July 2015 – Page 2 – DTCN

TED Talk “Leather and meat without killing animals”

Here is my reaction. According to Andras Forgacs, bio-fabrication is a key to solve the food problem. It is said that the world’s population will reach 10 billion in the near future, and we will need 120 billion animals to maintain our population. Maintaining so many livestock has given a burden on our planet. Bio-fabrication techniques have already been used in medical field. He said that we will get meat, leather, or other animal products by bio-fabrication instead of killing animals.

Before listening to the presentation, I thought it is natural for us to kill animals to the degree of necessity of our lives. We always consume many animal products in our daily lives. So, I think bio-fabrication is a creative idea, and partly agree with him. First, bio-fabrication is a humane way. In modern society, we kill more animals than we need, and waste a lot of animal products. In addition, we sometimes breed animals in poor surroundings, and slaughter livestock in a cruel way. If bio-fabrication is introduced in our society, we don’t need to kill animals, and inflict excessive pains on animals. Second, bio-fabrication leads to environmental protection. Breeding animals needs a mass of water, grain, and land. We must cut down many forests to run a farm. Moreover, it is said that to produce one kilogram of beef needs about ten times of grains and two thousand liter of water. These things have caused damage to our environment. Therefore, bio-fabrication helps us to protect our environment.

There is, however, a cost problem. I think to introduce bio-fabrication we need high techniques and a lot of money. In developed countries, if they succeed in introducing bio-fabrication in the near future, they will solve the food problem. However, in developing countries, they don’t have a lot of money. They cannot help depending on breeding real animals. Hence, first of all, we should narrow the gap between rich and poor countries. For these reasons, I partly agree to his idea.

Biofabrication- Is it “real” leather?

My reaction in Ted talk was approval with reservation. I will summarize this talk and express my mpinion.

1.Summary
Andras Forgacs warn about the situation that we slaughter billions of animals to eat or make products and introduce biofabrication to solve this problem. He thinks it should begin by remaining leather to get the understanding from anti- biofabrication. The merit is that the process to grow leather does no harm. And we can create real leather which has all the characteristics through a shorter and much less chemical tanning process because it is made of the same cells. We also can grow this leather in shape of the products and tune this for other desirable qualities. Biofabrication has an educational aspect, too. Cell culture takes place a brewery and we can tour this facility and learn. He also mention the possibility that we design new materials, new products, and new facilities. He thinks biofabrication is a natural evolution for mankind and this is environmentally responsible, efficient and humane.

2.Opinion
Today, many animals are killed to make our handbags. It is quite unfair. Our desire for having luxury bags is dependent on the cost of their lives. We should stop buying animal leather products. But actually, we can’t give up experiencing the happiness of getting the luxury items. We can’t turn back now and we wish this happiness continue in the future. I’d definitely point out biofabrication as the best way to deal with this problem. But I am also worry about putting to practical use. I tell you the merits and demerits of biofabrication.
On the one hand, biofabrication has an advantage to be sustainable. It doesn’t hurt any animals. We don’t have to become a slaughter and animals don’t waste their lives. There is no sacrifice so it is humane. Also, once we take cells from an animal, they keep growing. We can control their growing for example the size, thickness and the feeling freely. We never waste leather or medicine during tanning process. This meets the requirements of the sustainability.
On the other hands, I skeptical about considering biofabrication leather products to be “real” products. Furthermore, I warm that we felt sure that we can manufacture everything by technology. Andras Forgacsmaintained that biofablication leather is real and genuine because the finished goods come from the animals’ cells and we use the function of growing themselves. Compare the two leather which one is artificial and the other isnatural animal skin, perhaps we couldn’t tell them. But I doubt that biofabrication can make real leather because it was not living, just multiplied in a cell culture medium. This is just industrial products. If we regard biofabricationleather as real leather, we become less able to tell artificial and natural. As for the leather products, this is a little mistake, but in the future, this leads us to clone human easily. We might cross the border. This would bring about new ethical problem.
Above these, biofabrication is a controversial technology. Of course it is useful and sustainable to save the life of animals and enjoy having the luxury items. But on the other hands, we shouldn’t forget its danger. It has a possibility to collapse the bioethics. We must keep an eye on how to use this effective technology.

biofabrication of animal products without killing

Andras forgacs is a defender of tissue engineering and CEO of Modern Meadow. He is questioned during experiment that / if you can grow parts of human body, can you also grow animal products like meat and leather? Taking this opportunity, he study deep into a subject biofabrication of animal products and he claim it is the best idea that biofabrication of animal products without killing. I think it is a great idea. There are two reasons why.

First of all, I think that killing animal is not moral. According to his saying, animal bred for meats, eggs, leather is over 60 billion. And he claimed that animals like this will be twice if the population of human beings is 100 billion at the future. According as technique of medical treatment, people will needs more animals and kills them more. Animals are living things. But pig or cows are bred to be killed while dogs or cats are loved by people like a family. There worth exist only after they died. I think biofabrication of animal products is necessary to reduce sacrifices of animal bred to be killed.

Secondly, I think biofabrication of animal products can help preventing the disease. Many diseases occur while large scale farm breed the animals for leather and meat. BSE, the disease make people die by making a hole in the brain, is one of the typical examples of those diseases. Some large scale farm, feed a cows animal feed though cows live off hay and grass. And some of those animal feeds are made of the meat of cow same like them. As a result of this immoral behavior, BSE occurred, and even people is harmed by this disease. Historically, there are a number of Diseases like BSE. Andras also gives warning disease which occurred at the bad breed condition. But I think we can prevent those cases, if we can get leather and meat without killing

Thus, I strongly agree with Andras opinion that biofabrication of animal products should be encouraged.

Ted talk

This presentation is about the challenge of making leather and meat of animals by bio fabrication. The speaker said that what people are doing now is crazy. People raise and eat animals. If his 3D development is success, we won’t kill any animals. We will use cells to make units of lives without animals. For example, leather is made from a cell. If we can make a lot of the cell by his development, it’s easy to get it without any waste.

This may help us to get a lot of food and prevent us from starvation. However, I don’t agree with this idea. I have 3 reasons.

At first, this idea will make the needs of animals be deleted. Because just indispensable item can survive in this world. If there are no needs with animals, they will exterminate. Secondly, in the speaker’s talk, he said we can control the quality of leather. Of course, we can use it in meat. I think, this means it is a way to change the making of human. And, making meat is also a thinking of just treat animals like raw materials. At last, this idea just make a way for people to escape. It cannot change the people idea of thinking of animals.

Accordingly, the most important thing is try to change people idea of meat. For example, teaching the importance and sacredness of meat.

Gay festival ends with street parade

We discussed about gay festival held in central Seoul, Sunday. Seoul Plaza in front of City Hall was filled with participants in the closing ceremony and opponents of gay rights.
The Seoul Namdaemun Police Station initially disallowed the street parade, but the Seoul Administrative Court later lifted the ban, allowing the parade to take place.
I think it needs long time for gay becomes socially acceptable in Japan. Even now, many people don’t think that gay acceptable.
In my opinion, I think gay should not oppressed, but they don’t need to accept marrying same-sex marriage. Of course, gay people should not be discriminated for their thoughts. But it is fact that gay people are strange when we think our way of sexual reproduction.
They can live together even they don’t marriage, and they wouldn’t have children. They wouldn’t have disadvantages even they couldn’t marry.

The Ecological Demerits of Eating Real Meat and Wearing Real Leather

I agree with Andreas Forgacs. From an ecological point of view, eating real meat or wearing real leather has many demerits.

Firstly, it’s very extravagant to raise domestic animals for meat or leather. Raising animals needs much crops as their feed. So it consume more resourse, money, and time than eating crops directly or use vegetable fiber. For example, recently phosphate has been run short around the world, because the amount of stockbreeding increased. In Japan, self sufficientry ratio for food has decreased. One of the reasons of this case is popularization of eating meat.

Secondly, raising domestic animals for meat or leather promotes global warming. According to the report of WWF(World Wildlife Fund), it generates much carbon dioxide to grow feed, raise and transport them. So Rajendra Pachauri , the chairman of IPCC(Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) asks to cut the consumption of meat.

Thirdly, eating real meat or using real leather may extinguish wild animals . For example, the number of Asian elephants has been decreased, because people hunt them for their leather and horns. Their leather is used as material for bags. Their horns are called ivory, and used for handworks. Elephant’s leather and ivory sell at a high price. Washington Convention defines Asian Elephant as an endangered species, so they bans and restrains hunting Asian elephants. But there are many poachers who still hunt them, because many people regard real elephant leather and ivory as attractive and buy them at a high price.

Although many of us know real meat and leather are wrong, it’s diffcult for many people to endure living without them. Because they are too dependent on real meat and leather. Besides, they think substitute products are bad quality. So, I think the study of Andreas Forgacs is wonderful. If he succeeds in making quality biofabricate meat or leather, many sensible people will stop eating real meat or using real leather.

I’m so sorry,because I cannot post my audio post.
I have written my opinion and recorded it with my iphone.
But I cannot post the audio data with iPhone.
Besides,the wi-fi rooter in my home is out of order.
So I cannot post it with my PC.

I am going to the audio data in USB on next Tuesday.
Please overlook my failture.

Meat and Leather without Killing Animals

Last week, we saw a video of a speech about “Leather and meat without killing animals.” From the past, human beings have been killing other living beings to take their meat and leather. The speaker was saying that this is crazy because other animals are also living beings and it is not good to kill them thoughtlessly. The point of the speech is how to supply meat to eat or leather to make products without killing animals. To begin from the conclusion, his answer is to use biofabrication technology. Biofabrication is a technology to make animal products like meat and leather by cultivating animal cells. This sounds quite strange, but it is not at all. In biofabrication, we can make exactly the same thing that from animals. Moreover, we can improve the material and get rid of waste. He also said that growing leather is much easier than growing tissues and organs because they are made from one kind of cell. We are not reluctant to wear artifacts, so leather can be the start to introduce biofabrication into our life. Then, we can accept biofabrication in the area like food. In the last the speaker said that human beings must change our style to get materials from just killing animals to an evolved one.

I think killing other animals is not morally bad. The reason is that to survive, it is necessary. Other animals do that, too. The problem is not that point. The problem is that human beings are doing that too much and useless slaughtering is occurring. To avoid this, biofabrication is a splendid idea. If everyone understand that products made by biofabrication have the same quality as the products made from animals, a revolution of our life may happen. This may change our life and save billions of animals. Therefore, I agree to the speaker’s idea.

eating much meat is not clever decision

To eat meat to much is not better

I think people should not eat meat too much.
There are two reasons.
First, to eat meat to much incur a great danger to their health. Certainly meat is very delicious, so it makes people happy. But meats
have too much fat. Various dates show people who eat meat too much have a high risk of life style related disease and cancer and so on. In past days, Japanese people don’t eat meat very much. But Japan is getting globalize, so Japanese people want to eat meat. So gradually the number of life style related disease increases. If you want to understand this situation easily, compare body type of Japanese people and American people. It is very difficult to stop eating meat,
because meats are very delicious. But, if you want to be health, you should not eat meat too much.
Second, If you eat meat too much, people have to kill a lot of animals. Mass-killing animals breaks food chain. People are a part of food chain. So people should not interfere with the food chain. People are not special.
After all I know it is difficult, but people try not to eat meat too much.

China to complete South Chian Sea reclamation

To summarize the article, China will soon complete a series of controversial land reclamation projects in South China Sea. The US and other countries surrounded by South China Sea claimed that China will use those islands for military purpose, on the other hand, China says that those islands are mainly for maritime search and rescue, disaster relief and reserch. The US told China to immediately stop the reclamation last year so there has been a tension between China and The US since that.

I personally think that China should immediately stop the reclamation of those islands for following reason. There are UNCLOS 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone for each country, in other words territorial waters were decided by international law. The disputed islands in this article are all located in the exterior of the China’s territorial waters. I just can not understand why China is not punished for there action that clearly violating the international law. To conclude, I think China should stop reclamating the islands on other countries’ territorial water.

Pollution problem in Beijing

Citizen environmental activists are taking measures to increase awareness about pollution problems in Beijing, and spreading the message on social media.
In Beijing, they attempt to find out how bad the air in Chinese capital has turned into the city’s toxic environment.
Zou Yi, he is the Beijing’s citizen environmentalist is facing off against their country’s polluters. Every day for the past three years he has been taking photos from the exact same angle, same time, rain or shine.
The results are staggering.
In Beijing, the most serious problem is PM2.5.
It is a very small particle which come into our bloodstream. If we put on a mask, we could not prevent to invasion them because they are very small.
It is said that PM2.5 may cause grave influence for our health
PM2.5 is very important problem to Japan, but there are no solution to lose PM2.5.
So it is the issue we should work on immediately.