Emma Teeling: The secret of the bat genome

Translator: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Morton Bast

翻译人员: Ben Peng 校对人员: Wei Wu

What I want you all to do right now

我现在想你们所有人做的

is to think of this mammal that I'm going to describe to you.

是想象一下我将要和你们谈的这种哺乳动物。

The first thing I'm going to tell you about this mammal

关于这种动物我首先要告诉你们的

is that it is essential for our ecosystems to function correctly.

是它对于我们生态系统的正常运转是必不可少的。

If we remove this mammal from our ecosystems,

如果我们从生态系统中除去这种动物，

they simply will not work.

生态系统会运转失灵。

That's the first thing.

这是第一点。

The second thing is that due to the unique sensory abilities

第二是因为这种动物拥有的独特感知能力

of this mammal, if we study this mammal,

如果我们研究这种动物，

we're going to get great insight into our diseases

我们就可以深入了解我们的感官疾病

of the senses, such as blindness and deafness.

比如失明和失聪。

And the third really intriguing aspect of this mammal

这种动物第三个非常奇妙的方面是

is that I fully believe that the secret of everlasting youth

我完全相信青春常驻的秘密

lies deep within its DNA.

就隐藏在这种动物的DNA(脱氧核糖核酸)里。

So are you all thinking?

你们想的是什么？

So,

那么

magnificent creature, isn't it?

神奇的生物，是吗？

Who here thought of a bat?

在座有想到蝙蝠的吗？

Ah, I can see half the audience agrees with me,

哈，有一半观众和我想的一样，

and I have a lot of work to do to convince the rest of you.

我还要努力说服在座的其他人。

So I have had the good fortune for the past 20 years

我非常幸运地在过去20年里

to study these fascinating and beautiful mammals.

研究这些让人着迷的美丽的哺乳动物。

One fifth of all living mammals is a bat,

现存的哺乳动物中有五分之一是蝙蝠，

and they have very unique attributes.

它们有非常独特的属性。

Bats as we know them have been around on this planet

据我们所知蝙蝠已经在这个星球上繁衍了

for about 64 million years.

大概六千四百万年。

One of the most unique things that bats do

蝙蝠其中一个最独特的地方在于

as a mammal is that they fly.

它们作为哺乳动物却可以飞行。

Now flight is an inherently difficult thing.

飞行是一件本质上很困难的事情。

Flight within vertebrates has only evolved three times:

飞行在脊椎动物中只进化过三次：

once in the bats, once in the birds,

一次在蝙蝠中， 一次在鸟类中，

and once in the pterodactyls.

还有一次在翼龙中。

And so with flight, it's very metabolically costly.

而且飞行对新陈代谢的消耗是很高的。

Bats have learned and evolved how to deal with this.

蝙蝠习得如何飞行并进化成擅长飞行。

But one other extremely unique thing about bats

但蝙蝠还有另一个奇特的地方

is that they are able to use sound

那就是它们能够运用声音

to perceive their environment. They use echolocation.

感知周围环境。它们用回声定位。

Now, what I mean by echolocation --

我所说的回声定位是指

they emit a sound from their larynx out through their mouth

蝙蝠用喉咙发出声音经过嘴巴

or through their nose. This sound wave comes out

或经过鼻子。声波发射出去

and it reflects and echoes back off objects in their environment,

声波碰到周围的物体反射返回，

and the bats then hear these echoes

蝙蝠便会听到这些回声

and they turn this information into an acoustic image.

它们把这些信息转变成声像图。

And this enables them to orient in complete darkness.

这就足以让他们在一片漆黑中定位。

Indeed, they do look very strange. We're humans.

确实，它们看起来很奇怪。我们是人类

We're a visual species. When scientists first realized

我们是视觉物种。当科学家们第一次意识到

that bats were actually using sound to be able to fly

蝙蝠竟然凭借声音来飞行

and orient and move at night, we didn't believe it.

并能在夜间定位和移动，我们无法相信。

For a hundred years, despite evidence to show

近一百年里，尽管证据显示

that this is what they were doing, we didn't believe it.

蝙蝠确实是这样的，我们还是不能相信。

Now, if you look at this bat, it looks a little bit alien.

如果你看一下这只蝙蝠，它看起来有点异类。

Indeed, the very famous philosopher Thomas Nagel

事实上，非常著名的哲学家托马斯‧内格尔（Thomas Nagel）

once said, "To truly experience an alien life form

曾经说过 “要真正体验这个星球上异类的生命形态

on this planet, you should lock yourself inside a room

你应该把自己关在房间里

with a flying, echolocating bat in complete darkness."

在完全黑暗中和一只飞行的 靠回声定位的蝙蝠在一起。”

And if you look at the actual physical characteristics

如果你看看蝙蝠的实体特征

on the face of this beautiful horseshoe bat,

看看这只漂亮菊头蝠的脸，

you see a lot of these characteristics are dedicated

你会看到很多特征都有助于

to be able to make sound and perceive it.

它们发出声音，察觉声音。

Very big ears, strange nose leaves, but teeny-tiny eyes.

很大的耳朵，奇怪的鼻叶，非常小的眼睛。

So again, if you just look at this bat, you realize

所以如果你看到蝙蝠的样子，你会意识到

sound is very important for its survival.

声音对于它的生存而言是很重要的。

Most bats look like the previous one.

大部分的蝙蝠看起来都像之前的那一只。

However, there are a group that do not use echolocation.

然而有一种蝙蝠不用回声定位。

They do not perceive their environment using sound,

它们不是用声音来感知环境，

and these are the flying foxes.

它们是飞狐。

If anybody has ever been lucky enough to be in Australia,

如果有人有幸到过澳大利亚，

you've seen them coming out of the Botanic Gardens in Sydney,

你可以在悉尼的植物园看到它们，

and if you just look at their face, you can see

如果你看看它们的脸，你可以看到

they have much, much larger eyes and much smaller ears.

它们有着更大的眼睛和更小的耳朵。

So among and within bats is a huge variation

所以蝙蝠种群

in their ability to use sensory perception.

在运用感观知觉的能力上存在很大的变异。

Now this is going to be important for what I'm going

这点很重要

to tell you later during the talk.

我下面的演讲也会提到。

Now, if the idea of bats in your belfry terrifies you,

如果想到钟楼里的蝙蝠会让你害怕，

and I know some people probably are feeling a little sick

我知道也许有人在看到大幅的蝙蝠图像时

looking at very large images of bats,

会觉得有些不舒服

that's probably not that surprising,

那也许并不是什么让人惊讶的事，

because here in Western culture,

因为在我们西方文化里，

bats have been demonized.

蝙蝠已经被妖魔化。

Really, of course the famous book "Dracula,"

真的，当然那本有名的《德库拉》

written by a fellow Northside Dubliner Bram Stoker,

北都柏林的布莱姆•斯托克所写的书

probably is mainly responsible for this.

也许该对此负上主要责任。

However, I also think it's got to do with the fact

然后，我也认为这和事实上

that bats come out at night, and we don't

蝙蝠在晚上出来活动也有关系，我们并不

really understand them. We're a little frightened by things

真正懂得它们。我们有一点害怕

that can perceive the world slightly differently than us.

那些和我们使用不同方式感知世界的生物。

Bats are usually synonymous with some type of evil events.

蝙蝠常常是某些邪恶事情的同义词。

They are the perpetrators in horror movies,

它们是恐怖电影里面的作恶者，

such as this famous "Nightwing."

比如这部有名的“夜翼”。

Also, if you think about it, demons

如果你想一想，恶魔

always have bat wings, whereas birds, they typically --

通常有蝙蝠翼，而鸟类就不同

or angels have bird wings.

天使通常有鸟翼。

Now, this is Western society, and what I hope to do tonight

这是西方社会的情况，我希望在今晚

is to convince you of the Chinese traditional culture,

说服你们，在中国传统文化中，

that they perceive bats as

他们把蝙蝠看作

creatures that bring good luck, and indeed, if you walk

可以带来好运气的生物。确实，如果你走进

into a Chinese home, you may see an image such as this.

一个中国家庭，你可能会看到这样一幅图。

This is considered the Five Blessings.

这被认为是五福临门。

The Chinese word for "bat" sounds like the Chinese word

汉字“蝠”听起来就像汉字

for "happiness," and they believe that bats

“福”，他们相信蝙蝠

bring wealth, health, longevity, virtue and serenity.

带来富贵，康宁，长寿，好德，善终。

And indeed, in this image, you have a picture of longevity

确实在这幅图中，你看到长寿

surrounded by five bats.

被五只蝙蝠所包围。

And what I want to do tonight is to talk to you

所以今晚我想对你们说的是

and to show you that at least three of these blessings

想向你们展示的是这些福中至少三个

are definitely represented by a bat, and that if we study bats

确实可以由蝙蝠所代表。如果我们研究蝙蝠

we will get nearer to getting each of these blessings.

我们就越能靠近这三个福。

So, wealth -- how can a bat possibly bring us wealth?

首先，财富，蝙蝠怎么可能给我们带来财富呢？

Now as I said before, bats are essential for our ecosystems

正如我之前所说，蝙蝠对我们生态系统的

to function correctly. And why is this?

正常运转必不可少。为什么会这样？

Bats in the tropics are major pollinators of many plants.

热带地区的蝙蝠是许多植物的传粉者。

They also feed on fruit, and they disperse the seeds

它们以水果为食并会传播

of these fruits. Bats are responsible for pollinating

这些水果的种子。蝙蝠负责传播

the tequila plant, and this is a multi-million dollar industry

龙舌兰植物的花粉，这在墨西哥是个价值上百亿美元的行业。

in Mexico. So indeed, we need them

所以我们确实需要蝙蝠

for our ecosystems to function properly.

来让我们的生态系统正常运转。

Without them, it's going to be a problem.

如果没有它们，可能就会出现问题了。

But most bats are voracious insect predators.

大多数的蝙蝠喜欢捕食昆虫。

It's been estimated in the U.S., in a tiny colony

据估计在美国一小群的

of big brown bats, that they will feed

冠蝙蝠一年就进食

on over a million insects a year,

超过一百万只昆虫。

and in the United States of America, right now

现在在美国

bats are being threatened by a disease known as white-nose syndrome.

蝙蝠正受到一种名为白鼻症的疾病威胁。

It's working its way slowly across the U.S. and wiping out

这种疾病正在美国缓慢蔓延并消灭蝙蝠的数量。

populations of bats, and scientists have estimated

科学家已预计

that 1,300 metric tons of insects a year are now

现在每年有1300公吨的昆虫

remaining in the ecosystems due to the loss of bats.

因为蝙蝠的减少而留在生态系统里。

Bats are also threatened in the U.S.

蝙蝠在美国受到威胁

by their attraction to wind farms. Again, right now

因为它们会被吸引去风电场。现在，

bats are looking at a little bit of a problem.

蝙蝠面临着一些问题。

They're going to -- They are very threatened

它们受很大威胁。

in the United States of America alone.

光是在美国就这样。

Now how can this help us?

这对我们有什么帮助吗？

Well, it has been calculated that if we were to remove bats

据计算如果我们把蝙蝠移除

from the equation, we're going to have to then use

出生态系统， 我们那时就要用

insecticides to remove all those pest insects

杀虫剂来消灭所有害虫

that feed on our agricultural crops.

害虫蛀食我们的农作物。

And for one year in the U.S. alone, it's estimated

如果我们消灭蝙蝠，据计算光在美国一年，

that it's going to cost 22 billion U.S. dollars,

就将要花费220亿美元。

if we remove bats. So indeed, bats then do bring us wealth.

所以蝙蝠确实带给我们财富。

They maintain the health of our ecosystems,

他们维持我们生态系统的健康运转

and also they save us money.

并帮我们省钱。

So again, that's the first blessing. Bats are important

这是第一个福。

for our ecosystems.

蝙蝠对我们的生态系统很重要。

And what about the second? What about health?

第二点是什么？有关健康吗？

Inside every cell in your body lies your genome.

你身体里的每一个细胞都有你的基因组。

Your genome is made up of your DNA,

基因组是由DNA构成的，

your DNA codes for proteins that enable you to function

你的DNA编码蛋白质，蛋白质负责你的正常活动

and interact and be as you are.

与他人联系以及其他所有生命活动。

Now since the new advancements in modern molecular technologies,

得益于现代分子技术的新进步，

it is now possible for us to sequence our own genome

现在我们可以测出自己的基因组，

in a very rapid time and at a very, very reduced cost.

只需很少时间和很低的费用。

Now when we've been doing this, we've realized

当我们这么做时，我们会意识到，

that there's variations within our genome.

在我们的基因组里存在很多变异。

So I want you to look at the person beside you.

我想你看看在你身边的人。

Just have a quick look. And what we need to realize

迅速看一眼。我们要意识到，

is that every 300 base pairs in your DNA, you're a little bit different.

你的DNA中的每300个碱基对中，你有那么一点不同。

And one of the grand challenges right now

现在巨大的挑战之一是

in modern molecular medicine is to work out

现代分子医学致力于弄清楚

whether this variation makes you more susceptible to diseases,

这些基因变异是否让你更容易感染疾病，

or does this variation just make you different?

或者是否这些变异让你和其他人不同？

Again, what does it mean here? What does this variation

这意味着什么？

actually mean? So if we are to capitalize on all of this

这些变异究竟意味着什么？ 如果我们利用所有这些

new molecular data and personalized genomic information

新的分子学数据和联机得到的个人基因组信息，

that is coming online that we will be able to have

我们将能够

in the next few years, we have to be able to differentiate

在未来的几年里， 我们将能够区分

between the two. So how do we do this?

彼此。我们怎么做到的呢？

Well, I believe we just look at nature's experiments.

我认为我们只要看看大自然的实验。

So through natural selection, over time,

通过自然选择，随着时间流逝，

mutations, variations that disrupt the function of a protein

那些破坏了蛋白质功能的突变和变异

will not be tolerated over time.

会逐渐被淘汰。

Evolution acts as a sieve. It sieves out the bad variation.

进化就像一个筛子，筛掉不好的变异。

And so therefore, if you look at the same region

因此，如果你去看看很多哺乳动物

of a genome in many mammals that have been

基因组的同一位置

evolutionarily distant from each other

他们已经进化到很不一样，

and are also ecologically divergent, you will get a better

生态上也很不一样，你就能更好地

understanding of what the evolutionary prior of that site is,

理解哪一部分会优先进化，

i.e., if it is important for the mammal to function,

所以如果对哺乳动物的生存很重要的部分

for its survival, it will be the same

那么，对其他

in all of those different lineages, species, taxa.

一切不同的血统，物种，类群也一样重要。

So therefore, if we were to do this,

所以如果我们真的要这么做，

what we'd need to do is sequence that region

我们需要做的是测出所有不同哺乳动物那一区域的序列，

in all these different mammals and ascertain if it's the same

确定它们相同

or if it's different. So if it is the same,

还是不同。如果序列相同，

this indicates that that site is important for a function,

表明这个地方对某一功能很重要，

so a disease mutation should fall within that site.

疾病突变应该是发生在这个位点。

So in this case here, if all the mammals that we look at

这种情况下，如果我们研究的所有哺乳动物

have a yellow-type genome at that site,

在那个位点都有黄色类型的基因，

it probably suggests that purple is bad.

这可能暗示紫色类型的基因是不好的突变。

This could be even more powerful if you look at mammals

如果你观察的哺乳动物在某功能稍有不同

that are doing things slightly differently.

这种研究方法会更加强大。

So say, for example, the region of the genome

比如一个我正在观察的基因组，

that I was looking at was a region that's important for vision.

是对视力很重要的基因组。

If we look at that region in mammals that don't see so well,

如果我们研究那些视力不太好的哺乳动物的基因组，

such as bats, and we find that bats that don't see so well

比如蝙蝠， 我们发现蝙蝠视力不太好，

have the purple type, we know that this is probably

它们紫色类型的基因，我们知道这也许

what's causing this disease.

是构成疾病的原因。

So in my lab, we've been using bats to look at two different

在我的实验室里，我们一直尝试通过白蝙蝠观察

types of diseases of the senses.

两种不同类型的感官疾病。

We're looking at blindness. Now why would you do this?

我们研究失明。为什么要这么做呢？

Three hundred and fourteen million people are visually impaired, and

世界上有三亿四千万人有视力障碍，

45 million of these are blind. So blindness is a big problem,

其中的四千五百万人失明。所以失明是一个大问题。

and a lot of these blind disorders come from inherited diseases,

而很多视盲障碍来源于遗传病，

so we want to try and better understand

所以我们想尝试更好地了解

which mutations in the gene cause the disease.

哪个基因突变引起这个疾病。

Also we look at deafness. One in every 1,000

我们也研究失聪。每1000个新生儿中

newborn babies are deaf, and when we reach 80,

有1个是聋的，当我们到了80岁的时候，

over half of us will also have a hearing problem.

我们中有超过一半的人有听力问题。

Again, there's many underlying genetic causes for this.

同样，有很多潜在的遗传因素会导致这个疾病。

So what we've been doing in my lab

所以我们实验室一直在做的是

is looking at these unique sensory specialists, the bats,

通过研究这些独一无二的感官专家--蝙蝠

and we have looked at genes that cause blindness

我们研究导致失明的基因。

when there's a defect in them,

当基因有缺陷导致失明，

genes that cause deafness when there's a defect in them,

基因有缺陷时导致失聪，

and now we can predict which sites are most likely to cause disease.

现在我们能预测哪些位点最容易导致疾病。

So bats are also important for our health,

所以蝙蝠对我们的健康也很重要，

to enable us to better understand how our genome functions.

帮助我们更好地明白我们基因组是如何运作的。

So this is where we are right now,

我们现在正致力于此，

but what about the future?

那么未来又如何呢？

What about longevity?

长寿这个问题呢？

This is where we're going to go, and as I said before,

我们未来朝着这个方向，就像我之前所说的，

I really believe that the secret of everlasting youth

我真的相信长生不老的秘密

lies within the bat genome.

就藏在蝙蝠的基因组里面。

So why should we be interested in aging at all?

我们为什么要对老化问题感兴趣呢？

Well, really, this is a picture drawn from the 1500s

这是一幅十五世纪的图。

of the Fountain of Youth. Aging is considered

画中是不老泉。老化被认为

one of the most familiar, yet the least well-understood,

最熟悉，但却是了解最少的

aspects of all of biology, and really,

一个生物领域之一。

since the dawn of civilization, mankind has sought to avoid it.

自文明之初，人类就已经开始避免它。

But we are going to have to understand it a bit better.

但我们要更好地认识它。

In Europe alone, by 2050, there is going to be

光在欧洲，到了2050年，

a 70 percent increase of individuals over 65,

年龄超过65岁的人数将有70%的增长，

and 170 percent increase in individuals over 80.

年龄超过80岁的有170%的增长。

As we age, we deteriorate, and this deterioration

随着我们老化，我们会退化，而这些退化

causes problems for our society, so we have to address it.

会给我们的社会带来问题，所以我们要处理它。

So how could the secret of everlasting youth actually lie

长生不老的秘密怎么会在

within the bat genome? Does anybody want to hazard

蝙蝠的基因组里？有人想猜猜

a guess over how long this bat could live for?

蝙蝠可以活多长时间？

Who -- put up your hands -- who says two years?

谁，举起你们的手，谁认为是两年？

Nobody? One? How about 10 years?

没有人？一个？10年呢？

Some? How about 30?

有一些？30年呢？

How about 40? Okay, it's a whole varied response.

40年呢？好，各种想法都有。

This bat is myotis brandtii. It's the longest-living bat.

这只是布氏鼠耳蝠，是寿命最长的蝙蝠。

It lived for up to 42 years,

它已经活了长达42年，

and this bat's still alive in the wild today.

它至今依然在野外生存着。

But what would be so amazing about this?

但这有什么惊人之处吗？

Well, typically, in mammals there is a relationship

通常，哺乳动物中

between body size, metabolic rate,

体型大小，代谢率

and how long you can live for, and you can predict

和存活寿命有关系，

how long a mammal can live for given its body size.

你可以通过哺乳动物的体型来预测它的寿命。

So typically, small mammals live fast, die young.

所以通常，小型哺乳动物繁衍得快死得也早。

Think of a mouse. But bats are very different.

比方说老鼠。但蝙蝠很不一样。

As you can see here on this graph, in blue,

正如你看到这个图，

these are all other mammals, but bats

蓝色的这些是其它哺乳动物，

can live up to nine times longer than expected

但是蝙蝠却能比预期寿命存活九倍多久。

despite having a really, really high metabolic rate,

尽管它们的代谢率非常非常高，

and the question is, how can they do that?

问题是它们是怎么做到的？

There are 19 species of mammal that live longer

考虑到它们的体型，有19种哺乳动物的寿命

than expected, given their body size, than man,

比预期的长，比人类的寿命要长

and 18 of those are bats.

其中有18种是蝙蝠。

So therefore, they must have something within their DNA

所以他们的DNA里面一定有某种东西，

that ables them to deal with the metabolic stresses,

能让它们处理代谢的压力。

particularly of flight. They expend three times more energy

尤其是飞行引起的代谢压力。较那些同等大小的哺乳动物而言，

than a mammal of the same size,

飞行需要三倍有多的能量，

but don't seem to suffer the consequences or the effects.

但蝙蝠似乎没有受到飞行的影响。

So right now, in my lab, we're combining

所以现在我的实验室

state-of-the-art bat field biology, going out and catching

正结合先进的蝙蝠生物科学，

the long-lived bats, with the most up-to-date,

到外面捕捉长寿的蝙蝠，利用最先进的

modern molecular technology to understand better

现代分子技术来更好地了解

what it is that they do to stop aging as we do.

它们是怎么停止像我们那样老化的。

And hopefully in the next five years, I'll be giving you a TEDTalk on that.

希望未来的5年里，我可以就此在TED给你们演讲。

Aging is a big problem for humanity,

老化是人类面临的一个很严峻问题，

and I believe that by studying bats, we can uncover

我相信通过研究蝙蝠，我们可以揭示

the molecular mechanisms that enable mammals

使哺乳动物能够更加长寿的分子机制。

to achieve extraordinary longevity. If we find out

如果我们弄清楚

what they're doing, perhaps through gene therapy,

它们是如何做到的，也许通过基因治疗，

we can enable us to do the same thing.

我们也能做到同样的事。

Potentially, this means that we could halt aging or maybe even reverse it.

很有可能，这意味着我们可以延缓老化或者甚至可以将之逆转。

Just imagine what that would be like.

想象一下那将会是什么样子。

So really, I don't think we should be thinking of them

所以，我认为我们不该把蝙蝠看作夜间会飞的恶魔，

as flying demons of the night, but more as our superheroes.

而应该视为我们的超级英雄。

And the reality is that bats can bring us so much benefit

事实上如果我们正确看待它们，蝙蝠可以带给我们非常多的好处。

if we just look in the right place. They're good for our ecosystem,

它们有利于我们的生态系统。

they allow us to understand how our genome functions,

它们让我们明白基因是如和发挥作用的。

and they potentially hold the secret to everlasting youth.

它们很可能掌握长生不老的秘密。

So tonight, when you walk out of here and you look up

所以，今晚，当你们离开这里抬头望向夜空的时候，

in the night skies, and you see this beautiful flying mammal,

你们看到这种美丽的飞行着的哺乳动物时，

I want you to smile. Thank you. (Applause)

我希望你们可以抱以微笑。谢谢。（掌声）