To solve old problems, study new species | Alejandro Sánchez Alvarado

Translator: Leslie Gauthier Reviewer: Camille Martínez

Prevodilac: Milenka Okuka Lektor: Mile Živković

For the past few years,

Proteklih nekoliko godina,

I've been spending my summers in the marine biological laboratory

provodio sam leta u morskoj biološkoj laboratoriji

in Woods Hole, Massachusetts.

u Vuds Holu u Masačusetsu.

And there, what I've been doing is essentially renting a boat.

A tu sam u suštini iznajmljivao čamac.

What I would like to do is ask you

Želeo bih da vas zamolim

to come on a boat ride with me tonight.

da večeras krenete na vožnju čamcem sa mnom.

So, we ride off from Eel Pond into Vineyard Sound,

Dakle, krećemo sa Il Ponda u Vinjard Saund,

right off the coast of Martha's Vineyard,

tik do obale Martinih Vinograda,

equipped with a drone to identify potential spots

opremljeni dronom kako bismo odredili tačke

from which to peer into the Atlantic.

s kojih ćemo zuriti u Atlantik.

Earlier, I was going to say into the depths of the Atlantic,

Ranije, hteo sam da kažem u dubine Atlantika,

but we don't have to go too deep to reach the unknown.

ali ne moramo ići suviše duboko da bismo dosegnuli nepoznato.

Here, barely two miles away

Ovde, svega 3,2 kilometra dalje

from what is arguably the greatest marine biology lab in the world,

od onoga što se smatra najvećom morskom biološkom laboratorijom u svetu,

we lower a simple plankton net into the water

spuštamo u vodu prostu mrežu za planktone

and bring up to the surface

i podižemo na površinu

things that humanity rarely pays any attention to,

nešto na šta čovečanstvo retko obraća pažnju,

and oftentimes has never seen before.

a često to nikad pre nije ni videlo.

Here's one of the organisms that we caught in our net.

Ovo je jedan od organizama koje smo zarobili u mreži.

This is a jellyfish.

Ovo je meduza.

But look closely,

Ali pogledajte bolje,

and living inside of this animal is another organism

a unutar ove životinje živi drugi organizam

that is very likely entirely new to science.

koji je najverovatnije potpuno nov za nauku.

A complete new species.

Potpuno nova vrsta.

Or how about this other transparent beauty

A šta je sa ovom drugom providnom lepoticom

with a beating heart,

sa srcem koje kuca,

asexually growing on top of its head,

aseksualno na vrhu svoje glave gaji

progeny that will move on to reproduce sexually.

potomstvo koje će da se odvoji i razmnožava seksualnim putem.

Let me say that again:

Dozvolite da to ponovim:

this animal is growing asexually on top of its head,

ova životinja aseksualnim putem gaji na vrhu svoje glave

progeny that is going to reproduce sexually in the next generation.

potomstvo koje će se razmnožavati seksualno u sledećoj generaciji.

A weird jellyfish?

Čudna neka meduza?

Not quite.

Ne baš.

This is an ascidian.

Ovo je ascidija.

This is a group of animals

To je grupa životinja

that now we know we share extensive genomic ancestry with,

za koje sad znamo da delimo s njima ogromno genetsko nasleđe,

and it is perhaps the closest invertebrate species to our own.

i verovatno nam je ona najbliži beskičmenjak.

Meet your cousin,

Upoznajte svog rođaka,

Thalia democratica.

Thalia democratica.

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

I'm pretty sure you didn't save a spot at your last family reunion

SIguran sam da niste ostavili mesto na vašem poslednjem porodičnom okupljanju

for Thalia,

za Thalia-u,

but let me tell you,

ali dozvolite da vam kažem,

these animals are profoundly related to us

ove životinje su suštinski u srodstvu s nama

in ways that we're just beginning to understand.

na načine koje tek sad počinjemo da razumemo.

So, next time you hear anybody derisively telling you

Pa, sledeći put kad čujete da vam neko podrugljivo govori

that this type of research is a simple fishing expedition,

da je ovaj vid istraživanja samo ribarska ekspedicija,

I hope that you'll remember the trip that we just took.

nadam se da ćete se setiti putovanja na kom smo upravo bili.

Today, many of the biological sciences only see value

Danas mnogi biolozi jedino vide značaj

in studying deeper what we already know --

u proučavanju onoga što je dublje od poznatog -

in mapping already-discovered continents.

u pravljenju mapa već otkrivenih kontinenata.

But some of us are much more interested in the unknown.

No neki od nas su daleko zainteresovaniji za nepoznato.

We want to discover completely new continents,

Želimo da otkrijemo potpuno nove kontinente

and gaze at magnificent vistas of ignorance.

i da zurimo u veličanstvene vidike neznanja.

We crave the experience of being completely baffled

Žudimo da iskusimo potpunu očaranost

by something we've never seen before.

onim što nismo videli nikad pre.

And yes, I agree

I, da, slažem se,

there's a lot of little ego satisfaction in being able to say,

prilično godi egu kad možete da kažete:

"Hey, I was the first one to discover that."

"Hej, ja sam to prvi otkrio."

But this is not a self-aggrandizing enterprise,

Međutim, ovo nije preduzeće za lično veličanje

because in this type of discovery research,

jer kod ovog tipa istraživačkog otkirivanja,

if you don't feel like a complete idiot most of the time,

ako se ne osećate kao potpuni idiot većinu vremena,

you're just not sciencing hard enough.

prosto se ne bavite naukom dovoljno posvećeno.

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

So every summer I bring onto the deck of this little boat of ours

Dakle, svakog leta iznosim na palubu ovog našeg čamčića

more and more things that we know very little about.

sve više stvari o kojima znamo veoma malo.

I would like tonight to tell you a story about life

Želeo bih večeras da vam ispričam priču o životu

that rarely gets told in an environment like this.

koju retko pričaju u sličnim sredinama.

From the vantage point of our 21st-century biological laboratories,

Sa tačke gledišta naših bioloških laboratorija iz 21. veka,

we have begun to illuminate many mysteries of life with knowledge.

počeli smo znanjem da osvetljujemo mnoge tajne života.

We sense that after centuries of scientific research,

Osećamo da nakon vekova naučnog istraživanja,

we're beginning to make significant inroads

počinjemo značajnije da prodiremo

into understanding some of the most fundamental principles of life.

u razumevanje nekih od najtemeljnijih principa života.

Our collective optimism is reflected by the growth of biotechnology

Naš kolektivni optimizam se ogleda u rastu biotehnologije

across the globe,

širom sveta,

striving to utilize scientific knowledge to cure human diseases.

težimo da iskoristimo naučno znanje da bismo lečili ljudske bolesti.

Things like cancer, aging, degenerative diseases;

Stvari poput raka, starenja, degenerativnih bolesti;

these are but some of the undesirables we wish to tame.

to su neke od nepoželjnosti koje bismo želeli da ukrotimo.

I often wonder:

Često se pitam:

Why is it that we are having so much trouble

zašto nam je toliko teško

trying to solve the problem of cancer?

da rešimo problem raka?

Is it that we're trying to solve the problem of cancer,

Da li mi to pokušavamo da rešimo problem raka,

and not trying to understand life?

a ne pokušavamo da razumemo život?

Life on this planet shares a common origin,

Život na ovoj planeti deli zajedničko poreklo,

and I can summarize 3.5 billion years of the history of life on this planet

i mogu da sumiram 3,5 milijardi godina istorije života na ovoj paneti

in a single slide.

samo jednim slajdom.

What you see here are representatives of all known species in our planet.

Ovde vidite predstavnike svih poznatih vrsta na našoj planeti.

In this immensity of life and biodiversity,

U ovom obilju života i biodiverziteta,

we occupy a rather unremarkable position.

zauzimamo krajnje beznačajno mesto.

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

Homo sapiens.

Homo sapiens.

The last of our kind.

Poslednji naše vrste.

And though I don't really want to disparage at all

Iako zaista uopšte ne želim da potcenjujem

the accomplishments of our species,

dostignuća naše vrste;

as much as we wish it to be so and often pretend that it is,

koliko god da želeli da bude tako, i često se pretvaramo da jeste,

we are not the measure of all things.

mi nismo mera svih stvari.

We are, however, the measurers of many things.

Mi smo, međutim, merioci mnogih stvari.

We relentlessly quantify, analyze and compare,

Neumorno merimo količinu, analiziramo i poredimo,

and some of this is absolutely invaluable and indeed necessary.

a nešto od toga je potpuno neprocenjivo i zaista neophodno.

But this emphasis today on forcing biological research to specialize

Ali ovaj trenutni naglasak na forsiranju biološkog istraživanja da se specijalizuje

and to produce practical outcomes

i da proizvodi praktične ishode

is actually restricting our ability to interrogate life

zapravo ograničava našu sposobnost da istražimo život,

to unacceptably narrow confines and unsatisfying depths.

da neprihvatljivo suzimo međe i nezadovoljavajuće dubine.

We are measuring an astonishingly narrow sliver of life,

Merimo zapanjujuće uzak ogranak života

and hoping that those numbers will save all of our lives.

i nadamo se da će te cifre sačuvati naše živote.

How narrow do you ask?

Da li se pitate koliko uzak?

Well, let me give you a number.

Pa, dozvolite da vam dam broj.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recently estimated

Nacionalna okeanska i atmosferska administracija je nedavno procenila

that about 95 percent of our oceans remain unexplored.

da je oko 95 procenata naših okeana i dalje neistraženo.

Now let that sink in for a second.

Neka vam se to slegne na tren.

95 percent of our oceans remain unexplored.

95 procenata naših okeana je i dalje neistraženo.

I think it's very safe to say

Mislim da pouzdano možemo reći

that we don't even know how much about life we do not know.

da čak ni ne znamo koliko o životu ne znamo.

So, it's not surprising that every week in my field

Stoga ne iznenađuje što svake sedmice u mojoj oblasti

we begin to see the addition of more and more new species

počinjemo da vidimo kako se sve više i više novih vrsta dodaje

to this amazing tree of life.

ovom neverovatnom drvetu života.

This one for example --

Ova, na primer -

discovered earlier this summer,

otkivena je ranije ovog leta,

new to science,

nova je u nauci

and now occupying its lonely branch in our family tree.

i trenutno zauzima usamljenu granu na našem porodičnom stablu.

What is even more tragic

Još je tragičnije

is that we know about a bunch of other species of animals out there,

da znamo za gomilu drugih vrsta tamo negde,

but their biology remains sorely under-studied.

ali njihova biologija ostaje krajnje loše izučena.

I'm sure some of you have heard about the fact

Siguran sam da su neki od vas čuli za činjenicu

that a starfish can actually regenerate its arm after it's lost.

da morska zvezda zapravo može da regeneriše svoju izgubljenu ruku.

But some of you might not know

No neki od vas možda ne znaju

that the arm itself can actually regenerate a complete starfish.

da sama ruka zapravo može da obnovi celu morsku zvezdu.

And there are animals out there that do truly astounding things.

A postoje životinje koje rade istinski zapanjujuće stvari.

I'm almost willing to bet

Skoro da sam spreman da se kladim

that many of you have never heard of the flatworm, Schmidtea mediterranea.

da mnogi od vas nikad niste čuli za pljosnatog crva Schmidtea mediterranea.

This little guy right here

Ovaj mališan ovde

does things that essentially just blow my mind.

radi nešto što me prosto raspamećuje.

You can grab one of these animals and cut it into 18 different fragments,

Možete da uzmete jednu od ovih životinja i isečete je na 18 različitih delova,

and each and every one of those fragments will go on to regenerate

i baš svaki od ovih delova će se regenerisati

a complete animal

u celovitu životinju

in under two weeks.

za manje od dve nedelje.

18 heads, 18 bodies, 18 mysteries.

18 glava, 18 tela, 18 tajni.

For the past decade and a half or so,

Poslednjih oko deceniju i po,

I've been trying to figure out how these little dudes do what they do,

pokušavao sam da otkrijem kako ovi mališani rade to što rade

and how they pull this magic trick off.

i kako izvode ovaj magični trik.

But like all good magicians,

Ali kao i svi dobri mađioničari,

they're not really releasing their secrets readily to me.

zaista mi ne odaju rado svoje tajne.

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

So here we are,

Dakle, tu smo,

after 20 years of essentially studying these animals,

nakon 20 godina temeljnog izučavanja ovih životinja,

genome mapping, chin scratching,

mapiranja genoma, češanja brade,

and thousands of amputations and thousands of regenerations,

i hiljada amputacija i hiljada regeneracija,

we still don't fully understand how these animals do what they do.

i dalje u potpunosti ne razumemo kako ove životinje rade to što rade.

Each planarian an ocean unto itself,

Svaki planar je okean za sebe,

full of unknowns.

pun nepoznanice.

One of the common characteristics

Jedna od zajedničkih osobina

of all of these animals I've been talking to you about

svih ovih životinja o kojima sam vam govorio

is that they did not appear to have received the memo

je da se čini kako nisu primile memorandum

that they need to behave according to the rules

da moraju da se ponašaju prema pravilima

that we have derived from a handful of randomly selected animals

koja smo izveli iz pregršti nasumično odabranih životinja,

that currently populate the vast majority

koje trenutno naseljavaju ogromnu većinu

of biomedical laboratories across the world.

biomedicinskih laboratorija širom sveta.

Meet our Nobel Prize winners.

Upoznajte naše dobitnike Nobelove nagrade.

Seven species, essentially,

U suštini, sedam vrsta

that have produced for us the brunt of our understanding

koje su imale najveći uticaj na naše trenutno razumevanje

of biological behavior today.

biološkog ponašanja.

This little guy right here --

Ovaj mališa ovde -

three Nobel Prizes in 12 years.

tri Nobelove nagrade za 12 godina.

And yet, after all the attention they have garnered,

Pa ipak, uz svu pažnju koju su privukli

and all the knowledge they have generated,

i uz sve znanje koje su proizveli,

as well as the lion's share of the funding,

kao i najveći deo fondova,

here we are standing [before] the same litany of intractable problems

eto nas kako stojim ispred iste litanije tvrdoglavih problema

and many new challenges.

i mnogih novih izazova.

And that's because, unfortunately,

A to je zato što, nažalost,

these seven animals essentially correspond

ovih sedam životinja se u suštini poklapa

to 0.0009 percent of all of the species that inhabit the planet.

sa 0.0009 procenata svih vrsta koje naseljavaju planetu.

So I'm beginning to suspect

Te počinjem da sumnjam

that our specialization is beginning to impede our progress at best,

da naša specijalizacija počinje, u najboljem slučaju, da ometa naš progres,

and at worst, is leading us astray.

a u najgorem nas navodi na pogrešan put.

That's because life on this planet and its history

To je zato što je život na ovoj planeti i njegova istorija

is the history of rule breakers.

je istorija kršilaca pravila.

Life started on the face of this planet as single-cell organisms,

Život je počeo na površini ove planete u vidu jednoćelijskih organizama,

swimming for millions of years in the ocean,

koji su plivali milionima godina u okeanu,

until one of those creatures decided,

dok jedno od tih bića nije odlučilo:

"I'm going to do things differently today;

"Danas ću da radim drugačije;

today I would like to invent something called multicellularity,

danas želim da izumim nešto što se zove višećelijski organizam

and I'm going to do this."

i ja ću to da uradim."

And I'm sure it wasn't a popular decision at the time --

I siguran sam da to tada nije bila popularna odluka -

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

but somehow, it managed to do it.

ali nekako je uspeo to da uradi.

And then, multicellular organisms began to populate

A onda su višećelijski organizmi počeli da naseljavaju

all these ancestral oceans,

sve te drevne okeane

and they thrived.

i bujali su.

And we have them here today.

I tu su i danas.

Land masses began to emerge from the surface of the oceans,

Zemljane mase su počele da se pojavljuju na površini okeana,

and another creature thought,

a drugo biće je pomislilo:

"Hey, that looks like a really nice piece of real estate.

"Hej, ovo se čini kao zaista lepo parče nekretnine.

I'd like to move there."

Želim da se preselim tamo."

"Are you crazy?

"Jesi li lud?

You're going to desiccate out there. Nothing can live out of water."

Osušićeš se tamo. Ništa ne može da živi van vode."

But life found a way,

Ali život je našao način

and there are organisms now that live on land.

i trenutno organizmi žive na kopnu.

Once on land, they may have looked up into the sky

Čim su stigli na kopno, pogledali bi u nebo

and said, "It would be nice to go to the clouds,

i rekli: "Bilo bi lepo stići do oblaka,

I'm going to fly."

ja ću da letim."

"You can't break the law of gravity, there's no way you can fly."

"Ne možeš da prekršiš zakon gravitacije, nema šanse da poletiš."

And yet, nature has invented --

Pa ipak, priroda je izumila -

multiple and independent times --

više i to nepovezanih puta -

ways to fly.

načine da se leti.

I love to study these animals that break the rules,

Volim da izučavam ove životinje koje krše pravila

because every time they break a rule, they invent something new

jer svaki put kad prekrše pravilo, izume nešto novo

that made it possible for us to be able to be here today.

što nam omogućava da trenutno budemo tu.

These animals did not get the memo.

Ove životinje nisu dobile memorandum.

They break the rules.

One krše pravila.

So if we're going to study animals that break the rules,

Zato ako želimo da izučavamo životinje koje krše pravila,

shouldn't how we study them also break the rules?

zar ne bi trebalo takođe da izučavamo kako krše pravila?

I think we need to renew our spirit of exploration.

Mislim da moramo da obnovimo naš istraživački duh.

Rather than bring nature into our laboratories

Umesto da donosimo prirodu u naše laboratorije

and interrogate it there,

i da je tu ispitujemo,

we need to bring our science

moramo da odnesemo nauku

into the majestic laboratory that is nature,

u veličanstvenu laboratoriju prirode,

and there, with our modern technological armamentarium,

i tu, uz naš moderni tehnološki armamentarijum

interrogate every new form of life we find,

da ispitamo svaki novi oblik života koji otkrijemo,

and any new biological attribute that we may find.

kao i bilo koju novu biološku osobinu koju možda zateknemo.

We actually need to bring all of our intelligence

Zapravo moramo da dovedemo svu našu inteligenciju

to becoming stupid again --

do toga da budemo opet glupi -

clueless [before] the immensity of the unknown.

bezidejni pred ogromnošću nepoznatog.

Because after all,

Jer, naposletku,

science is not really about knowledge.

kod nauke se ne radi o znanju.

Science is about ignorance.

Kod nauke se radi o neznanju.

That's what we do.

To je ono što radimo.

Once, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry wrote,

Jednom je Antoan de Sent Egziperi napisao:

"If you want to build a ship,

"Ako želite da sagradite brod,

don't drum up people to collect wood

ne mobilišite ljude da sakupljaju drva

and don't assign them tasks and work,

i ne dodeljujte im zadatke i poslove,

but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea ..."

već pre ih naučite da žude za beskrajnom ogromnošću mora..."

As a scientist and a teacher,

Kao naučnik i nastavnik,

I like to paraphrase this to read

volim ovo da parafraziram u smislu

that we scientists need to teach our students

da mi naučnici moramo da učimo naše đake

to long for the endless immensity of the sea

da žude za beskrajnom ogromnošću mora,

that is our ignorance.

koje je naše neznanje.

We Homo sapiens are the only species we know of

Mi Homo sapiensi smo jedina poznata vrsta

that is driven to scientific inquiry.

koju privlači naučno ispitivanje.

We, like all other species on this planet,

Mi, kao i sve druge vrste na ovoj planeti,

are inextricably woven into the history of life on this planet.

smo neodvojivo utkani u istoriju života na ovoj planeti.

And I think I'm a little wrong when I say that life is a mystery,

I mislim da malo grešim kad kažem da je život tajna

because I think that life is actually an open secret

jer smatram da je život zapravo otvorena tajna

that has been beckoning our species for millennia to understand it.

koja milenijumima poziva našu vrstu da je razume.

So I ask you:

Stoga vas pitam:

Aren't we the best chance that life has to know itself?

zar mi nismo najbolja prilika za život da razume samog sebe?

And if so,

Ako jesmo,

what the heck are we waiting for?

šta kog vraga čekamo?

Thank you.

Hvala vam.

(Applause)

(Aplauz)