Lee Cronin: Making matter come alive

Prevoditelj: Dino Diminić Recezent: Mislav Ante Omazić - EFZG

What I'm going to try and do in the next 15 minutes or so

Ono što ću probati u slijedećih 15 minuta

is tell you about an idea

je reći vam o ideji

of how we're going to make matter come alive.

koja govori o oživljavanju tvari.

Now this may seem a bit ambitious,

Ovo vam se može činiti pomalo ambiciozno,

but when you look at yourself, you look at your hands,

ali kada se pogledate, kada pogledate vaše ruke,

you realize that you're alive.

shvatite da ste živi.

So this is a start.

I to je početak.

Now this quest started four billion years ago on planet Earth.

Ova pustolovina je započeta prije četiri milijarde godina na planeti Zemlji.

There's been four billion years

Već četiri milijarde godina

of organic, biological life.

postoji organski, biološki život.

And as an inorganic chemist,

A kao anorganski kemičar,

my friends and colleagues make this distinction

moji prijatelji i kolege su napravili tu razliku

between the organic, living world

između organskog, živog svijeta

and the inorganic, dead world.

i anorganskog, beživotnog svijeta.

And what I'm going to try and do is plant some ideas

Ono što ću pokušati napraviti je usaditi nekoliko ideja

about how we can transform inorganic, dead matter

o načinu transformacije anorganske, beživotne materije

into living matter, into inorganic biology.

u živu materiju, u anorgansku biologiju.

Before we do that,

Prije nego to napravimo,

I want to kind of put biology in its place.

želim na neki način staviti biologiju na svoje mjesto.

And I'm absolutely enthralled by biology.

Ja sam apsolutno očaran biologijom.

I love to do synthetic biology.

Volim se baviti sintetičkom biologijom.

I love things that are alive.

Volim stvari koje su žive.

I love manipulating the infrastructure of biology.

Volim manipulirati infrastrukturom biologije.

But within that infrastructure,

Ali unutar te strukture,

we have to remember

moramo zapamtiti

that the driving force of biology

da pokretačka snaga biologije

is really coming from evolution.

u biti dolazi od evolucije.

And evolution,

A evolucija,

although it was established well over 100 years ago by Charles Darwin

iako je uspostavljena prije više od 100 godina od Charlesa Darwina

and a vast number of other people,

kao i od mnogih drugih ljudi,

evolution still is a little bit intangible.

evolucija je i dalje nekako neopipljiva.

And when I talk about Darwinian evolution,

A kada pričam o Darwinovoj evoluciji,

I mean one thing and one thing only,

mislim na jednu i samo jednu stvar,

and that is survival of the fittest.

a to je opstanak najadaptibilnijih.

And so forget about evolution

I tako zaboravite na evoluciju

in a kind of metaphysical way.

u nekom metafizičkom smislu.

Think about evolution

Mislite na evoluciju

in terms of offspring competing,

kroz pojam nadmetanja potomaka,

and some winning.

u kojemu samo neki pobjeđuju.

So bearing that in mind,

I tako imajući to na umu,

as a chemist, I wanted to ask myself

kao kemičar, želio sam se pitati

the question frustrated by biology:

pitanje koje frustrira biologiju:

What is the minimal unit of matter

Koja je najmanja količina materije

that can undergo Darwinian evolution?

koja može biti podložna Darwinovoj evoluciji?

And this seems quite a profound question.

A to se čini kao prilično duboko pitanje.

And as a chemist,

A kao kemičari,

we're not used to profound questions every day.

nismo navikli na duboka pitanja svaki dan.

So when I thought about it,

I dok sam razmišljao o tome,

then suddenly I realized

odjednom sam shvatio

that biology gave us the answer.

da nam je biologija dala odgovor.

And in fact, the smallest unit of matter

I u principu, najmanja količina materije

that can evolve independently

koja može samostalno evoluirati

is, in fact, a single cell --

je, u biti, pojedinačna stanica --

a bacteria.

bakterija.

So this raises three really important questions:

I to otvara tri vrlo bitna pitanja:

What is life?

Što je život?

Is biology special?

Je li biologija posebna?

Biologists seem to think so.

Izgleda da biolozi misle tako.

Is matter evolvable?

Može li materija evoluirati?

Now if we answer those questions in reverse order,

Ako odgovorimo na ta pitanja obrnutim redoslijedom,

the third question -- is matter evolvable? --

treće pitanje -- može li materija evoluirati? --

if we can answer that,

ukoliko možemo odgovoriti na to,

then we're going to know how special biology is,

tada ćemo znati koliko je biologija posebna,

and maybe, just maybe,

i možda, samo možda

we'll have some idea of what life really is.

imat ćemo neke ideje o tome što je stvarno život.

So here's some inorganic life.

Evo ovo je jedan anorganski život.

This is a dead crystal,

Ovo je mrtav kristal,

and I'm going to do something to it,

i ja ću napraviti nešto s njime,

and it's going to become alive.

i on će postati živ.

And you can see,

I možete vidjeti,

it's kind of pollinating, germinating, growing.

izgleda kao oprašivanje, klijanje, rast.

This is an inorganic tube.

Ovo je anorganska cijev.

And all these crystals here under the microscope

I svi ovi kristali pod mikroskopom,

were dead a few minutes ago, and they look alive.

prije nekoliko minuta su bili mrtvi, a izgledaju živo.

Of course, they're not alive.

Naravno, nisu živi.

It's a chemistry experiment where I've made a crystal garden.

To je eksperiment iz kemije u kojemu sam napravio kristalni vrt.

But when I saw this, I was really fascinated,

Ali kada sam vidio ovo, bio sam stvarno fasciniram,

because it seemed lifelike.

jer se činilo kao da je živo.

And as I pause for a few seconds, have a look at the screen.

I dok se zaustavim na trenutak, pogledajte ekran.

You can see there's architecture growing, filling the void.

Možete vidjeti arhitekturu kako raste, popunjava praznine.

And this is dead.

A ovo je neživo.

So I was positive that,

I tako sam bio siguran da,

if somehow we can make things mimic life,

ako možemo natjerati stvari da oponašaju život,

let's go one step further.

hajdemo i korak dalje.

Let's see if we can actually make life.

Idemo vidjeti možemo li stvarno stvoriti život.

But there's a problem,

Ali ima jedan problem,

because up until maybe a decade ago,

jer do prije jednog desetljeća,

we were told that life was impossible

bilo nam jer rečeno kako je život nemoguć

and that we were the most incredible miracle in the universe.

i da smo mi najnevjerojatnije čudo u svemiru.

In fact, we were the only people

U stvari, mi smo jedini ljudi

in the universe.

u svemiru.

Now, that's a bit boring.

E sada, to je lagano dosadno.

So as a chemist,

Kao kemičar,

I wanted to say, "Hang on. What is going on here?

želio sam reći, ”Čekaj malo. Što se to ovdje događa?

Is life that improbable?"

Je li život tako nemoguć?”

And this is really the question.

A to je u biti pitanje.

I think that perhaps the emergence of the first cells

Vjerujem kako je možda nastanak prve stanice©

was as probable as the emergence of the stars.

bio moguć isto kao i nastanak zvijezdi.

And in fact, let's take that one step further.

U stvari, idemo poduzeti jedan korak dalje.

Let's say

Hajdemo reći,

that if the physics of fusion

da ukoliko je fizika fuzije

is encoded into the universe,

kodirana u svemir,

maybe the physics of life is as well.

možda je i fizika života isto.

And so the problem with chemists --

I tako je problem s kemičarima --

and this is a massive advantage as well --

a to je isto i velika prednost --

is we like to focus on our elements.

što se volimo koncentrirati na naše elemente.

In biology, carbon takes center stage.

U biologiji, ugljik zauzima središnje mjesto.

And in a universe where carbon exists

A u svemiru gdje postoji ugljik,

and organic biology,

i organska bilogija,

then we have all this wonderful diversity of life.

imamo svu ovu predivnu raznolikost života.

In fact, we have such amazing lifeforms that we can manipulate.

U biti, imamo tako fascinantne životne vrste kojima možemo manipulirati.

We're awfully careful in the lab

Strašno smo pažljivi u laboratoriju

to try and avoid various biohazards.

dok pokušavamo i uspjevamo izbjeći različite biološke nesreće.

Well what about matter?

A što je sa tvari?

If we can make matter alive, would we have a matterhazard?

Ukoliko možemo oživiti tvar, možemo li imati tvarnu nesreću?

So think, this is a serious question.

I zato razmislite jer ovo je ozbiljno pitanje.

If your pen could replicate,

Kada bi se tvoja olovka mogla replicirati,

that would be a bit of a problem.

to bi bio lagani problem.

So we have to think differently

I zato moramo razmišljati drugačije,

if we're going to make stuff come alive.

ukoliko želimo oživiti stvari.

And we also have to be aware of the issues.

I moramo isto tako biti svjesni problema.

But before we can make life,

Ali prije nego možemo stvoriti život,

let's think for a second

razmislimo na sekundu

what life really is characterized by.

što u biti karakterizira život.

And forgive the complicated diagram.

I zaboravite na kompliciran dijagram.

This is just a collection of pathways in the cell.

Ovo je samo kolekcija tokova u stanici.

And the cell is obviously for us

A stanica je, očigledno,

a fascinating thing.

fascinantna stvar za nas.

Synthetic biologists are manipulating it.

Sintetički biolozi manipuliraju njome.

Chemists are trying to study the molecules to look at disease.

Kemičari pokušavaju proučavati molekulu kako bi našli bolesti.

And you have all these pathways going on at the same time.

I imate sve ove tokove koji rade istovremeno.

You have regulation;

Imate regulaciju,

information is transcribed;

Prepisuju se informacije;

catalysts are made; stuff is happening.

stvaraju se katalizatori, stvari se događaju.

But what does a cell do?

Ali što stanica radi?

Well it divides, it competes,

Pa ona se dijeli, natječe,

it survives.

preživljeva.

And I think that is where we have to start

I ja mislim kako je to točka od koje moramo krenuti

in terms of thinking about

u smislu razmišljanja o

building from our ideas in life.

stvaranju na osnovu naših ideja iz života.

But what else is life characterized by?

Ali što još karakterizira život?

Well, I like think of it

Pa, ja si to volim predočiti

as a flame in a bottle.

kao plamen u boci.

And so what we have here

I tako ovo što imamo ovdje

is a description of single cells

je opis jedne čelije

replicating, metabolizing,

koja se replicita, metabolizira,

burning through chemistries.

izgara kroz različite kemijske procese.

And so we have to understand

I tako moramo shvatiti

that if we're going to make artificial life or understand the origin of life,

da ukoliko ćemo stvoriti umjetan život ili shvatiti porijeklo života,

we need to power it somehow.

moramo ga nekako i pokretati.

So before we can really start to make life,

I tako prije nego stvarno možemo pokrenuti život,

we have to really think about where it came from.

moramo stvarno promisliti od kuda potječe.

And Darwin himself mused in a letter to a colleague

I sam Darwin je prenio svoja razmišljanja pismom jednom kolegi

that he thought that life probably emerged

u kojima misli kako je vjerojatno da se život pojavio

in some warm little pond somewhere --

u nekoj toploj maloj bari negdje --

maybe not in Scotland, maybe in Africa,

možda ne u Škotskoj, možda u Africi,

maybe somewhere else.

možda negdje drugdje.

But the real honest answer is, we just don't know,

Ali pravi iskren odgovor je da u biti ne znamo,

because there is a problem with the origin.

jer postoji problem u vezi podrijetla.

Imagine way back, four and a half billion years ago,

Zamislite sada daleko u prošlost, četiri i pol milijarde godina,

there is a vast chemical soup of stuff.

postoji velika kemijska juha od tvari.

And from this stuff we came.

I od te tvari mi dolazimo.

So when you think about the improbable nature

I zato dok budete razmišljali o mogućoj prirodi

of what I'm going to tell you in the next few minutes,

onoga što ću vam reći u slijedećih nekoliko minuta,

just remember,

samo zapamtite,

we came from stuff on planet Earth.

došli smo iz one tvari na planeti Zemlji.

And we went through a variety of worlds.

I prošli smo kroz različite svjetove.

The RNA people would talk about the RNA world.

RNK ljudi bi pričala o RNK svjetovima.

We somehow got to proteins and DNA.

Mi smo nekako došli do proteina i DNK.

We then got to the last ancestor.

Zatim smo došli do zadnjeg pretka.

Evolution kicked in -- and that's the cool bit.

Evolucija se ubacila -- a to je bolji dio.

And here we are.

I evo nas ovdje.

But there's a roadblock that you can't get past.

Ali postoji prepreka koju se ne može proći.

You can decode the genome, you can look back,

Možeš dekodirati genom, možeš gledati natrag,

you can link us all together by a mitochondrial DNA,

možeš nas povezati sve skupa preko mitohondrijskog DNK,

but we can't get further than the last ancestor,

ali ne možemo ići dalje u prošlost od zajedničkog pretka,

the last visible cell

zadnje vidljive stanice

that we could sequence or think back in history.

koju bi mogli sekvencirati ili o kojoj bi mogli razmišljati.

So we don't know how we got here.

I tako mi ne znamo kako smo došli ovdje.

So there are two options:

Postoje dvije opcije:

intelligent design, direct and indirect --

inteligentan dizajn, direktan ili indirektan --

so God,

i tako Bog,

or my friend.

ili moj prijatelj,

Now talking about E.T. putting us there, or some other life,

A ukoliko pomislimo na E.T.-a kako nas stavlja ovdje, ili neki drugi život,

just pushes the problem further on.

samo gura problem dalje.

I'm not a politician, I'm a scientist.

Ja nisam političar, ja sam znanstvenik.

The other thing we need to think about

Druga stvar o kojoj moramo razmisliti

is the emergence of chemical complexity.

je nastanak kemijske kompleksnosti.

This seems most likely.

To se čini kao najvjerojatnije.

So we have some kind of primordial soup.

I tako imamo neku vrste primorodijalne juhe.

And this one happens to be

A ispalo je kako je ova

a good source of all 20 amino acids.

dobar izvor svih 20 aminokiselina.

And somehow

I nekako

these amino acids are combined,

te su se aminokiseline povezale,

and life begins.

i život je počeo.

But life begins, what does that mean?

Ali što znači 'život je počeo'?

What is life? What is this stuff of life?

Što je život? Što je ta tvar života?

So in the 1950s,

I tako su tijekom 1950-ih,

Miller-Urey did their fantastic chemical Frankenstein experiment,

Miller-Urey napravili njihov fantastičan kemijski Frankenstein eksperiment,

where they did the equivalent in the chemical world.

u kojemu su napravili istu stvar ali u svijetu kemije.

They took the basic ingredients, put them in a single jar

Uzeli su osnovne sastojke, stavili ih u jednu posudu,

and ignited them

ugrijali ih

and put a lot of voltage through.

i pustili jak napon kroz njih.

And they had a look at what was in the soup,

Zatim su pogledali u ono što je bilo u juhi

and they found amino acids,

i našli su aminokieseline

but nothing came out, there was no cell.

ali osim toga nije bilo ničega, nije bilo stanica.

So the whole area's been stuck for a while,

I tako je cijelo to područje bilo zapostavljeno na neko vrijeme,

and it got reignited in the '80s

sve do '80-ih

when analytical technologies and computer technologies were coming on.

kada su se počele pojavljivati analitičke i računalske tehnologije.

In my own laboratory,

U svojem laboratoriju,

the way we're trying to create inorganic life

način na koji pokušavamo stvoriti anorganski život

is by using many different reaction formats.

je taj da koristimo različite oblike reakcija.

So what we're trying to do is do reactions --

Ono što pokušavamo napraviti su reakcije --

not in one flask, but in tens of flasks,

ne u jednoj posudi nego u desetinama posuda,

and connect them together,

i onda ih spojimo skupa,

as you can see with this flow system, all these pipes.

kao što možete vidjeti u ovom protočnom sustavu, sa svim ovim cijevima.

We can do it microfluidically, we can do it lithographically,

Možemo ga napraviti pomoću mikrofluida, pomoću litografije,

we can do it in a 3D printer,

pomoću 3D printera,

we can do it in droplets for colleagues.

možemo ga napraviti kao kapljice za kolege.

And the key thing is to have lots of complex chemistry

I ključna stvar je da morate imati puno kompleksne kemije

just bubbling away.

koja samo lagano ključa.

But that's probably going to end in failure,

Ali to će vjerojatno završiti s neuspjehom,

so we need to be a bit more focused.

i zbog toga moramo biti malo više fokusirani.

And the answer, of course, lies with mice.

A odgovor, naravno, leži u miševima.

This is how I remember what I need as a chemist.

To je način na koji se sjetim što kao kemičar trebam.

I say, "Well I want molecules."

Rekao sam: “Znači, trebam molekule.”

But I need a metabolism, I need some energy.

Ali treba mi metabolizam i treba mi nešto energije.

I need some information, and I need a container.

I trebaju mi informacije, kao i spremnik.

Because if I want evolution,

Jer ukoliko želim evoluciju,

I need containers to compete.

moram imati spremnike koji se natječu.

So if you have a container,

I znači ako imate spremnik,

it's like getting in your car.

to vam je kao da ulazite u auto.

"This is my car,

“Ovo je moj auto,

and I'm going to drive around and show off my car."

i sada ću se voziti okolo i pokazivati ga.”

And I imagine you have a similar thing

A ja vjerujem da postoji slična stvar

in cellular biology

u staničnoj biologiji

with the emergence of life.

u vezi nastanka života.

So these things together give us evolution, perhaps.

I tako nam ove stvari skupa mogu dati evoluciju, možda.

And the way to test it in the laboratory

A način da se izvrši testiranje u laboratoriju

is to make it minimal.

je taj da se napravi minijaturna verzija.

So what we're going to try and do

Ono što ću pokušati napraviti je

is come up with an inorganic Lego kit of molecules.

da izmislim anorganski Lego kit molekula.

And so forgive the molecules on the screen,

I zato zaboravite molekule na ekranu,

but these are a very simple kit.

ove su jako jednostavan kit.

There's only maybe three or four different types of building blocks present.

Trenutno postoji samo tri ili četiri različita tipa građevnih blokova.

And we can aggregate them together

I možemo ih spajati skupa

and make literally thousands and thousands

čime dobivamo doslovno tisuće i tisuće

of really big nano-molecular molecules

stvarno velikih nano-molekularnih molekula

the same size of DNA and proteins,

iste veličine kao i DNK ili proteini,

but there's no carbon in sight.

ali tamo nema ugljika na vidiku.

Carbon is banned.

Ugljik je zabranjen.

And so with this Lego kit,

I tako uz pomoć ovog Lego kita,

we have the diversity required

imamo potrebnu različitost

for complex information storage

za pohranjivanje kompleksnih informacija

without DNA.

bez DNK.

But we need to make some containers.

Ali moramo napraviti neke spremnike.

And just a few months ago in my lab,

I upravo prije nekoliko mjeseci u mojem laboratoriju,

we were able to take these very same molecules and make cells with them.

uspjeli smo uzeti upravo ove iste molekule i od njih napraviti stanice.

And you can see on the screen a cell being made.

Na ekranu možete vidjeti kako se stvara stanica.

And we're now going to put some chemistry inside and do some chemistry in this cell.

A sada ćemo staviti nešto kemijskih elemenata unutra i pozabaviti se kemijom u stanici.

And all I wanted to show you

Sve što sam vam želio pokazati

is we can set up molecules

je da možemo postaviti molekule

in membranes, in real cells,

u membrane, u prave stanice,

and then it sets up a kind of molecular Darwinism,

a onda se dogodi neka vrsta molekularnog Darwinizma,

a molecular survival of the fittest.

molekularno preživljavanje najprilagođenijih.

And this movie here

A ovaj film ovdje

shows this competition between molecules.

pokazuje natjecame među molekulama.

Molecules are competing for stuff.

Molekule se natječu za stvari.

They're all made of the same stuff,

Sve su načinjene od istih tvari,

but they want their shape to win.

ali svaka želi da njihov izgled pobjedi.

They want their shape to persist.

Žele da se njihovi oblici održe.

And that is the key.

I to je ključ.

If we can somehow encourage these molecules

Kada bi nekako mogli potaknuti ove molekule

to talk to each other and make the right shapes and compete,

da komuniciraju međusobno i da naprave prave oblike te da se natječu,

they will start to form cells

one će početi stvarati stanice

that will replicate and compete.

koje će se replicirati i natjecati.

If we manage to do that,

Ukoliko uspjemo napraviti to,

forget the molecular detail.

zaboravite na molekularni detalj.

Let's zoom out to what that could mean.

Odzumirajmo da bismo vidjeli što to može značiti.

So we have this special theory of evolution

Imamo posebno teoriju evolucije

that applies only to organic biology, to us.

koja se odnosi samo na organsku biologiju, na nas.

If we could get evolution into the material world,

Ukoliko bismo mogli unijeti evoluciju u materijalni svijet,

then I propose we should have a general theory of evolution.

predlažem kako bismo trebali imati opću teoriju evolucije.

And that's really worth thinking about.

A zbog toga se stvarno isplati promisliti o tome.

Does evolution control

Kontrolira li evolucija

the sophistication of matter in the universe?

sofisticiranost materije u svemiru?

Is there some driving force through evolution

Postoji li neka pokretačka snaga kroz evoluciju

that allows matter to compete?

koja dozvoljava tvari da se natječe?

So that means we could then start

To onda znači da bi mogli početi

to develop different platforms

razvijati različite platforme

for exploring this evolution.

za istraživanje evolucije.

So you imagine,

I zato zamislite,

if we're able to create a self-sustaining artificial life form,

ako smo u mogućnosti stvoriti umjetni samoodrživi životni oblik,

not only will this tell us about the origin of life --

ne samo da će nam to reći nešto o podrijetlu života --

that it's possible that the universe doesn't need carbon to be alive;

nego znači i da svemiru nije potreban ugljik da bude živ;

it can use anything --

može koristiti svašta --

we can then take [it] one step further and develop new technologies,

možemo ići jedan korak dalje [s time] i razviti nove tehnologije,

because we can then use software control

iz razloga što bi onda koristili softversku kontrolu

for evolution to code in.

za kodiranje evolucije.

So imagine we make a little cell.

Zamislite da napravimo malu stanicu.

We want to put it out in the environment,

Želimo je staviti vani u okoliš,

and we want it to be powered by the Sun.

i želimo da se napaja suncem.

What we do is we evolve it in a box with a light on.

Ono što radimo jest da je razvijamo u osvjetljenoj posudi.

And we don't use design anymore. We find what works.

I ne koristimo više dizajn. Nalazimo što funkcionira.

We should take our inspiration from biology.

Trebamo potražiti inspiraciju u biologiji.

Biology doesn't care about the design

Biologija ne brine o dizajnu

unless it works.

osim ako ne funkcionira.

So this will reorganize

Znači ovo će reorganizirati

the way we design things.

način na koji dizajniramo stvari.

But not only just that,

Ali ne samo to,

we will start to think about

počet ćemo razmišljati o tome

how we can start to develop a symbiotic relationship with biology.

kako da počnemo razvijati simbiozni odnos s biologijom.

Wouldn't it be great

Ne bi li bilo super

if you could take these artificial biological cells

kada bi mogli uzeti ove umjetne biološke stanice

and fuse them with biological ones

i spojiti ih sa biološkim

to correct problems that we couldn't really deal with?

kako bi riješili probleme s kojima se inače ne možemo nositi.

The real issue in cellular biology

Stvarni problem u staničnoj biologiji

is we are never going to understand everything,

je taj da nikada nećemo moći shvatiti sve,

because it's a multidimensional problem put there by evolution.

jer se ovdje radi o višedimenzionalnom problemu koji je postavila evolucija.

Evolution cannot be cut apart.

Evoluciju se ne može odvojiti.

You need to somehow find the fitness function.

Mora se nekako naći funkcija koja najbolje pristaje.

And the profound realization for me

A ono šta sam suštinski shvatio

is that, if this works,

je da, ako ovo radi,

the concept of the selfish gene gets kicked up a level,

koncept sebičnog gena se podiže za jednu razinu,

and we really start talking about selfish matter.

i onda stvarno možemo početi pričati o sebičnoj tvari.

And what does that mean in a universe

A što li to znači u svemiru

where we are right now the highest form of stuff?

u kojemu smo mi trenutno najviši oblik tvari?

You're sitting on chairs.

Vi sjedite na stolicama.

They're inanimate, they're not alive.

One su beživotne, nisu žive.

But you are made of stuff, and you are using stuff,

Ali vi ste napravljeni od tvari i koristite tvari,

and you enslave stuff.

i vi porobljavate tvari.

So using evolution

Korištenje evolucije

in biology,

u biologiji,

and in inorganic biology,

i u anorganskoj biologiji,

for me is quite appealing, quite exciting.

za mene je prilično dopadljivo, prilično uzbudljivo.

And we're really becoming very close

I stvarno dolazimo jako blizu

to understanding the key steps

razumjevanju ključnih koraka

that makes dead stuff come alive.

kojima se beživotna materija oživljava.

And again, when you're thinking about how improbable this is,

I opet, razmišljamo o tome koliko je to nevjerojatno,

remember, five billion years ago,

zapamtite, prije 5 milijardi godina,

we were not here, and there was no life.

mi nismo bili ovdje, i nije postojao život.

So what will that tell us

I što će nam to reći

about the origin of life and the meaning of life?

o porijeklu života i značenju života?

But perhaps, for me as a chemist,

Ali možda, ja kao kemičar,

I want to keep away from general terms;

želim se držati podalje od općenitih izraza;

I want to think about specifics.

želim razmišljati o specifičnim.

So what does it mean about defining life?

Što to znači u vezi definiranja života?

We really struggle to do this.

Stvarno se borimo dok to radimo.

And I think, if we can make inorganic biology,

I mislim da, ako možemo napraviti anorgansku biologiju,

and we can make matter become evolvable,

i ako možemo napraviti tvar koja evoluira,

that will in fact define life.

to će u biti definirati život.

I propose to you

Predlažem vam,

that matter that can evolve is alive,

da je tvar koja može evoluirati živa,

and this gives us the idea of making evolvable matter.

i to nam daje ideju o stvaranju evoluirajuće tvari.

Thank you very much.

Hvala vam puno.

(Applause)

(Pljesak)

Chris Anderson: Just a quick question on timeline.

Chris Anderson: Samo brzo pitanje u vezi vremenske ljestvice.

You believe you're going to be successful in this project?

Mislite li da ćete biti uspješni u ovome projektu?

When?

Kada?

Lee Cronin: So many people think

Lee Cronin: Mnogo ljudi misli

that life took millions of years to kick in.

da su bili potrebni milijuni godina za život.

We're proposing to do it in just a few hours,

Mi predlažemo da ga napravimo u samo nekoliko sati,

once we've set up

jednom kada smo postavili

the right chemistry.

pravu kemiju.

CA: And when do you think that will happen?

CA: I kada mislite da će se to ostvariti?

LC: Hopefully within the next two years.

LC: Nadam se u slijedeće dvije godine.

CA: That would be a big story.

CA: To bi bila velika priča.

(Laughter)

(Smjeh)

In your own mind, what do you believe the chances are

U vlastitim razmišljanjima, vjerujete li da postoji mogućnost

that walking around on some other planet

da na nekom drugom planetu hoda uokolo

is non-carbon-based life,

život koji se ne bazira na ugljiku,

walking or oozing or something?

da hoda ili curi ili štogod?

LC: I think it's 100 percent.

LC: Mislim da je mogućnost 100-postotna.

Because the thing is, we are so chauvinistic to biology,

Jer stvar je ta da smo veliki šovinisti prema biologiji,

if you take away carbon, there's other things that can happen.

ukoliko izuzmete ugljik, postoje ostale stvari koje se mogu dogoditi.

So the other thing

Druga stvar je ta

that if we were able to create life that's not based on carbon,

da ukoliko uspjemo stvoriti život koji se ne temelji na ugljiku,

maybe we can tell NASA what really to look for.

možda možemo reći NASA-i što da stvarno traži.

Don't go and look for carbon, go and look for evolvable stuff.

Nemojte tražiti ugljik, idite i tražite evoluirajuću tvar.

CA: Lee Cronin, good luck. (LC: Thank you very much.)

CA: Lee Cronin, sretno. (LC: Hvala vam najljepša.)

(Applause)

(Pljesak)