Ellen Jorgensen: Biohacking -- you can do it, too

Translator: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Morton Bast

翻译人员: dahong zhang 校对人员: JIN Huiying

It's a great time to be a molecular biologist. (Laughter)

时下，当一名分子生物学家真是太美妙了（笑声）

Reading and writing DNA code is getting easier

读写DNA密码越来越简单

and cheaper.

也越来便宜

By the end of this year, we'll be able to sequence

今年底，我们就能

the three million bits of information

在不到一天的时间里

in your genome in less than a day

排列出你体内基因组内包含的三百万比特的信息

and for less than 1,000 euros.

而这只花不到1000欧元

Biotech is probably the most powerful

生物科技可能是整个科技领域

and the fastest-growing technology sector.

最强大，发展最快的一个分支

It has the power, potentially,

它极有可能

to replace our fossil fuels,

取代化石燃料

to revolutionize medicine,

彻底革新医学药品

and to touch every aspect of our daily lives.

影响我们日常生活的方方面面

So who gets to do it?

那么谁会让这些成为现实呢？

I think we'd all be pretty comfortable with

我觉得可能我们比较愿意

this guy doing it.

让这个人来做

But what about

那这个人

that guy? (Laughter)

如何？（笑声）

(Laughter)

（笑声）

In 2009, I first heard about DIYbio.

2009年，我第一次听说“DIY(自己动手)生物学”

It's a movement that -- it advocates making biotechnology

这是一场旨在

accessible to everyone,

让每个人都能接触生物科技的运动

not just scientists and people in government labs.

而不仅仅是科学家和政府实验室的工作人员

The idea is that if you open up the science

这一运动的理念在于，如果你真正开放科学探索

and you allow diverse groups to participate,

并让各行各业的人参与进来

it could really stimulate innovation.

将会激发真正的创新

Putting technology in the hands of the end user

让最终消费者去接触科技

is usually a good idea because they've got the best idea

是一个很好的想法，因为他们最清楚

of what their needs are.

自己的需求是什么

And here's this really sophisticated technology

当一些复杂难懂的科技

coming down the road, all these associated

出现在市面上，并引发相关的

social, moral, ethical questions,

社会、道德、伦理问题

and we scientists are just lousy at explaining to the public

科学家们只能不厌其烦地向公众解释

just exactly what it is we're doing in those labs.

我们在这样的实验室里已经做过的事情

So wouldn't it be nice

如果

if there was a place in your local neighborhood

你家附近有个地方

where you could go and learn about this stuff,

可以了解这些东西

do it hands-on?

还能亲身实践，不是很好吗？

I thought so.

我觉得这样很好

So, three years ago, I got together

所以，三年前我

with some friends of mine who had similar aspirations

同一些有类似想法的朋友一起

and we founded Genspace.

建立了Genspace

It's a nonprofit, a community biotech lab

它是个非营利社区性质的生物科技实验室

in Brooklyn, New York,

位于纽约布鲁克林

and the idea was people could come,

它的理念是人们可以过来

they could take classes and putter around in the lab

在开放友好的气氛中

in a very open, friendly atmosphere.

上上课，在实验室里做些小实验

None of my previous experience prepared me

我之前所有的经历

for what came next. Can you guess?

都不足以让我预知接下来发生了什么。你能猜得到吗？

The press started calling us.

媒体开始给我们打电话

And the more we talked about how great it was to increase

我们想谈提高科学素质是多么好的一件事

science literacy, the more they wanted to talk

而他们却想谈

about us creating the next Frankenstein,

我们将会创造出下一个科学怪人（小说《弗兰肯斯坦》：主人公成功地创造出人工生命，但最终与其同归与尽）

and as a result, for the next six months,

结果，接下来的半年里

when you Googled my name,

在Google上搜索我名字的时候

instead of getting my scientific papers, you got this.

搜到的不是我的科技论文

["Am I a biohazard?"]

而是[“我是个生化危机源”？]

(Laughter)

（笑声）

It was pretty depressing.

我特别沮丧

The only thing that got us through that period

支撑着我们挺过那段时期的唯一的东西

was that we knew that all over the world,

就是我们知道，在世界的其他地方

there were other people that were trying to do

也有人试着

the same thing that we were.

在做跟我们一样的事情

They were opening biohacker spaces, and some of them

这就是早期的生物黑客

were facing much greater challenges than we did,

他们中一些人面临着比我们更大的压力

more regulations, less resources.

更多的限制和更少的资源

But now, three years later, here's where we stand.

但如今，三年后，我们已经发展成这样

It's a vibrant, global community of hackerspaces,

（Genspace）成为了一个生机勃勃的全球生物黑客社区

and this is just the beginning.

而这仅仅只是个开始

These are some of the biggest ones,

这些只是稍大型的黑客空间

and there are others opening every day.

每天都有其他的在新开放

There's one probably going to open up in Moscow,

在莫斯科可能会开放一个

one in South Korea,

在韩国也会有一个

and the cool thing is they each have their own

有意思的是它们每一个

individual flavor

都有自己独特的特色

that grew out of the community they came out of.

这种特色根植于本土社区

Let me take you on a little tour.

让我带着大家看一看

Biohackers work alone.

独自工作的生物黑客

We work in groups,

一起工作的

in big cities — (Laughter) —

在大城市（笑声）

and in small villages.

小村庄

We reverse engineer lab equipment.

设计工程实验室设备

We genetically engineer bacteria.

用遗传基因的方法制造细菌

We hack hardware,

我们发掘研究硬件

software,

软件

wetware,

湿件（计算机专家用语, 指软件、硬件以外的"件", 即人脑）

and, of course, the code of life.

当然还有生命的密码

We like to build things.

我们喜欢造东西

Then we like to take things apart.

又喜欢拆东西

We make things grow.

我们让生物生长

We make things glow.

让物体发光

And we make cells dance.

让细胞跳舞

The spirit of these labs, it's open, it's positive,

这些实验室的氛围是开放的，积极的

but, you know, sometimes when people think of us,

但你知道，有时人们想到我们

the first thing that comes to mind is bio-safety,

第一个念头就是生物安全

bio-security, all the dark side stuff.

以及其它黑暗的方面

I'm not going to minimize those concerns.

我不会试着去打消这些顾虑

Any powerful technology is inherently dual use,

因为任何强大科技的作用，生来都是两面性的

and, you know, you get something like

如果你对

synthetic biology, nanobiotechnology,

合成生物学，纳米生物科技这种东西

it really compels you, you have to look at both

真正感兴趣，就必须

the amateur groups but also the professional groups,

同时关注相关业余爱好群体和专业人士

because they have better infrastructure,

因为他们（专业人士）有更好的基础设施

they have better facilities,

更好的设备

and they have access to pathogens.

也能直接接触病原体

So the United Nations did just that, and they recently

联合国就是这样做的。最近

issued a report on this whole area,

他们就整个生物科技领域发布了一份报告

and what they concluded was the power of this technology

并得出结论，这种科技的影响

for positive was much greater than the risk for negative,

积极意义要远远大于消极意义

and they even looked specifically at the DIYbio community,

他们还特意强调了DIY生物学这一领域

and they noted, not surprisingly, that the press

指出媒体一直有一种

had a tendency to consistently overestimate our capabilities

高估我们的能力

and underestimate our ethics.

而低估我们的道德水准的倾向

As a matter of fact, DIY people from all over the world,

事实上，来自世界各地

America, Europe, got together last year,

包括美洲，欧洲的DIY生物学家去年已经在去年

and we hammered out a common code of ethics.

共同敲定了我们的道德准则

That's a lot more than conventional science has done.

而传统科学却没有做到这一点

Now, we follow state and local regulations.

我们遵循国家和地区的规定

We dispose of our waste properly, we follow

合理处置废料垃圾

safety procedures, we don't work with pathogens.

遵守安全细则，不使用病原体

You know, if you're working with a pathogen,

如果你使用了病原体

you're not part of the biohacker community,

你就不是生物黑客社区的一份子

you're part of the bioterrorist community, I'm sorry.

你就是生物恐怖分子社区的成员，抱歉

And sometimes people ask me,

有时候有人问我

"Well, what about an accident?"

"那么万一发生事故怎么办？"

Well, working with the safe organisms that we normally

我可以这样说，使用常规安全的生物体

work with, the chance of an accident happening

事故发生的几率

with somebody accidentally creating, like,

就像不小心创造出

some sort of superbug,

某种超级细菌一样

that's literally about as probable as a snowstorm

就同一场暴雪

in the middle of the Sahara Desert.

降临在沙哈拉沙漠正中一样小

Now, it could happen,

它确实有可能发生

but I'm not going to plan my life around it.

但我不打算为这种事担扰

I've actually chosen to take a different kind of risk.

我实际上准备冒另一种“风险”

I signed up for something called the Personal Genome Project.

我签署了一个叫Personal Genome(个人基因)的项目

It's a study at Harvard where, at the end of the study,

它是一项在哈佛大学进行的项目，

they're going to take my entire genomic sequence,

研究结束后，我所有的基因序列

all of my medical information, and my identity,

医疗信息，个人身份

and they're going to post it online for everyone to see.

都会由他们公布在网络上，所有人都能看到

There were a lot of risks involved that they talked about

在知情同意环节时

during the informed consent portion.

他们谈论了很多可能遇到的风险

The one I liked the best is,

我最喜欢的一个是

someone could download my sequence, go back to the lab,

有人下载了我们基因序列，回到实验室

synthesize some fake Ellen DNA,

合成一个假Ellen的DNA

and plant it at a crime scene. (Laughter)

然后放在一个犯罪现场里（笑声）

But like DIYbio, the positive outcomes and

但像DIY生物学一样，我相信它正面的结果

the potential for good for a study like that

以及为带来研究的益处

far outweighs the risk.

还是超过了风险

Now, you might be asking yourself,

也许你会自问

"Well, you know, what would I do in a biolab?"

“在生物实验室我都能做些什么？”

Well, it wasn't that long ago we were asking, "Well,

不久前类似的问题也有过

what would anyone do with a personal computer?"

“人们用电脑都能做些什么？”

So this stuff is just beginning.

所以，这仅仅是个开始

We're only seeing just the tip of the DNA iceberg.

我们只是瞥见了DNA的冰山一角

Let me show you what you could do right now.

让我告诉你你现在能做些什么

A biohacker in Germany, a journalist, wanted to know

一位德国的生物黑客，也是个记者，他想知道

whose dog was leaving little presents on his street?

谁家的狗在他家附近的街道上留下了“小礼物”

(Laughter) (Applause)

（笑声）（掌声）

Yep, you guessed it. He threw tennis balls

你们猜对了！他向

to all the neighborhood dogs, analyzed the saliva,

所有邻居家的狗扔网球，分析唾液成分

identified the dog, and confronted the dog owner.

找到了那只狗，并向主人说明了情况

(Laughter) (Applause)

（笑声）（掌声）

I discovered an invasive species in my own backyard.

我在我家后院发现了一只“入侵物种”

Looked like a ladybug, right?

看上去像只瓢虫，是吗？

It actually is a Japanese beetle.

其实是只日本金龟子

And the same kind of technology --

同样的

it's called DNA barcoding, it's really cool --

这种叫做DNA条形码的技术，真的很酷--

You can use it to check if your caviar is really beluga,

你可以通过它确认你吃的是不是真正的白鲟鱼鱼子酱

if that sushi is really tuna, or if that goat cheese

是不是真的金枪鱼寿司，或者

that you paid so much for is really goat's.

你花了大价钱买到的山羊乳干酪是不是真的山羊乳

In a biohacker space, you can analyze your genome

作为一名生物黑客

for mutations.

你可以分析你有没有基因上的变异

You can analyze your breakfast cereal for GMO's,

你可以分析你早餐麦片里的转基因成分

and you can explore your ancestry.

你还可以探索你的祖先，血统

You can send weather balloons up into the stratosphere,

把气象气球发送到平流层

collect microbes, see what's up there.

采集微生物，看看里面有什么

You can make a biocensor out of yeast

你可以用酵母当做生物传感器

to detect pollutants in water.

来检测水污染

You can make some sort of a biofuel cell.

合成某种生物燃料细胞

You can do a lot of things.

你可以做无数的事情

You can also do an art science project. Some of these

你还可以进行艺术科学项目

are really spectacular, and they look at social,

有些项目真的很赞

ecological problems from a completely different perspective.

从完全不同的角度审视社会和生态问题

It's really cool.

真的很酷

Some people ask me, well, why am I involved?

有人会问，为什么我要参与这种事儿？

I could have a perfectly good career in mainstream science.

我可以在主流科学行业里有很好的工作

The thing is, there's something in these labs

问题关键是，在这样的实验室里

that they have to offer society that you can't find

有些东西是你在别处找不到的

anywhere else.

有些东西是你在别处找不到的

There's something sacred about a space where

黑客空间有好的一面，就是

you can work on a project, and you don't have to justify

你可以开展项目

to anyone that it's going to make a lot of money,

而无须向任何人解释“它会带来丰厚的利润”

that it's going to save mankind, or even that it's feasible.

无须向任何人解释“它会拯救人类”，甚至“它能够行得通”

It just has to follow safety guidelines.

只要遵循安全规定（操作项目）

If you had spaces like this all over the world,

如果在世界各地都有这样的地方

it could really change the perception

那将会真正改变人们对于

of who's allowed to do biotech.

“谁才有资格接触生物科技”这一问题的观念

It's spaces like these that spawned personal computing.

就是这样的地方，推动了个人电脑的应用和传播

Why not personal biotech?

所以为什么不能让个人生物科技也如此呢？

If everyone in this room got involved,

如果在场的每个人都参与进来

who knows what we could do?

谁都想象不到我们能够做到什么

This is such a new area, and as we say back in Brooklyn,

这是个全新的领域，正如刚才提到布鲁克林时我讲到的

you ain't seen nothin' yet. (Laughter)

还有更厉害的呢。（笑声）

(Applause)

（掌声）