ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Andras Forgacs - Bioprinting entrepreneur
Andras Forgacs produces animal products -- meat and leather -- without the animal.

Why you should listen

An entrepreneur in tissue engineering, Andras Forgacs is the co-founder and CEO of Modern Meadow, a company developing novel biomaterials. These include cultured meat and leather which, as they put it, "will require no animal slaughter and much lower inputs of land, water, energy and chemicals".  This approach involves sourcing cells from living animals, multiplying these cells into billions, and then assembling them into the tissue precursors of meat or leather. The products, for now, are at a prototype stage.

Previously, Andras co-founded Organovo, which uses 3D bioprinting to create human tissues for pharmaceutical research and medical applications, such as drug development and replacement tissues. Organovo’s bioprinting technology was recognized by MIT Technology Review on its TR50 list of most innovative companies for 2012.

More profile about the speaker
Andras Forgacs | Speaker | TED.com
TEDGlobal 2013

Andras Forgacs: Leather and meat without killing animals

Andras Forgacs: Viste coiro e come carne sen matar animais

Filmed:
1,315,256 views

Alá polo ano 2050, precisaremos 100 mil millóns de animais terrestres para que toda a poboación mundial poida abastecerse con produtos como carne, leite, ovos e coiro. Manter esta manda custaralle moi caro ao noso planeta. E se houbera outra maneira? Nesta conferencia sorprendente e esclarecedora, un defensor da enxeñería de tecidos, Andras Forgacs, preséntanos a biofabricación da carne e coiro como unha solución civilizada que deixará atrás a matanza dos animais para producir hamburguesas ou carteiras.
- Bioprinting entrepreneur
Andras Forgacs produces animal products -- meat and leather -- without the animal. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:12
When my father and I started a company
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Cando fundei unha
empresa co meu pai...
00:15
to 3D print human tissues and organs,
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...de impresións 3D de tecidos
e órganos humanos,
00:18
some people initially thought we were a little crazy.
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...ao principio, algúns pensaron
que tolearamos.
00:21
But since then, much progress has been made,
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Mais dende entón,
todo progresou...
00:24
both in our lab and other labs around the world.
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...tanto no noso laboratorio
como nos do resto do mundo.
00:27
And given this, we started getting questions like,
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Así, xurdíronnos preguntas
tales como...
00:30
"If you can grow human body parts,
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"Se podemos facer
que medren partes do corpo...
00:33
can you also grow animal products like meat and leather?"
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...poderemos facelo tamén con produtos
como a carne ou o coiro?"
00:39
When someone first suggested this to me,
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Cando alguén o suxeriu
por primeira vez,
00:41
quite frankly I thought they were a little crazy,
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...realmente pensei que toleara...
00:44
but what I soon came to realize
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...mais decateime cedo...
00:46
was that this is not so crazy after all.
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...de que, despois de todo,
non é unha idea tan desatinada.
00:49
What's crazy is what we do today.
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O que si é de tolos
é o que facemos hoxe.
00:52
I'm convinced that in 30 years,
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Estou convencido de que en 30 anos...
00:54
when we look back on today
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...cando miremos atrás e lembremos...
00:56
and on how we raise and slaughter billions of animals
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...como criabamos e masacrabamos
a miles de millóns de animais...
01:00
to make our hamburgers and our handbags,
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...para fabricar hamburguesas e carteiras,...
01:03
we'll see this as being wasteful
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...decatarémonos de que é un estrago...
01:05
and indeed crazy.
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...e, por suposto, de tolos.
01:07
Did you know that today we maintain
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Sabías que hoxe en día mantemos...
01:10
a global herd of 60 billion animals
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...un total de 60 mil millóns de animais...
01:14
to provide our meat, dairy, eggs and leather goods?
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...para producir carne, lácteos,
ovos e marroquinaría?
01:19
And over the next few decades,
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Nos próximos decenios,
01:21
as the world's population expands to 10 billion,
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...cando a poboación mundial
ascenda a 10 mil millóns...
01:24
this will need to nearly double
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...precisaremos case o dobre:
01:26
to 100 billion animals.
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100 mil millóns de animais.
01:28
But maintaining this herd
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Porén, mantelos...
01:30
takes a major toll on our planet.
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...costaralle un prezo
moi alto ao noso planeta.
01:32
Animals are not just raw materials.
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Os animais non son materias primas.
01:36
They're living beings,
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Son seres vivos.
01:37
and already our livestock
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O noso gando xa é...
01:39
is one of the largest users of land,
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...un dos principais usuarios da terra,
01:42
fresh water,
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consumidor de auga doce,
01:43
and one of the biggest producers of greenhouse gases
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e un dos maiores produtores
dos gases de efecto invernadoiro...
01:46
which drive climate change.
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...un dos causantes
do cambio climático.
01:48
On top of this,
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Aínda por riba,
01:49
when you get so many animals so close together,
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se os animais están
coma sardiñas en lata,
01:52
it creates a breeding ground for disease
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créase un caldo
de cultivo de doenzas...
01:55
and opportunities for harm and abuse.
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...e un pretexto para
abusos e malos tratos.
01:58
Clearly, we cannot continue on this path
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Está claro que
non podemos seguir así...
02:01
which puts the environment, public health,
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...xa que supón un risco
para o medio ambiente,
02:05
and food security at risk.
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a saúde e a seguridade alimentaria.
02:07
There is another way, because essentially,
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Existe outro camiño,
xa que, fundamentalmente,
02:11
animal products are just collections of tissues,
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os produtos de orixe animal
son tan só grupos de tecidos,
02:15
and right now we breed and raise
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e agora mesmo criamos e cultivamos...
02:17
highly complex animals
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...animais moi complexos...
02:19
only to create products
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...tan só para fabricar produtos...
02:21
that are made of relatively simple tissues.
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...feitos de tecidos relativamente simples.
02:24
What if, instead of starting with a complex
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Que acontecería
se en lugar de traballar
02:27
and sentient animal,
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cun animal complexo
e dotado de sentidos,
02:29
we started with what the tissues are made of,
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.fabricáramos a partir
do que compón os tecidos,
02:33
the basic unit of life,
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a unidade básica da vida:
02:35
the cell?
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a célula?
02:38
This is biofabrication, where cells themselves
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Isto é a "biofabricación",
onde as mesmas células
02:41
can be used to grow biological products
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poden usarse para crear
produtos biolóxicos
02:44
like tissues and organs.
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coma tecidos ou órganos.
02:46
Already in medicine,
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En medicina,
02:47
biofabrication techniques have been used
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...xa se empregaron
técnicas de biofabricación
02:50
to grow sophisticated body parts,
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para producir partes
do corpo complexas,
02:52
like ears, windpipes, skin, blood vessels and bone,
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como orellas, traqueas,pel,
vasos sanguíneos e ósos
02:57
that have been successfully implanted into patients.
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que se implantaron con éxito
en varios pacientes.
03:00
And beyond medicine, biofabrication can be
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Mais aló da medicina,
a biofabricación pode ser
03:04
a humane, sustainable and scalable new industry.
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unha nova industria en expansión,
sostible e humanitaria.
03:09
And we should begin by reimagining leather.
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E poderíamos comezar
volvendo a imaxinar o coiro.
03:15
I emphasize leather because it is so widely used.
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E digo coiro porque o seu emprego
está moi extendido,
03:19
It is beautiful, and it has long been a part of our history.
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é bonito e forma parte da nosa historia
dende hai moito tempo.
03:24
Growing leather is also technically simpler
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A produción de coiro
é más sinxela tecnicamente...
03:26
than growing other animal products like meat.
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...cá de outros artigos
de orixe animal coma a carne...
03:29
It mainly uses one cell type,
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...xa que só está composto
por un tipo de célula...
03:31
and it is largely two-dimensional.
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...e é, en gran parte, bidimensional.
03:34
It is also less polarizing for consumers and regulators.
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Tamén é menos polarizante
para consumidores e reguladores.
03:38
Until biofabrication is better understood,
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Ata que a biofabricación
se entenda mellor
03:41
it is clear that, initially at least,
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está claro que,
polo menos ao comezo,
03:43
more people would be willing to wear novel materials
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...haberá máis persoas que estén dispostas a levar
materiais innovadores...
03:48
than would be willing to eat novel foods,
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...que aquelas que estén dispostas a tomar
estes novos alimentos,
03:50
no matter how delicious.
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...independientemente
do seu exquisito sabor.
03:52
In this sense, leather is a gateway material,
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Así pois, o coiro
é o pasaporte de saída:
03:55
a beginning for the mainstream biofabrication industry.
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o pioneiro da industria da biofabricación.
04:00
If we can succeed here,
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Se temos éxito,
04:02
it brings our other consumer bioproducts like meat
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outros bioprodutos
de consumo como a carne
04:05
closer on the horizon.
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verán a luz moi cedo.
04:08
Now how do we do it?
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E como o facemos?
04:11
To grow leather, we begin by taking cells
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Para cultivar coiro, comezamos
extraendo as células...
04:14
from an animal, through a simple biopsy.
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...dun animal a través
dunha simple biopsia.
04:17
The animal could be a cow,
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Este podería ser unha vaca,
04:19
lamb, or even something more exotic.
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cordeiro ou mesmo
algún máis exótico.
04:21
This process does no harm,
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Este procedemento
non atinxe dano algún,
04:24
and Daisy the cow can live a happy life.
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e a Vaca que Rí
pode ter unha vida feliz.
04:26
We then isolate the skin cells
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A continuación,
illamos as células cutáneas...
04:28
and multiply them in a cell culture medium.
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...e multiplicámolas nun medio
de cultivo celular.
04:31
This takes millions of cells
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Son millóns de células...
04:32
and expands them into billions.
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...que se expanden
en miles de millóns
04:35
And we then coax these cells to produce collagen,
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E convencémolas de que
produzan coláxeno,
04:38
as they would naturally.
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do mesmo xeito que o farían
no seu medio natural.
04:39
This collagen is the stuff between cells.
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Este coláxeno
é o recheo entre as células.
04:42
It's natural connective tissue.
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É o tecido conxuntivo natural.
04:44
It's the extracellular matrix,
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É unha matriz extracelular,
04:46
but in leather, it's the main building block.
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mais é o principal elemento do coiro.
04:49
And what we next do is we take the cells and their collagen
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Despois, extendemos as células...
04:53
and we spread them out to form sheets,
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...e o seu cólaxeno para formar capas...
04:55
and then we layer these thin sheets on top of one another,
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...que se colocan
unhas enriba das outras...
04:58
like phyllo pastry, to form thicker sheets,
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como pasta filo, que á súa vez,
constituirán capas de máis volume
05:02
which we then let mature.
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que deixamos que maduren.
05:03
And finally, we take this multilayered skin
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Finalmente, esta pel multicapa...
05:07
and through a shorter and much less chemical tanning process,
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mediante un proceso máis curto
con menos químicos na fase de curtido...
05:11
we create leather.
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...fabricamos o coiro.
05:13
And so I'm very excited to show you,
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Estou moi emocionado de presentaros...
05:15
for the first time,
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...por primeira vez,
05:17
the first batch of our cultured leather,
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...o primeiro lote do noso coiro cultivado,
05:21
fresh from the lab.
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recén saído do laboratorio.
05:23
This is real, genuine leather,
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Isto é coiro real e xenuíno,
05:26
without the animal sacrifice.
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...sen sacrificio de ningún animal.
05:30
It can have all the characteristics of leather
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Ten todas as características do coiro...
05:33
because it is made of the same cells,
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...porque está elaborado
coas mesmas células,
05:36
and better yet,
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...e mellor aínda,
05:38
there is no hair to remove,
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...non hai cabelo que rapar,
05:42
no scars or insect's bites,
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non hai cicatrices
nin picaduras...
05:45
and no waste.
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e tampuco residuos.
05:46
This leather can be grown in the shape of a wallet,
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Este coiro pode fabricarse
coa forma dunha carteira,
05:50
a handbag or a car seat.
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...un bolso ou un asento dun coche.
05:53
It is not limited to the irregular shape of a cow
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Non se limita
á forma irregular dunha vaca...
05:56
or an alligator.
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...ou dun crocodilo.
05:59
And because we make this material,
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E debido a que creamos este material,
06:01
we grow this leather from the ground up,
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...xa que o elaboramos dende cero,
06:04
we can control its properties in very interesting ways.
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...podemos controlar as súas propiedades,
dun xeito moi interesante.
06:07
This piece of leather
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Este trociño de coiro...
06:09
is a mere seven tissue layers thick,
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...está composto simplemente
por 7 capas de tecido groso...
06:13
and as you can see, it is nearly transparent.
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...e como podedes comprobar,
é case transparente.
06:17
And this leather is 21 layers thick and quite opaque.
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Este outro ten 21 capas
de groso e é opaco.
06:26
You don't have that kind of fine control
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Porén, non temos esta precisión...
06:29
with conventional leather.
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...para controlar o coiro convencional.
06:31
And we can tune this leather for other desirable qualities,
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E podemos mellorar o coiro para que
adquira outras cualidades que desexemos:...
06:34
like softness, breathability,
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...que sexa suave, transpirable,
06:38
durability, elasticity and even things like pattern.
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...resitente, elástico ou mesmo
modificar o estampado.
06:43
We can mimic nature,
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Podemos imitar a natureza,
06:45
but in some ways also improve upon it.
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mais, de algún xeito, tamén mellorala.
06:49
This type of leather can do what today's leather does,
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Podemos facer con este coiro,
o que se fai con el hoxe en día,
06:53
but with imagination, probably much more.
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...mais coa imaxinación
pode que moito máis.
06:56
What could the future of animal products look like?
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Como será o mundo dos produtos
de orixe animal no futuro?
07:00
It need not look like this,
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Non ten que ser así...
07:03
which is actually the state of the art today.
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... que é o estado da arte na actualidade.
07:05
Rather, it could be much more like this.
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Máis ben, podería parecerse máis a isto.
07:08
Already, we have been manufacturing with cell cultures
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Xa fabricamos con cultivos de células...
07:11
for thousands of years, beginning with products
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...durante miles de anos, productos como...
07:13
like wine, beer and yogurt.
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viño, cervexa e iogur.
07:16
And speaking of food, our cultured food has evolved,
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Falando de comida, os cultivos
de alimentos evolucionaron...
07:19
and today we prepare cultured food
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...e hoxe cociñamos alimentos cultivados
07:22
in beautiful, sterile facilities like this.
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en instalacións estériles
e excelentes coma esta.
07:24
A brewery is essentially a bioreactor.
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Unha destilería é
basicamente un bioreactor.
07:27
It is where cell culture takes place.
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É onde teñen lugar
os cultivos celulares.
07:30
Imagine that in this facility,
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Imaxina que nesta fábrica,
07:32
instead of brewing beer,
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...en vez de destilar cervexa,
07:34
we were brewing leather
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...destilamos coiro...
07:37
or meat.
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...ou carne.
07:40
Imagine touring this facility,
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Imaxina facer unha visita,
07:42
learning about how the leather or meat is cultured,
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...para aprender como se
cultivan o coiro e a carne,
07:46
seeing the process from beginning to end,
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observando o proceso dende
o principio ao final,
07:49
and even trying some.
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e mesmo probar algún.
07:50
It's clean, open and educational,
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É limpo, aberto e educativo...
07:53
and this is in contrast to the hidden,
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...ao contrario que as fábricas...
07:56
guarded and remote factories
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...escondidas, protexidas
e a gran distancia,
07:58
where leather and meat is produced today.
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...onde se producen o coiro
e a carne na actualidade.
08:01
Perhaps biofabrication
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Pode que a biofabricación...
08:04
is a natural evolution of manufacturing for mankind.
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...sexa a evolución da produción
para a humanidade.
08:08
It's environmentally responsible,
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É respetuosa co medio ambiente,
08:11
efficient and humane.
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...eficiente e humana.
08:14
It allows us to be creative.
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Permitenos ser creativos.
08:16
We can design new materials, new products,
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Podemos deseñar novos
materiais, produtos...
08:19
and new facilities.
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...e novas instalacións.
08:22
We need to move past just killing animals
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Temos que deixar atrás a
matanza de animais...
08:26
as a resource
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...como recurso...
08:28
to something more civilized and evolved.
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e avanzar a algo máis
civilizado e evolucionado.
08:34
Perhaps we are ready for something
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Quizais xa esteamos
preparados para algo,
08:37
literally and figuratively more cultured.
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literal e figuradamente, máis cultivado.
08:42
Thank you.
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Grazas.
08:44
(Applause)
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(Aplausos)
Tradución: Uxía Rocha Fernández
Translated by Uxía Rocha Fernández
Reviewed by Laura Rodríguez

▲Back to top

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Andras Forgacs - Bioprinting entrepreneur
Andras Forgacs produces animal products -- meat and leather -- without the animal.

Why you should listen

An entrepreneur in tissue engineering, Andras Forgacs is the co-founder and CEO of Modern Meadow, a company developing novel biomaterials. These include cultured meat and leather which, as they put it, "will require no animal slaughter and much lower inputs of land, water, energy and chemicals".  This approach involves sourcing cells from living animals, multiplying these cells into billions, and then assembling them into the tissue precursors of meat or leather. The products, for now, are at a prototype stage.

Previously, Andras co-founded Organovo, which uses 3D bioprinting to create human tissues for pharmaceutical research and medical applications, such as drug development and replacement tissues. Organovo’s bioprinting technology was recognized by MIT Technology Review on its TR50 list of most innovative companies for 2012.

More profile about the speaker
Andras Forgacs | Speaker | TED.com
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