Deborah Gordon: What ants teach us about the brain, cancer and the Internet

Prevoditelj: Senzos Osijek Recezent: Ivan Stamenković

I study ants

Ja proučavam mrave

in the desert, in the tropical forest

u pustinji, u tropskoj šumi

and in my kitchen,

i u mojoj kuhinji,

and in the hills around Silicon Valley where I live.

i na brežuljcima Silicijske Doline gdje živim.

I've recently realized that ants

Nedavno sam shvatila da mravi

are using interactions differently

drugačije koriste interakciju

in different environments,

u različitim okruženjima,

and that got me thinking that we could learn from this

i to me navelo na razmišljanje da bismo iz toga mogli naučiti

about other systems,

o drugim sustavima,

like brains and data networks that we engineer,

kao što su mozak ili podatkovne mreže koje proizvodimo,

and even cancer.

pa čak i rak.

So what all these systems have in common

Ono što je svim tim sustavima zajedničko

is that there's no central control.

jest da ne posjeduju središnju kontrolu.

An ant colony consists of sterile female workers --

Kolonija mrava sastoji se od sterilnih ženki radilica --

those are the ants you see walking around —

to su mravi koje vidite da hodaju uokolo --

and then one or more reproductive females

i onda jedna ili više ženki za parenje

who just lay the eggs.

koje samo polažu jajašca.

They don't give any instructions.

One ne daju nikakve upute.

Even though they're called queens,

Iako se nazivaju kraljicama,

they don't tell anybody what to do.

one nikome ne govore što da radi.

So in an ant colony, there's no one in charge,

Dakle u mravljoj koloniji, nitko nije glavni,

and all systems like this without central control

i svi slični sustavi bez središnje kontrole

are regulated using very simple interactions.

su podešeni koristeći vrlo jednostavne interakcije.

Ants interact using smell.

Mravi međusobno komuniciraju koristeći njuh.

They smell with their antennae,

Njuše pomoću svojih antena,

and they interact with their antennae,

i komuniciraju pomoću svojih antena,

so when one ant touches another with its antennae,

stoga kad jedan mrav dotakne drugog svojom antenom,

it can tell, for example, if the other ant

zna, na primjer, je li drugi mrav

is a nestmate

iz istog gnijezda

and what task that other ant has been doing.

i što taj drugi mrav radi.

So here you see a lot of ants moving around

Ovdje vidite mnogo mrava koji idu uokolo

and interacting in a lab arena

i komuniciraju u lab-areni

that's connected by tubes to two other arenas.

koja je povezana cijevima s druge dvije arene.

So when one ant meets another,

Kad jedan mrav sretne drugoga,

it doesn't matter which ant it meets,

nije bitno kojeg mrava sretne,

and they're actually not transmitting

i oni zapravo ne emitiraju

any kind of complicated signal or message.

nikakvu vrstu kompliciranih signala ili poruka.

All that matters to the ant is the rate

Sve što je mravu bitno jest stopa

at which it meets other ants.

kojom susreće drugog mrava.

And all of these interactions, taken together,

I sve te interakcije, zajedno,

produce a network.

tvore mrežu.

So this is the network of the ants

To je mreža mrava

that you just saw moving around in the arena,

koje ste upravo vidjeli da se kreću arenom,

and it's this constantly shifting network

ta se mreža stalno mijenja

that produces the behavior of the colony,

i određuje vrste ponašanja kolonije,

like whether all the ants are hiding inside the nest,

kao što je npr. hoće li se svi mravi sakriti u gnijezdo,

or how many are going out to forage.

ili koliko će ih ići van u potragu za hranom.

A brain actually works in the same way,

Mozak zapravo radi na istom principu,

but what's great about ants is

ali ono što je kod mrava super jest

that you can see the whole network as it happens.

to što se cijela mreža može vidjeti u tijeku događanja.

There are more than 12,000 species of ants,

Postoji više od 12 tisuća mrava,

in every conceivable environment,

u svakom zamislivom okruženju,

and they're using interactions differently

i koriste interakciju drugačije

to meet different environmental challenges.

kako bi svladali preprjeke iz okruženja.

So one important environmental challenge

Jedan značajan izazov

that every system has to deal with

koji svaki sustav mora riješiti

is operating costs, just what it takes

jesu operativni troškovi, tj. ono što je potrebno

to run the system.

da bi sustav funkcionirao.

And another environmental challenge is resources,

Drugi značajan izazov su resursi,

finding them and collecting them.

pronalazak i skupljanje resursa.

In the desert, operating costs are high

U pustinji su operativni troškovi visoki

because water is scarce,

jer vlada oskudica vode,

and the seed-eating ants that I study in the desert

i mravi sjemenojedi koje proučavam u pustinji

have to spend water to get water.

moraju potrošiti vodu da bi je dobili.

So an ant outside foraging,

Stoga mrav koji traga za hranom,

searching for seeds in the hot sun,

tražeći sjemenje po žarkom suncu,

just loses water into the air.

gubi vodu u zrak.

But the colony gets its water

Ali kolonija dobiva svoju vodu

by metabolizing the fats out of the seeds

metabolizirajući masti iz sjemenja

that they eat.

koje jedu.

So in this environment, interactions are used

Stoga u tom okruženju, interakcija se koristi

to activate foraging.

kako bi se aktivirala potraga za hranom.

An outgoing forager doesn't go out unless

Tragač za hranom ne ide van ukoliko

it gets enough interactions with returning foragers,

ne dobije dovoljan broj informacija od povratnika,

and what you see are the returning foragers

ono što vidite su mravi koji se vraćaju iz potrage za hranom

going into the tunnel, into the nest,

ulaze u tunel, u gnijezdo,

and meeting outgoing foragers on their way out.

susrećući se s onima što kreću u potragu za hranom.

This makes sense for the ant colony,

Za mravlju koloniju to ima smisla,

because the more food there is out there,

jer što je više hrane tamo vani,

the more quickly the foragers find it,

to je brže tragači nalaze,

the faster they come back,

brže se vraćaju,

and the more foragers they send out.

stoga više tragača opet šalju van,

The system works to stay stopped,

Sustav radi da ostane zaustavljen,

unless something positive happens.

osim ako se ne dogodi nešto dobro.

So interactions function to activate foragers.

Dakle interakcija funkcionira na način da pokrene tragače.

And we've been studying the evolution of this system.

Proučavali smo evoluciju ovog sustava.

First of all, there's variation.

Prije svega, postoji varijacija.

It turns out that colonies are different.

Ispada da su kolonije različite.

On dry days, some colonies forage less,

Za sušnih dana, neke kolonije tragaju za hranom manje,

so colonies are different in how

stoga se kolonije razlikuju po tome kako

they manage this trade-off

upravljaju tim kompenziranjem

between spending water to search for seeds

između trošenja vode za traženje sjemenja

and getting water back in the form of seeds.

i dobivanja vode natrag kroz sjemenje.

And we're trying to understand why

I pokušavamo shvatiti zašto

some colonies forage less than others

neke kolonije tragaju manje od ostalih

by thinking about ants as neurons,

razmišljajući o mravima kao neuronima,

using models from neuroscience.

koristeći modele iz neuroznanosti.

So just as a neuron adds up its stimulation

Stoga baš kao što neuron uključuje stimulaciju

from other neurons to decide whether to fire,

od drugog neurona kako bi odlučio treba li odaslati signal

an ant adds up its stimulation from other ants

tako i mrav dobiva stimulaciju od drugih mrava

to decide whether to forage.

kako bi odlučio treba li ići tragati za hranom.

And what we're looking for is whether there might be

Ono što tražimo jest postoji li možda

small differences among colonies

mala razlika između kolonija

in how many interactions each ant needs

u tome koliko interakcije svaki mrav treba

before it's willing to go out and forage,

kako bi ga se potaklo na to da krene u potragu za hranom,

because a colony like that would forage less.

jer bi kolonija tad to radila manje.

And this raises an analogous question about brains.

I to otvara još jedno analogno pitanje o mozgu.

We talk about the brain,

Razgovaramo o mozgu,

but of course every brain is slightly different,

ali naravno da je svaki mozak ponešto drugačiji,

and maybe there are some individuals

i možda postoje pojedinci

or some conditions

ili neka stanja

in which the electrical properties of neurons are such

u kojem su električna svojstva neurona takva

that they require more stimulus to fire,

da im je potrebno više stimulansa da se pokrenu,

and that would lead to differences in brain function.

i to bi vodilo razlikama u funkcijama mozga.

So in order to ask evolutionary questions,

Stoga ako ćemo postavljati evolucijska pitanja,

we need to know about reproductive success.

trebamo znati više o reproduktivnom uspjehu.

This is a map of the study site

Ovo je mapa stranice studije

where I have been tracking this population

gdje sam pratila populaciju

of harvester ant colonies for 28 years,

mravlje kolonije sakupljača punih 28 godina,

which is about as long as a colony lives.

što je otprilike jednako vremenu trajanja kolonije.

Each symbol is a colony,

Svaki simbol je kolonija,

and the size of the symbol is how many offspring it had,

a veličina simbola predstavlja koliko potomaka ima,

because we were able to use genetic variation

jer možemo upotrijebiti genetske varijacije

to match up parent and offspring colonies,

kako bismo uparili roditelja i potomka kolonije,

that is, to figure out which colonies

što će reći, da shvatimo koje od kolonija

were founded by a daughter queen

su se razvile od kćeri kraljice

produced by which parent colony.

proizvedene od kojih roditeljskih kolonija.

And this was amazing for me, after all these years,

I to je meni zadivljujuće, nakon svih ovih godina,

to find out, for example, that colony 154,

saznati, na primjer, da kolonija 154,

whom I've known well for many years,

koju poznajem dobro već godinama,

is a great-grandmother.

je pra-prabaka.

Here's her daughter colony,

Ovo je njena kći kolonija,

here's her granddaughter colony,

ovdje vidimo unuku koloniju,

and these are her great-granddaughter colonies.

a ovo su njene praunuke.

And by doing this, I was able to learn

I čineći to, naučila sam

that offspring colonies resemble parent colonies

da potomci kolonija liče svojim roditeljskim kolonijama

in their decisions about which days are so hot

u smislu odluka o tome koji su dani toliko vreli

that they don't forage,

da neće ići u potragu za hranom,

and the offspring of parent colonies

i potomci roditeljske kolonije

live so far from each other that the ants never meet,

žive toliko daleko jedni od drugih da se mravi nikad ne sretnu,

so the ants of the offspring colony

stoga kolonija potomaka

can't be learning this from the parent colony.

nije to mogla naučiti od svoje roditeljske kolonije.

And so our next step is to look

Pa je naš sljedeći korak istražiti

for the genetic variation underlying this resemblance.

genetske varijacije koje stoje iza tih sličnosti.

So then I was able to ask, okay, who's doing better?

Tada sam mogla pitati, u redu, tko to radi bolje?

Over the time of the study,

Tijekom vremena proučavanja,

and especially in the past 10 years,

a posebice unazad deset godina,

there's been a very severe and deepening drought

bilo je vrlo ozbiljnih suša

in the Southwestern U.S.,

u jugozapadnom SAD-u,

and it turns out that the colonies that conserve water,

i ispada da kolonije koje konzerviraju vodu,

that stay in when it's really hot outside,

koje ostaju unutra kad je jako vruće vani,

and thus sacrifice getting as much food as possible,

žrtvujući da skupe što je više moguće hrane

are the ones more likely to have offspring colonies.

su one koje kasnije imaju više kolonija potomaka.

So all this time, I thought that colony 154

Stoga sam cijelo ovo vrijeme mislila da je kolonija 154

was a loser, because on really dry days,

gubitnička, jer za vrlo sušnih dana,

there'd be just this trickle of foraging,

jedva bi nekolicina mravi išla u potragu za hranom

while the other colonies were out

dok bi ostale kolonije bile vani

foraging, getting lots of food,

tražeći i nabavljajući mnogo hrane,

but in fact, colony 154 is a huge success.

međutim, kolonija 154 je vrlo uspješna.

She's a matriarch.

Ona je matrijarhat.

She's one of the rare great-grandmothers on the site.

Ona je jedna od rijetkih prabaka ovdje.

To my knowledge, this is the first time

Koliko ja znam, ovo je prvi put

that we've been able to track

da smo bili u mogućnosti pratiti

the ongoing evolution of collective behavior

evoluciju kolektivnog ponašanja

in a natural population of animals

u prirodnoj populaciji životinja

and find out what's actually working best.

i saznati što je zapravo najefikasnije.

Now, the Internet uses an algorithm

Sada, internet koristi jedan algoritam

to regulate the flow of data

kako bi regulirao protok podataka

that's very similar to the one

koji je vrlo sličan onome

that the harvester ants are using to regulate

koji koristi mrav sakupljač kako bi regulirao

the flow of foragers.

protok tragača za hranom.

And guess what we call this analogy?

I pogodite kako nazivamo tu analogiju?

The anternet is coming.

Anternet dolazi. (ant=mrav)

(Applause)

(Pljesak)

So data doesn't leave the source computer

Stoga podaci ne odlaze s računala

unless it gets a signal that there's enough bandwidth

ukoliko ne dobiju signal da postoji dovoljna propusnost

for it to travel on.

za nesmetano kolanje.

In the early days of the Internet,

U začecima interneta,

when operating costs were really high

kad su operativni troškovi bili vrlo visoki

and it was really important not to lose any data,

i kad je bilo vrlo važno ne izgubiti nikakav podatak,

then the system was set up for interactions

sustav je bio podešen za interakcije

to activate the flow of data.

na način da aktivira protok podataka.

It's interesting that the ants are using an algorithm

Zanimljivo je da mravi koriste algoritam

that's so similar to the one that we recently invented,

koji je toliko sličan onome koji smo mi nedavno izumili,

but this is only one of a handful of ant algorithms

a to je tek jedan od mnoštva mravljih algoritama

that we know about,

koje poznajemo,

and ants have had 130 million years

a mravi su imali 130 milijuna godina

to evolve a lot of good ones,

da razviju mnogo dobrih,

and I think it's very likely

i mislim da je vrlo izgledno

that some of the other 12,000 species

da će neki od ostalih 12 tisuća vrsta

are going to have interesting algorithms

imati vrlo zanimljive algoritme

for data networks

za podatkovne mreže

that we haven't even thought of yet.

kojih se mi još nismo ni sjetili.

So what happens when operating costs are low?

Dakle, što se događa kad su operativni troškovi niski?

Operating costs are low in the tropics,

Operativni troškovi su niski u tropskim područjima,

because it's very humid, and it's easy for the ants

jer je tamo vrlo vlažno, pa je mravima lako

to be outside walking around.

hodati uokolo.

But the ants are so abundant

Ali u tropskim područjima mrava je toliko puno

and diverse in the tropics

i velika je raznolikost

that there's a lot of competition.

da postoji velika konkurencija.

Whatever resource one species is using,

Koji god resurs koristi jedna vrsta,

another species is likely to be using that

vjerojatno je da će isti taj resurs koristiti druga vrsta

at the same time.

u isto vrijeme.

So in this environment, interactions are used

Stoga u tom okruženju , interakcija se koristi

in the opposite way.

u obrnutom smjeru.

The system keeps going

Sustav radi

unless something negative happens,

dok se ne dogodi nešto loše

and one species that I study makes circuits

i jedna vrsta koju proučavam kruži

in the trees of foraging ants

u drveću mrava tragača

going from the nest to a food source and back,

idući od gnijezda do resursa hrane i natrag,

just round and round,

i tako u krug,

unless something negative happens,

dok se nešto loše ne dogodi,

like an interaction

kao interakcija

with ants of another species.

s mravima druge vrste.

So here's an example of ant security.

Evo primjera mravljeg osiguranja

In the middle, there's an ant

U sredini je mrav

plugging the nest entrance with its head

koji zatvara ulaz u gnijezdo svojom glavom

in response to interactions with another species.

kao odgovor na interakciju s drugom vrstom

Those are the little ones running around

To su ovi maleni što trčkaraju

with their abdomens up in the air.

sa svojim trbuhom podignutim u zrak.

But as soon as the threat is passed,

No čim prijetnja prođe,

the entrance is open again,

ulaz se ponovno otvara,

and maybe there are situations

i možda postoje situacije

in computer security

u računalnoj sigurnosti

where operating costs are low enough

gdje su operativni troškovi dovoljno niski

that we could just block access temporarily

pa bismo privremeno zablokirali prilaz

in response to an immediate threat,

kao odgovor na trenutnu prijetnju,

and then open it again,

i onda ga opet otvorili,

instead of trying to build

umjesto da gradimo

a permanent firewall or fortress.

trajni vatrozid ili utvrdu.

So another environmental challenge

Stoga još jedan okolišni izazov

that all systems have to deal with

s kojim se svi sustavi moraju pozabaviti

is resources, finding and collecting them.

su resursi – tj. njihovo pronalaženje i skupljanje.

And to do this, ants solve the problem

I kako bi to učinili, mravi rješavaju problem

of collective search,

kolektivne pretrage,

and this is a problem that's of great interest

a to je problem od našeg najvećeg zanimanja

right now in robotics,

upravo sada u robotici,

because we've understood that,

jer razumijemo da,

rather than sending a single,

umjesto da šaljemo pojedinačnog,

sophisticated, expensive robot out

sofisticiranog, skupog robota

to explore another planet

da istražuje drugi planet

or to search a burning building,

ili provjerava zgradu u plamenu,

that instead, it may be more effective

bilo bi mnogo učinkovitije

to get a group of cheaper robots

nabaviti skupinu jeftinih robota

exchanging only minimal information,

koji izmjenjuju samo minimum informacija,

and that's the way that ants do it.

a to je način na koji to rade mravi.

So the invasive Argentine ant

Invazivni argentinski mrav

makes expandable search networks.

radi proširive mreže za istraživanje.

They're good at dealing with the main problem

Oni su dobri u rješavanju glavnog problema

of collective search,

kolektivne pretrage,

which is the trade-off between

što je zapravo razmjena između

searching very thoroughly

vrlo temeljite pretrage

and covering a lot of ground.

i one koja obuhvaća veća područja.

And what they do is,

when there are many ants in a small space,

Ono što oni rade jest,

kad ima puno mravi na malom mjestu,

then each one can search very thoroughly

oni mogu tražiti vrlo temeljito

because there will be another ant nearby

jer će uvijek biti drugi mrav u blizini

searching over there,

koji će također tražiti,

but when there are a few ants

međutim kad ima malo mrava

in a large space,

na velikoj površini,

then they need to stretch out their paths

moraju proširiti svoje putanje

to cover more ground.

kako bi pokrili veće područje.

I think they use interactions to assess density,

Mislim da koriste interakciju kako bi procijenili gustoću,

so when they're really crowded,

pa kad je zaista gužva

they meet more often,

susreću se češće,

and they search more thoroughly.

i traže mnogo temeljitije.

Different ant species must use different algorithms,

Razne vrste moraju koristiti različite algoritme,

because they've evolved to deal with

jer su evoluirali kako bi se nosili sa

different resources,

sakupljanjem različitih resursa,

and it could be really useful to know about this,

i moglo bi biti vrlo korisno znati ovo,

and so we recently asked ants

pa smo nedavno pitali mrave

to solve the collective search problem

da riješe problem kolektivnog pretraživanja

in the extreme environment

u ekstremnim uvijetima

of microgravity

mikrogravitacije

in the International Space Station.

u Međunarodnoj Svemirskoj Stanici.

When I first saw this picture, I thought,

Kad sam prvi put vidjela ovu sliku, pomislila sam,

Oh no, they've mounted the habitat vertically,

o ne, postavili su stanište vertikalno,

but then I realized that, of course, it doesn't matter.

a tada sam shvatila da to, naravno, nije ni bitno.

So the idea here is that the ants

Dakle, ovdje je zamisao da mravi

are working so hard to hang on

rade tako naporno da se drže

to the wall or the floor or whatever you call it

uz zid ili pod ili kakogod ćete to nazvati

that they're less likely to interact,

pa je manja vjerojatnost za interakciju,

and so the relationship between

pa je veza između

how crowded they are and how often they meet

koliko su skučeni i koliko se često susreću

would be messed up.

pobrkana.

We're still analyzing the data.

Još uvijek proučavamo podatke.

I don't have the results yet.

Nemam još rezultate.

But it would be interesting to know

Ali bilo bi zanimljivo saznati

how other species solve this problem

kako ostale vrste rješavaju ovaj problem

in different environments on Earth,

u različitim uvjetima na Zemlji,

and so we're setting up a program

stoga postavljamo program

to encourage kids around the world

kako bismo potaknuli djecu širom svijeta

to try this experiment with different species.

da isprobaju ovaj eksperiment s različitim vrstama.

It's very simple.

Vrlo je jednostavan.

It can be done with cheap materials.

Vrlo je jeftin.

And that way, we could make a global map

Na taj način mogli bismo napraviti globalnu kartu

of ant collective search algorithms.

algoritama koji koriste mravi za kolektivno pretraživanje.

And I think it's pretty likely that the invasive species,

Držim da je vrlo vjerojatno da će invazivne vrste,

the ones that come into our buildings,

one koje dolaze u naše zgrade,

are going to be really good at this,

biti vrlo uspješne u ovome,

because they're in your kitchen

jer su oni u vašoj kuhinji

because they're really good at finding food and water.

stoga što su vrsni u pronalasku hrane i vode.

So the most familiar resource for ants

Resurs s kojim su mravi najbolje upoznati

is a picnic,

jest piknik,

and this is a clustered resource.

i to je grupirani resurs.

When there's one piece of fruit,

Gdje postoji jedan komad voća,

there's likely to be another piece of fruit nearby,

velike su šanse da će postojati i drugi komad blizu,

and the ants that specialize on clustered resources

i mravi koji su specijalizirani za grupirane resurse

use interactions for recruitment.

koriste interakciju za regrutaciju.

So when one ant meets another,

Kad jedan mrav sretne drugoga,

or when it meets a chemical deposited

ili kad naiđe na kemikaliju na tlu

on the ground by another,

koju je nanio drugi mrav,

then it changes direction to follow

mijenja smjer kako bi pratio

in the direction of the interaction,

smjer interakcije,

and that's how you get the trail of ants

i tako se dobiva trag mravi

sharing your picnic.

koji dijele hranu s vašeg izleta.

Now this is a place where I think we might be able

Mislim da je ovo mjesto gdje bismo mogli

to learn something from ants about cancer.

naučiti nešto od mravi u vezi s rakom.

I mean, first, it's obvious that we could do a lot

Mislim, očigledno je da bismo mogli učiniti mnogo

to prevent cancer

da spriječimo rak

by not allowing people to spread around

ne dopuštajući ljudima da šire uokolo

or sell the toxins that promote

ili prodaju toksine koji promiču

the evolution of cancer in our bodies,

evoluciju raka u našim tijelima,

but I don't think the ants can help us much with this

ali ne vjerujem da nam tu mravi mogu puno pomoći

because ants never poison their own colonies.

jer mravi nikad ne truju svoju vlastitu koloniju.

But we might be able to learn something from ants

Ali mogli bismo naučiti nešto od mrava

about treating cancer.

u vezi liječenja raka.

There are many different kinds of cancer.

Postoji mnogo vrsta raka.

Each one originates in a particular part of the body,

Svaki potječe iz posebnog dijela našeg tijela,

and then some kinds of cancer will spread

pa će se neki dijelovi raka raširiti

or metastasize to particular other tissues

ili metastazirati na određeno drugo tkivo

where they must be getting resources that they need.

gdje će moći skupiti resurse koji su im potrebni.

So if you think from the perspective

Stoga ako razmislite iz perspektive

of early metastatic cancer cells

stanice raka u ranoj fazi metastaze

as they're out searching around

dok uokolo tragaju

for the resources that they need,

za resursima koji su im potrebni,

if those resources are clustered,

ako su ti resursi grupirani,

they're likely to use interactions for recruitment,

vjerojatnije je da će koristiti interakcije za regrutaciju,

and if we can figure out how cancer cells are recruiting,

i ako uspijemo shvatiti kako se ćelije raka regrutiraju,

then maybe we could set traps

možda bismo im mogli postaviti zamke

to catch them before they become established.

kako bismo ih ulovili prije nego se smjeste.

So ants are using interactions in different ways

Mravi koriste interakciju na različite načine

in a huge variety of environments,

u ogromnoj raznolikosti okoliša,

and we could learn from this

a mi bismo mogli učiti iz toga

about other systems that operate

o ostalim sustavima koji rade

without central control.

bez središnje kontrole.

Using only simple interactions,

Koristeći se jednostavnim interakcijama,

ant colonies have been performing

kolonije mrava izvode

amazing feats for more than 130 million years.

zapanjujuće podvige već više od 130 milijuna godina.

We have a lot to learn from them.

Možemo mnogo naučiti od njih.

Thank you.

Hvala.

(Applause)

(Pljesak)