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Picture an orange. It’s encased in a biodegradable shell—the peel’s even somewhat edible, as marmalade fans can attest. But we humans often package food in plastic, with its environmental and disposal challenges.
有这样一个橘子。它包在一个可生物降解的外壳里，甚至它的皮也可以食用——其实这已经得到了果酱迷们的证实。但是，我们人类往往用塑料袋包装食品，这对环境和垃圾处理造成很大挑战。
So Harvard scientist David Edwards and colleagues thought, why not take advantage of advances in materials science to mimic nature? The call their result WikiCells. Edwards recently described the development in a talk at Harvard’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering.
因此，哈佛大学的科学家戴维•爱德华兹和他的同事们认为，为什么不借助材料科学的进步来使食品包装天然化？他将他们的研究成果命名为WikiCells。爱德华兹最近在哈佛大学的威斯生物工程研究所谈到了这一研究所取得的进展。
Taking note of nature's clever packaging, Edwards and his team created a membrane made of charged particles of edible substances bound by electrostatic forces. The membrane surrounds a liquid, foam or solid food. Then that membrane is surrounded by an edible or biodegradable hard shell.
被天然包装的奇妙之处所启发，爱德华兹和他的团队发明了一种由带电粒子制成的薄膜。这些粒子由可食用物质构成，通过静电引力将粒子结合在一起，形成薄膜。这种薄膜可用来盛放各种液体、泡沫或固态食物。然后，薄膜外面再包上一层可食用或可生物降解的坚硬外壳。
The researchers are testing WikiCells at Harvard’s partner Le Laboratoire in Paris, where people are munching on containers of ice cream and soup. The technology is currently a bit of a novelty. But the scientists are working on shelf stability and taste to create a variety of consumer products. Maybe in the future you’ll be able to sip some juice, and eat the package. Of course, clam chowder served in bread bowls is already available in the Harvard area.
研究人员正在哈佛大学的合作伙伴巴黎实验室测试WikiCells，那里的人们正在大嚼各种盛放冰淇淋或羹汤的容器。这一技术目前的确有点新奇。但科学家们正在致力于延长这种产品的保质期并提升其口味，以使其产品多样化。也许在未来，你不但能啜饮果汁，还可以吃掉果汁包装。当然了，如今，哈佛地区的蛤肉羹已经可以用面包制成的碗来盛放了。
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