Making sense of how life fits together - Bobbi Seleski

Transcriber: Andrea McDonough Reviewer: Bedirhan Cinar

翻译人员: Gabriella Hu 校对人员: Jiawei Ni

I like to think of life science as one big pyramid.

我喜欢把生命科学看做一个巨大的金字塔

Let's call the pyramid, "biological organization".

这个金字塔叫做 “生物组织”

Let's work our way from very small and specific concepts

我们一起从微小具体的概念延伸到

to very large and complex topics.

复杂的大话题

So let's start at the tip of the pyramid,

我们从金字塔的顶端开始吧，

with something so small, it can't be seen by the human eye,

那么小的东西，人的肉眼是无法看到的，

a single cell.

一个细胞

A cell by itself is the most basic component of life.

细胞本身是生物最基础的单位

A single cell, which is capable of living on its own,

一个能够独自生存的细胞

is called a unicellular organism,

叫做一个单细胞组织，

organisms like bacteria or protists.

比如细菌和原生生物

These organisms are everywhere you look,

这些生物到处都是，

you just can't see them.

你只是看不见而已

But, when cells join together,

但是当细胞结合在一起时，

with more than one cell like itself

有很多同样的细胞

to perform a similar function,

拥有同样的功能，

it's no longer a unicellular organism.

它不再是一个单细胞组织

It's then called a tissue.

这叫一个细胞组织

No, not that kind of tissue.

不，不是餐巾纸（英文中餐巾纸和细胞组织同音）

There are four types of tissues found in the human body:

在人体中有四种细胞组织：

connective,

结缔组织，

muscle,

肌肉组织，

nervous,

and epithelial.

神经组织，

和上皮组织

Bone tissue is a type of connective tissue

骨组织是一种结缔组织

and it's not flimsy like a Kleenex at all.

而且它不像餐巾纸一样那么薄，

Blood is also an example

血液也是一个例子

of the same cells working together to perform the same job,

同样是相同的细胞在一起完成相同的功能，

but it's a liquid,

但是它是液体，

again, not like a Kleenex at all.

还是一点也不像舒洁餐巾纸

No matter what the consistency is,

不管它的浓度是多少，

a tissue is a group of the same cells,

一个组织是一组相同的细胞，

working together to perform a similar function.

一起合作完成一个类似的功能

Any time there are different tissues working together,

当不同的细胞组织一起运作时，

we then call it an organ.

我们把它叫做一个器官

That's the next level of the pyramid.

这是金字塔的下一层

Animals aren't the only ones with organs;

动物并不是唯一拥有器官的生物；

plants have organs too.

植物同样也有器官

When we find multiple different organs

当多种器官

working together to perform the same job,

一起运作时，

we then call it an organ system.

我们把它称作一个器官系统

Take the digestive system, for example.

比如说，消化系统的组成部分有：

It's made up of a mouth,

嘴巴，

esophagus,

stomach,

食道，

胃，

pancreas,

胰腺，

liver,

gall bladder,

肝，

胆，

small intestine,

小肠，

and large intestine,

和大肠，

also known as your colon.

也被称作结肠

Although each individual organ in this organ system

尽管系统中的每一个器官

does a very different job,

都有不同的功能，

together, these organs work to achieve the one goal

它们能一起完成一个目标：

of taking all the nutrients out of the food we eat

吸收我们吃的食物中的营养

and getting rid of what we don't need.

并清除我们不需要的东西

An organ system, by definition,

一个器官系统，正如其定义

can only do one job,

只能做一样事情，

like get the nutrients from our food,

比如从食物中吸收营养，

send and receive electrical signals,

发送并接受电子信号，

or exchange oxygen for carbon dioxide.

或者将氧气换成二氧化碳

Regardless of their individual function,

不管它们有什么单独的功能，

all organ systems rely on one another

所有的器官系统都依靠彼此

to do the vital jobs which they can't do themselves.

去做无法独立完成的重要工作

If one organ system doesn't work,

如果一个器官系统不运行了，

the others will shut down, too.

其它的也会停止运行

An organism is a complicated, living thing,

一个生物是一个复杂的、富有生命的物体，

which requires the proper functioning

需要多个器官系统的正常工作

of multiple organ systems to maintain stability.

才能保持稳定

This stability is called homeostasis.

这种稳定性叫做稳态

When all organ systems are working together

当所有的器官系统一起运作，

and maintaining homeostasis,

保持稳态时，

then it results in a happy, living organism.

生物将是健康、快乐的，

Organisms are incredibly diverse

生物体是十分繁杂的

and can be as simple as a bacteria

可以简单到细菌

or as complex as you.

或者复杂得和你一样

When a group of the same organisms,

当一群同一种生物，

also known as a species,

也叫物种，

live together in the same environment,

生活在同样的环境中，

we then call it a population.

我们把它叫做种群

Often there are several populations

通常有几个种群

all living in one environment.

同时生活在一个环境中

That is what we call a community.

这就是我们所说的生态社区

Each time you look out the window,

每当你眺望窗外时，

you're seeing a community.

你能看见一个社区

When we look at multiple communities,

当你看到多个社区时，

along with how all of the organisms

所有的生物都

interact with the physical environment,

与自然环境互动，

then we refer to it as an ecosystem.

我们把这个叫做生态系统

When you look at all the ecosystems of Earth together,

当你看到所有的生态系统在一起时，

you're looking at

你就在看

the Earth.

地球

The Earth is a big, round circle of life.

地球是一个巨大的，生生不息的球体

That's why we call it a biosphere -

这就是为什么我们叫它一个生物圈 -

bio, meaning life

生物，代表生命

and sphere, meaning circle.

圈，代表圆形

And there you go!

就是这样！

When you break it down to each level,

当你把它分解成一个个层次时，

a very complex concept and phrase

一个非常复杂的概念和术语

becomes easy to understand.

变得十分易懂

All life starts with a single cell.

所有的生命都从一个细胞开始

When cells join together,

当细胞结合在一起，

they are called a tissue.

就变成了细胞组织

A group of different tissues are called an organ,

一群不同的细胞组织叫做器官，

and a group of different organs are an organ system.

一组不同的器官叫做一个器官系统

A group of organ systems working together

一组器官系统在一起运行

make up an organism,

就是一个生物体，

and a group of the same organisms are a population.

一群同样的生物体叫做一个种群

Combining several different populations together

结合不同的总群

give us a community.

就形成了一个生态社区

And several different communities in a large area

在一个大区域中几个不同的生态社区

is an ecosystem.

是一个生态系统

And every ecosystem together

每一个生态系统在一起

makes up our biosphere.

组成了我们的生物圈

And that, my friends, is biological organization,

这个，我的朋友们，就是生物组织，

the pyramid of life.

生命的金字塔