How you can make a fruit fly eat veggies | DIY Neuroscience, a TED series

79,148 views ・ 2018-09-15

TED


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00:00
Translator: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Krystian Aparta
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翻译人员: Cecilia Zhang 校对人员: Jiasi Hao
00:12
Greg Gage: It's an age-old pursuit of all parents,
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格雷格 · 盖奇(Greg Gage): 长久以来,所有家长使尽浑身解数,
00:14
getting their kids to eat their vegetables.
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就为了让孩子吃蔬菜,
00:16
But getting them to eat cookies or ice cream
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但是让他们吃饼干和冰淇凌
00:18
is relatively easy,
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却容易得多。
00:20
and that's because our brains prefer sweetness.
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这是因为我们的大脑偏爱甜食。
00:22
Now, there's a new technology called optogenetics
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一项新的技术,“光遗传学”,
00:24
which may be able to trick our taste buds,
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或许可以迷惑我们的味蕾,
00:26
for instance preferring vegetables over sweets.
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比如,让我们更喜欢蔬菜而非甜食。
00:29
We're going to try this today using fruit flies.
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今天我们要用果蝇来做实验。
00:32
[DIY Neuroscience]
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[ DIY 神经科学 ]
00:35
The reason why we experiment with fruit flies
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我们选果蝇来做实验的原因是
00:37
is they have a small enough nervous system
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它们的神经系统很小,
00:39
that gives us a fighting chance to really understand what's going on.
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从而能让我们有一丝机会 去理解其中的神经运作机制。
00:42
And believe it or not, their taste buds are very similar to ours.
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并且随便你信不信, 它们的味蕾和我们的十分相似。
00:45
But before we try to manipulate their taste preferences,
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不过,在操纵它们的口味偏好前,
00:48
we need to establish: What is the baseline of the fruit fly?
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我们要先明白: 果蝇基准偏好是什么?
00:51
What does it prefer?
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它们原本喜欢什么味道?
00:52
We call this a control experiment.
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我们称之为一组对照试验——
00:54
Spencer's been hard at work doing this.
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就像斯宾塞正努力做的实验。
00:56
OK, Spencer, let's do our first experiment.
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斯宾塞,让我们来做第一个实验。
00:58
We want to test to see if fruit flies prefer bananas or broccoli.
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我们想测试果蝇 更喜欢香蕉还是西兰花,
01:01
So what do we need?
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那我们需要准备些什么呢?
01:03
Spencer Brown: So we need the fly pad, which is basically an iPad for flies.
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斯宾塞 · 布朗(Spencer Brown): 我们需要一个果蝇平板,类似果蝇的 iPad,
01:07
It measures the touch.
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它能够感应并测量触摸。
01:08
GG: You put a fly in each chamber?
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GG:你在每个格子里放一只果蝇吗?
01:10
SB: Yeah. Inside, we'll offer them banana and broccoli
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SB:对。在每个格子里我们 也会给它们提供香蕉和西兰花,
01:13
to see which one they prefer.
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看看它们更喜欢哪个。
01:14
GG: In order to count how many times
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GG:为了统计果蝇
01:16
the fruit fly eats a banana versus the broccoli,
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吃香蕉和西兰花的次数,
01:18
these chambers have been outfitted with a small electrode
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每个格子都装备了一个小电极,
01:21
that sends data to a computer.
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能把信号数据传回电脑。
01:23
And so what were your findings on banana versus broccoli?
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所以,在这个实验中 你的发现是什么?
01:26
SB: I found that the flies visited banana the most.
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SB:我发现这些果蝇 吃香蕉的次数更多。
01:29
GG: Both were there, but like most kids,
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GG:两种食物都在那里, 但是像很多孩子一样,
01:30
they choose not to eat the broccoli, and they go switch to something sweeter.
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它们也选择不吃西兰花, 而是转向更甜的食物。
01:35
GG: Now a quick background on how taste works.
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GG:让我们简单介绍一下 味觉的原理。
01:37
Taste buds are made up of specialized neurons
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味蕾是由一种叫“味觉感受器”的
01:39
called taste receptors.
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特殊神经元组成的。
01:40
When we eat something that triggers a particular taste,
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我们吃东西的时候 会触发一种特定的味觉,
01:43
those taste neurons will fire a signal to the brain.
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这些相应的味觉感受器随之 会向大脑发送信号,
01:46
This allows our brain to know what's sweet and what's bitter.
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于是大脑便可以知道 什么是甜的,什么是苦的。
01:49
So when a fruit fly eats a banana, its sweet taste neurons will fire.
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所以当果蝇吃香蕉时, 它的甜味感受器就会发送信号。
01:52
But when it eats broccoli, those same neurons stay pretty quiet.
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而吃西兰花的时候, 这些神经元就会保持相对稳定。
01:55
But what if we could force those sweet-tasting neurons to fire
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但是如果我们可以 在果蝇吃西兰花的时候
01:58
every time the fruit fly eats broccoli?
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强制刺激甜味感受器发送信号, 那会怎么样?
02:00
We may be able to get the fruit fly
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我们有可能让果蝇
02:02
to like broccoli as much as banana.
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像喜欢香蕉一样喜欢西兰花。
02:04
Enter optogenetics.
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“光遗传学”(Optogenetics),
02:05
This is the revolutionary new tool that's taking neuroscience by storm,
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这个革命性的新技术 正在席卷神经科学领域。
02:08
and in this case, "opto" means light
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这里,“opto” 是光的意思,
02:11
and "genetic" refers to the fact that these fruit flies have been modified
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“genetic” 则表示果蝇 被一种特殊的基因修改。
02:14
to contain a special gene that makes only certain neurons respond to light.
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这种基因只让某些特定的神经元 对光线作出反应。
02:18
In our case, we've added the special gene to the sweet taste receptors.
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因此我们的实验中,我们 在甜味感受器中嵌入了这种特殊基因。
02:22
Now here's the fun part.
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接下来就非常有趣了。
02:23
Optogenetics means that we can control these special neurons
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光遗传意味着 我们可以让神经元
02:27
whenever they're exposed to a bright-colored light,
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在受到明亮颜色的光线照射时
02:29
causing them to send messages to the brain.
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向大脑发出信号。
02:31
In this experiment, we're going to have these modified fruit flies
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在这个实验中,我们要 让这些被修改的果蝇
02:35
choose between banana and broccoli again,
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再次在香蕉和西兰花中 做出选择。
02:37
only this time, every time the fruit fly eats the broccoli,
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但是这一次, 每当果蝇吃西兰花时,
02:39
we're going to trigger a big bright red light.
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我们会设计 触发一个高亮度的红灯。
02:42
And when the channels see that red light, they're going to open up,
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甜味感受器上的通道 受到这种光照射时就会打开,
02:45
and they're going to cause that neuron to fire,
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使神经元进入兴奋状态,
02:47
and the sweet taste message will be sent to the brain.
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甜味信息传送至大脑。
02:50
How do you get them out?
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你怎么把果蝇弄出来呢?
02:51
SB: So we're going to be using a mouth aspirator,
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SB:我们要用一个口抽吸器——
02:53
so it's just two straws put together.
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就只是把两根吸管拼一起。
02:55
GG: So it's a fancy name for a straw.
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GG:说白了还是吸管。
02:57
SB: Basically.
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SB:差不多吧。
02:58
GG: So you're going to suck those out.
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GG:所以你要把它们吸出来。
03:01
Have you ever sucked up a fly before?
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你以前吸过果蝇吗?
03:03
SB: Once or twice.
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SB:一两次吧。
03:10
GG: There we go. You got all four.
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GG:好了,四个都出来了,
03:12
OK, perfect.
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完美。
03:13
So you're going to turn on your OptoStimmers here.
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现在你在电脑上 打开 OptoStimmer 软件,
03:15
You're going to park the light right on top of the chambers.
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再把光源放在这些格子的正上方,
03:18
So now we sit here and we wait for them to eat broccoli,
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然后我们坐在这里 等它们吃西兰花。
03:21
and then when the light fires,
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现在每当灯一亮起来,
03:23
they're going to think it's tasting something sweet.
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它们就会认为自己在吃甜的东西。
03:26
Come on. Oh, he's getting closer.
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快啊,哦!它要过去了,
03:28
Come on. It tastes good now.
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快点,现在西兰花变好吃了。
03:30
SB: It's about to.
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SB:快了。
03:31
GG: Oh, he's back. All right!
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GG:哦,它进去了。太好了!
03:33
All right, so now we see that some of these flies
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现在我们看到,其中一些果蝇
03:36
are switching over from the banana to the broccoli.
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从吃香蕉 变成了吃西兰花。
03:39
SB: Exactly, yeah.
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SB:对,没错。
03:40
GG: Every time this light goes off,
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GG:每当这个灯亮起来,
03:42
that means that they think they're tasting something sweet.
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它们会认为自己在吃甜的东西。
03:45
SB: Yeah. So this guy's really going after it.
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SB:对,它们真的很喜欢甜食。
03:47
GG: So we saw that we were able to rescue broccoli
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GG:我们看到,对于果蝇, 我们可以让西兰花
03:49
and make it just as appealing as banana to our fruit flies.
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变得和香蕉一样诱人。
03:52
And we're able to replicate these same results
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我们所有的实验,
03:54
in all of our experiments.
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我们都能够复制这一实验结果。
03:56
So the question is: Can we do the same thing in humans?
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现在的问题是:这适用于人类吗?
03:58
Well, that depends on a number of items.
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这取决于很多条件。
04:00
First, do optogenetic tools even work in humans?
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首先,光遗传工具对人类 真的有用吗?
04:04
And that looks like the answer is yes,
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这个答案看起来是肯定的,
04:06
and in fact, clinical trials are already being planned
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实际上,已经研究人员 计划在临床试验中
04:08
that will treat chronic pain and blindness using optogenetics.
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使用光遗传治疗慢性痛症和失明。
04:12
And the next question is, can we easily trigger a light source
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下一个问题是, 我们能不能在某人吃蔬菜的时候
04:15
so that every time we eat vegetables, it will go off?
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触发一处光源?
04:17
For that, I'm afraid at least at this time, the answer is still no.
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目前来看,这可能无法做到。
04:21
But today, we got to witness just a taste of optogenetics
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但如今,我们已经能够 浅尝光遗传学应用带来的好处,
04:24
and its amazing potential.
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并预见其格外光明的前景。
04:26
(Music)
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(音乐)
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