from a long-extinct mammoth, which scientists say gives the synthetic substance its meaty flavour.
遺憾的是，我還沒有品嘗過猛獁象肉丸。但我可以告訴你，肉丸是通過提取滅絕已久的猛獁象肌肉蛋白中的脫氧核糖核酸序列制成的，科學傢們說，這使這種人工合成物具有肉味。
The scientists, based at the Australian Institute for Bioengineering at the University of Queensland, then used elephant DNA to bolster the gaps left in the mammoth sequence and grew the meat from a sheep’s stem cells.
在提取猛獁象的脫氧核糖核酸後，澳大利亞昆士蘭大學生物工程與納米技術研究所的科學傢們用大象的脫氧核糖核酸填補瞭猛獁象序列中缺失的空白，並在綿羊的幹細胞中培植出瞭這種肉。
If you’re lost, just imagine taking cuttings from a plant and growing them in a greenhouse. In the same way, cells are taken from the animal, given the vitamins, nutrients and minerals they would get in the animal, and then the cells are grown to make the meat. In just a couple of weeks, 20 billion cells were used by the company to grow the mammoth meat, which hasn’t been tasted in around 4,000 years.
如果你還是對肉丸的制法摸不著頭腦，不妨想象一下從植物上剪下插枝，種在溫室裡的過程。科學傢們用同樣的方法從動物身上提取細胞，並將這種動物體內含有的維生素、營養素和礦物質喂給這些細胞，再將其培植成肉。在短短幾周內，該公司用瞭200億個細胞培植出瞭已有約4000年沒人吃過的猛獁象肉。
The firm, Vow, said it chose the woolly mammoth because it’s a symbol of environmental loss. It’s all part of a growing movement to make more sustainable meat.
Vow 公司表示，之所以選擇猛獁象是因為它象征著環境的破壞。整個項目都是一場日益壯大的倡導活動的一部分，目的是制造可持續生產的肉類。
While plant-made alternatives are now common, meat grown from stem cells in a lab, without animal slaughter, is creating many kinds of replacements for the sheep, pig, chicken and cow meat usually made in large-scale production farms. If made at scale, lab-grown meat could cut the climate impact of farm meat by up to 92 percent, reduce air pollution by up to 94 percent, and use 90 percent less land, according to a recently peer-reviewed journal article.
雖然替代肉類的植物性食品現在很常見，但在實驗室裡用幹細胞培植出來的、不屠宰動物就能生產的肉類為常在大型農場生產的羊肉、豬肉、雞肉和牛肉創造瞭多種替代品。近期一篇經同行評審的期刊文章中說，如果大規模生產，實驗室培植的肉類可減少多達92%的農場生產的肉類會造成的氣候影響，同時減少高達94%的空氣污染和90%的土地使用。
Vow is not the first firm to try to make lab-grown meat from an extinct animal. In 2018, another made Gummi Bear sweets out of gelatine created from the DNA of a mastodon, a relative of the mammoth. Others are looking into cultured meat from buffalo, peacock and crocodile – if that whets your appetite.
Vow 並不是第一傢嘗試用已滅絕動物培植實驗室肉類的公司。2018年，另一傢公司用猛獁象的近親乳齒象的脫氧核糖核酸產生的動物膠制成瞭小熊軟糖。如果你對實驗室培植肉感興趣的話，其它公司在研發用水牛、孔雀和鱷魚的脫氧核糖核酸培植肉類，這些肉可能會激起你的食欲。
詞匯表
DNA sequence 脫氧核糖核酸序列
synthetic 人造的，合成的
bolster 加強，文中指 “填補”
stem cells 幹細胞
cuttings 插條，插枝
vitamins 維生素
nutrients 營養素
minerals 礦物質
sustainable 可持續生產的
slaughter 屠宰
scale 規模
gelatine 動物膠
cultured 人工養殖的，培育而成的
whets your appetite 激起你的食欲
閱讀理解：請在讀完上文後，回答下列問題。
1. What was used to bolster the gaps left in the woolly mammoth sequence?
2. When is it thought woolly mammoth meat was last tasted?
3. What is one impact of the development of lab-grown meat on the current meat industry?
4. True or false? Producing lab-grown meat on a large scale could help the climate.
答案
1. What was used to bolster the gaps left in the woolly mammoth sequence?
Scientists used elephant DNA to bolster the gaps left in the mammoth sequence.
2. When is it thought woolly mammoth meat was last tasted?
It hasn’t been tasted in around 4,000 years.
3. What is one impact of the development of lab-grown meat on the current meat industry?
Meat grown from stem cells in a lab prevents animals being slaughtered.
4. True or false? Producing lab-grown meat on a large scale could help the climate.
True. One journal claims, if made at scale, lab-grown meat could cut the climate impact of farm meat by up to 92 percent.
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