Are Life-Saving Medicines Hiding in the World’s Coldest Places? | Normand Voyer | TED

翻译人员: Jacky He 校对人员: suya f.

For many people, you know, spending time in a dreamy location looks like this.

对于多数人来说， 度过时光的理想地点是这样的。

But for me it looks like this.

可我的看起来这样。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

As a natural product chemist, I have always been inspired

作为一名天然物质化学家， 给我带来启发的

by those wonderful chemical substances we found in nature,

通常是在大自然里的 奇妙化学物质，

especially the chemicals

尤其是一种特殊的物质，

that are made by living organisms from cold environments.

由寒冷环境的生物所产生。

And today, I want to bring you along on my incredible journey

今天，我将要带领 你们踏上极妙的旅程，

into discovering the molecular treasure

探索在寒冷地带蓬勃生长的

hiding in plants and other organisms thriving in the cold.

植物和其他生物里的分子宝藏。

OK. Now I know what you might be thinking.

现在也许有人在想：

"Norman, this just isn't for me.

“诺曼啊，这不适合我。

Chemistry was my worst subject in school, and I hate being cold.

化学是我最差的学科， 而且我讨厌寒冷。

Why on Earth should I keep listening?”

我为什么接着继续往下听呢？”

(Laughter)

（笑声）

To which I say,

我对此回答：

stay with me.

跟我来。

Because I’m convinced that there’s some amazing chemicals

因为我坚信有一些 令人惊叹的化学物质

hiding in the north,

藏在北部，

which perhaps means that the next wonder drug

而也许医治困扰人类疾病的神药

to treat some of the nasty diseases that plague us humans

is just waiting to be discovered.

等待着被我们发现。

But we might not discover it without your help.

但没有你们的协助也许会失败。

Are you intrigued now?

现在你们感兴趣吗？

(Audience) Yes!

（观众）是的！

Good. But before we go on with the chemistry,

很好。开始讲化学这部分之前，

I want to give you a quick geography lesson.

我要快速给你们上一堂地理课。

When we talk about the Canadian north,

提到加拿大北部时，

we talk about the land which is north of the 55th parallel.

我们说的是北纬 55 度 以上的土地。

This includes most of the parts of Nunavik and Nunavut.

这包括努纳维克（Nunavik)和

努纳武特（Nunavuk） 的大部分。

And this land is really famous for beautiful landscape.

而这片地以它美丽的自然景观闻名。

It's famous for polar bears.

以北极熊出名。

It's famous for northern lights

以极光出名，

and it’s famous for ...

还以这个出名 ……

Santa Claus.

圣诞老人。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

But despite these famous icons,

即便有这些代表性标志，

the great white snowy North is still largely unexplored.

雪白广阔的北方仍是 基本上未被探索的。

And that's especially true at the molecular level.

从分子层面更是如此

And my team and I hypothesize

我和我的团队提出这个假设：

that the northern ecosystem must be producing

北部生态系统肯定在生产

fantastic unknown chemicals

奇妙的未知化学物质，

with fascinating properties.

有着奇妙的属性。

Why?

为什么？

Because of the harsh conditions and the unique stresses

因为北部艰苦的条件 和独特的生存压力

plants, fungi and other organism are experiencing in the north.

影响着植物、真菌、和其他物种。

They must produce chemicals to protect themselves from these stresses.

它们必然要生产化学物质 才能保护自己不受压力损伤。

For example, imagine the sunburn you would get

想想看我们如果每天晒 大于 20 小时的太阳，

sunbathing for over 20 hours a day for a month.

一个月后的状态。

Well, to survive, you would need a tremendously good sunscreen.

要是想存活下来， 需要非常棒的防晒霜。

That's exactly what lichens have in the northern ecosystem.

这就是北部生态系统的 地衣采取的措施。

To protect themselves from UV radiation,

想要保护自己受紫外线的伤害，

they fabricate a defense chemical that blocks UV rays

地衣制造了一种阻挡紫外线的物质，

with an outstanding efficiency.

效率非常出色。

And that's only one of the defense chemicals we know about.

这仅是我们了解到的 众多保护性物质之一。

And we believe

我们也坚信

that there are many, many more hiding up there.

往北走能发掘更多类似的物质。

A couple of years ago, my group and I began our endeavors to prove this.

几年前，我的团队开始努力证实这件事。

Now, let me bring you to Umiujaq, Nunavik,

现在, 请我带你们去

乌苗雅克（Uniujaq）， 努纳维克（Nunavik)，

a small Inuit village on the coast of the Hudson Bay.

一个哈德逊海湾岸上的因纽特村庄。

And we were interested there,

我们对那个地方感兴趣，

we collected and we looked at the grayish lichens

一边寻找，一边收集灰色地衣，

that have been very scarcely investigated,

它们之前几乎没被研究过。

Stereocaulon paschale.

指状珊瑚枝地衣 （Stereocaulon paschale）。

Now this lichen is found only in ecosystems

这种地衣只生长在个别生态系统里，

with very harsh climate conditions.

气候条件要非常恶劣。

And almost nothing was known at that time

当时它的化学成分

on its chemical content.

仍是基本未知。

So we thought it was a great species to investigate.

所以，我们认为它 是个值得研究的物种。

So even though Stereocaulon paschale is quite abundant in Nunavik,

即使努纳维克有大量指状珊瑚枝地衣，

we always try to minimize our footprint.

我们依旧尽可能减少自己的踪迹，

So we sampled only 100 gram of the lichens

只收集了 100 克的地衣，

and we brought it back to our lab at Université Laval in Quebec City.

并将它带回我们在魁北克城 拉瓦尔大学的实验室。

There we cleaned it and then we crushed it

我们将它清洁干净，随后碾碎，

at -190 degree Celsius, using liquid nitrogen.

并用液态氮保持 -190 摄氏度。

And this step is essential to release the natural substances

这一步很重要，

用来释放地衣细胞里的自然物质。

within the lichen cell.

We then transformed the sample in the form of pulp

接下来把样本化为浆，

using different solvents in a process called maceration.

这个名为浸渍的过程中， 换用不同的溶剂。

And after we filtered the sample and evaporated the solvents,

等我们过滤完样本 并让溶剂完全蒸发后，

we obtained what we call a crude lichen extract.

得到的东西叫粗地衣提取物。

And for a natural product chemist, that's when the fun starts.

对于一位天然产物化学家， 好玩的部分才刚刚开始。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Through careful chromatographic separation

通过精细的色谱分离法、

and many other techniques, and years of work,

其他各种技术、和几年的功夫后，

we've been able to separate, purify and identify for the first time ever

我们有史以来第一次 分离、提炼、和识别

13 natural substances in Stereocaulon paschale.

13 种指状珊瑚枝地衣里的天然物质。

Now, I know, your minds are exploding right now.

你们现在应该备受震憾。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

But wait, there's more.

别急，还没完呢。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

From these 13 natural substances,

在这 13 种自然物质里，

turned out that 11 had already been identified in other lichens,

有 11 种在其他地衣中被发现过，

but two of the substances turned out to be unique in the world.

但是剩下两个物质是世上独一无二的。

Think about it for a moment.

停下来想一下。

From over 340,000

共有 34,000 种天然化学物质

natural chemical substances known on the planet,

在这个星球上已被识别出来后，

Stereocaulon paschale from Nunavik

努纳维克的指状珊瑚枝地衣

is producing two unique substances,

正在制造两种崭新独特的物质，

a clear demonstration that organisms experiencing stresses

明确地展示出北部生态系统的生物

in the northern ecosystem

受到压力时会产出独特化学制品。

produce unique chemicals.

Now what are the properties of these chemicals,

这些化学制品，这些天然产物，

of these natural substances?

都有什么属性？

We don't know at this point.

我们目前还不清楚。

This is still under investigation.

还在研究过程中。

And to me, and I hope to you now, this is the exciting part.

对于我来， 也希望对你们一样， 这才是令人激动的部分。

Who knows if the next generation of much needed anti-inflammatory agent

也许新一代迫切需要的消炎药、

or cancer fighting drug or even cure for Alzheimer

抗癌药、和阿兹海默的特效药

will be inspired by a chemical substance from Nunavik lichens.

会基于努纳维克地衣的化学精华。

Wow.

哇。

Let me bring you now further north.

请我把你们带往更北边的地方。

In Nunavut,

到努纳武特

on the beautiful Baffin Island.

美丽的巴芬（Baffin）岛上。

And here the story began when a group of Canadian microbiologists

这里发生的事情是 一队加拿大微生物学家

identified for the first time ever

史无前例地，

in the sediment of the beautiful, cold Frobisher Bay,

在冰冷美丽的弗罗比舍湾的沉淀中

a microscopic fungus.

发现了一种微型真菌。

Well, the fungus was part of the genus of what we call Mortierella.

这个真菌归于被孢霉属，

And so they called it, with not much originality,

于是他们毫无新意地称其为

Mortierella species.

被孢霉种。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

But they also discovered that this weird-looking fungus

但他们也发现了这种形态奇特的真菌

is synthesizing unique natural substances, mortiamides.

生成独特的天然物质，吗替胺，

Now why a rather strange-looking fungus is producing these natural substances

为什么一种相貌奇特的真菌 会产生这种物质，

is still a mystery.

仍是未知。

However, this sparked our curiosity.

但这激发了我们的兴趣；

From past research investigation, we knew that natural substances

通过以往的研究我们知道与吗替胺

that share some of the similarities with the mortiamide,

性质相似的天然物质

compounds isolated from the jatropha plants from Africa

是从非洲的麻风树中获得的化合物，

had antimalaria properties

有着抗疟疾的功效，

because they were able to neutralize

因为它能够消灭

the parasite responsible for the majority of malaria cases.

造成导致多数疟疾的寄生虫。

Could the mortiamides possess the same properties?

吗替胺会持有类似的性质吗？

Well, to find out, we went back into the lab

为了找到答案，我们返回实验室，

and we synthesized sufficient quantity of all the mortiamides.

合成了足够量的吗替胺，

And we studied their antimalarial activity.

并研究它们的抗疟疾成效。

And guess what?

你猜怎么样？

One of the substances, the mortiamide D,

其中一类物质，吗替胺 D，

efficiently neutralized the parasite of malaria.

高效地清除了疟疾寄生虫。

But that's not the end of the story.

但这还不是全部，

It's even better.

更好的还在后头。

It was able to neutralize a strain of the parasite

它能够清除一种

that is resistant to many, many malaria drugs currently use in clinics.

免疫许多抗疟疾药物的寄生虫种。

Isn't that amazing?

这不是很棒的吗？

You get the natural substances coming out from,

这种天然物质来自⸺

produced by a microscopic fungus

由微型真菌产生，

isolated from the sediment of the icy cold Frobisher Bay

出于冰冷弗罗比舍湾的沉淀中，

in the great white, snowy north

位于雪白的北方，

that could provide an answer to one of the most terrible tropical infections.

能够治疗一种非常严重的热带疾病。

It's a small world after all.

这个世界很小。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Isn't it? (Audience) Yes!

不是吗？ （观众）是的！

Well, it's time to talk about the scary news.

那么现在该谈谈那些负面消息：

The north, unfortunately, is undergoing transformation at an alarming pace.

不幸的是北面正以惊人的速度发生变化，

It is warming up faster than anywhere else on the planet.

它比全球任何其他地方更快地变暖。

And this leads to a phenomenon called the greening of the northern ecosystem.

这导致了一个现象 即北方生态系统的“绿化”；

And this is particularly true with Nunavik.

这在努勒维特尤其明显。

There's a shrub called Betula glandulosa

一种名为腺桦的灌木

that is progressing north very rapidly.

迅速地向北扩张，

Now one of the immediate consequences of this rapid shrub growth

这类灌木迅速扩张的直接后果，

is that it decreases the daylight on the lower plants and lichen.

是它减少了低矮植物和地衣的光照。

This is altering the complete food chain,

这在改变着整个食物链

and it’s altering also the traditional way of living of the Indigenous community.

也在改变着土著居民的生活方式，

And, unavoidably, this will lead to loss of biodiversity.

不可避免地， 这还会导致 生物多样性的丢失，

And one of the hidden consequences of losing biodiversity

而生物多样性丢失的隐性后果之一

is the loss of chemodiversity.

是化学多样性的丧失。

It is my great fear that with the loss of plants, lichen and fungi,

我最大的担忧之一是 随着植物、地衣、和真菌的消失，

some unknown, fascinating natural substances

部分未知、奇妙的天然物质

and potentially wonder drugs could be lost, too.

以及潜在的神药可能也将消失。

Now,

所以，

this is why we think our work is important.

这是我们认为这样的 工作重要的原因，

And timely.

也恰逢其时。

And this is why I hope by now you're convinced

我也希望现在你觉得

that you have a good reason to help protect the great white, snowy north.

你有理由去保护 辽阔的白雪皑皑的北方；

For my part,

而对我来说，

I'm going to continue to search for molecular treasures in the north

我会继续在北方寻找分子宝物，

in the hope of finding novel arguments

希望能找到全新论点

to provide stakeholders and politicians with good arguments

将这些好的观点提供给持股人政治家，

for enforcing stronger and immediate measures to mitigate climate change.

以采取更强力迅速的行动 针对气候变化。

For your part, remember the story of mortiamide D,

你们也请记住吗替胺 D 的故事，

and how a discovery in the north could save lives in the tropics?

即北方的发现如何 拯救热带地区的生命。

We're all in this together.

我们是同舟共济。

And no matter what corner of the planet you lived in,

不论你生活在地球的哪个角落，

you must do your part to save Mother Earth

你得尽你的职责保护地球母亲，

one molecule at the time.

一次一个分子，

Merci beaucoup. Thank you.

谢谢大家。

(Applause)

（鼓掌）