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PETA offers reward for in vitro meat 人道對待動物組織獎勵吃人造肉品

PETA activists dressed with fresh lettuce leaves pose for photographers outside a Roman Catholic church in Manila on April 18, 2008. 以新鮮萵苣葉遮體的PETA運動人士上個月十八日在馬尼拉一座天主教堂外接受媒體拍攝。 照片：法新社 PHOTO :AFP

Steaks out of a test tube? The animal rights group PETA is putting up a million dollar reward (NT$30.3 million) for anyone who can grow in vitro meat that looks and tastes like the real thing by 2012.

“In vitro meat production would use animal stem cells that would be placed in a medium to grow and reproduce. The result would mimic flesh and could be cooked and eaten,” People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) said in a statement.

The million dollar reward will go to the participant who manages by 2012 to put test tube chicken into commercial production and successfully sells it in at least 10 US states at a competitive price.

Teams of researchers around the world are already working on producing meat in a laboratory, but it will be several years yet before in vitro meat makes it onto the dinner table.

A team of 10 PETA jurors will taste the entries to make sure they match the texture and flavor of chicken, and they must score at least 80 out of 100 points to win the prize.

The New York Times revealed that the scheme almost triggered a civil war within the headquarters of the organization dedicated to fighting for animal rights. But PETA argued the move would help avoid unnecessary suffering.

“More than 40 billion chickens, fish, pigs and cows are killed every year for food in the US in horrific ways,” it said in its statement.

“In vitro meat would spare animals from this suffering. In addition, in vitro meat would dramatically reduce the devastating effects the meat industry has on the environment.”

And it added that while “humans don’t need to eat meat at all” since many people continued “to refuse to kick their meat addictions, PETA is willing to help them gain access to flesh that doesn’t cause suffering and death.”

(AFP)

試管牛排？動物維權團體「PETA」將提供一百萬美元（新台幣三千零三十萬元）的獎金，給能在二Ｏ一二年前研發出外觀和口感都類似真肉的人造試管肉的人。

「人道對待動物組織（PETA）」在一項聲明中表示：「將動物幹細胞放在培養皿中使其生長繁殖，就可以製成試管肉；成品和食用肉極為相似，可供烹調及食用。」

二Ｏ一二年前能將研發出的試管雞肉量產，且成功在美國至少十個州以具競爭力的價格販售的參賽者，就可贏得百萬美元獎金。

全世界許多研究團隊早已在實驗室中致力研發試管肉，但真要把它端上桌可能還要再等幾年。

十位PETA的評選委員將試吃參賽肉品，以確保它們符合雞肉的口感和口味，參賽肉品至少需達到八十分（總分一百）才能抱回獎金。

《紐約時報》揭露，這個計畫在致力於保護動物權利的PETA總部幾乎引發一場內戰，但是PETA辯稱，此舉能避免不必要的動物犧牲。

該組織在聲明中說：「每年美國都為了食用而以殘忍手段殺害了超過四千億隻的雞、魚、豬、牛。」

「試管肉將讓動物免受此苦；除此之外，試管肉也可大幅減少肉品業對生態環境造成的嚴重破壞。」

聲明中還說，儘管「人類根本不需要吃肉」，但許多人依然「不願戒除嗜肉之癮，因此PETA很樂意幫助他們以不殺生的方式吃到肉品。」

（法新社／翻譯：袁星塵）

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