Fashion has a pollution problem -- can biology fix it? | Natsai Audrey Chieza

翻译人员: MANSI XIE 校对人员: JiYuan Zhang

You're watching the life cycle of a Streptomyces coelicolor.

你们现在所看到的 是天蓝色链霉菌的生命周期。

It's a strain of bacteria that's found in the soil

这是一种在土壤里面发现的细菌，

where it lives in a community with other organisms,

它和其他生命体共生，

decomposing organic matter.

来分解有机物质。

Coelicolor is a beautiful organism.

这种蓝色链霉菌是一种美丽的生命，

A powerhouse for synthesizing organic chemical compounds.

是合成有机化合物的重要“工厂”。

It produces an antibiotic called actinorhodin,

它会产生一种名为 放线紫红素的抗生素，

which ranges in color from blue to pink and purple,

这种抗生素的颜色 会根据土壤的酸度，

depending on the acidity of its environment.

由蓝色到粉红色再到紫色之间变换。

That it produces these pigment molecules sparked my curiosity

它产生这些色素分子的能力 激起了我的好奇，

and led me to collaborate closely with coelicolor.

也让我和这种酶链菌 开始了紧密的合作。

It is an unlikely partnership,

这是一种看似不可能的搭档关系，

but it's one that completely transformed my practice as a materials designer.

但正是它让我彻底地成为了 一位实际意义上的材料设计师。

From it, I understood how nature was going to completely revolutionize

从这件事里，我明白了大自然 是怎样彻底变革

how we design and build our environments,

我们对环境的设计和构造的，

and that organisms like coelicolor

也明白了像链霉菌这样的生物，

were going to help us grow our material future.

将会助力人类打造未来的材料。

So what's wrong with things as they are?

那么，现有的材料有什么问题呢？

Well, for the last century,

实际上，从上个世纪开始，

we've organized ourselves around fossil fuels,

我们就围绕着化石燃料 组成了人类社会，

arguably, the most valuable material system we have ever known.

化石燃料可以说是我们所知道 的最有价值的材料系统。

We are tethered to this resource, and we've crafted a dependency on it

我们离不开这种资源， 还对它产生了依赖，

that defines our identities, cultures, our ways of making and our economies.

这种依赖决定了我们的地位、文化， 以及我们生产制造的方式和我们的经济。

But our fossil fuel-based activities are reshaping the earth

但我们基于化石燃料 的种种活动正在重塑地球，

with a kind of violence that is capable of dramatically changing the climate,

通过一系列能够显著改变 气候的粗暴方式，

of accelerating a loss of biodiversity

我们使物种多样性的衰退加速，

and even sustaining human conflict.

甚至激化了人与人之间的冲突。

We're living in a world

我们生活在一个

where the denial of this dependence has become deadly.

任何试图拒绝这种依赖的尝试 都是自取灭亡的世界中。

And its reasons are multiple,

这种状况的成因有很多，

but they include the privilege of not being affected

但其中包括了我们免于受 其他物种干涉的特权，

and what I believe is a profound lack of imagination

以及，在我看来，我们严重缺乏

about how else we could live

对于如何在这个星球的限制下

within the limits of this planet's boundaries.

进行生存繁衍的想象。

Fossil fuels will one day give way to renewable energy.

化石能源终究会被可再生能源所代替，

That means we need to find new material systems

这就意味着我们需要找到一种全新的，

that are not petroleum-based.

不是基于石油的物质体系。

I believe that those material systems will be biological,

我相信这个物质体系 将会是关于生物的，

but what matters is how we design and build them.

但是真正重要的是如何去 设计和打造这些生物材料。

They mustn't perpetuate the destructive legacies of the oil age.

它们不应继续延续 石油时代的破坏性遗存。

When you look at this image,

当你们在看这幅图的时候，

what do you see?

你们看到什么了？

Well, I see a highly sophisticated biological system,

我看到了一个高度成熟的生物系统。

that through the use of enzymes,

通过使用酶，

can move and place atoms more quickly and precisely

这些生物能比我们人类 更快速和准确地

than anything we've ever engineered.

移动和放置原子。

And we know that it can do this at scale.

我们知道它还能规模化操作。

Nature has evolved over 3.8 billion years

大自然进化了超过 38 亿年

to be able to do this,

才能达到这样的地步，

but now through the use of synthetic biology,

但是现在通过使用合成生物学——

an emerging scientific discipline

一门新兴的科学，

that seeks to customize this functionality of living systems,

能够根据需求定制 一个生命系统的功能——

we can now rapid prototype the assembly of DNA.

我们现在已经可以快速地 制作出 DNA 的相似原型。

That means that we can engineer the kind of biological precision

这意味着，我们可以 人为地改变生物精度，

that makes it possible to design a bacteria

使我们能够设计出

that can recycle metal,

能回收金属的细菌、

to grow fungi into furniture

能在家具中培育真菌的细菌、

and even sequester renewable energy from algae.

甚至是可以从藻类植物上获取 可再生能源的细菌。

To think about how we might access this inherent brilliance of nature --

在考虑如何获取这种大自然的宝藏，

to build things from living things --

即在活的生命体上构造新事物时，

let's consider the biological process of fermentation.

我们应该先来看看发酵的生物过程。

I've come to think of fermentation, when harnessed by humans,

我认为，在被人类利用以后，

as an advanced technological toolkit for our survival.

发酵就成了 保障人类生存的先进工具。

When a solid or a liquid ferments,

当一个固体或者液体物质被发酵时，

it's chemically broken down by bacterial fungi.

它实际上是被细菌化学分解了。

The byproduct of this is what we value.

在这个过程中产生的副产品 正是我们所需的。

So for example, we add yeast to grapes to make wine.

例如，我们酿造红酒时 在葡萄中加酵母。

Well in nature, these transformations are part of a complex network --

当然在大自然中，这种转变只是 错综复杂的关系网中的一部分，

a continuous cycle that redistributes energy.

这种网络是一种重新分配能源 的周而复始的循环。

Fermentation gives rise to multispecies interactions

发酵促成了跨越多个物种的互动：

of bacteria and fungi,

从细菌和真菌，

plants, insects, animals and humans:

到植物、昆虫、动物和人类：

in other words, whole ecosystems.

换句话说，是整个生态系统的互动。

We've known about these powerful microbial interactions

我们了解这些强大的微生物相互作用

for thousands of years.

已经有上千年历史了。

You can see how through the fermentation of grains,

你可以观察到通过对谷物、

vegetal matter and animal products,

果蔬和动物制品进行发酵，

all peoples and cultures of the world have domesticated microorganisms

世界上的所有民族和文化 都在利用微生物

to make the inedible edible.

让不能吃的东西变得可以食用。

And there's even evidence that as early as 350 AD,

而且有证据表明，早在公元 350 年

people deliberately fermented foodstuffs that contained antibiotics.

人类就开始有意发酵 含有抗生素的食物。

The skeletal remains of some Sudanese Nubian

在苏丹努比亚人的遗骸中

were found to contain significant deposits of tetracycline.

发现了很明显的四环素沉积现象，

That's an antibiotic that we use in modern medicine today.

这是一种我们现代社会 也在用的抗生素。

And nearly 1500 years later,

1500 年之后，

Alexander Fleming discovered the antimicrobial properties of mold.

亚历山大·费莱明发现了 有抗菌特质的霉菌。

And it was only through the industrialized fermentation of penicillin

只需要通过工业的青霉素发酵，

that millions could survive infectious diseases.

就能让数百万人 从传染病中存活下来。

Fermentation could once again play an important role

在人类的发展史中，

in our human development.

发酵一次又一次发挥了重要作用。

Could it represent a new mode of survival

如果我们利用生物 来彻底改变我们的工业，

if we harness it to completely change our industries?

这种改变的结果能否成为 一种新的生产方式？

I've worked in my creative career to develop new material systems

我一直在致力于为纺织工业

for the textile industry.

开拓新的材料系统。

And while it is work that I love,

尽管这是我热爱的工作，

I cannot reconcile with the fact that the textile industry

但是我不得不承认纺织行业

is one of the most polluting in the world.

是最污染环境的行业之一 的这个事实。

Most of the ecological harm caused by textile processing

大部分纺织品加工过程中 造成的生态破环

occurs at the finishing and the dyeing stage.

都出现在后期和染色阶段。

Processing textiles requires huge amounts of water.

不仅因为生产纺织品 的过程需要大量的水。

And since the oil age completely transformed the textile industry,

而且自从石油时代 完全改变纺织行业以来，

many of the materials

很多用于生产的原材料

and the chemicals used to process them are petroleum based.

和加工用的化学物质 都是来源于石油的。

And so coupled with our insatiable appetite for fast fashion,

再加上我们对快时尚的贪得无厌，

a huge amount of textile waste is ending up in landfill every year

导致大量的纺织废弃物 年复一年地被填埋，

because it remains notoriously difficult to recycle.

这是因为这些废旧时尚品 很难被回收利用。

So again, contrast this with biology.

再一次把现有工业 和生物工业比较一下。

Evolved over 3.8 billion years,

后者是个已经进化了 38 亿年，

to rapid prototype,

能快速生产原型，

to recycle and to replenish

进行回收和补充的系统，

better than any system we've ever engineered.

胜过我们既往设计的一切系统。

I was inspired by this immense potential

我曾被它巨大的潜力所启发，

and wanted to explore it through a seemingly simple question --

希望借由当时一个 看起来比较简明的问题

at the time.

去探索它。

If a bacteria produces a pigment,

如果一个细菌可以产出一种色素

how do we work with it to dye textiles?

那我们如何将它运用于布料染色呢？

Well, one of my favorite ways

我最喜欢的方式之一是

is to grow Streptomyces coelicolor directly onto silk.

直接在丝绸上种植天蓝色链霉菌。

You can see how each colony produces pigment around its own territory.

你会看到这些小殖民者们 是如何在自己的领土上发挥作用的。

Now, if you add many, many cells,

接着，如果你再添加很多很多的细胞，

they generate enough dyestuff to saturate the entire cloth.

他们就能产出足够 浸染整块布料的染料。

Now, the magical thing about dyeing textiles in this way --

关于用这种染色方式神奇的一点是，

this sort of direct fermentation

通过这种直接的发酵，

when you add the bacteria directly onto the silk --

即你直接将细菌放在丝绸上后，

is that to dye one t-shirt,

如果你要为一件T恤染色，

the bacteria survive on just 200 milliliters of water.

那么只需要给细菌们 提供 200 毫升的水。

And you can see how this process generates very little runoff

你可以看到这个过程 只需要非常少的水量，

and produces a colorfast pigment without the use of any chemicals.

而且不用任何的化学药品 即可生成永不褪色的染料。

So now you're thinking --

现在你可能会想——

and you're thinking right --

对，你们想的是对的——

an inherent problem associated with designing with a living system is:

伴随着设计一个有生命的系统 而来的问题是：

How do you guide a medium that has a life force of its own?

人类要如何去驾驭 一个有着生命力的媒介？

Well, once you've established the baseline for cultivating Streptomyces

事实上，一旦你提供了 链霉菌生长的基本条件，

so that it consistently produces enough pigment,

使它能持续产生足够的染料，

you can turn to twisting, folding,

你就可以开始拧、叠、

clamping, dipping, spraying,

夹、沾、喷、

submerging --

浸……

all of these begin to inform the aesthetics of coelicolor's activity.

等所有这些能形成 天蓝色链菌酶分布的美感的操作。

And using them in a systematic way

通过系统化地使用它们，

enables us to be able to generate an organic pattern ...

我们可以诱导一个有机图像、

a uniform dye ...

一种均匀分布，

and even a graphic print.

甚至一个特定画面的产生。

Another problem is how to scale these artisanal methods of making

另外一个问题是， 如何让这些手工制作方法大规模化，

so that we can start to use them in industry.

从而使我们得以将其 应用在工业生产中。

When we talk about scale,

当我们讲到大规模化时，

we consider two things in parallel:

我们会同时想到两件事：

scaling the biology,

让生物生长大规模化，

and then scaling the tools and the processes

以及与生物打交道时

required to work with the biology.

所需的工具和流程的规模化。

If we can do this,

如果我们能做到这些，

then we can move what happens on a petri dish

我们就能把在培养皿上的东西

so that it can meet the human scale,

变成能满足人类需求的规模，

and then hopefully the architecture of our environments.

甚至有望满足整个生态架构的需求。

If Fleming were alive today,

如果费莱明还在世，

this would definitely be a part of his toolkit.

这些东西肯定在他的工具包里。

You're looking at our current best guess

你所看到的就是我们目前 在规模生物学上

of how to scale biology.

最好的猜想。

It's a bioreactor;

这是一个生物反应器；

a kind of microorganism brewery that contains yeasts

就像一个包含酵母菌 的微生物酿酒厂。

that have been engineered to produce specific commodity chemicals and compounds

那些酵母菌被设定产出 特定的化学商品和成分，

like fragrances and flavors.

例如香氛和香料。

It's actually connected to a suite of automated hardware and software

它实际上是与一套实时读取参数的

that read in real time

自动化硬件和软件相连的，

and feed back to a design team the growth conditions of the microbe.

会把微生物的生长情况 反馈给设计团队。

So we can use this system to model the growth characteristics

我们可以用这套系统

of an organism like coelicolor

去模拟细菌群落的生长情况、

to see how it would ferment at 50,000 liters.

去观察它们如何在 5 万升水里发酵。

I'm currently based at Ginkgo Bioworks,

我目前工作于 银杏生物工作室（Ginkgo Bioworks），

which is a biotechnology startup in Boston.

一家位于波士顿的生物技术初创公司。

I am working to see how their platform for scaling biology

我正在努力研究他们的生物扩展平台

interfaces with my artisanal methods of designing with bacteria for textiles.

如何与我的手工设计 纺织品细菌的方法对接。

We're doing things like engineering Streptomyces coelicolor

我们正在研究天蓝色链霉菌

to see if it can produce more pigment.

能否产生更多的染料。

And we're even looking at the tools for synthetic biology.

我们甚至还在 人工合成生物领域寻找工具。

Tools that have been designed specifically to automate synthetic biology

寻找那些被特定设计为 自动人工合成生物的工具，

to see how they could adapt to become tools to print and dye textiles.

能否被改造，为印刷 和染色纺织品所用。

I'm also leveraging digital fabrication,

同时我也借助了数字制造，

because the tools that I need to work with Streptomyces coelicolor

因为我所需要用来研究 天蓝色链霉菌的工具

don't actually exist.

其实并不存在。

So in this case --

在这种情况下——

in the last week actually,

其实就在上个星期，

I've just designed a petri dish

我设计了一个培育皿，

that is engineered to produce a bespoke print on a whole garment.

它能在一整件成衣上 制造出定制的印刷图案。

We're making lots of kimonos.

我们在制作大量的和服。

Here's the exciting thing:

让人激动的是：

I'm not alone.

除了我之外，

There are others who are building capacity in this field,

还有其他在这个领域有所建树的群体，

like MycoWorks.

例如 MycoWorks。

MycoWorks is a startup

MycoWorks 是一家立志

that wants to replace animal leather with mushroom leather,

用蘑菇革质来代替 动物皮革的初创公司，

a versatile, high-performance material

蘑菇革质是一种多功能， 高性能的材料，

that has applications beyond textiles and into product and architecture.

它在生产和建筑上比纺织物用途更广。

And Bolt Threads --

还有 Bolt Threads ——

they've engineered a yeast to produce spider-silk protein

他们发明出一种 能生产蛛丝蛋白的酵母菌，

that can be spun into a highly programmable yarn.

蛛丝蛋白可以纺成 高度可定制的纱线,

So think water resistance,

有着防水、

stretchability and superstrength.

高延展性和超强韧性的特性。

To reach economies of scale,

为了达到经济上的规模化，

these kinds of startups are having to build and design

这些公司就必须建造和设计

and engineer the infrastructure to work with biology.

能进行生物工程的基础设施。

For example,

比如，

Bolt Threads have had to engage in some extreme biomimicry.

Bolt Threads 必须在 一些极致的仿生上下功夫。

To be able to spin the product this yeast creates into a yarn,

为了能让酵母产生的蛋白纺成纱线，

they've engineered a yarn-making machine

他们设计出了一个纺纱机器。

that mimics the physiological conditions

它能根据蜘蛛吐丝时的真实情景

under which spiders ordinarily spin their own silk.

模仿对应的生理条件。

So you can start to see how imaginative

所以，你们已经可以看出，

and inspiring modes of making exist in nature

在开拓生物工程的领土时，

that we can use to build capacity around new bio-based industries.

有那么多富于想象力和启迪性的模式。

What we now have is the technology

我们现在所拥有的是

to design, build, test and scale these capabilities.

设计、建造、测试和扩展领土的能力。

At this present moment,

在当前这个时刻，

as we face the ecological crisis in front of us,

我们正面临生态危机，

what we have to do is to determine

我们必须要

how we're going to build these new material systems

决定如何建立新的材料系统，

so that they don't mirror the damaging legacies of the oil age.

来免于重蹈石油时代的覆辙。

How we're going to distribute them to ensure a sustainable development

我们又该如何分配它们， 以在全球范围内公平地

that is fair and equitable across the world.

实现可持续发展。

And crucially, how we would like the regulatory and ethical frameworks

还有更重要的是， 我们要怎么让这些技术

that govern these technologies

的监管和道德框架

to interact with our society.

与我们的社会交互。

Biotechnology is going to touch every part of our lived experience.

生物技术将会涉及到 我们生活的方方面面。

It is living;

它是鲜活的，

it is digital;

也是数字化的，

it is designed, and it can be crafted.

它可以被设计，也可以被雕琢。

This is a material future that we must be bold enough to shape.

这就是材料的未来， 我们必须坚定不移地塑造它。

Thank you.

谢谢。

(Applause)

（掌声）