Can Nanoparticles Help Fight Hunger? | Christy L. Haynes | TED

翻译人员: Jinnie Sun 校对人员: suya f.

Imagine you're a farmer

想象你是一名农民,

and you've planted enough crops to feed your family for the coming year.

已经种下了足够一家人 明年吃一年的粮食。

The weather is surprisingly good at the beginning of the growing season,

作物生长的季节开始时， 天气出人意料地好，

but after those seeds are in the ground

但是在这些种子埋入地下，

and the stalks start to peek up from the soil,

并且茎开始从土壤中露出来之后，

a disease that you cannot see cuts your expected yield in half.

一种你看不见的疾病 使你的预期产量减少一半。

You think to yourself,

你心想：

"What will my family eat?"

“我的家人之后吃什么？”

In the coming year,

在下一年，

perhaps you'll fumigate your soil, maybe you'll add extra fertilizer.

也许你会对土壤进行熏蒸处理， 也许你会加更多肥料。

Maybe you'll apply a fungicide or a pesticide

也许你会使用 杀菌剂或杀虫剂，

hoping to decrease crop loss.

盼望能减少作物损失。

You know that these traditional technologies work,

你知道这些传统技术行之有效，

but you also know they have some negative implications for our ecosystem.

但你也知道它们对我们的生态系统 有一些负面影响。

This, of course, is not an imaginary scenario.

这当然不是一个虚构的场景。

We could feed every person on this planet if we didn't lose so much to disease,

我们本能让地球上的每个人吃饱饭， 如果我们没有因疾病损失那么多，

pest and poor soil conditions.

因害虫和恶劣的土壤条件而损失惨重。

It's estimated that we lose between 20 and 40 percent of crop productivity

据估计，我们损失了 20％ 至 40％ 的作物产量，

due to preventable disease and pest attack,

由于可预防的疾病 和害虫袭击，

and climate change is only making this worse.

而气候变化 只会使情况变得更糟。

I stand here in front of you,

我现在站在你们面前，

a very unlikely person to help solve an agricultural crisis.

一个不太可能帮助 解决农业危机的人。

I'm a chemistry professor who studies nanoparticles in sterile laboratories,

我是一名化学教授， 在不长作物的实验室里研究纳米颗粒。

I grew up in the desert,

我在沙漠中长大，

and I don't even keep houseplants, much less crops, alive.

我甚至养不活室内植物， 更不用说农作物了。

But I know that some of the best solutions to big problems

但我知道有些大问题的最佳解决方法

come when folks from different or even opposing fields

会在来自不同甚至相反的地方的人们

bring some of their simplest concepts together.

把他们最简单的观念拼合起来时出现。

And that is exactly what I think is possible here.

而这正是我认为在这件事中可行的。

As I tell you that nanoparticles may be a critical part

正如我告诉你的那样， 纳米颗粒可能是

of the solution to our global food crisis.

我们全球粮食危机 解决方案的关键部分。

Let me tell you why I'm so intent on using nanoscience to fight hunger.

让我告诉你为什么我如此坚决于 使用纳米科学来对抗饥饿。

We all have the issues that touch us deepest,

我们都有最能打动自己的问题，

and for me, it has always been hunger.

而对我来说，这个问题一直是饥饿。

I find it intolerable that there are hungry people

我发现对我来说 有饥饿的人是不可容忍的，

on this life-giving planet of ours.

在我们这个赋予生命的星球上。

I can trace this, at least in part, to some of my own experience growing up.

我可以将这一点，至少一部分， 追溯到我自己成长过程中的一些经历。

For a period of my childhood, I lived in a food-insecure household.

在我的童年的某个时期， 我生活在一个没有粮食保障的家庭中。

We benefited from food shelf donations,

我们受益于食物架上的捐赠，

and we only ate what my mom could get with her hard work

而且我们只能吃妈妈努力在

on double coupon day at the local supermarket.

当地超市的双重优惠日 能买到的东西。

I loved the one day a month I was allowed to buy school lunch.

我最爱每月的一天， 我被允许买学校午餐。

Now, I don't know why my parents didn't apply for free school lunch

现在，我不知道为什么我的父母 当时没有申请学校的免费午餐

or food stamps,

或食品券，

but the end situation was one where sometimes the refrigerator

但最终的情况是有时冰箱

and the cupboards were empty.

和橱柜都是空的。

Now, it's been a long time since I have worried about food for myself,

现在，我已经很长时间没有 担心自己的食物了，

but that feeling of being hungry is etched deep within me.

但是那种饥饿的感觉深深地 刻在我的内心深处。

I am driven to do something about hunger.

我被驱动着为饥饿做点什么。

And the unusual talent that I bring to the task

而我为这项任务带来的不寻常的才能

is my deep knowledge of designing and synthesizing nanomaterials

是我在设计和合成纳米材料 方面的深厚知识，

that can carry molecular cargo

这些纳米材料可以携带分子货物

and transform into specific chemical species.

并转化为特定的化学物。

Let me stop and give a little bit of background about nanoscience.

让我停下来讲一点 关于纳米科学的背景知识。

The prefix “nano” signifies a billionth,

前缀“纳”表示十亿分之一，

so a nanometer is a billionth of a meter.

因此纳米代表十亿分之一米。

In other words, nanoparticles are extremely small.

换句话说，纳米颗粒非常小。

You cannot see them with your naked eye or even a high-powered light microscope.

你无法用肉眼看到它们，

甚至无法用高功率的 光学显微镜看到它们。

In fact, you need a specialized instrument

实际上，你需要一台专门的仪器，

like the one you see here, called a transmission electron microscope,

比如你看到的这个， 叫做透射电子显微镜，

to even see nanoparticles.

才能看到纳米颗粒。

Nanoparticles have actually been around forever.

纳米颗粒实际上 已经存在了很长时间。

You can find naturally occurring nanoparticles in geological formations

你可以在地质构造中 找到天然存在的纳米颗粒，

or in the aerosol particles that we breathe.

或在我们呼吸的气溶胶颗粒中。

But in the last few decades,

但是在过去的几十年中，

scientists and engineers have gotten very excited about nanomaterials

科学家和工程师对纳米材料 感到非常兴奋，

because we realized that as you shrink things down to the nanoscale,

因为我们意识到， 当你将物体缩小到纳米尺度时，

their chemical and physical properties can change drastically.

它们的化学和物理特性 可能会发生巨大变化。

For example, a material that's usually unreactive

例如，一种通常不会发生反应的材料，

when you shrink it down to the nanoscale

当你将其缩小到纳米尺度时，

can suddenly catalyze a whole host of chemical reactions.

会突然催化一系列化学反应。

Or a material that doesn’t usually conduct electricity, suddenly does.

或者一种通常不导电的材料 突然能够导电。

As scientists tune the size, shape and chemical composition of a material,

当科学家调整一种材料的 大小、形状和化学成分时，

they can tune those chemical and physical properties.

他们可以调整那些化学和物理特性。

Nanoscience gives us a seemingly unlimited palette of accessible chemical

纳米科学仿佛为我们提供了 无穷无尽的可获得的化学

and physical properties.

和物理特性。

I’m sure you can imagine how useful that can be.

我敢肯定，你可以想象它可以多么有用。

And scientists have gotten very good

并且科学家们已经非常

at knowing exactly how to design nanomaterials

确切地掌握了 如何设计纳米材料，

to have the properties they want.

以使它具有他们想要的特性。

We are in a perfect moment to take advantage

我们正处于一个最佳时机， 可以充分利用

of all of the hard-won knowledge

所有来之不易的知识，

that has been systematically gained in laboratories around the world.

已被世界各地的科学家们 在实验室里系统地得出的知识。

And that’s already happening.

并且这正在发生。

You can find engineered nanoparticles in a range of products and applications,

您可以在一系列产品和应用中 找到被设计的纳米颗粒，

many of which are focused on some of our biggest sustainability challenges.

其中许多都集中在我们面临的一些 最大的可持续发展挑战上。

Personally, I like to work on the nanomaterials

就我个人而言，我喜欢研究那些

that make up the core of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles,

构成电动汽车锂离子电池 的核心的纳米材料，

but you'll also find nanomaterials in water filtration technology,

但你还可以在水过滤技术，

solar cells and even in clinical applications.

太阳能电池甚至临床应用中 找到纳米材料的身影。

With all of that background,

有了所有这些背景，

now let me tell you about some of the nanomaterials

现在让我向你们介绍一下

my research group is developing for agricultural applications.

我的研究组正在为农业应用 开发的一些纳米材料。

In some ways, the nanoparticles seem very simple.

在某些方面， 纳米颗粒看起来非常简单。

They're made of silica or SiO2 in chemistry language.

在化学语言中， 它们是由二氧化硅或 SiO2 构成的。

它们是由二氧化硅 或 SiO2 构成的。

This is the same chemical composition that describes glass or sand.

这与玻璃和沙子的化学成分相同。

And the simple choice was not an accident.

而且这个简单的选择并非偶然。

We wanted to work with Earth-abundant elements,

我们想研究地球富含的元素，

and you can't do much better than silicon and oxygen on that front.

在这方面没有比硅和氧气更好的了。

The researchers in my lab are very skilled at designing silica nanoparticles

我实验室的研究人员能非常熟练地 设计二氧化硅纳米颗粒，

with controlled size and surface chemistry.

尺寸和表面化学性质可控的颗粒。

We also work hard to control the pore structure,

我们也在努力控制孔隙结构，

because that determines the total surface area,

因为这决定了总表面积

as well as the strength of the bonds that hold the nanomaterials together.

以及将纳米材料结合在一起的键的强度。

That's because all of those factors are critically important for our end goal,

那是因为所有这些因素 对我们的最终目标至关重要，

which is to get these nanoparticles inside plants,

即将这些纳米颗粒放进植物里，

either by infiltrating seeds

或是通过渗透入种子，

or by allowing them to pass through pores on the leaf surface,

或是让它们穿过叶片表面的孔隙。

and then, once they're internalized,

然后，一旦它们进入了植物，

having them transformed to release a molecule

让它们转化，以释放一种分子，

that the plant can use to protect itself from viruses, fungi or pest attacks.

让植物可以用它来保护自己 免受病毒、真菌或害虫的攻击。

In technical terms,

从技术上讲，

we want our silica nanoparticles to react with water in the environment

我们希望我们的二氧化硅纳米颗粒 与环境中的水发生反应

and dissolve to release a molecule called silicic acid.

并溶解以释放出 一种叫做硅酸的分子。

You can think of silicic acid for plants

你可以把硅酸对于植物的作用想成

like the multivitamin that you take every morning.

你每天早上服用的复合维生素。

Plants already contain silicic acid,

植物已经含有硅酸，

they use it to build their cell walls.

它们用它来建造细胞壁。

We want to deliver an extra boost of silicic acid,

我们希望给它们更多的硅酸，

with the hypothesis that they'll build stronger cell walls

因为有假设称 它们会建立更强壮的细胞壁

and boost their own immune response.

并增强自身的免疫反应。

So now, hopefully you can see the whole picture.

因此，现在， 相信你已经可以看清全貌了。

We design silica nanoparticles with the right size,

我们设计的二氧化硅纳米颗粒 具有合适的大小、

shape and surface chemistry to be taken up into a plant.

形状和表面化学性质， 以被植物吸收。

We also design them so that once they're internalized,

我们还对它们进行了设计， 使它们一旦被植物内化，

they dissolve to release enough silicic acid

就会溶解， 以释放出足够的硅酸，

that the plants live healthier and longer,

这些硅酸使植物更健康、更长寿，

producing more food.

生产更多的食物。

With all of that background,

在所有这些背景下，

now, let me actually show you some of the nanoparticles that we're making

现在，让我向你们展示一些 我们正在制造的一些纳米颗粒，

and tell you about some of the early,

并向你们介绍一些早期的，

exciting results from greenhouse and field studies.

令人兴奋的， 来自温室和田地研究的结果。

We've made many variations on the silica nanoparticle theme.

我们基于二氧化硅纳米颗粒 做了许多变体。

Here you can see five electron microscope images

这里，你可以看到 五张电子显微镜图像，

of silica nanoparticles we've made.

上面是我们制作的二氧化硅纳米颗粒。

All of them have the same scale bar, that’s just 100 nanometers.

它们的比例尺大小都相同， 只有 100 纳米。

And all of them are small enough to go into the pores on a leaf’s surface.

而且它们都小得 足以进入树叶表面的孔隙。

Here you can see some of the silica nanoparticles we’ve designed

在这里，你可以看到我们设计的一些 二氧化硅纳米颗粒，

with various pore structures.

它们具有不同的孔隙结构。

The pore structure ends up being very important

孔隙结构最终非常重要，

because the more water can react with the surface of the nanoparticle,

因为能与纳米颗粒表面反应的水越多，

the better it dissolves and the more silicic acid is released.

其溶解效果越好， 释放的硅酸也越多。

Here you can see some nanoparticles we've designed

这里你可以看到一些 我们设计的纳米颗粒，

to dissolve at different rates.

它们能以不同的速率溶解。

And what you're looking at is a nice, solid nanoparticle at the beginning,

你现在看到的是一颗漂亮的 固体纳米颗粒最开始的样子，

before it's been exposed to water.

在它暴露在水中之前。

And then after eight, 16 and 24 hours,

然后在八、十六和二十四小时后，

you can see those nanoparticles hollowing out,

你可以看到这些纳米颗粒变空了，

releasing lots of useful silicic acid.

释放出大量有用的硅酸。

With all of these nanoparticles in hand,

有了所有这些纳米颗粒，

we started working with colleagues

我们开始与

within the NSF Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology

美国国家科学基金会 可持续纳米技术中心的同事合作，

to start our first plant studies.

开始我们的第一批植物研究。

The initial studies were very simple,

最初的研究非常简单，

using watermelon seedlings in a greenhouse.

在温室中使用西瓜幼苗。

Here's the experimental setup.

这是实验的设计。

We had watermelon seedlings that were going to be planted

我们需要种这些西瓜幼苗，

either in healthy soil

要么种植在健康的土壤中，

or soil infested with Fusarium, a fungal soil-borne pathogen.

要么种植在充满镰刀菌 （一种土壤传播的真菌病原体）

的土壤中。

Before planting them, we dipped them in our silica nanoparticles,

在种植它们之前， 我们将它们浸入二氧化硅纳米颗粒中，

and then we allowed them to grow in the greenhouse.

然后让它们在温室中生长。

Of course, we also had a parallel set of plants

当然，我们还有一些 平行组的植物，

that received no nanoparticles, growing in both healthy and diseased soil.

它们不含纳米颗粒， 生长在健康或患病的土壤中。

So the goal was to figure out

因此，目标是弄清楚

how that single application of silica nanoparticles

单次施用的二氧化硅纳米颗粒如何

impacted the plants growing in both healthy and diseased soil.

影响在分别健康和患病 土壤中生长的植物。

And the results that we saw were really exciting.

我们看到的结果非常令人兴奋。

We found that the plants that were growing in infected soil,

我们发现，在受感染土壤中生长的，

that had received that one dose of silica nanoparticles

接受过一次剂量的 二氧化硅纳米颗粒的植物

were 30 to 40 percent healthier than the ones that had not.

比没有二氧化硅纳米颗粒的植物 健康 30% 到 40%。

With this exciting result,

有了这个令人兴奋的结果，

we decided to try some field studies using the same soil conditions

我们决定尝试一些田地实验， 在相同的土壤条件

and the same nanoparticle conditions.

和相同的纳米颗粒条件下。

So we planted watermelon, either in healthy or infected soil,

因此，我们分别在 健康和受感染的土壤中种植了西瓜，

and we allowed them to grow for 100 days.

并让它们生长 100 天。

We tracked the fungal disease,

我们追踪了真菌病，

and we also measured the amount of fruit that was produced after 100 days.

还测量了 100 天后 产出的水果量。

And what we found

我们发现，

is that that one application of one to two milliliters of silica nanoparticles

一次的一到两毫升的 二氧化硅纳米颗粒的施用，

way back at the seedling stage,

早在幼苗阶段施用，

led us to a 70 percent increase in watermelon yield.

就使我们的西瓜产量提高了 70％ 。

Ideally, none of the nanoparticles would end up in the fruit

理想情况下， 任何纳米颗粒都不会进入水果中，

that people are going to eat.

那些人们会吃的水果中。

So we analyzed the roots and the above-ground tissue

因此，我们检验了 根部和地表以上的植物组织

and the edible fruit for any sign of silica nanoparticles.

以及可食用的果实中， 是否有二氧化硅纳米颗粒的迹象。

We saw no increased silicon in the edible watermelon fruit,

我们发现西瓜可食用的果实中 硅含量没有增加，

meaning that these nanoparticles did exactly what we designed them to do.

这意味着这些纳米颗粒的作用 完全符合我们所设计的。

Given the small amount of nanomaterials

鉴于我们在每株植物中

that we applied to each one of those plants,

使用的纳米材料剂量很小，

the cost per plant is only about two cents

每株植物的成本只需 2 美分左右 （约 1.5 角），

or 19 dollars for an acre.

或者说每英亩 19 美元 （约 135 元）。

This is a cost-effective treatment.

这是一种具有成本效益的方法。

By adding 19 dollar's worth of nanoparticles

通过增加 19 美元成本的纳米颗粒，

to the average fertilizer cost of 250 dollars,

加上平均花费 250 美元的肥料，

a farmer would yield thousands of dollars increase in fruit production.

一个农民可以使水果产量 增加数千美元。

With these exciting results in hand,

有了这些令人兴奋的结果，

we have a lot of other experiments planned and in progress.

我们计划并正在进行许多其他实验。

We want to do multiple applications of nanoparticles

我们希望对纳米颗粒进行多次施用，

and applications later in the growth process

并在之后的生长过程中使用它，

to see if that further increases our yield.

看看这是否会进一步 提高我们的产量。

We want to do studies on soybean and wheat,

我们想对大豆和小麦进行研究，

critical crops here in the Midwest and around the world.

这些是（美国）中西部 和世界各地的重要作物。

Two researchers in my lab recently applied silica nanoparticles

我实验室的两名研究人员 最近将二氧化硅纳米颗粒应用于

to potato plants in the field.

田间的马铃薯植物。

They're going to help harvest and analyze the results this fall.

他们将在今年秋天 帮助收获并分析结果。

I hope that what you see is that this data is really compelling,

我希望你看到的是 这些数据确实令人信服，

and that nanoparticles have tons of potential to help decrease crop loss.

并且纳米颗粒具有 帮助减少作物损失的巨大潜力。

And I only told you about silica nanoparticles.

我还只向你们介绍了 二氧化硅的纳米颗粒。

I can imagine other important chemical compositions

我可以想象其他的重要化学成分，

and even parallel application like remediation of soil pollutants.

甚至可以想象并行的应用， 例如土壤污染物的修复。

I ask you all to be open-minded about nanotechnology,

我请大家对纳米技术持开放态度，

encouraging funding agencies worldwide to invest.

鼓励全球的资助机构进行投资。

In the US,

在美国，

ask your senators and representatives

请您的参议员和众议员

to invest in the National Science Foundation,

投资美国国家科学基金会、

the National Institutes of Health and the US Department of Agriculture

国立卫生研究院和美国农业部，

for both basic and translational research.

进行基础和转化研究。

I know farmers are already embracing advanced technology

我知道农民已经在采用先进技术，

in terms of robots and drones and implant sensors.

如机器人、无人机以及植入传感器。

I encourage them to embrace this advance as well.

我鼓励他们也开始采用 这一项技术进步。

Now go back to imagining that you're that farmer

现在回过头来想象一下 你就是那个农民，

and you've planted enough crops to feed your family for the coming year.

你已经种下了 足够一家人明年吃一年的粮食。

You do all of the normal things, except this time,

你做了所有正常的事情， 除了这次，

maybe you use seeds that were infiltrated with silica nanoparticles.

也许你使用的种子 渗透过二氧化硅纳米颗粒。

Or maybe you go through once

或者，也许你施用一次后，

and you spray silica nanoparticles onto your crops.

再将二氧化硅纳米颗粒 喷洒到你的作物上。

As these tiny nanoparticles deliver a big boost of silicic acid

当这些微小的纳米颗粒从植物内部

from the inside,

释放出大量的硅酸，

your plants overcome disease, and your family is fed.

你的植物可以克服疾病， 你的家人也能获得食物。

Let's use all of the hard work

让我们利用所有的辛勤工作，

that has been done on basic nanotechnology research

在基础纳米技术研究方面的工作，

to feed our global family for years to come.

来养活未来几年的全球大家庭。

Thank you.

谢谢。

(Applause)

（掌声）