Lee Cronin: Making matter come alive

Prevodilac: Isidora Bacic Lektor: Ivana Korom

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

U narednih petnaestak minuta ću pokušati

is tell you about an idea

da vam pričam o ideji

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

kako ćemo da oživimo materiju.

Now this may seem a bit ambitious,

Ovo će vam se možda učiniti pomalo ambicioznim,

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

ali kada pogledate sebe, svoje ruke,

you realize that you're alive.

shvatite da ste živi.

So this is a start.

Znači to je početak.

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

Ova potraga je počela pre četiri milijarde godina na planeti Zemlji.

There's been four billion years

Prošlo je četiri milijarde godina

of organic, biological life.

organskog, biološkog života.

And as an inorganic chemist,

A kao neorganski hemičari,

my friends and colleagues make this distinction

moji prijatelji i kolege prave razliku

between the organic, living world

između organskog, živog sveta

and the inorganic, dead world.

i neorganskog, mrtvog sveta.

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

A sada ću da pokušam da vam prenesem neke ideje

about how we can transform inorganic, dead matter

o tome kako možemo transformisati neorgansku, mrtvu materiju

into living matter, into inorganic biology.

u živu materiju, u neorgansku biologiju.

Before we do that,

Pre nego što to uradimo,

I want to kind of put biology in its place.

želim da postavim biologiju na svoje mesto.

And I'm absolutely enthralled by biology.

Potpuno sam obuzet biologijom.

I love to do synthetic biology.

I volim da se bavim sintetičkom biologijom.

I love things that are alive.

Volim stvari koje su žive.

I love manipulating the infrastructure of biology.

Volim da se igram infrastrukturom biologije.

But within that infrastructure,

Ali u okviru te infrastrukture,

we have to remember

moramo se setiti

that the driving force of biology

da pokretačka sila biologije

is really coming from evolution.

zapravo potiče od evolucije.

And evolution,

A evolucija, iako je utemeljena

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

pre više od 100 godina od strane Čarlsa Darvina

and a vast number of other people,

i velikog broja drugih ljudi,

evolution still is a little bit intangible.

evolucija je i dalje malo neuhvatljiva.

And when I talk about Darwinian evolution,

A kada govorim o darvinovskoj evoluciji,

I mean one thing and one thing only,

mislim na jednu stvar i samo jednu stvar,

and that is survival of the fittest.

a to je opstanak najsposobnijih.

And so forget about evolution

I zato zaboravite na evoluciju

in a kind of metaphysical way.

u bilo kom metafizičkom smislu.

Think about evolution

Razmišljajte o evoluciji

in terms of offspring competing,

u smislu takmičenja potomaka,

and some winning.

i da neki pobeđuju.

So bearing that in mind,

I imajući to na umu,

as a chemist, I wanted to ask myself

kao hemičar, postavio sam sebi pitanje,

the question frustrated by biology:

pitanje otežano biologijom:

What is the minimal unit of matter

Koja je najmanja jedinica materije

that can undergo Darwinian evolution?

koja je podložna darvinovskoj evoluciji?

And this seems quite a profound question.

I to mi se čini dosta ozbiljnim pitanjem.

And as a chemist,

I kao hemičar,

we're not used to profound questions every day.

nisam navikao da rešavam duboka pitanja svaki dan.

So when I thought about it,

Zato kada sam razmislio o tome,

then suddenly I realized

onda sam iznenada shvatio

that biology gave us the answer.

da nam je biologija dala odgovor.

And in fact, the smallest unit of matter

I zapravo, najmanja jedinica materije

that can evolve independently

koja može samostalno da evoluira

is, in fact, a single cell --

je zapravo, pojedinačna ćelija --

a bacteria.

bakterija.

So this raises three really important questions:

Znači to postavlja tri stvarno važna pitanja:

What is life?

Šta je život?

Is biology special?

Da li je biologija posebna?

Biologists seem to think so.

Biolozi misle da jeste.

Is matter evolvable?

Da li materija može da evoluira?

Now if we answer those questions in reverse order,

Ako odgovorimo na ova pitanja obrnutim redosledom,

the third question -- is matter evolvable? --

treće pitanje -- da li materija može da evoluira?

if we can answer that,

ako možemo na to da odgovorimo,

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

onda ćemo znati koliko je posebna biologija,

and maybe, just maybe,

i možda, možda,

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

imaćemo neku predstavu o tome šta je zapravo život.

So here's some inorganic life.

Evo nekog neorganskog života.

This is a dead crystal,

Ovo je mrtav kristal,

and I'm going to do something to it,

i nešto ću mu uraditi,

and it's going to become alive.

i oživeće.

And you can see,

Kao što vidite,

it's kind of pollinating, germinating, growing.

to je na neki način oprašivanje, klijanje, rast.

This is an inorganic tube.

Ovo je neorganska cev.

And all these crystals here under the microscope

I svi ovi kristali ovde pod mikroskopom

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

su bili mrtvi pre par minuta, a sada 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 hemijski eksperiment u kome sam napravio kristalnu baštu.

But when I saw this, I was really fascinated,

Ali kada sam ovo video, bio sam stvarno fasciniran,

because it seemed lifelike.

jer je izgledalo tako živo.

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

I dok ovo zaustavim na par sekundi, pogledajte ekran.

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

Vidite da arhitektura raste, popunjava prazninu.

And this is dead.

A ovo je mrtvo.

So I was positive that,

I bio sam siguran da, ako

if somehow we can make things mimic life,

nekako budemo mogli da učinimo da stvari imitiraju život,

let's go one step further.

onda možemo da idemo korak dalje.

Let's see if we can actually make life.

Hajde da vidimo da li možemo zapravo da napravimo život.

But there's a problem,

Ali postoji problem,

because up until maybe a decade ago,

jer do pre negde jednu deceniju,

we were told that life was impossible

rečeno nam je da je život nemoguć

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

i da smo mi najneverovatnije čudo u svemiru.

In fact, we were the only people

Zapravo, mi smo jedini ljudi

in the universe.

u svemiru.

Now, that's a bit boring.

To je pomalo dosadno.

So as a chemist,

Zato kao hemičar, želeo sam

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

da kažem, ''Čekaj malo. šta se ovde događa?

Is life that improbable?"

Da li je život toliko malo verovatan?''

And this is really the question.

I to je pravo pitanje.

I think that perhaps the emergence of the first cells

Mislim da je možda pojava prvih ćelija

was as probable as the emergence of the stars.

onoliko verovatna koliko i pojava prvih zvezda.

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

Zapravo, hajdemo jedan korak dalje.

Let's say

Da kažemo

that if the physics of fusion

ako je fizika fuzije

is encoded into the universe,

kodirana u svemiru,

maybe the physics of life is as well.

možda je onda i fizika života.

And so the problem with chemists --

I zato je problem sa hemičarima --

and this is a massive advantage as well --

a ovo je i ogromna prednost takođe --

is we like to focus on our elements.

u tome što smo fokusirani na elemente.

In biology, carbon takes center stage.

U biologiji, ugljenik je glavni.

And in a universe where carbon exists

I u svemiru u kome postoji ugljenik

and organic biology,

i organskoj biologiji,

then we have all this wonderful diversity of life.

onda imamo sav ovaj divni raznovrsni život.

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

Zapravo, imamo izvanredne oblike života kojima možemo manipulisati.

We're awfully careful in the lab

Veoma smo pažljivi u laboratoriji

to try and avoid various biohazards.

i pokušavamo da izbegnemo razne biološke opasnosti.

Well what about matter?

Ali šta je sa materijom?

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

Ako budemo u stanju da oživimo materiju, da li bi onda imali materijalnu opasnost?

So think, this is a serious question.

Zato razmislite, ovo je važno pitanje.

If your pen could replicate,

Ako bi vaša olovka mogla da se razmnožava repliciranjem,

that would be a bit of a problem.

to bi pomalo predstavljalo problem.

So we have to think differently

Zato moramo da razmišljamo drugačije

if we're going to make stuff come alive.

ako ćemo da oživljavamo stvari.

And we also have to be aware of the issues.

I takođe moramo biti svesni problema.

But before we can make life,

Ali pre nego što možemo da stvaramo život,

let's think for a second

razmislimo na trenutak

what life really is characterized by.

o tome šta stvarno čini život.

And forgive the complicated diagram.

Izvinjavam se zbog komplikovanog dijagrama.

This is just a collection of pathways in the cell.

Ovo je samo skup putanja u ćeliji.

And the cell is obviously for us

A ćelija je očigledno za nas

a fascinating thing.

fascinantna stvar.

Synthetic biologists are manipulating it.

Sintetički biolozi manipulišu njome.

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

Hemičari proučavaju molekule kako bi posmatrali bolest.

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

I imate sve ove putanje koje se događaju u isto vreme.

You have regulation;

Imate regulisanje;

information is transcribed;

informacije se prepisuju;

catalysts are made; stuff is happening.

katalizatori se prave; stvari se događaju.

But what does a cell do?

Ali šta ćelija radi?

Well it divides, it competes,

Ona se deli, takmiči,

it survives.

preživljava.

And I think that is where we have to start

I mislim da tu moramo da počnemo

in terms of thinking about

u smislu razmišljanja o

building from our ideas in life.

nadgradnji naših ideja o životu.

But what else is life characterized by?

Ali šta još čini život?

Well, I like think of it

Pa, ja to volim da zamišljam

as a flame in a bottle.

kao plamen u boci.

And so what we have here

i zato ovde imamo

is a description of single cells

opis pojedinačnih ćelija

replicating, metabolizing,

koje se razmnožavaju, metabolizuju,

burning through chemistries.

sagorevaju putem hemije.

And so we have to understand

I zato moramo da razumemo da ako

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

ćemo da pravimo veštački život ili da razumemo poreklo života,

we need to power it somehow.

moramo nekako da ga napajamo.

So before we can really start to make life,

Zato pre nego što stvarno počnemo da pravimo život,

we have to really think about where it came from.

moramo dobro da razmislimo odakle je potekao.

And Darwin himself mused in a letter to a colleague

I sam Darvin je razmišljao u pismu kolegi

that he thought that life probably emerged

da smatra da se život verovatno pojavio

in some warm little pond somewhere --

u nekoj maloj toploj bari negde --

maybe not in Scotland, maybe in Africa,

možda ne u Škotskoj, možda u Africi,

maybe somewhere else.

možda negde drugde.

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

Ali pravi iskreni odgovor jeste da jednostavno ne znamo,

because there is a problem with the origin.

jer postoji problem sa poreklom.

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

Zamislite unazad četiri i po milijarde godina,

there is a vast chemical soup of stuff.

postoji ogromna hemijska supa stvari.

And from this stuff we came.

I iz tih stvari smo mi nastali.

So when you think about the improbable nature

I kada razmišljate o neverovatnoj prirodi

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

onoga o čemu ću vam pričati u narednih par minuta,

just remember,

setite se samo,

we came from stuff on planet Earth.

mi smo potekli od stvari na planeti Zemlji.

And we went through a variety of worlds.

I prošli smo niz svetova.

The RNA people would talk about the RNA world.

RNK stručnjaci bi govorili o RNK svetu.

We somehow got to proteins and DNA.

Nekako smo stigli do proteina i DNK.

We then got to the last ancestor.

A onda smo stigli do poslednjeg pretka.

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

Evolucija je počela da deluje -- i to je strava deo.

And here we are.

I evo nas ovde.

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

Ali postoji prepreka na putu koju ne možete zaobići.

You can decode the genome, you can look back,

Možete dekodirati genom, možete pogledati u prošlost,

you can link us all together by a mitochondrial DNA,

možete nas sve povezati mitohondrijskom DNK,

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

ali ne možemo ići dalje od poslednjeg pretka,

the last visible cell

poslednje vidljive ćelije

that we could sequence or think back in history.

koju bi mogli da sekvenciramo ili zamislimo nazad u prošlosti.

So we don't know how we got here.

Zato ne znamo kako smo ovde dospeli.

So there are two options:

Postoje dve opcije:

intelligent design, direct and indirect --

inteligentni dizajn, direktni i indirektni --

so God,

znači Bog,

or my friend.

ili moj prijatelj.

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

Ako zamišljamo da nas je E.T. vanzemaljac doveo ovde ili neki drugi oblik života,

just pushes the problem further on.

to samo odgađa problem.

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

Ja nisam političar, ja sam naučnik.

The other thing we need to think about

Druga stvar o kojoj moramo da razmišljamo

is the emergence of chemical complexity.

jeste pojava hemijskog usložnjavanja.

This seems most likely.

To se čini najverovatnijim.

So we have some kind of primordial soup.

Znači imamo neku vrstu praiskonske supe.

And this one happens to be

A ispostavlja se da je ova

a good source of all 20 amino acids.

dobar izvor svih 20 amino kiselina.

And somehow

I nekako se

these amino acids are combined,

ove amino kiseline kombinuju,

and life begins.

i život počinje.

But life begins, what does that mean?

Ali život počinje, šta to znači?

What is life? What is this stuff of life?

Šta je život? Šta je ova stvar koja čini život?

So in the 1950s,

Zato su tokom 1950-ih,

Miller-Urey did their fantastic chemical Frankenstein experiment,

Miler i Juri izveli svoj fantastični hemijski Frankenštajn eksperiment,

where they did the equivalent in the chemical world.

gde su uradili isto u hemijskom svetu.

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

Uzeli su osnovne sastojke, stavili ih u jednu teglu

and ignited them

i zapalili ih

and put a lot of voltage through.

i pustili dosta struje kroz nju.

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

I pogledali su šta je u supi,

and they found amino acids,

i našli su amino kiseline,

but nothing came out, there was no cell.

ali ništa nije nastalo, nije bilo ćelije.

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

Pa je cela oblast zastala na neko vreme,

and it got reignited in the '80s

i ponovo zaživela 1980-ih

when analytical technologies and computer technologies were coming on.

kada su se pojavile analitičke tehnologije i kompjuterske tehnologije.

In my own laboratory,

U mojoj sopstvenoj laboratoriji,

the way we're trying to create inorganic life

način na koji pokušavamo da stvorimo neorganski život

is by using many different reaction formats.

jeste da koristimo mnogo različitih reakcionih formata.

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

Znači ono što pokušavamo da radimo jesu reakcije --

not in one flask, but in tens of flasks,

ali ne u jednoj posudi, već u desetinama posuda,

and connect them together,

i da ih povežemo,

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

kao što vidite ovim sistemom protoka, sve ove cevi.

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

Možemo to da radimo mikrofluidno, možemo da radimo litografski,

we can do it in a 3D printer,

možemo i u 3D printeru,

we can do it in droplets for colleagues.

možemo u kapljicama za kolege.

And the key thing is to have lots of complex chemistry

A ključna stvar je imati puno složene hemije

just bubbling away.

koja samo ključa.

But that's probably going to end in failure,

Ali to će se verovatno završiti neuspehom,

so we need to be a bit more focused.

zato moramo više da se fokusiramo.

And the answer, of course, lies with mice.

I odgovor, naravno, je u miševima.

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

Ovako se podsetim šta mi je potrebno kao hemičaru.

I say, "Well I want molecules."

Kažem, ''Pa, želim molekule.''

But I need a metabolism, I need some energy.

Ali mi je potreban metabolizam, želim nešto energije.

I need some information, and I need a container.

Potrebne su mi informacije i potrebna mi je posuda.

Because if I want evolution,

Jer ako želim evoluciju,

I need containers to compete.

potrebne su mi posude za takmičenje.

So if you have a container,

Zato ako imate posudu,

it's like getting in your car.

to je kao da uđete u svoja kola.

"This is my car,

''Ovo su moja kola,

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

i voziću se okolo da pokažem svoja kola''.

And I imagine you have a similar thing

I zamislite da imate sličnu stvar

in cellular biology

u ćelijskoj biologji

with the emergence of life.

sa pojavom života.

So these things together give us evolution, perhaps.

Znači ove stvari zajedno nam daju evoluciju, možda.

And the way to test it in the laboratory

I način da se to testira u laboratoriji

is to make it minimal.

jeste da se učini minimalnim.

So what we're going to try and do

Znači ono što ćemo probati da uradimo

is come up with an inorganic Lego kit of molecules.

jeste da smislimo neorganski Lego komplet molekula.

And so forgive the molecules on the screen,

Zato oprostite zbog molekula na ekranu,

but these are a very simple kit.

ali ovo je veoma jednostavan komplet.

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

Može biti samo tri ili četiri različite vrste gradivnih elemenata tu.

And we can aggregate them together

I možemo ih sakupiti na gomilu

and make literally thousands and thousands

i napraviti bukvalno hiljade i hiljade

of really big nano-molecular molecules

stvarno velikih nanomolekulskih molekula

the same size of DNA and proteins,

iste veličine kao DNK i proteina,

but there's no carbon in sight.

ali nema ugljenika na vidiku.

Carbon is banned.

Ugljenik je loš.

And so with this Lego kit,

Zato sa ovim Lego kompletom,

we have the diversity required

imamo raznovrsnost potrebnu

for complex information storage

za čuvanje složenih informacija

without DNA.

bez DNK.

But we need to make some containers.

Ali potrebno je da napravimo neke posude.

And just a few months ago in my lab,

I pre samo par meseci u mojoj laboratoriji,

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

uspeli smo da napravimo ove iste molekule i da napravimo ćelije sa njima.

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

I možete videti na ekranu kako se stvara ćelija.

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

I sada ćemo da stavimo nešto hemije unutra i da radimo malo hemiju u ovoj ćeliji.

And all I wanted to show you

I sve što sam hteo da vam pokažem

is we can set up molecules

jeste da možemo da uspostavimo molekule

in membranes, in real cells,

u membranama, u pravim ćelijama,

and then it sets up a kind of molecular Darwinism,

i onda to uspostavalja neku vrstu molekularnog Darvinizma,

a molecular survival of the fittest.

molekularnog opstanka najsposobnijih.

And this movie here

Ovaj film ovde

shows this competition between molecules.

pokazuje takmičenje između molekula.

Molecules are competing for stuff.

Molekuli se takmiče za stvari.

They're all made of the same stuff,

Svi su napravljenih od istih stvari,

but they want their shape to win.

ali žele da pobedi njihov oblik.

They want their shape to persist.

Oni žele da njihov oblik traje.

And that is the key.

I u tome je ključ.

If we can somehow encourage these molecules

Ako nekako uspemo da podstaknemo ove molekule

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

da međusobno razgovaraju i prave odgovarajuće oblike i takmiče se,

they will start to form cells

počeće da prave ćelije

that will replicate and compete.

koje će se razmnožavati i takmičiti.

If we manage to do that,

Ako uspemo to da učinimo,

forget the molecular detail.

zaboravite na detalje kod molekula.

Let's zoom out to what that could mean.

Hajde da se odmaknemo kako bi videli šta bi to moglo da znači.

So we have this special theory of evolution

Imamo ovu specijalnu teoriju evolucije

that applies only to organic biology, to us.

koja važi samo za organsku biologiju, za nas.

If we could get evolution into the material world,

Ako bismo mogli da uvedemo evoluciju u materijalni svet,

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

onda predlažem da bi trebalo da imamo opštu teoriju evolucije.

And that's really worth thinking about.

A o tome stvarno vredi razmišljati.

Does evolution control

Da li evolucija kontroliše

the sophistication of matter in the universe?

usložnjavanje materije u svemiru?

Is there some driving force through evolution

Da li postoji neka pokretačka sila kroz evoluciju

that allows matter to compete?

koja omogućava materiji da se takmiči?

So that means we could then start

To znači da bismo onda mogli da počnemo

to develop different platforms

da razvijamo različite platforme

for exploring this evolution.

za istraživanje ove evolucije.

So you imagine,

Zato zamislite,

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

ako smo u stanju da stvorimo samostalni veštački oblik života,

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

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

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

da je moguće da svemiru nije potreban ugljenik da bude živ;

it can use anything --

može da koristi bilo šta --

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

možemo onda otići korak dalje i razviti nove tehnologije,

because we can then use software control

jer onda možemo koristiti softversku kontrolu

for evolution to code in.

za evoluciju da se kodira.

So imagine we make a little cell.

Zamislite onda da napravimo malu ćeliju.

We want to put it out in the environment,

Želimo da je pustimo u sredinu,

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 uradimo jeste da je stavimo u kutiju sa uključenim svetlom.

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

I više ne koristimo dizajn. Nađemo ono šta radi.

We should take our inspiration from biology.

Treba da nas inspiriše biologija.

Biology doesn't care about the design

Biologiju ne zanima dizajn

unless it works.

osim ako radi.

So this will reorganize

To će reorganizovati

the way we design things.

način na koji pravimo stvari.

But not only just that,

Ali ne samo to,

we will start to think about

počećemo da razmišljamo kako da

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

počnemo da razvijamo simbiotički odnos sa biologijom.

Wouldn't it be great

Zar ne bi bilo divno

if you could take these artificial biological cells

da možete da uzmete ove veštačke biološke ćelije

and fuse them with biological ones

i da ih spojite sa biološkim

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

kako bi ispravili probleme koje stvarno ne možemo da rešimo?

The real issue in cellular biology

Pravi problem u ćelijskoj biologiji

is we are never going to understand everything,

je to da nećemo nikada razumeti sve,

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

jer je to multidimenzionalni problem postavljen evolucijom.

Evolution cannot be cut apart.

Evolucija se ne može raseći.

You need to somehow find the fitness function.

Morate nekako da nađete funkciju sposobnosti.

And the profound realization for me

A ono suštinski važno što sam shvatio

is that, if this works,

je to da, ako ovo radi,

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

koncept sebičnog gena se podiže na viši nivo,

and we really start talking about selfish matter.

i zapravo počinjemo da razmišljamo o sebičnoj materiji.

And what does that mean in a universe

A zašto je ovo važno u svemiru

where we are right now the highest form of stuff?

u kom smo mi sada najviši oblik stvari?

You're sitting on chairs.

Sedite na stolicama.

They're inanimate, they're not alive.

One su nežive, nisu žive.

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

Ali vi ste napravljeni od stvari, koristite stvari

and you enslave stuff.

i zarobljavate stvari.

So using evolution

Zato je primena evolucije

in biology,

u biologiji,

and in inorganic biology,

i organskoj biologiji,

for me is quite appealing, quite exciting.

za mene veoma privlačna, veoma uzbudljiva.

And we're really becoming very close

I stvarno smo veoma blizu

to understanding the key steps

da razumemo ključne korake

that makes dead stuff come alive.

koji čine da mrtve stvari ožive.

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

I opet, kada razmišljate o tome koliko je ovo neverovatno,

remember, five billion years ago,

setite se, pre pet milijardi godina,

we were not here, and there was no life.

nas nije bilo i nije bilo života.

So what will that tell us

Šta će nam onda to reći

about the origin of life and the meaning of life?

o poreklu života i smislu života?

But perhaps, for me as a chemist,

Jer možda, ja kao hemičar

I want to keep away from general terms;

želim da se držim dalje od opštih principa;

I want to think about specifics.

Hoću da razmišljam o konkretnom.

So what does it mean about defining life?

Šta to znači za definisanje života?

We really struggle to do this.

Stvarno se mučimo da to učinimo.

And I think, if we can make inorganic biology,

I mislim, da ako možemo da stvorimo neorgansku biologiju,

and we can make matter become evolvable,

i učinimo da materija može da evoluria,

that will in fact define life.

ta činjenica će definisati život.

I propose to you

Predlažem vam

that matter that can evolve is alive,

da materija koja može da evoluira jeste živa,

and this gives us the idea of making evolvable matter.

i to nam daje ideju da napravimo materiju koja može da evoluira.

Thank you very much.

Mnogo vam hvala.

(Applause)

(Aplauz)

Chris Anderson: Just a quick question on timeline.

Kris Anderson: samo kratko pitanje o vremenskom sledu.

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

Smatrate da ćete biti uspešni u ovom projektu?

When?

Kada?

Lee Cronin: So many people think

Li Kronin: mnogi ljudi misle

that life took millions of years to kick in.

da su životu bili potrebni milioni godina da se pokrene.

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

Mi predlažemo da to učinimo za svega nekoliko sati,

once we've set up

jednom kada budemo postavili

the right chemistry.

pravu hemiju.

CA: And when do you think that will happen?

KA: I kada mislite da će se to dogoditi?

LC: Hopefully within the next two years.

LK: Nadamo se u roku od naredne dve godine.

CA: That would be a big story.

KA: To bi bila važna vest.

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

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

Po vama, šta mislite da su šanse

that walking around on some other planet

da na nekoj drugoj planeti šeta

is non-carbon-based life,

oblik života koji se ne bazira na ugljeniku

walking or oozing or something?

šeta ili curi ili već nešto?

LC: I think it's 100 percent.

LK: Mislim da su šanse 100 posto.

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

Jer stvar je u tome, mi smo toliki šovinisti prema biologiji,

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

ako izbacite ugljenik, ima drugih stvari koje se mogu dogoditi.

So the other thing

Znači druga stvar

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

je da ako uspemo da stvorimo život koji se ne bazira na ugljeniku,

maybe we can tell NASA what really to look for.

možda možemo reći NASA-i šta stvarno da traži.

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

Nemojte da tražite ugljenik, tražite stvari koje mogu da evoluiraju.

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

KA: Li Kronin, srećno. (LK: Hvala mnogo.)

(Applause)

(Aplauz)