David Bolinsky: Visualizing the wonder of a living cell

翻译人员: Chen Chen 校对人员: Jubin Xing

I'm a medical illustrator,

我是一个医学画家，

and I come from a slightly different point of view.

我从一个略微不同的视角看待问题。

I've been watching, since I grew up,

我长大后就一直在观察，

the expressions of truth and beauty in the arts

在艺术里真和美的表现形式

and truth and beauty in the sciences.

以及科学中真和美的表现形式。

And while these are both wonderful things in their own right --

因为艺术和科学两者本身就是极美妙的事物—

they both have very wonderful things going for them --

它们都有许多美妙的东西—

truth and beauty as ideals that can be looked at by the sciences

真和美，作为可以被科学及数学研究的思想，

and by math are almost like the ideal conjoined twins

就好象是完美的连体双胞胎

that a scientist would want to date.

使每个科学家都想与之约会。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

These are expressions of truth as awe-full things,

以下是值得敬畏的事情中“真”的一些表现形式，

by meaning they are things you can worship.

也就是说，这些事情是值得你仰慕的。

They are ideals that are powerful. They are irreducible.

它们是强有力的理想，它们是不能简化的，

They are unique. They are useful --

它们是独一无二的，它们是有用的 ---

sometimes, often a long time after the fact.

有些时候，要事后很久才能体现出来。

And you can actually roll some of the pictures now,

事实上，现在您可以开始播放一些图片了，

because I don't want to look at me on the screen.

因为我不想在屏幕上看到自己。

Truth and beauty are things

真和美的事，往往是摸不透的，

that are often opaque to people who are not in the sciences.

对于非科学领域的人来说。

They are things that describe beauty in a way

它们用自己独特的方式来描述美，

that is often only accessible if you understand the language

而只有当你懂得研究课题的人所使用的语言和语法时，

and the syntax of the person

你才会明白。

who studies the subject in which truth and beauty is expressed.

该课题中表达着真与美。

If you look at the math, E=mc squared,

就拿数学来说，E=mc^2

if you look at the cosmological constant,

或是宇宙常数，

where there's an anthropic ideal, where you see that life had to evolve

隐藏着跟人类学有关的理论，从中你可以体会到生命必须

from the numbers that describe the universe --

从描述宇宙的数字中演化而来--

these are things that are really difficult to understand.

这些事真得很难理解。

And what I've tried to do

一直以来我想要做的是，

since I had my training as a medical illustrator --

既然我已训练成一个医学画家--

since I was taught animation by my father,

因为我老爸教我动画技术，

who was a sculptor and my visual mentor --

他是一位雕刻家及我的视觉导师

I wanted to figure out a way to help people

我希望能过找到一种解决办法，能帮助人们

understand truth and beauty in the biological sciences

理解生命科学中的真和美，

by using animation, by using pictures, by telling stories

通过使用动画，使用图片以及讲述故事等方式。

so that the things that are not necessarily evident to people

使那些人们不一定很清楚的事物

can be brought forth, and can be taught, and can be understood.

可以被提出，被教授，被理解

Students today are often immersed in an environment

当今的学生常常处在一种环境中

where what they learn is subjects that have truth and beauty

这里，他们所学的科目中包含了真与美，

embedded in them, but the way they're taught is compartmentalized

但是他们所被教授的方法却是被分割的

and it's drawn down to the point where the truth and beauty

这种方法

are not always evident.

使得真和美并不总是那么明显。

It's almost like that old recipe for chicken soup

就像是一道古老的鸡汤菜谱，

where you boil the chicken until the flavor is just gone.

烹煮鸡肉直到香味通通散去

We don't want to do that to our students.

我们并不想对我们学生也这么做。

So we have an opportunity to really open up education.

所以我们有机会可以真正开启教育。

And I had a telephone call from Robert Lue at Harvard,

数年前，我接到哈佛大学，

in the Molecular and Cellular Biology Department,

分子与细胞生物学系

a couple of years ago. He asked me if my team and I

Robert Lue 的电话。他问我，我和我的团队

would be interested and willing to really change

是否有兴趣和愿望来真正改变

how medical and scientific education is done at Harvard.

哈佛大学里的医学和科学教育方式。

So we embarked on a project that would explore the cell --

所以我们开始了进行细胞探索的一个计划，

that would explore the truth and beauty inherent

这将展示分子细胞生物学中

in molecular and cellular biology

内在的真和美

so that students could understand a larger picture

由此学生会有更全面的印像

that they could hang all of these facts on.

能把所有事情联系在一起

They could have a mental image of the cell

他们脑海中，将会形成一个生动的细胞印象

as a large, bustling, hugely complicated city

细胞好像是一个庞大的、繁忙的、非常复杂的城市

that's occupied by micro-machines.

充满了微型机器

And these micro-machines really are at the heart of life.

而这些微型机器却是生命的中心。

These micro-machines,

这些微型机器，

which are the envy of nanotechnologists the world over,

能让当今全球纳米工程师嫉妒，

are self-directed, powerful, precise, accurate devices

它们是能自我引导、功能强大且精密严谨的设备

that are made out of strings of amino acids.

它们是由氨基酸链所构成的。

And these micro-machines power how a cell moves.

这些微型机器能让细胞移动

They power how a cell replicates. They power our hearts.

能让细胞复制，它们也使我们心脏跳动，

They power our minds.

同时赋予我们心智。

And so what we wanted to do was to figure out

我们想做的是，

how we could make this story into an animation

如何通过动画讲述这个故事

that would be the centerpiece of BioVisions at Harvard,

这就是哈佛大学BioVisions的主轴

which is a website that Harvard has

这是哈佛大学为分子细胞生物学学生

for its molecular and cellular biology students

开设的网站

that will -- in addition to all the textual information,

这些动画，作为课本文本信息，

in addition to all the didactic stuff --

和所有老师授课内容的补充

put everything together visually, so that these students

将所有东西视觉化地呈现在一起，这样这些学生

would have an internalized view of what a cell really is

能够从细胞内部发现细胞的真和美

in all of its truth and beauty, and be able to study

并在学习过程中，能一直将此画面

with this view in mind, so that their imaginations would be sparked,

印在脑海中，从而他们的想象力被激发出来，

so that their passions would be sparked

学习激情也能够激发出来。

and so that they would be able to go on

然后他们可以继续前行

and use these visions in their head to make new discoveries

用它们脑海中的这些画面做新的探索

and to be able to find out, really, how life works.

并最终发现生命的原理。

So we set out by looking at how these molecules are put together.

所以我们开始研究这些分子到底是如何整合在一起的。

We worked with a theme, which is, you've got macrophages

我们想出了一个剧情大纲，那就是，巨噬细胞

that are streaming down a capillary,

正在流过一个毛细血管

and they're touching the surface of the capillary wall,

它们不时接触着毛细血管管壁

and they're picking up information from cells

它们收集来自细胞散布在毛细血管管壁上的信号，

that are on the capillary wall, and they are given this information

这个信号是：

that there's an inflammation somewhere outside,

在（毛细血管）外侧，有炎症发生，

where they can't see and sense.

巨噬细胞本来是无从得知（此事的）。

But they get the information that causes them to stop,

但是，它们得到的信息，使它们停下来

causes them to internalize that they need to make

使它们内化，使它们动员细胞各部分

all of the various parts that will cause them to change their shape,

使自己改变形状，

and try to get out of this capillary and find out what's going on.

并努力穿越毛细血管搞清楚到底放生了什么

So these molecular motors -- we had to work

因此这些分子的马达-- 我们必须

with the Harvard scientists and databank models

和哈佛的科学家一起研究，使用数据库中真实的

of the atomically accurate molecules

由原子构成的分子结构模型

and figure out how they moved, and figure out what they did.

并搞清楚他们是如何运动的，它们做了什么。

And figure out how to do this in a way

并想出一个办法，能够真实的表现

that was truthful in that it imparted what was going on,

（细胞）里面正在发生的事情，

but not so truthful that the compact crowding in a cell

但又不是那么地真实，因为实际上细胞中紧密拥挤

would prevent the vista from happening.

使这种景象变得不可能。

And so what I'm going to show you is a three-minute

我将给您展示的是一段3分钟的影片

Reader's Digest version of the first aspect of this film

这是我们做的影片第一部分的《读者文摘》版

that we produced. It's an ongoing project

这个计划尚未完成，

that's going to go another four or five years.

还需要4，5年时间

And I want you to look at this

我请您看这个

and see the paths that the cell manufactures --

并看看这些细胞造的路

these little walking machines, they're called kinesins --

这些小的正在走动的机器，是驱动蛋白--

that take these huge loads

它们负载而行

that would challenge an ant in relative size.

在大小比例关系上，可以和蚂蚁一决雌雄。

Run the movie, please.

请播放动画

But these machines that power the inside of the cells

但这些赋予细胞内部生机的机器

are really quite amazing, and they really are the basis of all life

实在令人惊奇，他们真的是所有生命的基础。

because all of these machines interact with each other.

因为所有这些机器都在互相交流。

They pass information to each other.

他们互相传递信息

They cause different things to happen inside the cell.

他们决定细胞里不同的事件发生。

And the cell will actually manufacture the parts that it needs

在空间里，细胞通过利用能读懂基因的分子

on the fly, from information

从细胞核中带来信息，

that's brought from the nucleus by molecules that read the genes.

从而正确生产出它所需要的部分。

No life, from the smallest life to everybody here,

没有任何生命，从最小的生命到在坐的各位，

would be possible without these little micro-machines.

如果没有这些小型机器，可以存在。

In fact, it would really, in the absence of these machines,

事实上，没有这些机器的话，

have made the attendance here, Chris, really quite sparse.

Chris, 今天的出席状况将非常惨烈。

(Laughter)

（笑）

(Music)

（音乐）

This is the FedEx delivery guy of the cell.

这是细胞中FedEx快递人员：

This little guy is called the kinesin,

这个小家伙叫驱动蛋白

and he pulls a sack that's full of brand new manufactured proteins

他拉着一大袋新合成的蛋白质，

to wherever it's needed in the cell --

到细胞所需要的任何地方--

whether it's to a membrane, whether it's to an organelle,

不论它是细胞膜，还是一个细胞器

whether it's to build something or repair something.

也不管是用来搭建什么，还是修复什么

And each of us has about 100,000 of these things

我们体内每个细胞，大约有10万个这样的小家伙

running around, right now,

此时此刻，正在跑来跑去

inside each one of your 100 trillion cells.

而我们大约有100万亿个细胞。

So no matter how lazy you feel,

所以无论你觉得自己有多懒

you're not really intrinsically doing nothing.

本质上，你并不是什么都没做。

(Laughter)

（笑）

So what I want you to do when you go home

当你回家时，我希望你们

is think about this, and think about how powerful our cells are.

能够思考这个问题，想想我们的细胞是多么地强大

And think about some of the things

想想我们正在学的

that we're learning about cellular mechanics.

细胞机器的种种事情。

Once we figure out all that's going on --

一旦我们全盘了解细胞内发生的所有事情—

and believe me, we know almost a percent of what's going on --

相信我，我们大概才知道1%而已--

once we figure out what's going on,

一旦我们了解细胞内的状况，

we're really going to be able to have a lot of control

我们将能更好地控制

over what we do with our health,

我们的健康，

with what we do with future generations,

我们的下一代，

and how long we're going to live.

我们的寿命。

And hopefully we'll be able to use this

并且，希望我们可以借此

to discover more truth, and more beauty.

去发现更多的真和美。

(Music)

（音乐）

But it's really quite amazing that these cells, these micro-machines,

这些细胞，这些微型机器，真的不可思议，

are aware enough of what the cell needs that they do their bidding.

它们能过意识到细胞需要它们为其做些什么事情

They work together. They make the cell do what it needs to do.

他们同心协力，它们使细胞能够完成需要做的事情

And their working together helps our bodies --

他们通力合作才使我们身体--

huge entities that they will never see -- function properly.

这个他们永远看不见的巨大整体—能够正常工作。

Enjoy the rest of the show. Thank you.

请继续欣赏接下来的表演。谢谢。

(Applause)

（掌声）