TED英语演讲长生不老的细胞科学.docx

1、TED英语演讲长生不老的细胞科学TED英语演讲：长生不老的细胞科学是什么让我们的身体老化、皮肤长出皱纹、头发转成白色、免疫系统变弱?生物学家伊丽莎白布莱克班恩对于这个问题所做的研究，与同侪共同赢得了诺贝尔奖。该研究发现了酶，这种酶会补充染色体末端的套子(端粒)，这个套子会在细胞分裂时磨损。下面是小编为大家收集关于TED英语演讲：长生不老的细胞科学，欢迎借鉴参考。TED演讲：长生不老的细胞科学Where does the end begin?Well, for me, it all began with this little fellow.This adorable organism -wel

2、l, I think its adorable -is called Tetrahymena and its a single-celled creature.Its also been known as pond scum.So thats right, my career started with pond scum.结束是从何开始的?对我来说，它开始于这个小家伙。这可爱的有机体，我认为它很可爱，它叫做四膜虫，是种单细胞生物。它也就是池塘浮渣。是的，我的职涯始于池塘浮渣。Now, it was no surprise I became a scientist.Growing up far

3、away from here,as a little girl I was deadly curiousabout everything alive.I used to pick up lethally poisonous stinging jellyfish and sing to them.And so starting my career,I was deadly curious about fundamental mysteriesof the most basic building blocks of life,and I was fortunate to live in a soc

4、iety where that curiosity was valued.我变成科学家并不让人意外。我在离这里很远的地方长大，我小时候非常有好奇心，对所有的生物都好奇。我以前会捡起有致命剧毒会螫人的水母，然后对牠们唱歌。所以，开始我的职涯时，我非常好奇，想解开最根本的谜题，想知道构成生命的基础积木是什么，很幸运，我所在的社会很重视好奇心。Now, for me, this little pond scum critter Tetrahymenawas a great way to study the fundamental mysteryI was most curious about:tho

5、se bundles of DNA in our cells called chromosomes.And it was because I was curious about the very ends of chromosomes,known as telomeres.Now, when I started my quest,all we knew was that they helped protect the ends of chromosomes.It was important when cells divide.It was really important,but I want

6、ed to find out what telomeres consisted of,and for that, I needed a lot of them.And it so happens that cute little Tetrahymenahas a lot of short linear chromosomes,around 20,000,so lots of telomeres.And I discovered that telomeres consisted of special segmentsof noncoding DNA right at the very ends

7、of chromosomes.对我而言，四膜虫这池塘浮渣小生物是研究我最好奇的根本谜题的好方式：我们的细胞内大量的 DNA，也就是所谓的染色体。因为我对染色体的末端很好奇，也就是所谓的端粒。当我开始探索，我们只知道：它们协助保护染色体的末端。细胞分裂时，这点很重要。它相当重要，但我想要了解端粒是什么组成的，为这个目的，我需要很多端粒。刚好这个可爱的小四膜虫有很多短短线性的染色体。大约两万个，所以会有很多端粒。我发现端粒包括位在染色体最末端未编码的特殊 DNA 区段。But heres a problem.Now, we all start life as a single cell.It mu

8、ltiples to two.Two becomes four. Four becomes eight,and on and on to form the 200 million billion cellsthat make up our adult body.And some of those cells have to divide thousands of times.In fact, even as I stand here before you,all throughout my body, cells are furiously replenishingto, well, keep

9、 me standing here before you.So every time a cell divides, all of its DNA has to be copied,all of the coding DNA inside of those chromosomes,because that carries the vital operating instructionsthat keep our cells in good working order,so my heart cells can keep a steady beat,which I assure you they

10、re not doing right now,and my immune cellscan fight off bacteria and viruses,and our brain cells can save the memory of our first kissand keep on learning throughout life.但，有一个问题。生命是从单细胞开始的。一个会变成两个，两个变成四个，四个变成八个，一路这样下去，形成了二十万兆个细胞，组成了成人的身体。有些细胞需要分裂数千次。事实上，即使我站在各位面前，我整个身体的细胞正疯狂地补充，让我能够持续站在你们面前。每当一个细胞分

11、裂，它所有的 DNA 都会被复制，那些染色体中所有编码的 DNA，因为那带有极重要的运作指示，让我们的细胞能处于良好的工作状态，这么一来我的心脏细胞才能保持稳定的心跳，我向各位保证，它们现在并没做到，而我的免疫细胞，能击退细菌和病毒，我们的头脑细胞能储存我们初吻的记忆，并在整个人生中持续学习。But there is a glitch in the way DNA is copied.It is just one of those facts of life.Every time the cell divides and the DNA is copied,some of that DNA f

12、rom the ends gets worn down and shortened,some of that telomere DNA.And think about itlike the protective caps at the ends of your shoelace.And those keep the shoelace, or the chromosome, from fraying,and when that tip gets too short, it falls off,and that worn down telomere sends a signal to the ce

13、lls.The DNA is no longer being protected.It sends a signal. Time to die.So, end of story.但复制 DNA 的方式有个小毛病，仅是生命的事实之一。每当细胞分裂、DNA 被复制，某些末端 DNA 会磨损缩短，一些端粒的 DNA。可以用这方式来想：就像你的鞋带末端的保护套。它们能让鞋带或染色体不会被磨损，当尖端变得太短时，它就会脱落，而那被磨损掉的端粒就会发送一个讯号给细胞。这 DNA 不再受到保护。它发出讯号。是死亡的时候了。所以，故事结束。Well, sorry, not so fast.It cant be

14、 the end of the story,because life hasnt died off the face of the earth.So I was curious:if such wear and tear is inevitable,how on earth does Mother Nature make surewe can keep our chromosomes intact?抱歉，没那么快。故事不可能这样结束，因为生命还没从地球表面上消逝。所以我很好奇：如果这种损耗是无可避免的，大自然到底要如何确保我们能保持不让染色体受损?Now, remember that litt

15、le pond scum critter Tetrahymena?The craziest thing was,Tetrahymena cells never got old and died.Their telomeres werent shortening as time marched on.Sometimes they even got longer.Something else was at work,and believe me, that something was not in any textbook.So working in my lab with my extraord

16、inary student Carol Greider -and Carol and I shared the Nobel Prize for this work -we began running experimentsand we discovered cells do have something else.It was a previously undreamed-of enzymethat could replenish,make longer, telomeres,and we named it telomerase.And when we removed our pond scu

17、ms telomerase,their telomeres ran down and they died.So it was thanks to their plentiful telomerasethat our pond scum critters never got old.还记得那池塘浮渣小生物四膜虫吗?最疯狂的是，四膜虫细胞从来不会变老或死亡。牠们的端粒并不会随时间而变短。有时甚至还会变长。还有某样东西在运作，相信我，那某样东西并不在任何教科书中。所以，我和杰出学生凯洛葛莱德在实验室中合作凯洛和我共享这项研究赢得的诺贝尔奖我们开始进行实验，我们发现细胞的确有其他的东西。是先前意想不到

18、的酶(酵素)，它能补充端粒，让端粒更长，我们将它命名为端粒酶。当我们移除池塘浮渣的端粒酶后，牠们的端粒就会耗尽而死亡。所以要归功于丰富的端粒酶，我们的池塘浮渣才能永生不老。OK, now, thats an incredibly hopeful messagefor us humans to be receiving from pond scum,because it turns outthat as we humans age, our telomeres do shorten,and remarkably,that shortening is aging us.Generally spea

19、king,the longer your telomeres,the better off you are.Its the overshortening of telomeresthat leads us to feel and see signs of aging.My skin cells start to dieand I start to see fine lines, wrinkles.Hair pigment cells die.You start to see gray.Immune system cells die.You increase your risks of gett

20、ing sick.In fact, the cumulative research from the last 20 yearshas made clear that telomere attritionis contributing to our risks of getting cardiovascular diseases,Alzheimers, some cancers and diabetes,the very conditions many of us die of.那是我们人类能从池塘浮渣身上得到的一个非常有希望的讯息，因为结果发现，随着我们人类年纪增长，我们的端粒确实会变短，很

21、惊人的是，那缩短现象让我们变老。一般来说，你的端粒越长，你的状况就会越好。是端粒过度减短的现象导致我们会感到及看到老化的征象。我的皮肤细胞开始死亡，我就会开始看到线条、皱纹。头发色素细胞死亡，你就会开始看到白发。免疫细胞死亡，你被攻击的风险就会提升。事实上，过去二十年所累积的研究清楚地指出，端粒损耗可能造成罹患像是：心血管疾病、阿滋海默症、某些癌症，以及糖尿病等许多致死疾病的风险。And so we have to think about this.What is going on?This attrition,we look and we feel older, yeah.Our telom

22、eres are losing the war of attrition faster.And those of us who feel youthful longer,it turns out our telomeres are staying longerfor longer periods of time,extending our feelings of youthfulnessand reducing the risks of all we most dreadas the birthdays go by.所以我们得要想想这一点。发生了什么事?这种损耗，我们看起来且感觉起来变老了。我

23、们的端粒在损耗之战中败退得很快。至于觉得年轻时间比较长的人，结果发现是端粒能留比较久，比较长的时间，延长我们对于年轻的感觉，并减少我们随着每个生日过去而最害怕的那些风险。OK,seems like a no-brainer.Now, if my telomeres are connectedto how quickly Im going to feel and get old,if my telomeres can be renewed by my telomerase,then all I have to do to reverse the signs and symptoms of agi

24、ngis figure out where to buy that Costco-sized bottleof grade A organic fair trade telomerase, right?Great! Problem solved.好。似乎很简单。如果我的端粒和我多快感到变老及实际变老是有关联的，如果我能用端粒酶来复原端粒，那么若我想要反转老化的征兆和症状，就是要找个地方买像好市多那样超大罐、A 级、有机、公平贸易的端粒酶，对吧?好极了!问题解决。(Applause)(掌声)Not so fast, Im sorry.Alas, thats not the case.OK. An

25、d why?Its because human genetics has taught usthat when it comes to our telomerase,we humans live on a knife edge.OK, simply put,yes, nudging up telomerase does decrease the risks of some diseases,but it also increases the risks of certain and rather nasty cancers.So even if you could buy that Costc

26、o-sized bottle of telomerase,and there are many websites marketing such dubious products,the problem is you could nudge up your risks of cancers.And we dont want that.很抱歉，没那么快。唉，并不是那样的。那为什么呢?因为人类遗传学教导我们，谈到我们的端粒酶时，我们人类是住在刀缘上的。简单来说，是的，增加端粒酶的确可以减少一些疾病的风险，但同时也会增加某些很糟糕的癌症的风险。所以，就算你能买到像好市多那样超大罐的端粒酶，有许多网站在

27、行销这类可疑的产品，问题是你有可能增加罹癌的风险。我们不想要那样。Now, dont worry,and because, while I think its kind of funny that right now,you know, many of us may be thinking,well, Id rather be like pond scum.别担心，因为，虽然我觉得有点好笑，也许此刻很多人正想着，我宁可像池塘浮渣一样。(Laughter)(笑声)There is something for us humansin the story of telomeres and their

28、 maintenance.But I want to get one thing clear.It isnt about enormously extending human lifespanor immortality.Its about health span.Now, health span is the number of years of your lifewhen youre free of disease,youre healthy, youre productive,youre zestfully enjoying life.Disease span, the opposite

29、 of health span,is the time of your life spent feeling old and sick and dying.So the real question becomes,OK, if I cant guzzle telomerase,do I have control over my telomeres lengthand hence my well-being, my health,without those downsides of cancer risks?OK?在这关于端粒以及维护端粒的真相中还是有我们人类可以学习之处。但我想先澄清一件事。重

30、点并不是将人类寿命期间延长很多或是永生不死。重点是健康期间。健康期间，就是你人生中有多少年是没有疾病、很健康、有生产力、能够热情享受人生的。相对于健康期间的疾病期间，指的就是你人生中有多长时间觉得自己老、病、和垂死。所以，真正的问题变成是，如果我无法狂饮端粒酶，我是否能控制端粒酶的长度，进而控制我的福祉、我的健康，而没有癌症风险的坏处?好吗?So, its the year 20xx.Now, Ive been minutely scrutinizing little teeny tiny telomeresvery happily for many years,when into my la

31、b walks a psychologist named Elissa Epel.Now, Elissas expertise is in the effects of severe, chronic psychological stresson our minds and our bodys health.And there she was standing in my lab,which ironically overlooked the entrance to a mortuary, and -所以，那是 20xx 年。多年来，我很快乐地、分分钟钟地持续仔细观察著那些极微小的端粒，直到有

32、一天，名叫伊莉莎埃佩尔的心理学家走入了我的实验室。伊莉莎的专长在于严重慢性心理压力对于我们身、心健康的影响。她出现在我的实验室，很讽刺的是从实验室可以眺望停尸间的入口，而且(Laughter)(笑声)And she had a life-and-death question for me.What happens to telomeres in people who are chronically stressed?she asked me.You see, shed been studying caregivers,and specifically mothers of children with a chronic condition,be it gut disorder,be it autism, you name it -a group obviously under enormous and prolonged psychological stress.I have to say, her questionchanged me profoundly.See, all