Could we treat spinal cord injuries with asparagus? | Andrew Pelling

翻译人员: Wanting Zhong 校对人员: Yolanda Zhang

So I'm here today surrounded by all these fruits and vegetables,

今天，我的面前 摆着许多水果蔬菜，

because these are the subjects of my experiments.

因为它们是都我的实验对象。

Now, bear with me for just a second,

现在，请先耐心听我说——

but about a decade ago

大约十年前，

my team started to rethink how we make materials

我的团队开始思索如何创造出

for reconstructing damaged or diseased human tissues,

能用于重建受损或患病的 人体组织的材料，

and we made the totally unexpected discovery

然后我们出乎意料的是，

that plants could be used for this purpose.

我们发现，可以用植物 来达成这个目标。

In fact, we invented a way to take these plants

事实上，我们发明了一个方法，

能去除这些植物 所有的 DNA 和细胞，

and strip them of all their DNA and their cells,

leaving behind natural fibers.

只留下天然纤维，

And these fibers could then be used as a scaffold

然后用这些纤维

作为重建活体组织的骨架。

for reconstructing living tissue.

Now I know this is a little weird,

我知道这听起来有些离奇，

but in our very first proof-of-concept experiment,

但在我们的第一次可行性实验中，

we took an apple,

我们把一个苹果

carved it into the shape of a human ear,

雕刻成人耳的形状，

and then we took that ear-shaped scaffold,

然后对这个耳朵形状的骨架

sterilized it, processed it

进行消毒与进一步处理，

and coaxed human cells to grow inside of it.

再诱导人类细胞在其中生长。

We then took the next step and implanted it,

接着我们进行了下一步—— 将它植入，

and we were able to demonstrate

然后我们发现

that the scaffolds stimulated the formation of blood vessels,

这些骨架刺激了血管的形成，

allowing the heart to keep them alive.

从而让心脏帮它们保持鲜活。

So not too long after these discoveries were taking place,

在获得这些发现之后不久，

I was at home cooking asparagus for dinner,

我在家里煮芦笋做晚饭，

and after cutting the ends off,

切掉根部之后，

I was noticing that the stalks were full of these microchanneled vascular bundles.

我发现芦笋茎里充满了 由微管道组成的维管束。

And it really reminded me

这让我想起了

of a whole body of bioengineering effort aimed at treating spinal cord injury.

生物工程为了治疗脊髓损伤 做出的诸多努力。

Up to half a million people per year suffer from this type of injury,

每年有约 50 万人 受这种伤病之苦，

and the symptoms can range from pain and numbness

其症状轻则带来疼痛与麻痹，

to devastating traumas

重则导致不可修复的创伤，

that lead to a complete loss of motor function and independence.

使人完全丧失 运动机能和自理能力。

And in these forms of paralysis,

这类瘫痪

there's no accepted treatment strategy,

还没有标准的治疗方案，

but one possible solution

但一种可能的解决办法

might be the use of a scaffold that has microchannels

是用具有微管道的骨架

which may guide regenerating neurons.

引导神经细胞的再生。

So, could we use the asparagus and its vascular bundles

那么，我们能否 使用芦笋和它的维管束

to repair a spinal cord?

对脊髓进行修复呢？

This is a really dumb idea.

这是一个相当离谱的想法。

First of all, humans aren't plants.

首先，人类不是植物。

Our cells have not evolved to grow on plant polymers,

我们的细胞没有进化出 在植物分子上生长的能力，

and plant tissues have no business being found in your spinal cord.

植物组织和你的脊髓也毫不相干。

And secondly,

第二，

ideally these types of scaffolds should disappear over time,

理想的状况下， 这类骨架应当逐渐消失，

leaving behind natural, healthy tissue.

留下天然、健康的组织。

But plant-based scaffolds don't do that,

但是植物性骨架无法做到，

because we lack the enzymes to break them down.

因为我们缺乏降解它们的酶。

Funnily enough,

有意思的是，

these properties were exactly why we were having so much success.

恰恰是这些性质 让我们取得了巨大的进展。

Over the course of many experiments,

在许多实验中，

we were able to demonstrate

我们发现

that the inertness of plant tissue is exactly why it's so biocompatible.

植物组织的惰性 正是其出色生物兼容性的原因。

In a way, the body almost doesn't even see it,

可以说，人体甚至 几乎发觉不了它的存在，

but regenerating cells benefit from its shape and stability.

但再生的细胞又能得益于 它的形状和稳定性。

Now this is all well and good,

这一切都很好，

but I constantly felt this weight of doubt

但在思考脊髓的时候，

when it came to thinking about spinal cords.

我总会感到疑虑的重压。

So many scientists were using materials from traditional sources,

那么多科学家都在使用 传统来源的材料，

like synthetic polymers and animal products --

比如合成高分子和动物制品——

even human cadavers.

甚至人类尸体。

I felt like a complete outsider

我觉得自己就是个 彻头彻尾的局外人，

with no real right to work on such a hard problem.

无权研究这个如此艰难的问题。

But because of this doubt,

但正因有这种疑虑，

I surrounded myself with neurosurgeons and clinicians,

我召集了神经外科医师、临床医师、

biochemists and bioengineers,

生物化学家、生物工程师，

and we started to plan experiments.

并开始一起设计实验。

The basic idea is that we would take an animal,

基本的想法是，我们会对一只动物

anesthetize it,

进行麻醉，

expose its spinal cord

暴露出它的脊髓

and sever it in the thoracic region,

并在胸椎部位进行截断，

rendering the animal a paraplegic.

使其截瘫。

We would then implant an asparagus scaffold

然后我们将芦笋骨架

植入脊髓的断点之间，

between the severed ends of the spinal cord

to act as a bridge.

起到桥梁的作用。

Now this is crucially important.

接下来的这点至关重要。

We're only using asparagus.

我们只用了芦笋——

We're not adding stem cells or electrical stimulation

没有添加任何干细胞、电刺激、

or exoskeletons

外骨骼、

or physical therapy

物理治疗

or pharmaceuticals.

或者药物。

We're simply investigating

我们只是在研究

if the microchannels in the scaffold alone

仅凭骨架中的微管道

are enough to guide the regeneration of neurons.

是否足以引导神经元的再生。

And here are the main results.

主要结果如下：

In this video, you can see an animal about eight weeks after being paralyzed.

在这段视频里，你能看到 一只截瘫八周后的动物。

You can see she can't move her back legs,

可以看到，它无法挪动后腿，

and she can't lift herself up.

也无法站起来。

Now I know how difficult this video is to watch.

我知道这个视频 让人看起来很不舒服。

My team struggled every day with these types of experiments,

我的团队每天都在 因为这类实验挣扎，

and we constantly asked ourselves why we were doing this ...

我们不停地问自己 为什么要做这种事——

until we started to observe something extraordinary.

直到我们开始观察到 难以置信的事。

This is an animal that received an implant.

这是一只接受了移植的动物。

Now she's not walking perfectly,

它还没法完美行走，

but she's moving those back legs

但已能够移动后腿，

and she's even starting to lift herself up.

甚至能开始站起来。

And on a treadmill,

而在跑步机上，

you can see those legs moving in a coordinated fashion.

可以看到后腿在协调地运动。

These are crucial signs of recovery.

这些是康复的关键迹象。

Now we still have a lot of work to do,

我们仍有大量工作要做，

and there are a lot of questions to answer,

还有很多问题待解答，

but this is the first time anyone has shown

但这是第一次有人发现

that plant tissues can be used to repair such a complex injury.

植物组织能用于修复 如此复杂的损伤。

Even so, we've been sitting on this data for over five years.

即便如此，我们手握 这些内部数据已有五年了。

Doubt drove us to repeat these experiments again and again,

疑虑驱使我们 一次又一次地重复这些实验，

to the point of almost bankrupting my lab.

甚至差点让我的实验室破产。

But I kept pushing,

但我一直坚持这样做，

because I knew these results could be the start of something extraordinary.

因为我知道这些结果 可能是奇迹的开端。

And what's just as exciting

同样激动人心的是，

is that my company is now translating these discoveries into the clinic --

我的公司正在将这些发现 引入医疗诊所——

into the real world.

引入现实世界。

This technology has just been designated a breakthrough medical device by the FDA.

这项技术刚被食品药品监督管理局 认定为“突破性医疗器械”。

And this designation means

这项认定意味着，

that right now we're in the midst of planning human clinical trials

目前我们正在筹备人类临床试验，

set to begin in about two years.

将在约两年后开展。

So I'd like to show you a prototype

我想展示一下

凝聚了我们尖端技术的 植入式脊髓的样板。

of one of our state-of-the-art spinal cord implants.

It's still made from asparagus

它仍是由芦笋制成的，

and contains all of those microchannels.

含有大量微管道。

And you can see that it moves and bends

可以看见，它弯曲的方式

and has the same feel as human tissue.

和它的触感都和人体组织一样。

And you know,

那么，

I think the real innovation is that we're now able to design

我认为真正的创新在于 我们现在能够设计或规划

or program the architecture and structure of plant tissues in such a way

植物组织的构架与结构，

使得它们能根据待解决的医疗需求 引导细胞生长。

that they could direct cell growth to address an unmet medical need.

As scientists,

作为科学家，

we spend our lives living on a knife's edge.

我们一生都在刀刃上跳舞。

On the one hand,

一方面，

it's our job to fundamentally broaden the horizons

我们的职责是从根本上

拓宽人类知识的边界，

of human knowledge,

but at the same time, we're trained to doubt --

但同时，我们受过的训练 让我们保持质疑——

to doubt our data, to doubt our experiments,

质疑我们的数据、实验，

to doubt our own conclusions.

质疑我们自己得出的结论。

We spend our lives crushed under the weight

我们终其一生都被焦虑、 不确定性和自我怀疑所碾压，

of constant, unrelenting, never-ending anxiety, uncertainty and self-doubt.

这种重压持续不断、 毫不留情、永无终结。

And this is something I really struggle with.

我一直因此而苦苦挣扎。

But I think almost every scientist can tell you

但我觉得几乎每一位科学家 都能告诉你，

about the time they ignored those doubts

他们何时决定忽略这些疑虑，

and did the experiment that would never work.

做了那个肯定不会成功的实验。

And the thing is, every now and then,

而事实是，时不时地，

one of those experiments works out.

其中一个实验就是成功了。

The challenge we face is that while doubt can be destructive

我们面临的挑战是，

虽说怀疑会打击你的精神健康，

to your mental health,

it's also the reason why scientific rigor is such a potent tool for discovery.

但也正因为怀疑，科学严谨性 才会是催生发现的有力工具。

It forces us to ask the difficult questions

它迫使我们问出困难的问题，

and repeat experiments.

不断重复实验。

Nothing about that is easy.

这一切都不轻松。

And often it becomes our responsibility

背负起困难的、 时而令人心碎的实验的重担，

to bear the burden of the hard and sometimes heart-wrenching experiment.

常常会变成我们的责任。

This ultimately leads to the creation of new knowledge,

这最终会通向新知识的诞生，

and in some really rare cases,

而在一些非常罕见的例子里，

the type of innovation that just might change a person's life.

能创造出可以改变人生的创新。

Thank you.

谢谢。