How synthetic biology can improve our health, food and materials | Emily Leproust

Transcriber:

Translator: Susana Arrizado Gago Reviewer: Noelia Bernárdez Alonso

You probably don't think about it,

Probabelmente nunca pensaran nisto

but every day nature is trying to kill you.

mais cada día a natureza tenta matalos.

We as humans place constant pressure on our natural world.

Os humanos presionamos constantemente o noso mundo natural.

En resposta, a natureza deféndese para equilibrar a balanza.

And in response, nature fights back to balance the scales.

Nature has been adapting and reacting to the presence of human developments,

A natureza foi adaptándose e reaccionando á presenza do desenvolvemento humano

just like we've been adapting and reacting to nature.

ao igual ca nós nos adaptamos e reaccionamos ante a natureza.

And nature is telling us we are on an unsustainable path.

A natureza dinos que estamos nun camiño insostíbel.

It is time to course correct.

Xa é hora de enderezar o rumbo.

This does not mean abandoning technology,

Non significa abandonar a tecnoloxía,

but it means harnessing the power of biology itself

senón domar o poder da propia bioloxía

to reconcile the creature comforts of human civilization

para conciliar as comodidades materiais da civilización humana

with the natural world.

co mundo natural.

Some of you may be thinking, "but I recycle" or "I don't eat meat"

Algúns estarán a pensar «pero eu reciclo» ou «eu non como carne»

or “I take the bus” or “I grow my own food.”

ou ben «vou en bus» ou «cultivo a miña propia comida».

And in fact, you may be doing your part to live sustainably.

De feito, pode ser que colaboren para vivir de xeito sostíbel.

And if you do, good for you.

E se o fan, moi ben por vostedes.

In my view, though, it's impossible to exclusively rely

Porén, penso que é imposíbel confiar só no esforzo individual

on an individual effort to make the changes we need.

para facer os cambios que precisamos.

We have to make the changes at the global scale

Temos que facer cambios a escala mundial

to truly make a difference,

para que realmente se note.

and that requires rethinking

Precisamos reconsiderar

a sostibilidade mundial actual

what modern global sustainability looks like

and a new kind of environmentalism.

e un novo tipo de ecoloxismo.

To be clear, when I talk about sustainability,

Para ser francos, cando eu falo de sostibilidade,

it's not just about the environment.

non é só sobre o medio ambiente.

While it's an important piece,

Aínda que é unha parte importante,

sustainability is about much more.

a sostibilidade abrangue moito máis.

Modern sustainability is the integration of the environment,

A sostibilidade moderna é a integración

do medio ambiente, a xente e a economía.

people and the economy.

Each of them is needed to thrive.

Precisamos de cada aspecto para prosperar.

Non podemos ter un sen o outro.

You cannot have one without the other.

Therefore, the practice of sustainability recognizes

Practicar a sostibilidade recoñece

that everything is connected and requires a different approach.

que todo está conectado e require un enfoque diferente.

Como mudamos, individual e colectivamente,

So do we both individually and collectively

change what we're doing today?

o que estamos a facer hoxe?

I believe that technology and innovation,

Coido que a tecnoloxía e a innovación,

specifically biological innovation,

especialmente a innovación biolóxica,

is the key to answering that question.

son clave para responder a esta pregunta.

Biological innovation will enable harmonious coexistence with nature

A innovación biolóxica permitirá a coexistencia harmoniosa coa natureza

for humans today and in future generations,

para os humanos de hoxe e das futuras xeracións,

while still enjoying all of the creature comforts

mentres seguimos a desfrutar de todas as comodidades

we've come to expect.

que agardamos.

If we do it at the global scale, we will get back in balance with nature,

Se o facemos a escala mundial, estaremos en equilibrio coa natureza,

which will be great for humanity

o que será estupendo para a humanidade

and will also improve the health of the planet.

e tamén mellorará a saúde do planeta.

So how do we do that?

Como podemos facelo?

The answer is synthetic biology.

A resposta é a bioloxía sintética.

Now, some of you may be thinking, "Synthetic biology?

Alguén pode pensar: «Bioloxía sintética?

That sounds like an oxymoron at best and dangerous at worst."

Un oxímoro no mellor dos casos e perigoso no peor».

How can something biological, which is based on nature,

Como algo biolóxico, saído da natureza,

also be synthetic, which implies not natural at all?

pode ser sintético, ou sexa, artificial?

Well, synthetic biology is the engineering of nature

Trátase de argallar a natureza

to benefit society.

para beneficiar a sociedade.

The core component of synthetic biology is my favorite molecule, DNA.

A cerna da bioloxía sintética é a miña molécula favorita, o ADN.

DNA is the code of life on Earth.

O ADN é o código da vida na Terra.

It contains all the instructions for animals, plants, humans, microbes,

Contén as instrucións para animais, plantas, humanos, microbios,

bacteria, fungi and so much more.

bacterias, fungos e moitos máis.

By embracing the power of DNA,

Aproveitando o poder do ADN,

poderemos conseguir tanto confort coma sostibilidade.

we will be able to achieve both comfort and sustainability.

Over the last millennia,

Durante os últimos milenios,

our ancestors have pursued this in basic ways, for instance,

os nosos antepasados buscárono dun xeito básico, por exemplo,

by improving milk production from cows

mellorando a produción de leite das vacas

and making a wild grass called teosinte

e convertendo unha herba chamada teosinto

into edible corn.

en millo comestíbel.

But it took thousands of years.

Pero iso levou miles de anos.

Over the last 70 years, what our ancestors did in the field,

Nos últimos 70 anos, o que fixeron no agro nosos antecesores,

without even knowing they were doing genetic engineering,

sen sequera saber que estaban a facer enxeñaría xenética,

we started doing in laboratories.

comezamos a facelo nos laboratorios.

And as a consequence, we now have the scientific knowledge

Como consecuencia, agora temos o coñecemento científico

and technological know-how

e o saber tecnolóxico

to harness the power of DNA for the better.

para aproveitar ao máximo o poder do ADN.

A true biological revolution.

Unha auténtica revolución biolóxica.

So how can DNA and synthetic biology help?

Como pode axudar a bioloxía sintética?

Well, we can affect change in three critical areas:

Pode traer cambios en tres áreas cruciais:

health, food and materials.

a saúde, a alimentación e os materiais.

In health, an early health and economic success

Na saúde, un éxito temperán e económico

is recombinant injectable insulin to alleviate diabetes,

é a insulina inxectábel recombinante para mitigar a diabetes,

unha enfermidade que afecta a 463 millóns de persoas en todo o mundo.

a disease that affects 463 million people worldwide.

Today, we can make insulin

Hoxe podemos producir insulina

from either yeast or bacteria,

a partir dun lévedo ou bacteria,

instead of extracting it from the pancreas of pigs and cows.

no canto de extraelo do páncreas de porcos e vacas,

This allows for the massive production of insulin

o que permite a produción masiva de insulina

at a fraction of the cost and without killing pigs and cows.

a un custo inferior e sen matar vacas e porcos.

Iso significa que non se precisan granxas de cría intensiva

This means that there are no longer any factory farms needed

to put insulin on your pharmacy shelf.

para dispor de insulina na farmacia.

Today, using the power of genetics,

Na actualidade, co poder da xenética,

we can reduce or even eliminate mosquito-borne diseases,

podemos reducir ou eliminar enfermidades transmitidas polos mosquitos,

such as malaria, Zika, and even treat dengue with gene drives.

coma a malaria e o Zika, ou mesmo tratar o dengue mediante terapia xénica.

We are doing this by harnessing mosquitoes' own genetics to wipe them out.

Exterminamos os mosquitos aproveitando a súa propia xenética.

It's becoming a reality to correct defective genes

A corrección de xenes defectuosos xa é unha realidade

in patients with inherited diseases,

en doentes con enfermidades hereditarias,

such as severe combined immunodeficiency,

coma na inmunodeficiencia combinada grave.

you may know it as the bubble boy syndrome,

Talvez a coñezan coma a síndrome do neno burbulla

and sickle cell anemia.

ou na anemia de células falciformes.

We can diagnose disease faster and more cost-effectively

Podemos diagnosticar máis rápido e con mellor ratio custo-efectividade

mediante a lectura e escritura do ADN.

by writing and reading DNA.

And already we can add pieces of DNA in the cell of the immune system

Podemos incluso engadir anacos de ADN nas células do sistema inmunitario

para identificar e destruír as células cancerosas nos pacientes.

to identify and kill cancer cells in patients.

Thanks to advances like this,

Grazas a avances coma este,

in the future, even terminal cancer will become chronic diseases.

no futuro incluso o cancro terminal será unha enfermidade crónica.

One major change that is enabling these incredible advances

O principal cambio que están a permitir estes incríbeis avances

is the ability to read

é a capacidade para ler e, sobre todo,

and more importantly to write DNA at scale.

escribir ADN a escala industrial.

Over the last 20 years,

Nos últimos 20 anos,

the price of writing one base pair of DNA

o prezo de escribir un par base de ADN

has dropped from 10 dollars to nine cents,

pasou de 10 dólares a 9 céntimos,

more than a hundredfold decrease,

máis de cen veces menos,

drastically reducing cost and unleashing the imagination of scientists worldwide.

Ao minguar o custo, desatouse a inventiva dos científicos de todo o mundo.

This ability to write DNA at scale also impacts food and material.

A capacidade de escribir ADN a gran escala tamén impacta na comida e os materiais.

So speaking of food, DNA-based synthetic biology techniques today

Falando de comida, as técnicas actuais de bioloxía sintética baseada no ADN

can engineer bacteria to deliver nitrogen at the root of plants,

fan que as bacterias transporten nitróxeno ata as raíces das plantas,

eliminating the need for fertilizers,

sen necesidade de usar fertilizantes,

which you may or may not know are produced from either coal

que igual non o saben,

pero prodúcense con carbón ou gas extraídos do solo.

or natural gas that is extracted from the ground.

That is a triple win:

Isto é unha tripla ganancia:

more food, lower food cost

máis comida, a menor custo

and no need to extract fossil fuel from the ground to grow food.

e sen ter que extraer combustíbel fósil do solo para cultivala.

Aínda que poida parecer futurista,

While this may seem futuristic,

xa hai empresas traballando nisto, con probas de campo en marcha.

companies are working on it now, with field-testing already underway.

We can control crop-destroying pests using environmentally-friendly methods,

Podemos usar métodos bos co ambiente para controlar as pragas,

essentially using the bugs' own scent

usando o propio olor dos bechos

to prevent them from mating and laying eggs,

para impedirlles aparearse e por ovos

while also protecting birds, bees and other animals.

ao tempo que protexemos as aves, as abellas e outros animais.

These methods are expensive today, but costs will come down.

Estes métodos son caros hoxe en día, pero os custos van descender.

We can protect bananas and papayas today,

Podemos protexer as bananas e as papaias,

two crops that are threatened by deadly pathogens.

cultivos ameazados por patóxenos letais.

By engineering them to be resistant to this pathogen,

Ao manipulalos para seren resistentes a ese patóxeno,

podemos asegurar que a produción continúe a escala comercial.

we can ensure that commercial scale production continues.

It is true for bananas and papaya,

Funciona para bananas e papaias,

but it's also true for many other plants

pero tamén para outras plantas

that are coming under similar attack from nature.

que sofren idénticos ataques da natureza.

Third. Let's talk about material.

Terceiro, falemos sobre os materiais.

Everything we touch today comes from oil

Todo o que tocamos hoxe provén do petróleo

or natural gas extracted from the ground,

ou do gas natural que extraemos do solo.

and that is just unsustainable.

Esta situación é insostíbel.

And we can do better using fermentation.

Podemos mellorala usando a fermentación.

We all know about fermentation.

Todos sabemos o que é a fermentación.

You feed sugar to yeast and it gets bigger.

Alimentas un lévedo con azucre e crece.

Or, in France, where I come from, we call it champagne.

En Francia, chamámoslle champaña.

Today, by using the same cells, like yeast, algae and bacteria,

Hoxe, podemos manipular as mesmas células, como lévedos, algas e bacterias,

you can engineer them to ferment sugar or other biomass to produce chemicals.

para producir sustancias químicas fermentando azucre ou outras biomasas.

These tiny cells are the equivalent

Estas diminutas células son o equivalente

of exceptionally efficient manufacturing facilities.

a fábricas de manufactura dunha eficiencia excepcional.

And it's amazing.

É incríbel.

You can make the same chemicals that are made from oil

Pode facer os mesmos químicos que se sacan do petróleo

and you couldn't tell the difference.

e non notar a diferenza.

That includes directly producing plastic, flavor, fragrances,

Iso inclúe a produción de plásticos, saborizantes, aromas,

sweetener and so much more.

edulcorantes e moito máis.

For instance,

Por exemplo,

the production process to make blue dye

o proceso para producir a tintura azul

used in the fabrication of blue jeans,

usada na fabricación dos vaqueiros

is a massive polluter of the environment.

é un tremendo contaminante do medio.

Through fermentation, you can make the same dye much cheaper

A través da fermentación, conséguese a mesma tintura máis barata

and without the environmental impact.

e sen impacto ambiental.

That is guilt-free jeans.

Velaí uns vaqueiros sen remorsos.

Another method we use to produce chemicals to enable our comfortable life

Outro método usado para producir químicos que facilitan a nosa vida

is to extract them from nature.

é extraelos da natureza.

And that is also unsustainable.

Iso tampouco é sostíbel.

O escualeno é un ingrediente básico das cremas hidratantes.

For instance, squalene is a key ingredient of moisturizer.

And I get it.

Enténdoo.

We all want bright, beautiful hydrated skin.

Todos queremos unha pel brillante, bela e hidratada.

But did you know that shark livers is a major source of squalene?

Pero sabían que o fígado de quenlla é a maior fonte de escualeno?

Sharks are apex predators

As quenllas están na cúspide da cadea alimentaria

and a critical component of our ocean ecology.

e son un elemento importante da ecoloxía dos nosos océanos.

So using sharks to make face cream just doesn't make sense.

Usar tiburóns para facer cremas faciais non ten ningún sentido.

Instead, we can now make squalene by fermentation of cane sugar,

Podemos facer escualeno fermentando azucre de cana,

and it's even available on Amazon.

e está dispoñíbel mesmo en Amazon.

I'm not just talking about replacing current materials

Non falo só de trocar os materiais actuais

with more sustainable ones.

por outros máis sostíbeis.

We are talking about making better chemicals

Falamos de mellorar os produtos químicos

that you could never make from oil

como nunca conseguiremos co petróleo

and that will change your life in the future.

e cambiar a nosa vida futura.

For instance, spider silk is an amazing material.

A seda de araña é un material incríbel.

It's way stronger than steel and super light.

É máis forte có aceiro e superlixeiro.

The problem is that you cannot make spider silk from oil

O problema é que non se pode sacar tea de araña do petróleo

and you cannot farm spiders.

nin facer granxas de araña.

You put a million spiders in a room.

Poñan un millón de arañas nun cuarto.

You come back a week later, you get one spider, they eat each other.

Ao cabo dunha semana, só queda unha araña, coméronse unhas ás outras.

By using synthetic biology,

Usando bioloxía sintética,

we will be able to produce spider silk at commercial scale

pódese producir esa tea a escala industrial

and avoid spider-on-spider violence.

e evitar a violencia entre arañas.

In the future planes and maybe even flying cars

No futuro, os avións ou os coches voadores

will be made by synthetic spider silk instead of carbon composite material.

estarán feitos de tea de araña sintética no canto de materiais baseados no carbono.

They'll be stronger, lighter and use less fuel.

Serán máis resistentes, lixeiros e consumirán menos combustíbel.

So this all sounds fantastic, but it gets better.

Todo isto soa fantástico, pero mellora aínda máis.

It also makes economic sense.

Tamén ten unha vertente económica.

Yes, synthetic biology will give us health,

A bioloxía sintética daranos saúde,

sustainable food and sustainable material,

comida e materiais sostíbeis

but it's also a lot cheaper.

e tamén será máis barata.

And let's be honest, a lot of people do not care about the environment,

Para ser sinceros, o medio ambiente non lle importa a moita xente,

but everybody loves a deal.

pero todo o mundo gusta dunha bicoca.

So we humans

Os humanos teremos

get health, food and materials at a lower cost

saúde, comida e materiais a menor custo

and nature gets sustainability for free.

e a natureza, sostibilidade de balde.

And an additional bonus is all the millions of jobs

Un bono extra son os millóns de traballos que se crearán

that will be created through this modern vision of sustainability.

con esta visión moderna de sostibilidade.

These are not menial jobs.

Non son traballos de baixa categoría.

These new jobs will be dignified and meaningful,

Estes novos traballos dignos e valiosos

and they'll be spread globally

estenderanse por todo o mundo

to ensure that humans live more virtuously in nature.

para asegurar que os humanos vivan en harmonía coa natureza.

So synthetic biology is the key to making civilization sustainable

A bioloxía sintética é a clave para facer a civilización sostíbel

and will also prevent nature from killing you too.

e evitará que a natureza nos mate.

In conclusion, we don't have to choose between either human benefits or nature.

En conclusión, non temos que elixir entre os bens da humanidade e a natureza.

We can move towards balance and have both in harmony.

Podemos avanzar cara a un equilibrio e ter ambos en harmonía.

It's not that we could do it, it is that we should do it.

Non é que poidamos facelo, é que debemos facelo.

We have a moral imperative to do so.

Temos un imperativo moral de actuar así.

Thank you.

Grazas.