Australian Company Uses Extinct Mammoth for Lab-grown Meat

An Australian company has made lab-grown meat using genetic¹ information from a wooly² mammoth³, an extinct animal.

The company launched the creation in a science museum in the Netherlands. It came just days before April 1, known as April Fools' Day.

"This is not an April Fools' joke," said Tim Noakesmith, founder⁴ of the Australian company Vow⁵. "This is a real innovation."

The lab-grown meat, also called cultivated or cell-based meat, is made from animal cells and grown in a lab. Animals do not need to be killed to produce them. Supporters of cultivated meat say it is better not just for the animals but also for the environment.

The company, Vow, combined genetic information from the mammoth and African elephants, the mammoth's closest living relative. The information was then put into a sheep muscle cell. In the lab, the cells increased in number until there were enough to make a meatball.

More than 100 companies around the world are working on cultivated meat products.

Experts say that if the technology becomes more common, it could greatly reduce the environmental impacts of meat production in the future. Currently, billions of hectares of land are used for meat production worldwide.

Singapore is the only country so far to approve cultivated meat for humans to eat. Vow is hoping to sell its first product there — cultivated Japanese quail⁶ meat — later this year.

Vow does not plan to put the mammoth meatball into production. Instead, the company created it to bring attention and get people talking about the future of meat.

"We wanted to get people excited about the future of food... that there are things that are unique and better... and we thought the mammoth would be a conversation starter," Noakesmith told The Associated Press.

Seren Kell is science and technology manager at Good Food Institute, a nonprofit that promotes plant- and cell-based food. Kell said companies usually use cells from farm animals and seafood⁷ to develop cultivated meat. She noted⁸ that lab-grown meat can help reduce emissions⁹ from animal agriculture and satisfy worldwide demand for meat.

The large meatball shown in the Netherlands was only for show and not to be eaten. However, the meatball was cooked, and people could smell it. Noakesmith said people who were there said it smelled like another cultivated product the company had produced, which was crocodile.

He added that it is "fascinating" to think about smelling something from an animal that has been extinct for thousands of years.

Words in This Story

extinct -adj. referring to a plant or animal that no longer exists

innovation -n. a new thing such as an invention, or a new way of doing something

cultivated -adj. grown and produced under human care and control

unique -adj. the only one of its kind; unusual and special

promote -v. to help something develop or happen

emissions - n. (pl.) things that are released into the environment such as gases or (sometimes) radiation

fascinating -adj. very interesting

1 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

2 wooly   

adj.毛茸茸的；糊涂的

参考例句：

• I like the feel of this cloth and it has a warm wooly feel.我喜欢这块布的手感,它摸上去毛茸茸的很暖和。
• He wore a brown t-shirt with jeans and a pair of shoes,with a wooly hat covering his hair.小贝身穿一件棕色t恤，搭配牛仔裤和皮鞋，头戴一顶盖住头发的羊毛帽子。

3 mammoth   

n.长毛象；adj.长毛象似的，巨大的

参考例句：

• You can only undertake mammoth changes if the finances are there.资金到位的情况下方可进行重大变革。
• Building the new railroad will be a mammoth job.修建那条新铁路将是一项巨大工程。

4 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

5 vow   

n.誓(言)，誓约；v.起誓，立誓

参考例句：

• My parents are under a vow to go to church every Sunday.我父母许愿，每星期日都去做礼拜。
• I am under a vow to drink no wine.我已立誓戒酒。

6 quail   

n.鹌鹑；vi.畏惧，颤抖

参考例句：

• Cowards always quail before the enemy.在敌人面前，胆小鬼们总是畏缩不前的。
• Quail eggs are very high in cholesterol.鹌鹑蛋胆固醇含量高。

7 seafood   

n.海产食品，海味，海鲜

参考例句：

• There's an excellent seafood restaurant near here.离这儿不远有家非常不错的海鲜馆。
• Shrimps are a popular type of seafood.小虾是比较普遍的一种海味。

8 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

9 emissions   

排放物( emission的名词复数 )； 散发物（尤指气体）

参考例句：

• Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。
• Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。