演講MP3+雙語文稿:如何更早地發(fā)現(xiàn)疾??？——“監(jiān)聽”細(xì)菌們的秘密對話

聽力課堂TED音頻欄目主要包括TED演講的音頻MP3及中英雙語文稿，供各位英語愛好者學(xué)習(xí)使用。本文主要內(nèi)容為演講MP3+雙語文稿:如何更早地發(fā)現(xiàn)疾??？——“監(jiān)聽”細(xì)菌們的秘密對話，希望你會喜歡！

【演講者及介紹】Fatima AlZahra'a Alatraktchi

納米物理學(xué)家、企業(yè)家，發(fā)明了一種方法來監(jiān)視細(xì)菌的社會行為和交流。

【演講主題】如何更早地發(fā)現(xiàn)疾病？——細(xì)菌的秘密語言

【中英文字幕】

Translated by Xuying Wu. Reviewed by Jin Ge.

00:14

You don't know them. You don't see them. But they're always around, whispering, making secret plans, building armies with millions of soldiers. And when they decide to attack, they all attack at the same time. I'm talking about bacteria.

你不認(rèn)識它們。你看不見它們。但它們一直都在周圍，竊竊私語，秘密計劃，以百萬兵力建造軍隊。但它們決定進(jìn)攻時，它們同一時間一哄而上。我在說的是細(xì)菌。

00:41

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

00:43

Who did you think I was talking about?

你們以為我在說誰？

00:47

Bacteria live in communities just like humans. They have families, they talk, and they plan their activities. And just like humans, they trick, deceive, and some might even cheat on each other. What if I tell you that we can listen to bacterial conversations and translate their confidential information into human language? And what if I tell you that translating bacterial conversations can save lives? I hold a PhD in nanophysics, and I've used nanotechnology to develop a real-time translation tool that can spy on bacterial communities and give us recordings of what bacteria are up to.

細(xì)菌生活的社群就和人類一樣。它們有家庭，它們交談，還會做行動計劃。也像人類一樣，它們?；ㄕ?，有些甚至互相欺騙。如果我告訴你，我們可以聽懂細(xì)菌的對話，并把它們的機(jī)密信息 翻譯成人類語言呢? 如果我告訴你，翻譯細(xì)菌語言可以挽救生命呢？ 我擁有納米物理學(xué)博士學(xué)位，我使用納米技術(shù) 開發(fā)了一個實時翻譯工具，可以監(jiān)視細(xì)菌群落，記錄細(xì)菌在做什么。

01:28

Bacteria live everywhere. They're in the soil, on our furniture and inside our bodies. In fact, 90 percent of all the live cells in this theater are bacterial. Some bacteria are good for us; they help us digest food or produce antibiotics. And some bacteria are bad for us; they cause diseases and death. To coordinate all the functions bacteria have, they have to be able to organize, and they do that just like us humans -- by communicating. But instead of using words, they use signaling molecules to communicate with each other. When bacteria are few, the signaling molecules just flow away, like the screams of a man alone in the desert. But when there are many bacteria, the signaling molecules accumulate, and the bacteria start sensing that they're not alone. They listen to each other. In this way, they keep track of how many they are and when they're many enough to initiate a new action. And when the signaling molecules have reached a certain threshold, all the bacteria sense at once that they need to act with the same action.

細(xì)菌無處不在。它們在土壤中，在我們的家具上，在我們的身體里。事實上，這個劇院里 有90%的活細(xì)胞是細(xì)菌。有些細(xì)菌對我們是好的，它們幫助我們消化食物 或生產(chǎn)抗生素。有些細(xì)菌對我們有害，它們會造成疾病和死亡。要協(xié)調(diào)所有細(xì)菌的功能，它們必須能夠組織起來，方法與人類別無二致—— 通過交談。不同于使用語言，它們使用信號分子互相交流。當(dāng)細(xì)菌不多時，信號分子就會流失，就像沙漠中一個人的尖叫。但當(dāng)細(xì)菌很多時，信號分子聚集起來，細(xì)菌覺察到它們并不孤單。它們互相傾聽。通過這種方式，它們跟蹤集群的數(shù)量，當(dāng)它們足夠多時，就開始一個新的行動。當(dāng)信號分子已經(jīng)達(dá)到一定的閾值，所有的細(xì)菌會同時感知它們需要 同步行動。

02:38

So bacterial conversation consists of an initiative and a reaction, a production of a molecule and the response to it. In my research, I focused on spying on bacterial communities inside the human body. How does it work? We have a sample from a patient. It could be a blood or spit sample. We shoot electrons into the sample, the electrons will interact with any communication molecules present, and this interaction will give us information on the identity of the bacteria, the type of communication and how much the bacteria are talking.

細(xì)菌的交流包括 自發(fā)行動和被動反應(yīng)，生產(chǎn)一個分子以及對分子的反應(yīng)。在我的研究中，我專注于監(jiān)聽細(xì)菌菌落 在人體中的活動。它們?nèi)绾喂ぷ鞯模?我們會拿一個病人的樣本。可能是血液或唾液樣本。我們把電子射入樣本，電子會和任何可溝通分子互動, 這種互動會給我們信息 來確認(rèn)細(xì)菌種類，它們交談的類型 以及有多少細(xì)菌在交談。

03:17

But what is it like when bacteria communicate? Before I developed the translation tool, my first assumption was that bacteria would have a primitive language, like infants that haven't developed words and sentences yet. When they laugh, they're happy; when they cry, they're sad. Simple as that. But bacteria turned out to be nowhere as primitive as I thought they would be. A molecule is not just a molecule. It can mean different things depending on the context, just like the crying of babies can mean different things: sometimes the baby is hungry, sometimes it's wet, sometimes it's hurt or afraid. Parents know how to decode those cries. And to be a real translation tool, it had to be able to decode the signaling molecules and translate them depending on the context. And who knows? Maybe Google Translate will adopt this soon.

細(xì)菌在交談時是什么樣的呢？ 在我開發(fā)這個翻譯工具之前，我最早猜測細(xì)菌會有一種原始的語言，就像沒有發(fā)育出 表達(dá)單詞和句子能力的嬰兒。當(dāng)它們笑，就是開心； 當(dāng)它們哭，就是難過。就像這樣簡單。但事實證明，細(xì)菌可不像我想象的那樣原始。一個分子不僅僅是一個分子。根據(jù)具體情境，它們可以有不同的含義，就像嬰兒的哭泣 可以表示不同的事情： 有時是這個嬰兒餓了，有時是尿濕了，有時是受傷了或害怕了。父母知道怎么解碼它們的哭泣。要做一個真正的翻譯工具，它必須能夠解碼信號分子 并根據(jù)上下文翻譯。誰知道呢？ 也許谷歌翻譯很快會采用。

04:11

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

04:15

Let me give you an example. I've brought some bacterial data that can be a bit tricky to understand if you're not trained, but try to take a look.

我來舉一個例子。我?guī)砹艘恍┘?xì)菌數(shù)據(jù)，它們可能有點難以理解，如果你沒有經(jīng)過訓(xùn)練的話，不過試著看一下。

04:24

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

04:27

Here's a happy bacterial family that has infected a patient. Let's call them the Montague family. They share resources, they reproduce, and they grow. One day, they get a new neighbor, bacterial family Capulet.

這是一個感染了病人的快樂細(xì)菌家族。就叫它們蒙太古家吧。它們分享資源，再生產(chǎn)，繁衍。一天，它們來了一個新鄰居，細(xì)菌凱普萊特家。

04:47

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

04:48

Everything is fine, as long as they're working together. But then something unplanned happens. Romeo from Montague has a relationship with Juliet from Capulet.

只要它們能和諧相處，一切都沒問題。但接著一些計劃外的事發(fā)生了。蒙太古家的羅密歐 和凱普萊特家的朱麗葉在一起了。

05:01

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

05:03

And yes, they share genetic material.

而且，它們分享了基因物質(zhì)。

05:06

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

05:11

Now, this gene transfer can be dangerous to the Montagues that have the ambition to be the only family in the patient they have infected, and sharing genes contributes to the Capulets developing resistance to antibiotics. So the Montagues start talking internally to get rid of this other family by releasing this molecule.

而這個轉(zhuǎn)移基因 對蒙太古家是一個威脅，會打亂它們要獨占 這個感染病人的計劃，而分享的基因會幫助 凱普萊特家發(fā)展對抗生素的耐藥性。所以蒙太古家族開始內(nèi)部對話，想要通過釋放這個分子 來擺脫另一個家族。

05:31

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

05:33

And with subtitles:

而且有主題：

05:36

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

05:38

Let's coordinate an attack. And then everybody at once responds by releasing a poison that will kill the other family.

讓我們協(xié)調(diào)進(jìn)攻。然后每個人立刻釋放出 一種毒藥，來殺死另一個家庭。

05:52

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

05:56

The Capulets respond by calling for a counterattack.

凱普萊特人則要求反擊。

06:01

And they have a battle.

然后它們發(fā)動了戰(zhàn)爭。

06:04

This is a video of real bacteria dueling with swordlike organelles, where they try to kill each other by literally stabbing and rupturing each other. Whoever's family wins this battle becomes the dominant bacteria.

這是一段真實的細(xì)菌 與劍狀細(xì)胞器搏斗的視頻，它們試圖通過 互相刺穿和撕裂殺死對方。誰的家族贏得了這場戰(zhàn)斗，就將成為占統(tǒng)治地位的細(xì)菌。

06:21

So what I can do is to detect bacterial conversations that lead to different collective behaviors like the fight you just saw. And what I did was to spy on bacterial communities inside the human body in patients at a hospital. I followed 62 patients in an experiment, where I tested the patient samples for one particular infection, without knowing the results of the traditional diagnostic test.

所以我能做的就是監(jiān)聽細(xì)菌的對話，這些對話會導(dǎo)致不同的集體行為，就像你剛才看到的打斗。我要做的就是監(jiān)視 在醫(yī)院病人體內(nèi)的 細(xì)菌群落。在一項實驗中，我跟蹤了62名患者，在不知道傳統(tǒng)診斷測試結(jié)果的情況下，我對患者樣本進(jìn)行了 一種特定感染的測試。

06:45

Now, in bacterial diagnostics, a sample is smeared out on a plate, and if the bacteria grow within five days, the patient is diagnosed as infected. When I finished the study and I compared the tool results to the traditional diagnostic test and the validation test, I was shocked. It was far more astonishing than I had ever anticipated.

當(dāng)前，細(xì)菌診斷學(xué)的方法是，把樣本涂在玻片上，如果細(xì)菌在五天內(nèi)生長出來，病人就被診斷為感染。當(dāng)我完成研究，并將工具結(jié)果 與傳統(tǒng)的診斷測試和 驗證測試進(jìn)行比較時，我震驚了。這比我想象的更令人吃驚。

07:10

But before I tell you what the tool revealed, I would like to tell you about a specific patient I followed, a young girl. She had cystic fibrosis, a genetic disease that made her lungs susceptible to bacterial infections. This girl wasn't a part of the clinical trial. I followed her because I knew from her medical record that she had never had an infection before. Once a month, this girl went to the hospital to cough up a sputum sample that she spit in a cup. This sample was transferred for bacterial analysis at the central laboratory so the doctors could act quickly if they discovered an infection. And it allowed me to test my device on her samples as well.

但在我告訴你這個工具揭示了什么之前，我想告訴你一個 我跟蹤的病人的具體情況，一個年輕女孩。她得了囊性纖維化，這是一種遺傳疾病，導(dǎo)致她的肺部疾病易受細(xì)菌感染。這個女孩沒有參與臨床試驗。我跟蹤她是因為，我從她的醫(yī)療記錄中 得知她以前從未感染過。這個女孩每個月去醫(yī)院一次，把她咳出的痰樣本吐在杯子里。這個樣本被轉(zhuǎn)移到中央實驗室 進(jìn)行細(xì)菌分析，這樣醫(yī)生們就可以在 發(fā)現(xiàn)感染時迅速采取行動。這也讓我有機(jī)會 用她的樣本測試我的設(shè)備。

07:50

The first two months I measured on her samples, there was nothing. But the third month, I discovered some bacterial chatter in her sample. The bacteria were coordinating to damage her lung tissue. But the traditional diagnostics showed no bacteria at all. I measured again the next month, and I could see that the bacterial conversations became even more aggressive. Still, the traditional diagnostics showed nothing. My study ended, but a half a year later, I followed up on her status to see if the bacteria only I knew about had disappeared without medical intervention. They hadn't. But the girl was now diagnosed with a severe infection of deadly bacteria. It was the very same bacteria my tool discovered earlier. And despite aggressive antibiotic treatment, it was impossible to eradicate the infection. Doctors deemed that she would not survive her 20s.

頭兩個月，我在她的樣本中 什么都沒發(fā)現(xiàn)。但第三個月，我在她的樣本中發(fā)現(xiàn) 一些細(xì)菌在說個不停。細(xì)菌正在協(xié)同破壞她的肺組織。但傳統(tǒng)的診斷顯示根本沒有細(xì)菌。下一個月我再次測試，我可以看到細(xì)菌的對話 變得更加激烈。然而，傳統(tǒng)的診斷 還沒有顯示出任何結(jié)果。我的研究結(jié)束了，但半年后，我對她的病情進(jìn)行了追蹤，想看看在沒有醫(yī)療干預(yù)的情況下，這種只有我知道的細(xì)菌 是否已經(jīng)消失了。它們并沒有。但那女孩現(xiàn)在被診斷出 嚴(yán)重感染致命細(xì)菌。而這正是我的工具 早些時候發(fā)現(xiàn)的細(xì)菌。盡管進(jìn)行了積極的抗生素治療，仍然不可能根除感染。醫(yī)生認(rèn)為她活不過30歲。

08:53

When I measured on this girl's samples, my tool was still in the initial stage. I didn't even know if my method worked at all, therefore I had an agreement with the doctors not to tell them what my tool revealed in order not to compromise their treatment. So when I saw these results that weren't even validated, I didn't dare to tell because treating a patient without an actual infection also has negative consequences for the patient. But now we know better, and there are many young boys and girls that still can be saved because, unfortunately, this scenario happens very often. Patients get infected, the bacteria somehow don't show on the traditional diagnostic test, and suddenly, the infection breaks out in the patient with severe symptoms. And at that point, it's already too late.

當(dāng)我測量這個女孩的樣本時，我的工具還處于初級階段。我甚至不知道我的方法是否有效，因此我與醫(yī)生達(dá)成協(xié)議，不告訴他們我的工具揭示了什么，以免影響他們的治療。所以當(dāng)我看到這些結(jié)果 甚至沒有得到證實時，我不敢說出來，因為治療一個沒有感染的病人 也會對病人產(chǎn)生負(fù)面影響。但現(xiàn)在我們知道得更多了，還有很多年輕的男孩女孩們可以被救，因為，不幸的是，這種情況經(jīng)常發(fā)生。病人被感染了，在傳統(tǒng)的診斷測試中沒有發(fā)現(xiàn)細(xì)菌，突然間，感染在有嚴(yán)重癥狀的 病人身上爆發(fā)了。但到了這個時候，已經(jīng)太遲了。

09:39

The surprising result of the 62 patients I followed was that my device caught bacterial conversations in more than half of the patient samples that were diagnosed as negative by traditional methods. In other words, more than half of these patients went home thinking they were free from infection, although they actually carried dangerous bacteria. Inside these wrongly diagnosed patients, bacteria were coordinating a synchronized attack. They were whispering to each other. What I call "whispering bacteria" are bacteria that traditional methods cannot diagnose. So far, it's only the translation tool that can catch those whispers. I believe that the time frame in which bacteria are still whispering is a window of opportunity for targeted treatment. If the girl had been treated during this window of opportunity, it might have been possible to kill the bacteria in their initial stage, before the infection got out of hand.

在我隨訪的62名患者中，令人驚訝的結(jié)果是，我的設(shè)備在半數(shù)以上患者樣本中 捕捉到了細(xì)菌對話，而這些患者在傳統(tǒng)方法中 都被診斷為陰性。換句話說，這些病人中 有一半以上回家時 認(rèn)為自己沒有感染，盡管他們實際上攜帶著危險的細(xì)菌。在這些被誤診的病人體內(nèi)，細(xì)菌正在協(xié)調(diào)一種同步的攻擊。它們互相私語。我所說的“竊竊私語細(xì)菌” 是傳統(tǒng)方法無法診斷的細(xì)菌。到目前為止，只有翻譯工具 才能捕捉到這些竊竊私語。我相信，細(xì)菌仍在竊竊私語的時間范圍 是靶向治療的機(jī)會之窗。如果那個女孩在這段時間內(nèi)接受治療，則有可能在感染擴(kuò)散之前 在細(xì)菌的初始階段 消滅它們。

10:39

What I experienced with this young girl made me decide to do everything I can to push this technology into the hospital. Together with doctors, I'm already working on implementing this tool in clinics to diagnose early infections.

我和這個小女孩的經(jīng)歷 讓我決定要盡我所能 把這項技術(shù)推廣到醫(yī)院。和醫(yī)生們一起，我已經(jīng)開始在診所里使用這個工具 來診斷早期感染。

10:54

Although it's still not known how doctors should treat patients during the whispering phase, this tool can help doctors keep a closer eye on patients in risk. It could help them confirm if a treatment had worked or not, and it could help answer simple questions: Is the patient infected? And what are the bacteria up to?

雖然還不清楚醫(yī)生在竊竊私語階段 應(yīng)該如何治療病人，但這個工具可以幫助醫(yī)生 密切關(guān)注處于危險中的病人。它可以幫助他們確認(rèn)治療是否有效，還可以幫助回答一些簡單的問題： 患者是否被感染了？ 這些細(xì)菌在做什么？

11:13

Bacteria talk, they make secret plans, and they send confidential information to each other. But not only can we catch them whispering, we can all learn their secret language and become ourselves bacterial whisperers. And, as bacteria would say, "3-oxo-C12-aniline."

細(xì)菌在說話，進(jìn)行秘密計劃，互相發(fā)送機(jī)密信息。但我們不僅可以捕捉它們的竊竊私語，還可以學(xué)會它們的秘密語言，讓我們自己成為細(xì)菌語者。正如細(xì)菌所說，"3-oxo-C12-aniline."

11:36

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

11:37

(Applause)

（掌聲）

11:38

Thank you.

謝謝。