Why you should love gross science | Anna Rothschild

Did you know that one of the first fertility drugs

翻訳: Theodore Asada 校正: Masaki Yanagishita

ご存知でしたか？ 初期の排卵誘発剤は

was made from the pee of Catholic nuns,

カトリックの修道女の 尿から作られていて

and that even the Pope got involved?

教皇も関わっていたんです

So, this is totally true.

本当の話です

Back in the 1950s, scientists knew that when women enter menopause,

1950年代の科学者は 女性が更年期に達すると

they start releasing high levels of fertility hormones in their urine.

排卵誘発ホルモンが 尿にたくさん出ると分かっていました

But there was this doctor named Bruno Lunenfeld,

ブルーノ・ルーネンフェルドという医者は

who wondered if he could actually isolate those hormones from the urine

そのホルモンを尿から分離して 妊娠しなくて困ってる女性を

and use it to help women who are having trouble getting pregnant.

助けられないか と考えました

Obviously, the problem with this was that in order to test this idea,

しかし まず実験を始めるには

he needed a lot of pee from older women.

高齢女性の尿が多量に必要でした

And that is not an easy thing to find.

それは簡単に手に入るものではありません

So he and his colleagues got special permission from the Pope

そこで彼は同僚と共に 高齢の修道女 数百人から

to collect gallons and gallons of urine

尿を何十リットルも採集する 特別な許可を

from hundreds of older Catholic nuns.

教皇からもらいました

And in doing so,

彼はこうして

he actually isolated hormones

現在まで排卵誘発に使われている

that are still used to help women get pregnant today,

ホルモンを分離しました

though now, they can be synthesized in a lab,

現在は研究室で合成できるので

and gallons of pee aren't necessary.

何十リットルもの尿は不要です

So why am I standing up here,

さて 私はなぜここで

telling this wonderfully intellectual audience about nun pee?

素晴らしく知的な聴衆の前で 修道女の尿の話なんかするのでしょうか

Well, I'm a science journalist and multimedia producer,

私は気持ちの悪いものに いつでも興味津々の

who has always been fascinated by gross stuff.

科学ジャーナリスト兼 マルチメディアプロデューサーです

So fascinated, in fact, that I started a weekly YouTube series

それが高じて 『Gross Science (気持ち悪い科学)』という

called "Gross Science,"

週１の番組をYouTubeで始めました

all about the slimy, smelly, creepy underbelly

テーマは 自然 医学 テクノロジーの

of nature, medicine and technology.

ネバネバして臭くてゾッとする話です

Now, I think most of us would agree

大半の人は

that there's something a little gross about pee.

尿はちょっと気持ち悪いと 言いますよね

You know, it's something that we don't really like to talk about,

尿について会話はしないし

and we keep the act of doing it very private.

排尿にはプライバシーが必要ですね

But when Lunenfeld peered into the world of pee,

しかしルーネンフェルドは 尿の世界を覗くことで

he discovered something deeply helpful to humanity.

人類にとても役立つ発見をしました

And after a year and a half of making my show,

１年半番組をやって わかったのは

I can tell you that very often when we explore the gross side of life,

生命の気持ちの悪い部分を探ると

we find insights that we never would have thought we'd find,

思いもよらない発見があり

and we even often reveal beauty that we didn't think was there.

意外なところに美しささえ あるということです

I think it's important for us to talk about gross things for a few reasons.

気持ち悪いものについて 話すことは大切です

So, first of all, talking about gross stuff

その第１の理由は

is a great tool for education,

教育に役立ち

and it's an excellent way to preserve curiosity.

興味を持続させる 最高の方法だという点です

To explain what I mean,

例をあげましょう

why don't I tell you a little bit about what I was like as a child?

私が子供の頃のことです

So, I was what you might call a gross kid.

私は気持ち悪い子供だったかもしれません

In fact, my love of science itself

私が科学に情熱を 注ぐようになったきっかけは

began when my parents bought me a slime chemistry set

両親が買ってくれた スライム化学キットです

and was then only enhanced

その興味が深まったのは

by doing gross experiments in my sixth-grade biology class.

６年生の生物学の授業でやった 気持ち悪い実験のおかげです

We did things like, we swabbed surfaces around our classroom

教室中から表面をこすって

and cultured the bacteria we'd collected,

集めた細菌を培養したり

and we dissected owl pellets,

フクロウが吐き出す 不消化物の入った

which are these balls of material that are undigested that owls barf up,

ペレットを調べたりなど

and it's really kind of gross and awesome and cool.

気持ち悪かったけれど とても面白かったものです

Now, the fact that I was obsessed with gross stuff as a kid

子供時代の私が 気持ち悪い物に興味を持っていたのは

is not so revolutionary.

そんなに不思議ではありません

You know, lots of kids are really into gross things,

子供はたいてい気持ち悪いものが好きです

like playing in dirt or collecting beetles or eating their boogers.

泥遊びや虫集め 鼻くそも食べたりします

And why is that?

なぜでしょう？

I think really little kids are like little explorers.

幼い子供は小さな探検家だと 私は思います

They just want to experience as much as they can

色々なことを経験したいので

and don't have any idea about the relative acceptability

テントウムシを触るのと カメムシを触るのでは

of touching a ladybug versus a stinkbug.

どっちがマシかなんて 考えません

They just want to understand how everything works

ただ あらゆるものの仕組みを理解したい

and experience as much of life as they can.

ひたすら人生を経験したいと 思っているだけです

And that is pure curiosity.

純粋な好奇心ですね

But then adults step in,

しかしそこで大人は

and we tell kids not to pick their noses and not to touch the slugs or toads

鼻ほじったらダメ ナメクジやカエルなど

or whatever else they find in the backyard,

裏庭で見つけたものを 触ったらダメ

because those things are gross.

気持ち悪いから などと言います

And we do that in part to keep kids safe, right?

安全性を考えて言ってるんですよね？

Like, maybe picking your nose spreads germs

鼻をほじったらバイ菌が広がるし

and maybe touching that toad will give you warts,

カエルに触ったらイボが出来るかもしれない

even though I don't actually think that's true.

まあ それは嘘だと思いますけど

You should feel free to touch as many toads as you want.

カエルは好きなだけ触ってください

So at a certain point, when kids get a little bit older,

子供が大きくなるにつれて

there's this way that engaging with gross stuff

気持ち悪いものに触れるのは

isn't just about curiosity,

好奇心だけではなく

it's also about, sort of, finding out where the limits are,

何が良くて何がダメかを

pushing the boundaries of what's OK.

探る方法でもあります

So, lots of kids of a certain age will have burping competitions

子供は一定の年齢になると よくゲップ対決や

or competitions to see who can make the grossest face.

変顔対決をします

And they do that in part because it's a little bit transgressive, right?

これはダメだからやりたがるんでしょうね

But there's another layer to why we define stuff as gross.

ただ 私たちが何かを気持ち悪いと 思うのには別の理由があります

As humans, we've sort of extended the concept of disgust to morality.

嫌悪感が道徳観に 結びついているからです

So, the psychologist Paul Rozin would say

心理学者ポール・ロジンによると

that many of the things we categorize as gross

気持ち悪いものの多くは

are things that reminds us that we're just animals.

人間が動物に過ぎないことを 思い出させるものです

These are things like bodily fluids and sex

例えば体液やセックス

and physical abnormalities and death.

身体の異常や 死

And the idea that we're just animals can be really unsettling,

私たちが動物に過ぎないと考えると 不安になることがあります

because it can be this reminder of our own mortality.

自分もいずれ死ぬことに 気付かされるからです

And that can leave many of us with this deep existential angst.

そういう考えは心配や恐怖に つながるかもしれません

Rozin would say that there's this way

ロジンによると

in which disgust and the avoidance of gross things

気持ち悪いものを避けることは

becomes not just a way to protect our bodies,

肉体を守るだけでなく

it becomes a way to protect our souls.

精神も守ることになります

I think at a certain point, kids really begin to internalize

子供は ある時期に 気持ち悪いものと

this link between disgusting things and immorality.

不道徳性との繋がりに 気付きはじめるのでしょう

And while I don't have any concrete data to back up this next idea,

証拠はありませんが

I think that for a lot of us, it happens around the time we hit puberty.

思春期頃にこれに気付くと思います

And you know -- yeah, I know.

[思春期の私] えっと

So during puberty, our bodies are changing,

思春期には体の変化がおこります

and we're sweating more, and girls get their periods,

もっとたくさん汗をかき 女子は生理が始まります

and we're thinking about sex in this way that we never did before.

セックスについても 以前と変わった考え方をします

And through the human capacity for abstraction,

抽象的な思考という 人間の能力のせいで

this shame can settle in.

恥ずかしくなってきます

So we don't necessarily just think,

私たちは

"Oh, my goodness, something really gross is happening to my body!"

「気持ち悪いことが 私の体に起こってる！」とは考えず

We think, "Oh my God, maybe I'm gross.

「わ！私は気持ち悪いのかも—

And maybe that means that there's something bad or wrong about me."

と言うことは 私が悪いのか おかしいのかも」と思ってしまいます

The thing is, that if you de facto associate gross stuff with immorality,

気持ち悪さと不道徳を関連させると

you lose a huge part of your curiosity,

好奇心の大部分を失ってしまいます

because there is so much out there in the world

世界にはちょっと気持ち悪いものが

that is a little bit gross.

いっぱいあるんですから

Like, think about going for a walk in the woods.

例えば森での散歩

You could just pay attention to the birds and the trees and the flowers

鳥や木や花だけ注目すれば

and that would be fine,

とても綺麗ですけど

but in my view, you'd be missing a bigger and more awesome picture

それだけじゃ地球上の生命の 素晴らしい全体像を見失ってしまうと

of life on this planet.

私は思います

There are cycles of decay that are driving forest growth,

森林の成長に役立つ 腐敗の循環があります

and there are networks of fungus beneath your feet

足の下には真菌類が網状に広がり

that are connecting literally all of the plants around you.

周りの植物全てに繋がっています

That's really amazing.

本当にすごいですよ

So I feel like we should be talking about gross stuff early and often

ですから気持ち悪いものについて 子供や若者と 早い時期に ひんぱんに

with young people,

話し合うべきでしょう

so they feel like they're actually allowed to claim this bigger picture

そうすれば 子供は 地球上の生命の全体像を見てもいいんだと

of life on our planet.

感じるんです

The good news is that for many of us, the fascination with gross stuff

愉快な事に 大半の人は 気持ち悪いものに対する興味を

doesn't exactly go away,

失いません

we just kind of pretend like it's not there.

そんなものないという フリをしているだけです

But truthfully, we all spend sort of a big part of our lives

実際は人生の大半は 自分が気持ち悪くないように

just trying not to be gross.

頑張っています

When you really think about it,

考えてみれば

we're sort of just like bags of fluids and some weird tissues

人体は液体や変な組織の集まりで

surrounded by a thin layer of skin.

薄い皮で覆われているだけです

And to a certain extent,

私は毎日数回

multiple times a day, whether consciously or subconsciously,

意識的にも無意識的にも

I need to remind myself not to fart publicly.

公共の場ではオナラをするなと 自分に言い聞かせています

(Laughter)

（笑）

You know, we're desperately trying to avoid being gross all the time,

人間はいつも気持ち悪くならないように 努力しているんです

so I think many of us take this kind of voyeuristic delight

だから 私たちの多くは 気持ち悪いものを学ぶことに

in learning about gross things.

のぞき見的な喜びを感じるんでしょう

This is certainly true of kids;

特に子供はそうですね

the number of middle school teachers who show my videos

私のビデオを科学の授業で見せる

in their science classes

数多くの中学校教師が

is a testament to that.

その証拠でしょう

But I think it's totally true of adults, too.

でも大人もそうだと思います

You know, I think we all love hearing about gross stories,

気持ち悪い話を聞くのは皆好きです

because it's a socially acceptable way to explore the gross side of ourselves.

人間の気持ち悪い面を 探索することが出来るからです

But there's this other reason

もう１つ

that I think talking about gross stuff is so important.

気持ち悪いことについて話すのは 重要なことです

A while back, I made a video on tonsil stones -- sorry, everyone --

以前ノウセンについてビデオを作りました ごめんなさい 皆さん

which are these balls of mucus and bacteria and food

ノウセンとは扁桃に詰まる粘液や 細菌や食べ物のかたまりです

that get lodged in your tonsils and they smell really terrible,

とても臭いです

sometimes you cough them up and it's like -- it's awful.

たまに咳と一緒に出ることもあり 結構ひどい臭いです

And many, many people have experienced this.

多くの人は経験しています

But many of the people who have experienced this

しかし経験した人は

haven't really had a forum to talk about it.

それについて話せる場がありません

And today, this video that I made is my most popular video.

現在このビデオは私の作ったビデオの中で 一番人気です

It has millions of views.

何百万もの視聴回数です

(Laughter)

（笑）

And the comment section for that video became sort of like a self-help section,

このビデオのコメントコーナーは

where people could talk about their tonsil stone experiences

自分のノウセンの経験や 取り除くコツやヒントなどの

and, like, tips and tricks for getting rid of them.

相談コーナーになりました

And I think it became this great way for people to talk about something

こういった形で 以前は話しづらかった事について

that they'd never felt comfortable taking about publicly.

気兼ねなく相談できるようになりました

And that is wonderful when it's about something as goofy as tonsil stones,

それがノウセンのような 間抜けたものならいいんですが

but it's a little sad when a video can have an effect like that

生理のような普通な事についての ビデオで同じような事が起こると

when it's about something as common as periods.

ちょっと悲しいですね

Last February, I released a video on menstruation,

２月に生理についてのビデオを アップロードしました

and to this day, I am still getting messages

今でも世界中からメッセージが来ます

from people around the globe who are asking me about their periods.

生理についての質問ばかりです

There are a lot of young people -- and some not-so-young people -- out there,

若者やそう若くない人でも

who are worried that what's happening to their bodies

自分の体に起こってる事が異常じゃないか

is somehow not normal.

心配している人が多いです

And, of course, I always tell them that I am not a medical professional,

もちろん私は医者ではないので

and that, if possible, they should talk to a doctor.

出来れば医者に相談するように と答えます

But the truth of the matter is that everyone should feel comfortable

理想は皆 自分の体について気兼ねなく

talking to a doctor about their own bodies.

医者と相談できるようにすべきです

And that's why I think it's really important for us

ですから 若い頃から気持ち悪いものについての

to start this dialogue about gross stuff from a pretty early age,

対話を始めるのが重要です

so we can let our kids know

そうすれば

that it's alright to have agency over your own body

自分の身体や健康について 決定権をもってもいいと

and over your own health.

子供達に教育できます

There's another reason that talking to your doctor

健康や気持ち悪い事について 医者に話すことが大切な理由は

about your health and gross stuff

is really, really important.

もう１つあります

Doctors and the scientific community can only address issues

医者や科学界が 問題を解決するには

when they know there's something to address.

まず問題があると知らなくてはいけません

So one of the really interesting things I learned

生理についてのビデオを作って

while making the video on periods,

科学者と話して知ったのは

is that I was talking to this one scientist who told me

生理について知らない事が

there's actually still a lot we don't know about periods.

まだ沢山あるということです

There's a lot of basic research that still hasn't been done.

まだ行われていない 基礎的研究も多く残っています

In part, that's just because there weren't a lot of scientists in the field

生理に疑問を持つ科学者 つまり 女性科学者が少ないからというのも

who were women, to ask questions about it.

理由の１つです

And it's also not a topic that women talk about publicly.

公共の場で話せる話題ではない という事もあります

So there's this gap in what we know,

つまり私たちが情報不足なのは

just because no one was there to ask a question.

疑問を持つ人がいないからです

There's one final reason that I think talking about gross stuff is so important,

最後にもう１つ気持ち悪い事について話すのが なぜ重要か

and that's because you just never know what you're going to find

気持ち悪さを覗いてみないと

when you peel back all those layers of disgustingness.

その裏に隠れているものを発見できません

So, take the California brown sea hare.

カリフォルニアのジャンボアメフラシを 例に挙げましょう

This is a sea slug that squirts this lovely, bright purple ink

紫色の色素を天敵に放出する

at any creature that tries to eat it.

ウミウシの仲間です

But it also happens to be one of the kinkiest creatures

動物界で最も性欲旺盛な生き物でもあります

in the animal kingdom.

So these guys are hermaphrodites,

彼らは両性動物です

which means they have both male and female genitalia.

オス メスの両性器を持っています

And when it's time to mate,

繁殖期は

up to 20 individuals will all get together in this kind of, like, conga line

多い時には１列に20匹も並んで

and they'll all mate together.

一緒に交尾します

(Laughter)

（笑）

A single sea hare will inseminate the partner in front of it

前のアメフラシを受精させ

and receive sperm from the one behind,

後ろからは精子をもらいます

which is sort of like an awesome time-saver,

考えてみれば

when you think about it.

とても効率的ですね

(Laughter)

（笑）

But if scientists had only seen this and they were like,

でも科学者がこれを見て

"OK, we're just not going to touch that with a stick,"

「こいつは研究しないでおこう」 なんて言ってしまっていたら

they would have missed the bigger thing about sea hares

アメフラシの一番すごいところを

that makes them really remarkable.

発見することは無かったでしょう

It turns out that these sea hares have a small number of very large neurons,

アメフラシは少数の とても大きい神経細胞を持っています

which makes them excellent to use in neuroscience research.

これは神経科学の研究にとても 役に立ちます

And, in fact, the scientist Eric Kandel used them in his research

科学者のエリック・カンデルは それを用いて

to understand how memories are stored.

記憶がどう脳に収納されるか発見しました

And you know what?

その後どうなったと思います？

He won a Nobel Prize for his work.

その研究でノーベル賞を受賞しました

So go out there and pick up beetles and play in dirt and ask questions.

だから ぜひ外に出て虫を捕まえ 泥遊びをして 疑問を抱いてください

And own your fascination with gross stuff and don't be ashamed of it,

そして恥ずかしがらずに 気持ち悪いものに興味を持ってください

because you never know what you're going to find.

面白い発見が出来るかもしれません

And as I say at the end of all my videos,

私がいつもビデオで使う 締めの言葉で終わりましょう

"Ew."

「キモい」

Thank you.

ありがとうございました

(Applause)

（拍手）