Why I study the most dangerous animal on earth -- mosquitoes | Fredros Okumu

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Wendy Chen

I guess because I'm from Tanzania

因為我來自坦尚尼亞。

I have a responsibility to welcome all of you once again.

我想我有責任要再次歡迎各位。

Thank you for coming.

謝謝你們來到這裡。

So, first of all, before we start,

首先，在我們開始之前，

how many of you in the audience

在座有哪些人

have been in the past a victim of this bug here?

在過去曾經是這隻蟲子的受害者？

We apologize on behalf of all the mosquito catchers.

我們代表捕蚊者深表歉意。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Ladies and gentlemen,

各位先生女士，

imagine getting seven infectious mosquito bites every day.

想像一下，每天被 有傳染性的蚊子叮咬七次。

That's 2,555 infectious bites every year.

一年就會被叮到 2,555 次。

When I was in college, I moved to the Kilombero River valley

讀大學時，我搬到基隆貝羅河谷，

in the southeastern part of Tanzania.

位在坦尚尼亞的東南部。

This is historically one of the most malarious zones

在當時，這是歷史上全世界瘧疾

in the world at that time.

最嚴重的地區。

Life here was difficult.

在這裡的生活很辛苦。

In its later stages

在後期，

malaria manifested with extreme seizures locally known as degedege.

瘧疾會導致極端癲癇， 在當地稱為 degedege。

It's killed both women and men, adults and children,

不論女性或男性、 成人或小孩，都無法倖免，

without mercy.

它就是這麼無情。

My home institution, Ifakara Health Institute,

我所屬的機構， 伊法克拉衛生研究所，

began in this valley in the 1950s

從 1950 年代就在這個河谷成立，

to address priority health needs for the local communities.

協助當地的社區重要的健康需求。

In fact, the name Ifakara refers to a place you go to die,

事實上，伊法克拉這個字 意味著你過世的地方，

which is a reflection of what life used to be here

它反映出了以前這裡，

in the days before organized public health care.

在有組織的公眾健康照護 出現之前的生活。

When I first moved here,

我剛搬來這裡時，

my primary role was to estimate

我的主要角色是要估計

how much malaria transmission was going on across the villages

在這些村落有多少瘧疾傳染，

and which mosquitoes were transmitting the disease.

以及哪些蚊子在傳染這種疾病。

So my colleague and myself came

所以，我同事和我越過河

30 kilometers south of Ifakara town across the river.

前往伊法克拉鎮的南方三十公里處。

Every evening we went into the villages with flashlights and siphons.

每晚，我們帶著手電筒 和虹吸管進入村落。

We rolled up our trousers,

我們把褲管捲起來，

and waited for mosquitoes that were coming to bite us

然後等待蚊子來叮咬我們，

so we could collect them

這樣我們才能捕捉牠們，

to check if they were carrying malaria.

檢查牠們是否帶有瘧疾。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

My colleague and myself selected a household,

我同事和我選了一戶人家，

and we started inside and outside, swapping positions every half hour.

我們分別從內部和外部開始， 每半小時換一次位置。

And we did this for 12 hours every night for 24 consecutive nights.

每晚我們花十二小時做這件事， 連續做了二十四個晚上。

We slept for four hours every morning

每天早上我們睡四個小時，

and worked the rest of the day,

剩下的時間都在工作，

sorting mosquitoes, identifying them and chopping off their heads

把蚊子分類、辨識牠們， 並把牠們的頭砍下來，

so they could be analyzed in the lab

以此在實驗室中分析牠們，

to check if they were carrying malaria parasites

檢查牠們的吸血口器上

in their blood mouthparts.

是否帶有瘧原蟲。

This way we were able to not only know how much malaria was going on here

這樣我們不僅能知道 這裡有多少瘧疾，

but also which mosquitoes were carrying this malaria.

也能知道是哪些蚊子帶著瘧疾。

We were also able to know

我們也能夠知道，

whether malaria was mostly inside houses or outside houses.

瘧疾主要是在屋內或屋外。

Today, ladies and gentlemen, I still catch mosquitoes for a living.

現今，各位先生女士， 我仍然靠捕捉蚊子維生。

But I do this mostly to improve people's lives and well-being.

但我這麼做，主要是為了 改善人們的生活和安康。

This has been called by some people the most dangerous animal on earth --

牠們被一些人稱為是 地球上最危險的動物──

which unfortunately is true.

很不幸的，實情確實是如此。

But what do we really know about mosquitoes?

但我們對蚊子到底了解多少？

It turns out we actually know very little.

結果發現，我們所知甚少。

Consider the fact that at the moment our best practice against malaria

想想看，目前，我們 對抗瘧疾最好的做法

are bednets -- insecticide treated bednets.

是蚊帳──有經過殺蟲處理的蚊帳。

We know now that across Africa

現在我們知道，在整個非洲

you have widespread resistance to insecticides.

處處可見殺蟲劑抗藥性出現。

And these are the same insecticides,

而用在蚊帳上的，

the pyrethroid class, that are put on these bednets.

正是這種殺蟲劑，除蟲菊精類。

We know now that these bednets protect you from bites

我們現在知道，這些蚊帳 能保護你不被叮咬，

but only minimally kill the mosquitoes that they should.

但對於蚊子的殺傷力卻是最低限度。

What it means is that we've got to do more to be able to get to zero.

這意味著，我們得要 做更多，才能消滅瘧疾。

And that's part of our duty.

那就是我們的職責之一。

At Ifakara Health Institute

在伊法克拉衛生研究所，

we focus very much on the biology of the mosquito,

我們非常著重在蚊子的生物學，

and we try to do this so we can identify new opportunities.

我們試著這麼做， 是希望能找出新機會。

A new approach.

新的方法。

New ways to try and get new options

可以嘗試的新方式，和新的選擇，

that we can use together with things such as bednets

把它們和像蚊帳這類東西做結合，

to be able to get to zero.

來消滅瘧疾。

And I'm going to share with you a few examples

接著讓我與各位分享幾個例子，

of the things that my colleagues and myself do.

說明我同事和我所做了些什麼。

Take this, for example.

以這個為例。

Mosquitoes breed in small pools of water.

蚊子在小水池中滋生。

Not all of them are easy to find --

牠們並非全都很容易找到──

they can be scattered across villages,

牠們可能散落在村落各處，

they can be as small as hoofprints.

牠們可能和蹄印一樣小。

They can be behind your house or far from your house.

牠們可能在你的房子後面， 或離你的房子很遠。

And so, if you wanted to control mosquito larvae,

所以，如果你想要控制蚊子幼蟲，

it can actually be quite difficult to get them.

其實要找到牠們還蠻困難的。

What my colleagues and I have decided to do

但我同事和我決定要做的是

is to think about what if we used mosquitoes themselves

想看看如果由我們來主導，

to carry the insecticides from a place of our choice

讓蚊子本身從一個地方帶著殺蟲劑

to their own breeding habitats

回到牠們自己的繁殖棲息地，

so that whichever eggs they lay there shall not survive.

不論牠們在哪下蛋， 都不會有蚊子存活。

This is Dickson Lwetoijera.

這位是狄克森路威突傑拉。

This is my colleague who runs this show at Ifakara.

我的同事，也是在 伊法克拉主導此事的人。

And he has demonstrated cleverly that you can actually get mosquitoes

他很聰明地證明了你其實可以讓蚊子

to come to the place where they normally come to get blood

來到牠們通常去吸血的地方，

to pick up a dose of sterilants or insecticide,

取得一劑殺菌劑或殺蟲劑，

carry this back to their own breeding habitat

將之帶回到牠們的繁殖棲息地，

and kill all their progeny.

殺光牠們的後代。

And we have demonstrated that you can do this

我們已經證明了，用這種方式

and crush populations very, very rapidly.

可以非常快速地減少蚊子數量。

This is beautiful.

這樣很美好。

This is our mosquito city.

這是我們的蚊子城市。

It is the largest mosquito farm

它是全世界最大、

為研究瘧疾所建立的蚊子飼養場。

available in the world for malaria research.

Here we have large-scale self-sustaining colonies of malaria mosquitoes

在此，我們有大規模 自立謀生的瘧疾蚊子群體，

that we rear in these facilities.

我們在這些場所培養牠們。

Of course, they are disease-free.

當然，牠們是不帶疾病的。

But what these systems allow us to do

但這些系統讓我們能夠

is to introduce new tools and test them immediately,

引入新工具，並立即測試它們，

very quickly,

快速地測試，

and see if we can crush these populations or control them in some way.

看看我們能否減少蚊子數量 或以某種方式控制其數量。

And my colleagues have demonstrated

我的同事已經證明

that if you just put two or three positions

你只要設立兩個或三個位置，

where mosquitoes can go pick up these lethal substances,

若蚊子可以去吸取這些致命物質，

we can crush these colonies in just three months.

我們就可以在三個月內 將這些群體消滅。

That's autodissemination, as we call it.

我們稱之為：自動散播。

But what if we could use

如果我們也能夠使用

the mosquitoes' sexual behavior

蚊子的性行為

to also control them?

來控制牠們，如何？

So, first of all I would like to tell you

首先，我想要告訴各位，

that actually mosquitoes mate in what we call swarms.

蚊子其實是以我們所謂的 成群方式在交配的。

Male mosquitoes usually congregate

公蚊子通常會聚集起來，

in clusters around the horizon, usually after sunset.

通常是日落後， 在地平線附近成群結隊，

The males go there for a dance,

公蚊子去那裡飛舞，

the females fly into that dance

母蚊子飛入牠們當中，

and select a male mosquito of their choice,

選擇牠們想要的公蚊子，

usually the best-looking male in their view.

通常是以牠們的觀點 選最好看的公蚊子。

They clump together and fall down onto the floor.

牠們會結成一體，落到地面上。

If you watch this, it's beautiful.

如果你能看到，其實很美。

It's a fantastic phenomenon.

這是個很了不起的現象。

This is where our mosquito-catching work gets really interesting.

我們的捕捉蚊子工作 在此處就變得很有意思了。

What we have seen, when we go swarm hunting in the villages,

當我們到村落裡去獵捕 成群的蚊子，我們看見

is that these swarm locations tend to be at exactly the same location

集結成群的地點通常不會改變，

every day, every week, every month,

每天、每周、每月、

year in, year out.

年復一年，都沒改變。

They start at exactly the same time of the evening,

牠們會在晚上同一時間開始聚集，

and they are at exactly the same locations.

且是在完全相同的地點。

What does this tell us?

這告訴我們什麼？

It means that if we can map all these locations across villages,

這表示，如果我們能把村落中的 這些地點標在地圖上，

we could actually

我們就可以

crush these populations by just a single blow.

僅靠一擊就將牠們消滅。

Kind of, you know, bomb-spray them or nuke them out.

有點像是，對牠們 投炸彈或是原子彈。

And that is what we try to do with young men and women

我們和村落中的年輕男女就在

across the villages.

嘗試這麼做。

We organize these crews, teach them how to identify the swarms,

我們把這些人組織起來， 教導他們如何辨識蚊子集群，

and spray them out.

然後噴殺牠們。

My colleagues and I believe we have a new window

我同事和我相信，我們有新機會

to get mosquitoes out of the valley.

把蚊子趕出村落。

But perhaps the fact that mosquitoes eat blood, human blood,

但，或許因為蚊子吸血，人類的血，

is the reason they are the most dangerous animal on earth.

牠們才會是地球上最危險的動物。

But think about it this way --

但換種方式來思考──

mosquitoes actually smell you.

蚊子其實能聞到你。

And they have developed

牠們已經發展出

incredible sensory organs.

很了不起的感官器官。

They can smell from as far sometimes as 100 meters away.

牠們從一百公尺外就能聞到。

And when they get closer,

當牠們靠近時，

they can even tell the difference between two family members.

牠們甚至能夠分辨出 不同的兩位家人。

They know who you are based on what you produce

根據你的呼吸、皮膚、汗水、

from your breath, skin, sweat and body odor.

體味所產生出的味道， 牠們就知道你是誰。

What we have done at Ifakara

在伊法克拉，我們做的是

is to identify what it is in your skin, your body, your sweat or your breath

找出你的皮膚、身體、汗水， 或呼吸中，有什麼成份

that these mosquitoes like.

是會吸引蚊子的。

Once we identified these substances, we created a concoction,

一旦我們找出了這些物質， 我們就能調製出

kind of a mixture, a blend of synthetic substances

一種混合物，合成物質的混合物，

that are reminiscent of what you produce from your body.

它能散發出你的身體所產生的味道。

And we made a synthetic blend

我們做了一種合成混合物，

that was attracting three to five times more mosquitoes than a human being.

比起人類，它能夠吸引的 蚊子數量有三到五倍之多。

What can you do with this?

它能怎麼使用？

You put in a trap, lure a lot of mosquitoes and you kill them, right?

把它放到陷阱中，引誘許多蚊子， 再把蚊子殺光，對吧？

And of course, you can also use it for surveillance.

當然，它也可以用在監視上。

At Ifakara

在伊法克拉，

we wish to expand our knowledge on the biology of the mosquito;

我們希望能拓展我們對於 蚊子之生物學的了解；

to control many other diseases, including, of course, the malaria,

以控制許多其他疾病， 當然，包括瘧疾，

but also those other diseases that mosquitoes transmit

還有其他由蚊子傳播的疾病，

like dengue, Chikungunya and Zika virus.

比如登革熱、屈公熱，及茲卡病毒。

And this is why my colleagues, for example --

這就是為什麼我的同事，比如──

we have looked at the fact

我們研究了一些蚊子喜歡 叮咬人類腿部的狀況。

that some mosquitoes like to bite you on the leg region.

And we've now created these mosquito repellent sandals

我們現在創造出了這些驅蚊拖鞋，

that tourists and locals can wear when they're coming.

遊客和本地人到這裡時可以穿著它。

And you don't get bitten --

你就不會被叮咬──

this gives you 'round the clock protection

它能提供你不分晝夜的保護，

until the time you go under your bednet.

直到你進到蚊帳底下。

(Applause)

（掌聲）

My love-hate relationship with mosquitoes continues.

我和蚊子之間那 愛恨交織的關係持續著，

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

And it's going to go a long way, I can see.

且它會長長久久，我知道。

But that's OK.

但那沒關係。

WHO has set a goal of 2030 to eliminate malaria from 35 countries.

世界衛生組織設定了一個 2030 年 目標：消滅 35 個國家的瘧疾。

The African Union has set a goal

非洲聯盟設定了一個

of 2030 to eliminate malaria from the continent.

2030 年目標： 消滅非洲大陸上的瘧疾。

At Ifakara we are firmly behind these goals.

在伊法克拉，我們 強力支持這些目標。

And we've put together a cohort of young scientists,

我們已經組成了 一個年輕科學家團隊，

male and female,

有男有女，

who are champions,

都是出類拔萃的人，

who are interested in coming together to make this vision come true.

都有興趣要合作實現這項遠景。

They do what they can

他們盡自己所能，

to make it work.

要成就此事。

And we are supporting them.

而我們在支持他們。

We are here to make sure that these dreams come true.

我們要確保這些夢想能夠成真。

Ladies and gentlemen,

各位先生女士，

even if it doesn't happen in our lifetime,

就算在我們這一生不會發生，

even if it doesn't happen

就算不會在你我離開人世之前發生，

before you and me go away,

I believe that your child and my child

我相信，你們的孩子和我的孩子

shall inherit a world free of malaria transmitting mosquitoes

所繼承的世界， 不會有傳染瘧疾的蚊子，

and free of malaria.

也沒有瘧疾。

Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen.

非常謝謝你們，各位先生女士。

(Applause)

（掌聲）

Thank you.

謝謝。

Kelo Kubu: OK, Fredros.

凱蘿庫布：好的，佛雷德羅斯。

Let's talk about CRISPR for a bit.

咱們來談一下 CRISPR。 （註：一種基因編輯技術）

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

It's taken the world by storm,

它已經完全攻佔了世界，

it promises to do amazing things.

它保證能做很了不起的事。

What do you think of scientists using CRISPR to kill off mosquitoes?

對於科學家用 CRISPR 來殺光蚊子，你的看法是？

Fredros Okumu: To answer this question, let's start from what the problem is.

佛雷德羅斯歐庫姆：我回答之前， 我們先想想問題是什麼。

First of all, we're talking about a disease that still kills --

首先，我們在談的是 一種還會造成死亡的疾病──

according to the latest figures we have from WHO --

根據世界衛生組織的最新數據──

429,000 people.

429,000 人因此而死。

Most of these are African children.

大部分都是非洲孩童。

Of course, we've made progress,

當然，我們有進展，

there are countries that have achieved

有些國家已經成功

up to 50-60 percent reduction in malaria burden.

將瘧疾的重擔減輕了 50%~60%。

But we still have to do more to get to zero.

但我們還需要做更多， 才能完全消滅它。

There is already proof of principle

已經有概念性驗證，

that gene-editing techniques, such as CRISPR,

證明基因改造技術，如 CRISPR，

can be used effectively

可以被有效地使用，

to transform mosquitoes so that either they do not transmit malaria --

來改造蚊子，讓牠們不會傳染瘧疾，

we call this population alteration --

我們稱之為族群改變；

or that they no longer exist,

或讓牠們不再存在，

population suppression.

稱為族群抑制。

This is already proven in the lab.

在實驗室中已經證明可行。

There is also modeling work

也有用建模的方式

that has demonstrated that even if you were to release

證明了即使你只釋放出

just a small number of these genetically modified mosquitoes,

少量的這種基因改造蚊子，

that you can actually achieve elimination very, very quickly.

也可以非常快就達成滅蚊目標。

So, CRISPR and tools like this offer us some real opportunities --

所以，CRISPR 以及這類工具 提供給我們真實的機會──

real-life opportunities to have high-impact interventions

現實的機會，讓我們能使用

that we can use in addition to what we have now

具高影響力的干預方式，

to eventually go to zero.

最終將蚊子消滅。

This is important.

這點很重要。

Now, of course people always ask us --

當然，人們總是會問我們──

which is a common question,

這是一個常見的問題，

I guess you're going to ask this as well --

我想你也會想：

"What happens if you eliminate mosquitoes?"

「當你把蚊子消滅之後，會如何？」

KK: I won't ask then, you answer.

凱蘿：那我就不問了，你來回答。

FO: OK. In respect to this, I would just like to remind my colleagues

佛雷德羅斯：好，關於這點， 我想要提醒我的同事們，

that we have 3,500 mosquito species in this world.

世界上有 3,500 種蚊子。

Maybe more than that.

可能還更多。

About 400 of these are Anophelenes,

其中大約 400 種是瘧蚊屬，

and only about 70 of them have any capacity to transmit malaria.

只有大約 70 種有能力傳播瘧疾。

In Africa, we're having to deal with three or four of these as the major guys.

在非洲，我們要對付的只有三四種。

They carry most -- like 99 percent of all the malaria we have.

我們所有的瘧疾中有大約 99% 都是由牠們造成。

If we were to go out with gene editing like CRISPR,

如果我們要採用 像 CRISPR 的基因編輯，

if we were to go out with gene drives to control malaria,

如果我們要用基因方式來控制瘧疾，

we would be going after only one or two.

我們就只能處理一兩種。

I don't see a diversity problem with that.

我看不出有什麼多樣性的問題。

But that's personal view.

但那是個人觀點。

I think it's OK.

我認為是沒問題的。

And remember, by the way,

切記，順道一提，

all these years we've been trying to eliminate these mosquitoes effectively

這些年來，我們一直試圖用 很有效的方式消滅這些蚊子：

by spraying them -- our colleagues in America have sprayed with --

用噴殺的。

我們的美國同事噴殺用的是，

really bomb-spraying these insects out of the villages.

像炸彈式的噴殺， 來對付村落中的這些昆蟲。

In Africa we do a lot of household spraying.

在非洲，我們會做很多家庭噴殺。

All these are aimed solely at killing the mosquitoes.

所有這些做法的 唯一目標就是殺死蚊子。

So there's really no problem if we had a new tool.

所以，如果我們有新工具， 也完全沒問題。

But having said that, I have to say

但話雖這麼說，我也得說，

we also have to be very, very responsible here.

我們也得要非常負責任。

So there's the regulatory side, and we have to partner with our regulators

所以，還有規定的面向， 我們要和我們的監管機構合作，

and make sure that everything that we do is done correctly,

以確保我們所做的一切都是正確的，

is done responsibly

且用負責的方式進行，

and that we also have to do independent risk assessments,

我們也得進行獨立的風險評估，

to just make sure

只是為了確保

that all these processes do not fall into the wrong hands.

所有這些流程不會 落入危險份子手中。

Thank you very much.

非常謝謝。

KK: Thank you.

凱蘿：謝謝你。

(Applause)

（掌聲）