A secret weapon against Zika and other mosquito-borne diseases | Nina Fedoroff

翻译人员: Lipeng Chen 校对人员: Yinchun Rui

Zika fever:

寨卡病毒感染症

our newest dread disease.

我们最新发现的重大疾病。

What is it? Where'd it come from?

它到底是什么？源自于哪里呢？

What do we do about it?

我们该如何对付它呢？

Well for most adults, it's a relatively mild disease --

对于大部分成年人， 它只是一个相对轻微的病毒——

a little fever, a little headache, joint pain, maybe a rash.

些许的发烧，稍微的头痛 关节疼痛， 或许会长疹子。

In fact, most people who get it don't even know they've had it.

事实上大部分患病的人 都不知道他们已经患病了。

But the more we find out about the Zika virus

但当我们越深入了解 寨卡病毒感染症时，

the more terrifying it becomes.

它却显得越来越恐怖。

For example, doctors have noticed an uptick

例如，医生察觉到 一种疾病称作格林-巴利症候群

of something called Guillain-Barré syndrome in recent outbreaks.

在近期的病例中 有上升的趋势。

In Guillain-Barré, your immune system attacks your nerve cells

格林-巴利症候群会 使你的免疫系统攻击，

it can partially or even totally paralyze you.

你的神经细胞， 造成你部分甚至完全的瘫痪

Fortunately, that's quite rare, and most people recover.

可幸得是那非常稀少， 大部分的人也都有康复。

But if you're pregnant when you're infected

但如果你怀孕时患病，

you're at risk of something terrible.

你就有风险获得 一个可怕的东西。

Indeed, a child with a deformed head.

是的，一个头畸形的小孩。

Here's a normal baby.

这是一个正常的婴儿。

Here's that infant with what's called microcephaly.

这是一个患有我们所说的 “小头畸形”的婴儿。

a brain in a head that's too small.

一个脑袋在一个太小的头颅里。

And there's no known cure.

而且这并没有已知的治疗方法。

It was actually doctors in northeastern Brazil

其实是一群在巴西东北部的医生们

who first noticed, just a year ago, after a Zika outbreak,

在一年前发现到 在寨卡病毒感染症爆发后，

that there was a peak in the incidence of microcephaly.

小头畸形症的案例 达到高峰。

It took medical doctors another year

医生又在花了一年的时间

to be sure that it was caused by the Zika virus,

才确定这是 寨卡病毒感染症所导致的，

but they're now sure.

但现今他们确定了。

And if you're a "bring on the evidence" type,

如果你是 “给我证据”那类人，

check out this publication.

看看这篇出版文章吧。

So where did it come from, and how did it get here?

它是源自于哪里？ 又怎么传到这里的呢？

And it is here.

它的确已经在这里了

Like many of our viruses, it came out of Africa,

如同许多病毒一样， 它源自于非洲，

specifically the Zika forest in Uganda.

更明确的源自于 乌干达的寨卡森林。

Researchers at the nearby Yellow Fever Research Institute

研究者在附近的 黄热病研究中心

identified an unknown virus in a monkey in the Zika forest

在一只在寨卡森林里的猴子 识别了一种未知的病毒，

which is how it got its name.

也就是它名字的由来。

The first human cases of Zika fever

第一个患有寨卡病毒的人类案例

surfaced a few years later in Uganda-Tanzania.

在几年后浮现于 乌干达-坦桑尼亚。

The virus then spread through West Africa

病毒传布整个西非，

and east through equatorial Asia -- Pakistan, India, Malaysia, Indonesia.

向东到达赤道亚洲： 巴基斯坦，印度，马来西亚，印度尼西亚

But it was still mostly in monkeys and, of course, mosquitoes.

但病毒大部分还是存在于猴子， 当然，以及蚊子。

In fact in the 60 years between the time it was first identified in 1947 and 2007

事实上在他1947第一次被发现到2007年， 这60年间

there were only 13 reported cases of human Zika fever.

只有13件已知的人类患有 寨卡病毒的案例。

And then something extraordinary happened on the tiny Micronesian Yap islands.

之后惊奇的事件发生了 ， 在微小的密克罗尼西亚联邦的雅浦岛，

There was an outbreak that affected fully 75 percent of the population.

寨卡病毒爆发将岛上 整整百分之七十五的人感染。

How did it get there? By air.

它如何到传到那里的呢？ 通过空气。

Today we have two billion commercial airline passengers.

今天我们有二十亿的商业盈利航空的旅客

An infected passenger can board a plane, fly halfway around the world

一位已患病的旅客可以在 出现患病的症状之前，

before developing symptoms -- if they develop symptoms at all.

甚至没有出现任何症状， 踏上飞机，飞跃半个地球。

Then when they land, the local mosquitoes begin to bite them and spread the fever.

当他们着陆时，当地的蚊子将开始 叮咬他们，并且开始传播病毒。

Zika fever then next surfaced in 2013 in French Polynesia.

寨卡病毒感染症之后在2013 出现于法属玻里尼西亚。

By December of that year, it was being transmitted locally by the mosquitoes.

当年的12月，已由当地 的蚊子开始传染病毒。

That led to an explosive outbreak in which almost 30,000 people were affected.

这也因此导致了爆发性的传染 使的将近30,000人受到影响。

From there it radiated around the Pacific.

从那里，则开始向周围的 太平洋发散。

There were outbreaks in the Cook Islands, in New Caledonia,

库克群岛，新喀里多尼亚， 瓦努阿图，索罗门群岛

in Vanuatu, in the Solomon Islands

and almost all the way around to the coast of South America and Easter Island.

都陆续出现了疫情，

一直到近南美洲群岛海岸和复活节群岛。

And then, in early 2015,

然后，2015年初期

there was an upsurge of cases of a dengue-like syndrome

在巴西东北方的纳塔尔市

类登革热疫情的病例高涨。

in the city of Natal in northeastern Brazil.

The virus wasn't dengue, it was Zika, and it spread rapidly --

传染的病毒并非登革热， 而是寨卡，并且在迅速的传播。

Recife down the coast, a big metropolitan center, soon became the epicenter.

沿岸的累西腓，作为广大的商业重镇 很快的成为了扩散的中心。

Well people have speculated that it was 2014 World Cup soccer fans

有人推测或许是因为 2014的世界足球杯的球迷

that brought the virus into the country.

将疫情带入了当地。

But others have speculated that perhaps it was Pacific Islanders

但也有人认为是因为 当年在里约所举办的

participating in championship canoe races

独木舟冠军大赛， 当中所参与的

that were held in Rio that year that brought it in.

太平洋岛上的居民们所传入的 。

Well today, this is only a year later.

至今，也才一年后。

The virus is being locally transmitted by mosquitoes

寨卡病毒已由 当地的蚊子所传播

近乎遍布了中美洲， 南美洲，墨西哥

virtually throughout South America, Central America, Mexico

以及加勒比群岛。

and the Caribbean Islands

Until this year, the many thousands of cases

一直到今年，在美国 所诊断出的上千个病例

that have been diagnosed in the US were contracted elsewhere.

都并非在美国本土遭到传染。

But as of this summer, it's being transmitted locally in Miami.

但在这个夏季为止，它正在 迈阿密当地传播。

It's here.

它在这里了。

So what do we do about it?

所以我们该如何做呢？

Well, preventing infection

要防止传染，

is either about protecting people or about eliminating the mosquitoes.

要么在于保护民众， 要么在于消灭蚊子。

Let's focus on people first.

让我们先来把焦点放在人身上。

You can get vaccinated.

你可以注射疫苗。

You can not travel to Zika areas.

你可以避免到寨卡病毒 盛行的地区。

Or you can cover up and apply insect repellent.

或者你也可以将自己包覆起来， 并且使用防蚊液。

Getting vaccinated is not an option, because there isn't a vaccine yet

疫苗行不通，因为寨卡病毒 的疫苗还并不存在，

and there probably won't be for a couple of years.

并且在近几年应该 还是如此。

Staying home isn't a foolproof protection either

待在家中也不是一个 没有漏洞的办法，

because we now know that it can be sexually transmitted.

因为我们现在知道 它可以透过性行为所传染。

包覆起来并且使用防蚊液 确实行得通....

Covering up and applying insect repellent does work ...

until you forget.

直到你忘记为止。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

So that leaves the mosquitoes, and here's how we control them now:

所以焦点转到蚊子上了， 这就是我们现今控制它们的方法：

喷洒杀虫剂。

spraying insecticides.

The protective gear is necessary because these are toxic chemicals

防护的装备是必须的， 因为存在着有毒的化学药物

足以杀死人类以及蚊虫。

that kill people as well as bugs.

Although it does take quite a lot more to kill a person than to kill a bug.

当然杀死人类所需要的量 远超过杀死蚊虫所需要的量。

These are pictures from Brazil and Nicaragua.

这些照片来自于 巴西以及尼加拉瓜。

But it looks the same in Miami, Florida.

但相同的情境也可以在 迈阿密，佛罗里达看到。

And we of course can spray insecticides from planes.

还有当然我们可以用 飞机喷洒杀虫剂。

Last summer, mosquito control officials in Dorchester County, South Carolina,

去年的夏天 南卡罗来纳 多彻斯特郡管控蚊子的人员

authorized spraying of Naled, an insecticide,

在厂商的推荐之下， 在某天的早晨，

early one morning, as recommended by the manufacturer.

喷洒了二溴磷， 一种杀虫剂。

Later that day, a beekeeper told reporters

当天下午，一名养蜂人 告诉了记者

that her bee yard looked like it had been nuked.

他的养殖蜜蜂的园区 仿佛被核武器攻击了。

Oops.

哎呀！

Bees are the good guys.

蜜蜂应该是好人啊

The citizens of Florida protested, but spraying continued.

佛罗里达州的居民虽 提出抗议，但喷洒并未停止。

Unfortunately, so did the increase in the number of Zika fever cases.

不幸的，寨卡病毒的案例 增加的数量也是如此。

那是因为，杀虫剂 并不是非常有效。

That's because insecticides aren't very effective.

So are there any approaches that are perhaps more effective than spraying

那是否有比杀虫剂来的更有效并且

but with less downsides than toxic chemicals?

比有毒的化学药物 拥有更少的缺点的方式呢？

I'm a huge fan of biological controls,

我是生物防治的爱好者，

and I share that view with Rachel Carson, author of "Silent Spring,"

而我与《寂静的春天》的作者 Rachel Carson有相同的看法，

the book that is credited with starting the environmental movement.

这本书被视为 环保运动的创始者。

In this book she tells the story, as an example,

这本书她讲述了一个故事， 以在上个世纪被消灭了

of how a very nasty insect pest of livestock

一种针对牲畜的害虫为比喻。

was eliminated in the last century.

No one knows that extraordinary story today.

在今日，这个惊奇的故事不为人知。

So Jack Block and I, when we were writing an editorial

所以Jack Block与我 在撰写一篇有关当今蚊子问题的

about the mosquito problem today, retold that story.

报导时重新讲述了那个故事。

And in capsule form, it's that pupae -- that's the immature form of the insect --

简单来说，也就是蛹—— 那是昆虫还未成熟的状态——

were irradiated until they were sterile, grown to adulthood

受到辐射直到它们失去生育能力， 等到它们进入成年期之后，

and then released from planes all over the Southwest,

再由飞机将它们释放， 遍布整个西南到东南，

the Southeast and down into Mexico and into Central America

再往下进入墨西哥， 然后中美洲。

literally by the hundreds of millions from little airplanes,

上百万只货真价实的小虫子， 从飞机上被释放，

eventually eliminating that terrible insect pest

最终将那糟糕的害虫

for most of the Western Hemisphere.

从大部分的西半球移除。

Our real purpose in writing this editorial

我们撰写这篇报导 真正的目的是要

was to introduce readers to how we can do that today --

介绍给读者 我们如何在今日做到一样的事情——

not with radiation but with our knowledge of genetics.

并不是用辐射而是 用我们对基因所有的知识。

Let me explain.

让我来说明。

This is the bad guy: Aedes aegypti.

这个是坏人：埃及伊蚊。

It's the most common insect vector of diseases,

他是最常见的由昆虫 传染疾病的带原者，

not just Zika but dengue, Chikungunya, West Nile virus

不只是寨卡，还有登革热 基孔肯雅热，西尼罗河病毒

and that ancient plague, yellow fever.

以及那古老的瘟疫，黄热病。

It's an urban mosquito,

它是一个城市型的蚊子，

and it's the female that does the dirty work.

而且是雌性在传染疾病。

She bites to get a blood meal to feed her offspring.

它会叮咬取得血 来喂养它的孩子。

雄性的蚊子不会叮咬，它们甚至连 用来叮咬的嘴部器官都没有。

Males don't bite; they don't even have the mouth parts to bite.

A little British company called Oxitec genetically modified that mosquito

一个名为Oxitec的英国小公司 基因改造了雌性的蚊子，

so that when it mates with a wild female, its eggs don't develop to adulthood.

使它们与野生的雌性蚊子交配时， 它们的卵不会发展到成年期。

Let me show you.

让我展示给你看。

This is the normal reproductive cycle.

这个是正常的生殖周期。

Oxitec designed the mosquito so that when the male mates with the wild female

Oxitec设计蚊子， 使雄性的蚊子与野生雌性蚊子交配时

the eggs don't develop.

它们的卵不会成长。

Sounds impossible?

听起来不可能？

Well let me show you just diagrammatically how they do it.

让我来用图表解释 他们如何做到的。

Now this represents the nucleus of a mosquito cell,

这个代表蚊子细胞的细胞核，

and that tangle in the middle represents its genome,

而中间的那一团 代表的是它的基因，

the sum total of its genes.

它基因的总量。

Scientists added a single gene

科学家多加了一个基因

that codes for a protein represented by this orange ball

来制造图片上那橘色球的蛋白质

that feeds back on itself to keep cranking out more of that protein.

这个蛋白质会持续的反馈给自己 来得到更多的蛋白质。

那多的复制品会弄乱蚊子的基因，

The extra copies, however, go and gum up the mosquitoes' genes,

killing the organism.

并使它灭亡。

To keep it alive in the laboratory they use a compound called tetracycline.

为了要使它在实验室存活， 他们使用一种合成物称作四环素。

Tetracycline shuts off that gene and allows normal development.

四环素会关掉那个基因， 并且允许正常的发展。

They added another little wrinkle so that they could study what happens.

他们也加了一个小机关 使他们能够研究所发生的事。

And that is they added a gene that makes the insect glow under UV light

也就是他们加了一个基因 使昆虫在UV光的照射下会发光，

so that when they released it they could follow exactly how far it went

这样昆虫被释放时，他们 能确切知道它们飞的多远，

how long it lived and all of the kinds of data

活了多久，以及各种 你需要的相关的资料

for a good scientific study.

来做完整的科学研究。

Now this is the pupal stage, and at this stage

现在这是蛹的阶段， 而在这个阶段，

the females are larger than the males.

雌性会比雄性来得大。

That allows them to sort them into the males and the females

这使得他们能够将雄性和雌性区分开来，

and they allow only the males to grow to adulthood.

并且只让雄性成长至成年期。

And let me remind you that males don't bite.

让我再次提醒你， 雌性不会叮咬。

From there it's pretty simple.

从这里， 一切变的非常简单。

They take beakers full of male mosquitoes,

他们拿着充满蚊子的烧杯，

load them into milk cartons, and drive around the city,

放进牛奶箱 然后开车绕着市区，

releasing them guided by GPS.

并且根据GPS 将它们释放。

Here's the mayor of a city releasing the first batch

这是一个市区的市长 释放第一批

of what they call the "friendly Aedes."

他们所说的 “友善伊蚊“。

Now I wish I could tell you this is an American city, but it's not.

我希望我能跟你说 这是一个美国的城市但并不是。

It's Piracicaba, Brazil.

这是巴西的皮拉西卡巴。

The amazing thing is that in just a year

最惊奇的事情是 在仅仅一年的时间里，

it brought down the cases of dengue by 91 percent.

登革热的案例 下降了百分之九十一。

That's better than any insecticide spraying can do.

那比喷洒任何杀虫剂 所得到的成果好许多。

So why aren't we using this remarkable biological control in the US?

所以我们为何不在美国 使用这个卓越的生物防治方法呢？

That's because it's a GMO: a genetically modified organism.

那是因为它是一个GMO， 一个基因改造的生物。

Notice the subtitle here says if the FDA would let them

注意副题中写到 如果FDA允许它们的话

they could do the same thing here, when Zika arrives.

当寨卡来到时， 它们可以在这里同样的事情。

And of course it has arrived.

当然寨卡的确来了。

So now I have to tell you the short form

所以现在我必须告诉你 有关美国基因改造规范

of the long, torturous story of GM regulation in the US

又长，又折磨人故事的简短版。

In the US, there are three agencies that regulate genetically modified organisms:

在美国，有三个机构 来管理基因改造的生物，

the FDA, the Food and Drug Administration,

FDA ，食品药物管理局，

the EPA, the Environmental Protection Agency,

EPA，国家环境保护局，

and the USDA, US Department of Agriculture.

以及 USDA，美国农业部。

Took these folks two years to decide that it would be the FDA

这些人花了两年的时间 才决定由食品药物管理局

that would regulate the genetically modified mosquito.

来管理基因改造的蚊子，

And they would do it as a new animal drug, if that makes any sense.

并且他们将它看成一种新的动物药品，

这根本没有意义。

Took them another five years going back and forth and back and forth

他们又花了五年的时间，来来回回，

to convince the FDA that this would not harm people,

说服了FDA这不会对人类有害，

and it would not harm the environment.

也不会对环境有害。

They finally gave them, this summer, permission to run a little test

在这个夏天，他们终于被允许 在佛罗里达礁岛群做一個小小的测试，

in the Florida Keys,

where they had been invited years earlier when they Keys had an outbreak of dengue.

在几年前登革热爆发的时候， 他们就被邀请这么做了。

Would that it were that easy.

如果这么简单就好了。

When the local residents heard

在当地的居民听到，

that there would be genetically modified mosquitoes tested in their community

会有基因改造的蚊子被释放到 他们的社区试验时，

some of them began to organize protests.

部分的居民就开始组织抗议行动。

They even organized a petition on the internet with this cuddly logo,

他们甚至在网上组织了一个请愿书， 还有这个可爱的标志，

which eventually accumulated some 160,000 signatures

最终获得了160000个签名。

And they demanded a referendum

他们要求公投， 而且会在几个礼拜内举行，

which will be conducted in just a couple of weeks

about whether the trials would be permitted at all.

这有关测试是否应该被批准。

Well it's Miami that really needs these better ways of controlling insects.

但其实是迈阿密才真正需要 这些比较好的方法来控制蚊虫。

And there the attitudes are changing.

那里的态度也在转变。

In fact, very recently a bipartisan group of more than 60 legislators

事实上，最近一个包含60 多个立法者的两党组织

wrote to HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell

写信给HSS部长Sylvia Burwell

asking that she, at the Federal level, expedite access for Florida

请求他，在联邦的层级 加速佛罗里达得到

to this new technology.

这项新科技。

So the bottom line is this:

所以结论是：

biological control of harmful insects

利用生物控制来控制害虫

can be both more effective and very much more environmentally friendly

可以比使用杀虫剂， 也就是有毒的化学药物

than using insecticides, which are toxic chemicals.

来的有效，并且也 显著的对环境比较友善。

That was true in Rachel Carson's time; it's true today.

这在Rachel Carson的时代是正确的， 在我们的时代也是。

What's different is that we have enormously more information

不一样的是我们比那时的我们

拥有更多有关基因的知识，

about genetics than we had then,

and therefore more ability to use that information

也因此我们拥有更多的能力 运用那些信息，

to affect these biological controls.

来影响控制这些生物。

And I hope that what I've done is aroused your curiosity enough

我希望我有引起你的好奇心， 使得你开始

to start your own inquiry -- not into just GM mosquitoes

有你自己的疑问—— 不只是对于基因改造的蚊子，

but to the other genetically modified organisms that are so controversial today.

而是还有对于在今日 备受争议的其他基因改造生物。

I think if you do that, and you dig down through all of the misinformation,

我想如果你这么做， 并且你向下挖掘所有的错误信息

and the marketing

以及有机食品产业和绿色和平等的

on the part of the organic food industry and the Greenpeaces

营销手段，

and find the science, the accurate science,

找寻科学， 那真实的科学，

you'll be surprised and pleased.

你会感到惊讶以及满意。

Thank you.

谢谢。

(Applause)

（掌声）