What we didn't know about male anatomy | Diane Kelly

Translator: Timothy Covell Reviewer: Morton Bast

翻译人员: Qiumeng Zhao 校对人员: Yuguo Zhang

When I go to parties,

我去参加聚会时

it doesn't usually take very long

人们常常很快

for people to find out

就会发现

that I'm a scientist and I study sex.

我是一个科学家, 我研究性学

And then I get asked questions.

人们会向我提问

And the questions usually have a very particular format.

这些问题通常有特定的格式

They start with the phrase,

它们开头是这样的

"A friend told me,"

"有个朋友和我说过"

and then they end with the phrase,

然后了，结尾是这样的

"Is this true?"

"这是真的吗?"

And most of the time

多数情况下

I'm glad to say that I can answer them,

我很高兴我能回答这些问题

but sometimes I have to say,

但有时候我不得不说

"I'm really sorry,

"很抱歉

but I don't know

但我真的不知道

because I'm not that kind of a doctor."

因为我不是那一行的医生"

That is, I'm not a clinician,

事实就是, 我不是一个临床医生

I'm a comparative biologist who studies anatomy.

我是研究解剖学的比较生物学家

And my job is to look at lots of different species of animals

我的工作是观察很多不同物种的动物

and try to figure out how their tissues and organs work

尝试理解当生物体一切正常时

when everything's going right,

它们的组织和器官是如何工作的

rather than trying to figure out

而不是致力于在它们不正常时

how to fix things when they go wrong,

找出解决问题的办法

like so many of you.

像在座的很多人所做的一样

And what I do is I look for similarities and differences

我所做的是寻找不同物种

in the solutions that they've evolved

在进化过程中, 遇到基本生物问题时

for fundamental biological problems.

所采取进化方式的异同点

So today I'm here to argue

所以今天我要说的是

that this is not at all

这不只是一个

an esoteric Ivory Tower activity

在象牙塔内进行的

that we find at our universities,

我们在大学里看到的高深研究

but that broad study

还是一个广义研究

across species, tissue types and organ systems

它跨越物种, 组织类型和器官系统

can produce insights

能够提供

that have direct implications for human health.

对人类健康有直接影响的信息

And this is true both of my recent project

对于我新近的

on sex differences in the brain,

研究大脑中性别差异的项目

and my more mature work

和我做得较为成熟的

on the anatomy and function of penises.

关于阴茎解剖和功能的项目来说, 都是如此

And now you know why I'm fun at parties.

现在你们知道我为什么在聚会中很受欢迎了吧

(Laughter)

(笑声)

So today I'm going to give you an example

今天我要向你们介绍一个

drawn from my penis study

从我的阴茎研究中得到的例子

to show you how knowledge

它将告诉你们

drawn from studies of one organ system

从一个器官研究中得到的知识

provided insights into a very different one.

如何为另一个器官的研究提供信息

Now I'm sure as everyone in the audience already knows --

在座的各位一定已经知道——

I did have to explain it to my nine-year-old late last week --

上周我需要向我的9岁的小孩解释的——

penises are structures that transfer sperm

阴茎是把精子从某一个体

from one individual to another.

传送到另一个体的器官

And the slide behind me

我身后的这张幻灯片所展示的

barely scratches the surface

只是冰山一角

of how widespread they are in animals.

不同动物其阴茎也千差万别

There's an enormous amount of anatomical variation.

它解剖学上的差异也是极其巨大的

You find muscular tubes, modified legs, modified fins,

你会看到它会像肌肉质管, 变形的腿, 变形的鳍

as well as the mammalian fleshy, inflatable cylinder

还有哺乳动物所具有的，肉质可膨胀海绵体

that we're all familiar with --

这当然也是我们所熟悉的——

or at least half of you are.

至少你们中间的一半很熟悉吧

(Laughter)

(笑声)

And I think we see this tremendous variation

我想这些巨大差异的原因

because it's a really effective solution

在于这是解决一个非常根本的生物问题的

to a very basic biological problem,

有效方法

and that is getting sperm in a position

这个问题是,如何让精子能够

to meet up with eggs and form zygotes.

遇到卵子使之成为受精卵

Now the penis isn't actually required for internal fertiliztion,

现在体内受精并不一定需要阴茎

but when internal fertilization evolves,

但是随着体内受精方式的进化

penises often follow.

阴茎也随之进化

And the question I get when I start talking about this most often is,

当谈及此,人们常常会问我

"What made you interested in this subject?"

"你为什么对这个课题感兴趣?"

And the answer is skeletons.

答案是骨骼

You wouldn't think that skeletons and penises

你们可能觉得骨骼和阴茎

have very much to do with one another.

相互间并没有什么联系

And that's because we tend to think of skeletons

那是因为我们倾向于认为

as stiff lever systems

骨骼是坚硬的

that produce speed or power.

产生速度和力量的杠杆系统

And my first forays into biological research,

我第一次踏入生物学研究领略

doing dinosaur paleontology as an undergraduate,

是在本科时研究恐龙古生物学

were really squarely in that realm.

刚好就在这个领域中

But when I went to graduate school to study biomechanics,

但是当我在研究生时期学习生物力学时

I really wanted to find a dissertation project

我非常想找到一个论文课题

that would expand our knowledge of skeletal function.

来扩展我们对骨骼功能的认识

I tried a bunch of different stuff.

我尝试了各种不同的东西

A lot of it didn't pan out.

很多都没成功

But then one day I started thinking

然后有一天我开始考虑

about the mammalian penis.

哺乳动物的阴茎

And it's really an odd sort of structure.

其实它有个很奇怪的结构

Before it can be used for internal fertilization,

在它能被用在体内受精之前

its mechanical behavior has to change

它的力学行为

in a really dramatic fashion.

会发生奇妙的变化

Most of the time it's a flexible organ.

大部分时间它是一个灵活的器官

It's easy to bend.

它很容易弯曲

But before it's brought into use

但是在交配行为中

during copulation

它起作用之前

it has to become rigid,

它必须变得坚硬

it has to become difficult to bend.

变得难以弯曲

And moreover, it has to work.

更重要的是, 它必须正常工作

A reproductive system that fails to function

一个有功能障碍的生殖系统

produces an individual that has no offspring,

产出的都是无法生育后代的个体

and that individual is then kicked out of the gene pool.

于是这个个体会被从基因库中剔除

And so I thought, "Here's a problem

所以我想到, "这个问题

that just cries out for a skeletal system --

需要一种骨骼系统来解决——

not one like this one,

不是像这样的骨骼

but one like this one --

而是像这样的——

because, functionally,

因为从功能上

a skeleton is any system

一个骨骼是指

that supports tissue and transmits forces.

可以支持组织并传输动力的系统

And I already knew that animals like this earthworm,

而我已经知道像蚯蚓一样的动物

indeed most animals,

事实上大多数动物

don't support their tissues

并不靠骨骼

by draping them over bones.

来支撑它们的组织

Instead they're more like reinforced water balloons.

相反地, 它们强力的水气球

They use a skeleton that we call a hydrostatic skeleton.

它们使用一种我们称之为铃静力骨架的骨骼系统

And a hydrostatic skeleton

一个零静力骨架

uses two elements.

有两个要素

The skeletal support comes from an interaction

骨骼的支撑性来自于

between a pressurized fluid

受压液体

and a surrounding wall of tissue

与环绕它的组织壁之间的相互作用

that's held in tension and reinforced with fibrous proteins.

这些组织由张力支撑, 并被纤维蛋白加固

And the interaction is crucial.

这种相互作用非常重要

Without both elements you have no support.

缺少两者中任意一个, 都不会有支撑力

If you have fluid

如果你有液体

with no wall to surround it

却没有它周围的管壁

and keep pressure up,

来维持压力

you have a puddle.

你有的只是水坑

And if you have just the wall

如果你只有管壁

with no fluid inside of it to put the wall in tension,

其中却没有液体来对管壁施加压力

you've got a little wet rag.

你只有一块湿抹布

When you look at a penis in cross section,

当你观察阴茎的横切面时

it has a lot of the hallmarks

你能看到它有很多

of a hydrostatic skeleton.

铃静力骨架的特征

It has a central space

它中间空间的

of spongy erectile tissue

海绵状勃起组织

that fills with fluid -- in this case blood --

里面充满了液体——在这种情况下是血液——

surrounded by a wall of tissue

周围被富含胶原蛋白的组织包裹

that's rich in a stiff structural protein called collagen.

胶原蛋白是一种不易弯曲的结构蛋白

But at the time when I started this project,

但是在我刚开始着手这个课题的时候

the best explanation I could find for penal erection

我可以找到的最好的阴茎勃起的理由是

was that the wall surrounded these spongy tissues,

因为它有包围海绵组织的外壁

and the spongy tissues filled with blood

和充血的海绵组织

and pressure rose and voila! it became erect.

随着压力增强, 好, 它勃起了

And that explained to me expansion --

这个现象解释了膨胀——

made sense: more fluid, you get tissues that expand --

组织充满液体就会膨胀——

but it didn't actually explain erection.

但它其实并没有解释勃起

Because there was no mechanism in this explanation

因为这个解释中不存在

for making this structure hard to bend.

让这个结构变得坚硬的机制

And no one had systematically looked at the wall tissue.

而且以前也从没有人系统地观察过构成外壁的组织

So I thought, wall tissue's important in skeletons.

所以我想, 外壁在骨骼中很重要

It has to be part of the explanation.

它肯定在臌胀中起了一定作用

And this was the point

就在这个关头上

at which my graduate adviser said,

我的研究生导师对我说

"Whoa! Hold on. Slow down."

"哇! 等一下, 慢慢来"

Because after about six months of me talking about this,

因为在他看到我连续六个月都在谈论这个话题以后

I think he finally figured out

我认为他终于意识到

that I was really serious about the penis thing.

我对这个阴茎课题是很认真的

(Laughter)

(笑声)

So he sat me down, and he warned me.

所以他让我坐下, 提醒我说

He was like, "Be careful going down this path.

"做这个项目要小心为好

I'm not sure this project's going to pan out."

我不确定它能不能出结果"

Because he was afraid I was walking into a trap.

因为他害怕我会陷入一个困境

I was taking on a socially embarrassing question

我正要着手一个社会学上尴尬的问题

with an answer that he thought

而他认为这个问题的答案

might not be particularly interesting.

可能不怎么有趣

And that was because

因为到目前为止

every hydrostatic skeleton

我们在自然界发现的

that we had found in nature up to that point

每个铃静力骨架

had the same basic elements.

都有同样的基本要素

It had the central fluid,

它的中央有液体

it had the surrounding wall,

周围有外壁

and the reinforcing fibers in the wall

外壁中有强化纤维

were arranged in crossed helices

这些纤维以交叉螺旋的形式

around the long axis of the skeleton.

排列在骨骼的长轴上

So the image behind me

我身后的这张图片

shows a piece of tissue

显示的是将这些交叉螺旋骨架

in one of these cross helical skeletons

从某一角度切开后可见的组织

cut so that you're looking at the surface of the wall.

你可以看见外壁表面

The arrow shows you the long axis.

箭头表示长轴

And you can see two layers of fibers,

你可以看到两层纤维

one in blue and one in yellow,

一层蓝的, 一层黄的

arranged in left-handed and right-handed angles.

分别以左手方向和右手方向排列

And if you weren't just looking at a little section of the fibers,

如果你不只是看到纤维的一小个切断层

those fibers would be going in helices

这些纤维会以螺旋的形式

around the long axis of the skeleton --

环绕着骨架的长轴——

something like a Chinese finger trap,

有点像中国的指套

where you stick your fingers in and they get stuck.

你把指头伸进去, 它们就被卡住了

And these skeletons have a particular set of behaviors,

这些骨架有一系列特殊的行为

which I'm going to demonstrate in a film.

我会在下面的短片中展示它们

It's a model skeleton

这个骨架模型

that I made out of a piece of cloth

是我用一块布料

that I wrapped around an inflated balloon.

包裹在一个充气了的气球上做成的

The cloth's cut on the bias.

布料是斜裁的

So you can see that the fibers wrap in helices,

所以你可以看到纤维以螺旋形式缠绕

and those fibers can reorient as the skeleton moves,

这些纤维可以随着骨架运动变换方向

which means the skeleton's flexible.

这意味着骨骼是柔韧的

It lengthens, shortens and bends really easily

它可以轻易地拉伸, 缩短和弯曲

in response to internal or external forces.

以应对内力或外力的作用

Now my adviser's concern

而我导师的担忧是

was what if the penile wall tissue

如果阴茎的外壁组织

is just the same as any other hydrostatic skeleton.

和所有其它铃静力骨架结构一样

What are you going to contribute?

你的研究可以做出什么贡献?

What new thing are you contributing

你可以对生物学知识

to our knowledge of biology?

可以贡献什么新的东西吗?

And I thought, "Yeah, he does have a really good point here."

我想, "是啊, 他的想法很有道理"

So I spent a long, long time thinking about it.

所以我花了很长很长的时间去考虑这个问题

And one thing kept bothering me,

有个事实一直在困扰我

and that's, when they're functioning,

那就是, 当阴茎在运作时

penises don't wiggle.

它们不会摆动

(Laughter)

(笑声)

So something interesting had to be going on.

所以其中一定有什么有意思的事情

So I went ahead, collected wall tissue,

于是我开始着手,收集了外壁组织

prepared it so it was erect,

把它制备成勃起时的状态

sectioned it, put it on slides

将它横切, 放在玻片上

and then stuck it under the microscope to have a look,

然后放在显微镜下来观察

fully expecting to see crossed helices of collagen of some variety.

一心期望能看到各种胶原蛋白呈交叉螺旋状排列

But instead I saw this.

但是我却看到了这个

There's an outer layer and an inner layer.

它有一个外层和一个内层

The arrow shows you the long axis of the skeleton.

箭头指出骨架的长轴

I was really surprised at this.

我看到它时非常惊讶

Everyone I showed it

每个看到的人

was really surprised at this.

都很惊讶

Why was everyone surprised at this?

为什么每个人都感到惊讶?

That's because we knew theoretically

因为我们知道在另外一个

that there was another way

在理论上

of arranging fibers in a hydrostatic skeleton,

铃静力骨架的纤维排列方式

and that was with fibers at zero degrees

那就是纤维在结构的长轴上

and 90 degrees to the long axis of the structure.

以0度和90度交叉排列

The thing is, no one had ever seen it before in nature.

问题是, 人们还不曾在自然界中见过这种排列

And now I was looking at one.

而现在我正看着它

Those fibers in that particular orientation

这些以特殊方向排列的纤维

give the skeleton a very, very different behavior.

使骨骼有非同寻常的行为

I'm going to show a model

让我来展示

made out of exactly the same materials.

一个用同样材料制作的模型

So it'll be made of the same cotton cloth,

一样的棉布料

same balloon, same internal pressure.

一样的气球, 一样的内部压力

But the only difference

唯一的不同是

is that the fibers are arranged differently.

纤维以另一种形式排列

And you'll see that, unlike the cross helical model,

你可以看到, 和交叉螺旋模型不同

this model resists extension and contraction

这个模型抗拒拉伸, 收缩

and resists bending.

还抗拒弯曲

Now what that tells us

这告诉我们

is that wall tissues are doing so much more

外壁组织除了覆盖着血管组织外

than just covering the vascular tissues.

还有许多其它功能

They're an integral part of the penile skeleton.

它们是阴茎骨骼中的重要组成部分

If the wall around the erectile tissue wasn't there,

如果不存在环绕勃起组织的外壁组织

if it wasn't reinforced in this way,

如果它是以另外一种方式加强的

the shape would change,

它的形状就会发生变化

but the inflated penis would not resist bending,

但是充血的阴茎不会抗拒弯曲

and erection simply wouldn't work.

就不能成功勃起

It's an observation with obvious medical applications

这个观察发现对人类

in humans as well,

也有显著的医疗应用

but it's also relevant in a broad sense, I think,

但我认为它还有广泛的意义

to the design of prosthetics, soft robots,

有关义肢的设计, 软机器人

basically anything

基本上所有的

where changes of shape and stiffness are important.

形状和硬度的改变对它们很重要的东西

So to sum up:

所以总的来说

Twenty years ago,

二十年前

I had a college adviser tell me,

我的本科生导师

when I went to the college and said,

听到我在进入大学时说

"I'm kind of interested in anatomy,"

"我对解剖学有点感兴趣"

they said, "Anatomy's a dead science."

他说, "解部学已经没有生机了"

He couldn't have been more wrong.

他错得不能再错了

I really believe that we still have a lot to learn

我真心相信我们还要学习很多

about the normal structure and function of our bodies.

有关我们身体的普通结构和功能的东西

Not just about its genetics and molecular biology,

不仅仅是在它的基因和分子生物学

but up here in the meat end of the scale.

还在肌肉层面上

We've got limits on our time.

我们的时间有限

We often focus on one disease,

我们常常专注于一种疾病

one model, one problem,

一个模型, 一个问题

but my experience suggests

但我的经验告诉我

that we should take the time

我们应该花更多时间

to apply ideas broadly between systems

将思路广泛地运用在不同系统间

and just see where it takes us.

来看会有什么新发现

After all, if ideas about invertebrate skeletons

毕竟, 如果关于无脊椎骨骼系统的观点

can give us insights

可以给我们

about mammalian reproductive systems,

关于哺乳动物生殖系统的启示

there could be lots of other wild and productive connections

那么就可能潜藏着更多的其它奇怪但有用的联系

lurking out there just waiting to be found.

等待我们去发现

Thank you.

谢谢

(Applause)

(掌声)