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

譯者: C Leung 審譯者: 麗玲 辛

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

對很多人來說， 夢幻般的假期就像這樣。

But for me it looks like this.

但對我來說，它就像這樣。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

As a natural product chemist, I have always been inspired

身為天然產物化學家， 一直帶給我啟發的

by those wonderful chemical substances we found in nature,

是那些我們在大自然中 發現的奇妙化學物質，

especially the chemicals

特別是由寒冷環境中的生物

that are made by living organisms from cold environments.

所產生的化學物質。

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

今天，我想帶你們一起踏上 我那不可思議之旅，

into discovering the molecular treasure

去發掘寶藏，

hiding in plants and other organisms thriving in the cold.

也就是在寒帶生長的植物 和其他生物體內隱藏的分子。

OK. Now I know what you might be thinking.

好的。我知道你可能正在想，

"Norman, this just isn't for me.

「諾曼，這不適合我。

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

我在學校最糟糕的科目是化學， 而且我討厭寒冷天氣。

Why on Earth should I keep listening?”

為什麼我還得繼續聽呢？」

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

To which I say,

我想說，

stay with me.

稍安毋躁。

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

因為我確信北方 隱藏著一些神奇的化學物質，

hiding in the north,

也許就能製成下一種神奇藥物，

which perhaps means that the next wonder drug

to treat some of the nasty diseases that plague us humans

用來治療困擾人類的重病，

is just waiting to be discovered.

它們正等著被發現。

But we might not discover it without your help.

但沒有你的幫助，可能無法達成。

Are you intrigued now?

你現在感興趣了嗎？

(Audience) Yes!

（觀眾）是的！

Good. But before we go on with the chemistry,

好。但在探討化學之前，

I want to give you a quick geography lesson.

我想先很快給你上一堂地理課。

When we talk about the Canadian north,

當提到加拿大北部時，

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

我們指的是北緯 55 度以上的陸地。

This includes most of the parts of Nunavik and Nunavut.

這包括努納維克 和努納武特的大部分地區。

And this land is really famous for beautiful landscape.

這片土地著實以美麗風景聞名。

It's famous for polar bears.

因北極熊而聞名。

It's famous for northern lights

因北極光而聞名，

and it’s famous for ...

還有…

Santa Claus.

因聖誕老人而聞名。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

But despite these famous icons,

然而，儘管有這些著名標誌，

the great white snowy North is still largely unexplored.

白雪皚皚的北方 大部份仍未被探索，

And that's especially true at the molecular level.

尤其在分子層面上。

And my team and I hypothesize

我和我的團隊假設，

that the northern ecosystem must be producing

北部生態系統裏，一定存在

fantastic unknown chemicals

具有獨特屬性的

with fascinating properties.

奇妙未知化學物質。

Why?

為什麼？

Because of the harsh conditions and the unique stresses

面對北方的惡劣條件和特有壓力，

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

植物、真菌和其他生物在此生存，

They must produce chemicals to protect themselves from these stresses.

必定產生某些化學物質 來保護自身免受這些壓力傷害。

For example, imagine the sunburn you would get

例如，想想一整個月，

sunbathing for over 20 hours a day for a month.

每天有超過 20 小時日光浴， 你會受到多少曬傷。

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

為了生存，你必須有很好的防曬措施。

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

這正是北方生態系中的地衣所具有的。

To protect themselves from UV radiation,

為了保護自己免受紫外線輻射，

they fabricate a defense chemical that blocks UV rays

它們製造了一種防禦化學物 來阻擋紫外線，

with an outstanding efficiency.

而且非常有效。

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

這只是我們所知的 其中一種防禦化學物質。

And we believe

我們相信

that there are many, many more hiding up there.

還有很多很多的化學物質埋藏在北方。

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

幾年前，我和我的團隊 開始努力證明這點。

Now, let me bring you to Umiujaq, Nunavik,

現在，讓我帶你前往努納維克的 烏謬加克 (Umiujaq)，

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

這是哈德遜灣沿岸 一個因紐特小村莊。

And we were interested there,

我們對這個地方很感興趣，

we collected and we looked at the grayish lichens

我們採集並觀察這些灰色的地衣，

that have been very scarcely investigated,

這是珊瑚枝屬的地衣，很少被研究 (Stereocaulon paschale)。

Stereocaulon paschale.

Now this lichen is found only in ecosystems

這種地衣只生存在 氣候條件非常惡劣的生態系統。

with very harsh climate conditions.

And almost nothing was known at that time

當時，其化學成分我們幾乎一無所知。

on its chemical content.

So we thought it was a great species to investigate.

所以我們認為這是個值得研究的物種。

So even though Stereocaulon paschale is quite abundant in Nunavik,

儘管在努納維克，這種地衣到處都是，

we always try to minimize our footprint.

但我們始終盡力減少環境足跡。

So we sampled only 100 gram of the lichens

因此，我們僅採集了 100 克地衣樣本，

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

並帶回我們在魁北克市 拉瓦爾大學的實驗室。

There we cleaned it and then we crushed it

我們把它清洗好，

at -190 degree Celsius, using liquid nitrogen.

然後使用液態氮， 在攝氏 -190 度下將其粉碎。

And this step is essential to release the natural substances

這一步對釋放地衣細胞內的 天然物質至關重要。

within the lichen cell.

We then transformed the sample in the form of pulp

然後，我們在稱為浸漬的過程中，

using different solvents in a process called maceration.

使用不同的溶劑， 將樣本轉化為黏漿狀。

And after we filtered the sample and evaporated the solvents,

在過濾樣品，並蒸發溶劑後，

we obtained what we call a crude lichen extract.

我們取得了地衣的粗萃物。

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

對於天然產品化學家來說， 樂趣才剛剛開始。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Through careful chromatographic separation

透過嚴謹的色譜分離、

and many other techniques, and years of work,

許多其他技術以及多年功夫，

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

我們首次分離、純化，並鑑定了

13 natural substances in Stereocaulon paschale.

該地衣中的 13 種天然物質。

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

我想你現在會覺得眼界大開。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

But wait, there's more.

但等等，陸續有來。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

From these 13 natural substances,

在這 13 種天然物質裡，

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

其中 11 種已在其他地衣中發現過，

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

但有兩種物質是世上獨一無二的。

Think about it for a moment.

想一想，

From over 340,000

在地球上已知超過 34 萬種 天然化學物質中，

natural chemical substances known on the planet,

Stereocaulon paschale from Nunavik

來自努納維克的珊瑚枝屬的地衣

is producing two unique substances,

正生產兩種獨有物質，

a clear demonstration that organisms experiencing stresses

這清楚地表明在北方生態系統中，

in the northern ecosystem

受到壓力的生物

produce unique chemicals.

會釋出獨有的化學物質。

Now what are the properties of these chemicals,

這些化學物質、 天然物質的特性是什麼呢？

of these natural substances?

We don't know at this point.

目前我們還不知道。

This is still under investigation.

仍在研究中。

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

對我來說，希望現在對你來說， 這也是令人興奮的部分。

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

天知道下一代迫切需要的 抗炎劑或抗癌藥，

or cancer fighting drug or even cure for Alzheimer

will be inspired by a chemical substance from Nunavik lichens.

會不會受到努納維克地衣中的 化學物質啟發而出現？

Wow.

哇。

Let me bring you now further north.

現在讓我帶你再往北走。

In Nunavut,

在努納武特地區，

on the beautiful Baffin Island.

美麗的巴芬島上。

And here the story began when a group of Canadian microbiologists

故事就從美麗而寒冷的 弗羅比舍灣開始，

identified for the first time ever

一群加拿大微生物學家

in the sediment of the beautiful, cold Frobisher Bay,

首次在沉積物中，

a microscopic fungus.

發現了一種微型真菌。

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

它是我們所說的被孢黴屬的一部分。

And so they called it, with not much originality,

因此，生物學家不太有創意地稱它為

Mortierella species.

被孢黴屬品種。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

But they also discovered that this weird-looking fungus

但他們也發現這種看來怪異的真菌，

is synthesizing unique natural substances, mortiamides.

正在合成獨有的天然物質 - 嗎替醯胺。

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

為什麼這種外型奇怪的真菌 會生產這些天然物質，

is still a mystery.

仍然是一個謎。

However, this sparked our curiosity.

然而，這激起了我們的好奇心。

From past research investigation, we knew that natural substances

從過去的研究調查中，我們知道，

這些天然物質跟非洲麻瘋樹植物中

that share some of the similarities with the mortiamide,

compounds isolated from the jatropha plants from Africa

分離出來的複合物

有一些相似之處，具有抗瘧特性，

had antimalaria properties

because they were able to neutralize

因為它們能夠摧毀

the parasite responsible for the majority of malaria cases.

導致大多數瘧疾病例的寄生蟲。

Could the mortiamides possess the same properties?

嗎替醯胺也具有相同特性嗎？

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

為了尋找答案，我們回到實驗室，

and we synthesized sufficient quantity of all the mortiamides.

合成了足夠數量的嗎替醯胺，

And we studied their antimalarial activity.

並研究它們的抗瘧疾反應。

And guess what?

猜猜看？

One of the substances, the mortiamide D,

其中一種物質嗎替醯胺 D，

efficiently neutralized the parasite of malaria.

可以有效地消滅瘧疾寄生蟲。

But that's not the end of the story.

但還未完，好戲在後頭。

It's even better.

It was able to neutralize a strain of the parasite

它能夠消滅一種

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

對目前許多臨床瘧疾藥物 都具抗藥性的寄生蟲菌株。

Isn't that amazing?

很神奇吧？

You get the natural substances coming out from,

你提取的天然物質來自

produced by a microscopic fungus

一種微小真菌，

isolated from the sediment of the icy cold Frobisher Bay

是從白雪皚皚的北方， 冰冷的弗羅比舍灣的

in the great white, snowy north

沉積物中分離出來，

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

卻能為最可怕的熱帶傳染病 提供解決方案。

It's a small world after all.

世界真是小。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Isn't it? (Audience) Yes!

不是嗎？ （觀眾）是的！

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

好吧，我們該來談談可怕的消息了。

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

不幸地，北方正以驚人的速度轉變。

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

暖化速度比地球上任何地方都更快。

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

導致一種現象， 叫做北方生態系的綠化。

And this is particularly true with Nunavik.

尤其在努納維克更甚。

There's a shrub called Betula glandulosa

有一種叫做樺樹的灌木

that is progressing north very rapidly.

正在迅速向北生長。

灌木快速生長的直接後果

Now one of the immediate consequences of this rapid shrub growth

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

是減少了低矮植物和地衣的日照。

This is altering the complete food chain,

這正在改變整個食物鏈，

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

也正在改變原住民社區的 傳統生活方式。

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

而且，這將不可避免地 導致生物多樣性流失。

And one of the hidden consequences of losing biodiversity

失去生物多樣性的潛藏後果

is the loss of chemodiversity.

是化學多樣性流失。

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

我非常擔心，隨著植物、 地衣和真菌的消失，

some unknown, fascinating natural substances

一些未知、奇妙的天然物質

and potentially wonder drugs could be lost, too.

和潛在的神奇藥物也可能會消失。

Now,

這刻，

this is why we think our work is important.

這正是我們認為我們的研究 之所以重要的原因。

And timely.

而且得及時。

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

因此，我希望你確信

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

你有充分理由去幫忙 保護那遼闊、白雪皚皚的北方。

For my part,

就我而言，

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

我將繼續在北方尋找分子寶藏，

in the hope of finding novel arguments

希望找到新的論據，

to provide stakeholders and politicians with good arguments

為投資者和政客提供有力的論據，

for enforcing stronger and immediate measures to mitigate climate change.

以實施更強力而即時的措施 來緩解氣候變化。

For your part, remember the story of mortiamide D,

就你而言，還記得 剛剛提到嗎替醯胺 D ，

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

北方的發現如何拯救熱帶地區生命嗎？

We're all in this together.

你我皆同舟共濟。

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

無論你生活在地球哪個角落，

you must do your part to save Mother Earth

你都必須盡自己的一份力量，

拯救地球的每個分子。

one molecule at the time.

Merci beaucoup. Thank you.

謝謝。

(Applause)

（掌聲）