细胞培养肉，可以不杀牛宰羊了？
Memphis Meats, a Berkeley, Calif.-based startup, says it's one step closer to bringing cell-based meat to consumers' mouths.
孟菲斯肉业，是一家位于加州贝克利市的初创企业，他们称离把细胞培养出来的肉送到人们的餐桌又进了一步。
The company plans to build a pilot production facility with funds raised from high-profile investors including Bill Gates, Richard Branson and Kimbal Musk, as well as two giant players in the animal protein and feed space, Cargill and Tyson Foods.
该公司打算建立一家先进的工厂，资金来自于一些高端投资客户，如比尔·盖茨，理查德·布朗森以及金巴尔·马斯克，还有两位动物蛋白和饮食业界的大咖卡吉尔和泰森·福兹。
The company says its latest funding round has brought in $161 million in new investment.
该公司称在最新的一轮投资中他们获得了一亿六千一百万美元的资金。
"People thought this was all science fiction" when the company was founded back in 2015, Uma Valeti, the co-founder and CEO of Memphis Meats, told us.
“2015年公司刚成立的时候，人们还以为这只是科幻的，”孟菲斯肉业的共同创立人和CEO乌玛·瓦雷迪告诉我们说。
"Everything that we've done at Memphis Meats [has] started to show that this can be done," Valeti said. "This is real."
“我们孟菲斯肉业所做的一切表明这其实是可以实现的，”瓦雷迪说。“这是千真万确的。”
Interest in cell-based meat production and other meat alternatives has increased amid growing awareness of the environmental impact of traditional livestock agriculture.
随着人们越来越意识到传统的畜牧业对环境的影响，对细胞培养的肉类和其他肉类替代品的投资与日俱增。
Valeti and his team walked us through the process of producing cell-based meat.
瓦雷迪和他的团队带我们参观了细胞培养肉的生产过程。
It starts with the selection of specific types of animal cells that can grow to become meat.
首先是要选出用来培养的肉的细胞。
Next, the cells are fed and put in a "cultivator" — similar to a fermenting tank — where they can grow and form muscle and connective tissue.
接下来，这些细胞会被放入培养箱中培养—类似于孵化箱—在那里它们会生长形成肌肉和结缔组织。
The process is analogous to the way breweries grow yeast cells to produce beer.
该过程类似于啤酒公司利用酵母细胞生产啤酒的过程。
Only here, they're growing animal cells.
只不过，在这里他们培养的是动物细胞。
Memphis Meats' chicken, which was pan-sautéed with some oil and served with greens tasted pretty close to chicken breast produced the traditional way — but without as much textural variation among bits of muscle, fat and connective tissue.
孟菲斯肉业家的鸡肉，配上蔬菜用平底锅油煎之后跟正常的鸡肉吃起来很相似—不过其肌肉，脂肪和结缔组织的差异吃起来不太明显。
The pilot production facility, which is expected to be built in the next 18 to 24 months, will allow the company to scale up and experiment with its meat products, which also include duck and beef.
这家先进的肉业工厂预计会在一年半到两年后建成，届时这家公司将会扩大规模，并研发其他的肉类，包括鸭肉和牛肉。
But Memphis Meats and its competitors face quite a few hurdles in bringing cell-based meats to market.
不过要把这样的肉推向市场，孟菲斯肉业和他们的同行还面临很多障碍。
For starters, the cost of production needs to come down.
首先，生产成本居高不下。
Back in 2018, Wired reported that a pound of Memphis Meats takes $2,400 to produce, in part because of the expensive growth mediums — or feed — needed to culture cells.
2018年时，《连线》杂志报道称要生产一磅孟菲斯肉需要2400美元，部分原因在于培养细胞需要的昂贵的生长介质—或者说饲喂介质。
"Our costs have continued to come down significantly over the last three years," Valeti told us Wednesday.
瓦雷迪周三时告诉我们“我们的成本一直在下降。”
"We have a clear path to bringing a cost competitive product to market as we scale our production and that's part of what our latest funding round will help us to unlock," Valeti said.
“我们有明确的规划，随着生产规模的扩大，会把价格降到市场接受的地步，我们最近的融资就将用于这一块。”瓦雷迪说到。
文中提到孟菲斯肉业目前一磅肉的价格是多少美元？
留言回复正确答案，前十名朋友可以获得红包奖励哦，赶快来试试吧。
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