We can reprogram life. How to do it wisely | Juan Enriquez

譯者: 易帆 余 審譯者: Kuan-Yi Li

So, there's an actor called Dustin Hoffman.

有一位演員叫做達斯汀．霍夫曼。

And years ago, he made this movie which some of you may have heard of,

多年前，他拍過一部電影， 你們可能有人聽過，

called "The Graduate."

片名叫《畢業生》。

And there's two key scenes in that movie.

片中有兩個關鍵場景。

The first one is the seduction scene.

第一個場景是色誘。

I'm not going to talk about that tonight.

但我今晚不會談這個。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

The second scene is where he's taken out by the old guy to the pool,

第二個場景是， 他被一個長者帶到泳池邊，

and as a young college graduate, the old guy basically says one word,

那長者對這年輕的大學畢業生 基本上只說了一個字，

just one word.

就一個字。

And of course, all of you know what that word is.

當然，你們都知道是哪個字。

It's "plastics."

「塑膠」。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

And the only problem with that is, it was completely the wrong advice.

那件事唯一的問題就是， 它根本是個錯誤的建議。

(Laughter)

［大錯特錯！］ （笑聲）

Let me tell you why it was so wrong.

讓我告訴你錯在哪。

The word should have been "silicon."

那個字應該改成「矽」。

And the reason it should have been silicon

而它必須改成矽的原因是：

is because the basic patents for semiconductors had already been made,

當時半導體技術剛被研發出來，

had already been filed,

專利已經送件，

and they were already building them.

並開始生產。

So Silicon Valley was just being built in 1967,

1967 年這部片上映時，

when this movie was released.

矽谷才剛起步。

And the year after the movie was released,

電影上映後的隔年，

Intel was founded.

英特爾才創立。

So had the graduate heard the right one word,

那畢業生當年要是聽到了對的字，

maybe he would have ended up onstage -- oh, I don't know --

也許今天在台上的就是他， 搞不好……

maybe with these two.

還是跟這兩個傢伙。

(Laughter)

［史蒂夫．賈伯斯和比爾．蓋茲］ （笑聲）

So as you're thinking of that,

當你在思考這件事時，

let's see what bit of advice we might want to give

讓我們順便想想該給什麼建議，

so that your next graduate doesn't become a Tupperware salesman.

好讓未來的畢業生 不會變成特百惠的業務員。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

So in 2015, what word of advice would you give people,

在 2015 年，當你把一位大學 畢業生叫到泳池邊的時候，

when you took a college graduate out by the pool

你會給他們什麼建議？

and you said one word, just one word?

你只能說一個字，就一個字。

I think the answer would be "lifecode."

我認為答案是「生物工程」。

So what is "lifecode?"

「生物工程」是什麼？

Lifecode is the various ways we have of programming life.

它代表我們能用來 設計生命的各種途徑。

So instead of programming computers,

設計的不再是電腦程式，

we're using things to program viruses

而是用生物科技來設計病毒、

or retroviruses or proteins

反轉錄病毒、蛋白質、

or DNA or RNA

DNA、RNA、

or plants or animals, or a whole series of creatures.

植物、動物或各種各樣的生物。

And as you're thinking about this incredible ability

這樣的神奇能力

to make life do what you want it to do,

──讓生命為你所用，

what it's programmed to do,

照著設計運作──

what you end up doing

從本質上來說，

is taking what we've been doing for thousands of years,

其實是幾千年來， 我們一直在做的事，

which is breeding, changing,

像是育種、修改、

mixing, matching

雜交、配對

all kinds of life-forms,

各種的生命形式，

and we accelerate it.

只不過速度大幅加快了。

And this is not something new.

這不是什麼新概念。

This humble mustard weed has been modified

這個不起眼的野生甘藍已被改造：

so that if you change it in one way, you get broccoli.

用第一種方式改造它， 你會得到青花菜；

And if you change it in a second way, you get kale.

用第二種方式，你會得到羽衣甘藍；

And if you change it in a third way,

用第三種方式的話，

you get cauliflower.

你會得到花椰菜。

So when you go to these all-natural, organic markets,

所以，當你走進這些 純天然有機蔬果市場時，

you're really going to a place

你實際上進的

where people have been changing the lifecode of plants for a long time.

是個植物生命已被 長時間改造的地方。

The difference today,

不同以往的是

to pick a completely politically neutral term --

──挑個政治正確的字眼──

[Intelligent design]

［智慧設計］

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

We're beginning to practice intelligent design.

我們已經開始使用智慧設計。

That means that instead of doing this at random

這意味著，不同於以往的隨機

and seeing what happens over generations,

和依靠世代交替進行演化，

we're inserting specific genes, we're inserting specific proteins,

我們插入特定的基因， 插入特定的蛋白質，

and we're changing lifecode for very deliberate purposes.

開始非常刻意、 有目的性地改造生命。

And that allows us to accelerate how this stuff happens.

這讓我們能夠加速變化的發生。

Let me just give you one example.

讓我舉個例子吧！

Some of you occasionally might think about sex.

「性行為」可能偶爾會略過你的腦海。

And we kind of take it for granted how we've changed sex.

我們視如今性事的樣貌為理所當然，

So we think it's perfectly normal and natural to change it.

而且對這樣的改變習以為常。

What's happened with sex over time is --

性行為最終的結果──

normally, sex equals baby, eventually.

一般來說，是寶寶。

But in today's world,

但，在現今世界，

sex plus pill equals no baby.

性行為搭配避孕藥，就沒有寶寶了。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

And again, we think that's perfectly normal and natural,

儘管我們對此完全習以為常，

but that has not been the case for most of human history.

但在大部分的人類史上並非如此。

And it's not the case for animals.

對動物而言也不是。

What it is does is it gives us control,

它賦予了我們控制權，

so sex becomes separate from conception.

讓性與受孕得以分離。

And as you're thinking of the consequences of that,

當你正思考後果的同時，

then we've been playing with stuff

人類又更進一步，

that's a little bit more advanced, like art.

玩起了「ART」。

Not in the sense of painting and sculpture,

不是繪畫、雕刻那種藝術（art），

but in the sense of assisted reproductive technologies.

ART 是「輔助生殖技術」的縮寫。

So what are assisted reproductive technologies?

「輔助生殖技術」是什麼？

Assisted reproductive technologies are things like in vitro fertilization.

「輔助生殖技術」包含了體外受精。

And when you do in vitro fertilization, there's very good reasons to do it.

做體外受精有很好的理由。

Sometimes you just can't conceive otherwise.

有時候，你就是無法 用其他方法受孕。

But when you do that,

當你這樣做時，

what you’re doing is separating sex, conception, baby.

你就把性、受孕、寶寶 彼此分開來了。

So you haven't just taken control of when you have a baby,

所以，你不僅控制了 什麼時候有寶寶，

you've separated when the baby and where the baby is fertilized.

還控制了寶寶在何時、何地受精。

So you've separated the baby

所以，你把寶寶

from the body from the act.

從身體和行為分開來了。

And as you're thinking of other things we've been doing,

當你在想我們還做了些什麼的時候，

think about twins.

想想雙胞胎吧！

So you can freeze sperm, you can freeze eggs,

你可以冷凍精子、卵子，

you can freeze fertilized eggs.

你可以冷凍受精卵。

And what does that mean?

這代表什麼？

Well, that's a good thing if you're a cancer patient.

若你是位癌症病患，這就是好事。

You're about to go under chemotherapy or under radiation,

你可以在做化學治療或放射治療前，

so you save these things.

把這些東西存起來，

You don't irradiate them.

不讓它們受到輻射。

But if you can save them and you can freeze them,

但若你可以保存、冷凍它們，

and you can have a surrogate mother,

而且還能夠請代理孕母的話，

it means that you've decoupled sex from time.

代表何時懷胎也控制在我們手中。

It means you can have twins born -- oh, in 50 years?

也就是說，你可以讓雙胞胎中的 另一個出生在……50 年後？

(Laughter)

［兄：嘿！兄弟！　弟：你誰啊？］ （笑聲）

可以 100 年後嗎？

In a hundred years?

Two hundred years?

200 年後呢？

And these are three really profound changes

而這三項重大改變

that are not, like, future stuff.

不是未來的事情。

如今這已經廣為人們接受。

This is stuff we take for granted today.

So this lifecode stuff turns out to be a superpower.

所以，生物工程是一種超能力。

It turns out to be this incredibly powerful way of changing viruses,

這種難以置信的超能力 可以改造病毒、

of changing plants, of changing animals,

改造植物、改造動物，

perhaps even of evolving ourselves.

甚至改造我們自己。

It's something that Steve Gullans and I have been thinking about for a while.

史蒂夫．格蘭斯和我 已經思考這件事一陣子了。

Let's have some risks.

讓我們冒一些險吧！

Like every powerful technology, like electricity, like an automobile,

每種強大的科技，像是電力、汽車，

like computers, this stuff potentially can be misused.

或是電腦，都有被濫用的可能。

And that scares a lot of people.

這讓很多人感到恐懼。

And as you apply these technologies,

當你使用這個技術時，

you can even turn human beings into chimeras.

你也有可能把人類變成奇美拉。

Remember the Greek myth where you mix animals?

記得希臘神話裡的混種動物嗎？

Well, some of these treatments

這個技術中的一些治療方法

actually end up changing your blood type.

最終將改變你的血型。

Or they'll put male cells in a female body or vice versa,

有時候，他們會把男性細胞 放到女性身體裡面，反之亦然。

which sounds absolutely horrible

聽起來很可怕，

until you realize, the reason you're doing that

但你必須瞭解這麼做的原因──

is you're substituting bone marrow during cancer treatments.

有些癌症療程中，會進行骨髓移植。

So by taking somebody else's bone marrow,

當你移植了他人的骨隨，

you may be changing some fundamental aspects of yourself,

你可能會有些本質上的改變，

but you're also saving your life.

但同時也救了自己一命。

And as you're thinking about this stuff,

在你思考的同時，

here's something that happened 20 years ago.

我們說說 20 年前的案例吧！

This is Emma Ott.

這位是艾瑪．奧特。

She's a recent college admittee.

她最近成為一位大學錄取生。

She's studying accounting.

她念的是會計。

She played two varsity sports. She graduated as a valedictorian.

她是學校兩個校隊的隊員， 畢業時是畢業生代表。

And that's not particularly extraordinary,

然而，她最特別的地方，

except that she's the first human being born to three parents.

在於她是世界第一個 擁有「三親」的人類。

Why?

為何是「三親」？

Because she had a deadly mitochondrial disease

因為她或許有來自遺傳的

that she might have inherited.

致命線粒體疾病。

So when you swap out a third person's DNA

所以，把第三人的 DNA 抽出，

and you put it in there,

然後移植過去，

you save the lives of people.

你就挽救了那個人的生命。

But you also are doing germline engineering,

但你也同時在做生殖工程，

which means her kids, if she has kids, will be saved

意思就是如果她有孩子， 你也救到了她的孩子，

and won't go through this.

而且不僅如此。

And [their] kids will be saved,

她孩子的下一代、

and their grandchildren will be saved,

下下一代都因此得救，

and this passes on.

並將代代相傳。

That makes people nervous.

這讓人們緊張。

So 20 years ago, the various authorities said,

所以 20 年前，各方當權者說，

why don't we study this for a while?

為什麼我們不再研究一下？

There are risks to doing stuff, and there are risks to not doing stuff,

一件事情做了會有風險， 不做也有其風險。

because there were a couple dozen people saved by this technology,

這個技術已經實際拯救了很多人，

and then we've been thinking about it for the next 20 years.

而我們已花了過去的 20 年在思考。

當我們思考，

So as we think about it,

as we take the time to say, "Hey, maybe we should have longer studies,

並說：「嘿！我們應該 要做更長時間的研究；

maybe we should do this, maybe we should do that,"

我們應該要做這個跟那個……」

there are consequences to acting, and there are consequences to not acting.

同時必須意識到，採取行動 有其後果，不採取行動也是。

Like curing deadly diseases --

像是治療致命的疾病──

which, by the way, is completely unnatural.

當然，完全是非自然的方式。

It is normal and natural for humans to be felled

人類染上流行傳染病死亡很正常，

by massive epidemics of polio, of smallpox, of tuberculosis.

小兒麻痺症、天花、肺結核 都是著名的例子。

When we put vaccines into people, we are putting unnatural things

當我們注射疫苗時， 就是把非天然的東西

into their body

放進人體，

because we think the benefit outweighs the risk.

因為我們認為注射疫苗的 利益大過於風險。

Because we've built unnatural plants, unnatural animals,

因為我們創造了 非天然的植物、動物，

we can feed about seven billion people.

我們得以餵飽 70 億人口。

We can do things like create new life-forms.

我們可以創造出新的生命形式。

And as you create new life-forms, again, that sounds terribly scary

這聽起來讓人提心吊膽，

and terribly bothersome,

且坐立難安，

until you realize that those life-forms live on your dining room table.

直到你意識到，這樣的生命 就存在於你的餐桌上。

Those flowers you've got on your dining room table --

你餐桌上的花──

there's not a lot that's natural about them,

它們一點也不天然，

because people have been breeding the flowers to make this color,

因為人們已經把這些花， 育種成特定顏色、

to be this size, to last for a week.

特定大小、能活一星期。

You don't usually give your loved one wildflowers

你不太會送你的愛人野花，

because they don't last a whole lot of time.

因為它們沒辦法活很久。

What all this does

這些事，

is it flips Darwin completely on his head.

完全顛覆了達爾文的理論。

See, for four billion years,

40 億年以來，

what lived and died on this planet depended on two principles:

兩條準則決定了地球上生物的生死：

on natural selection and random mutation.

「天擇」和「隨機突變」。

And so what lived and died, what was structured,

什麼會活著、死去或是被建構，

has now been flipped on its head.

這樣的準則如今已被徹底改變。

And what we've done

我們所做所為，

is created this completely parallel evolutionary system

創造了完全平行的演化系統，

where we are practicing unnatural selection and non-random mutation.

進行「人擇」與「非隨機突變」。

So let me explain these things.

讓我稍做說明。

This is natural selection.

這是天擇。

This is unnatural selection.

這是人擇。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

So what happens with this stuff is,

狗的人擇過程是這樣的：

we started breeding wolves thousands of years ago

人類幾千年前在中亞開始養狼，

in central Asia to turn them into dogs.

將牠們馴化成了狗。

And then we started turning them into big dogs

接著把牠們變成大狗，

and into little dogs.

變成小狗。

But if you take one of the chihuahuas

但若你把紐約第五大道上

you see in the Hermès bags on Fifth Avenue

愛馬仕包包裡的吉娃娃，

and you let it loose on the African plain,

拿去非洲大草原野放，

you can watch natural selection happen.

你就能看到天擇的運作了。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Few things on Earth are less natural than a cornfield.

地球上很少有東西 能比玉米田更不自然。

You will never, under any scenario, walk through a virgin forest

你怎麼都不可能在原始森林裡，

and see the same plant growing in orderly rows

看到植物排列得如此整齊、

at the same time,

生長得如此一致、

nothing else living there.

生物相又這麼單一。

When you do a cornfield,

在玉米田裡，

you're selecting what lives and what dies.

你決定了什麼活、什麼死。

And you're doing that through unnatural selection.

你做的就是人擇。

It's the same with a wheat field, it's the same with a rice field.

麥田、稻田裡的狀況也是一樣的。

It's the same with a city, it's the same with a suburb.

城市、郊區裡的狀況仍是一樣的。

In fact, half the surface of Earth

實際上，地球表面有一半

has been unnaturally engineered

已經被人類改變，

so that what lives and what dies there is what we want,

什麼活、什麼死 都取決於我們的念頭。

which is the reason why you don't have grizzly bears

這也是你在曼哈頓市中心

walking through downtown Manhattan.

看不到灰熊逛大街的原因。

How about this random mutation stuff?

那隨機突變是什麼？

Well, this is random mutation.

這就是隨機突變。

This is Antonio Alfonseca.

這位是安東尼奧．艾方塞卡。

He's otherwise known as the Octopus, his nickname.

他有個綽號叫「章魚」。

He was the Relief Pitcher of the Year in 2000.

他是 2000 年的最佳救援投手。

And he had a random mutation that gave him six fingers

隨機突變讓他的雙手

on each hand,

各有六根指頭。

which turns out to be really useful if you're a pitcher.

事實證明，這突變對投手很有用。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

How about non-random mutation?

那非隨機突變是什麼？

A non-random mutation is beer.

非隨機突變有：啤酒、

It's wine. It's yogurt.

酒、優格。

How many times have you walked through the forest

各位有幾次走過森林時，

and found all-natural cheese?

看到純天然的起司？

Or all-natural yogurt?

或純天然的優格？

So we've been engineering this stuff.

我們改造這些東西很久了。

Now, the interesting thing is,

有趣的是，

我們技術因此更加純熟。

we get to know the stuff better.

We found one of the single most powerful gene-editing instruments,

我們從優格裡面發現了

CRISPR, inside yogurt.

CRISPR 這個強大的 基因編輯工具。

And as we start engineering cells,

開始自行設計細胞後，

we're producing eight out of the top 10 pharmaceutical products,

前十名暢銷藥物中 有八種靠此技術生產，

including the stuff that you use to treat arthritis,

包括你用來治療關節炎的

which is the number one best-selling drug, Humira.

第一名暢銷藥──復邁。

So this lifecode stuff.

生物工程這玩意兒。

It really is a superpower.

它真的是種超能力，

It really is a way of programming stuff,

是種設計生命的方法。

and there's nothing that's going to change us

沒有什麼東西，比生物工程

more than this lifecode.

更能衝擊我們生活。

So as you're thinking of lifecode,

思考生物工程時，

let's think of five principles

讓我們用五大原則，

as to how we start guiding,

作為我們起步的指引。

and I'd love you to give me more.

我以此拋磚引玉。

So, principle number one:

原則一：

we have to take responsibility for this stuff.

我們必須扛起用這技術的責任。

The reason we have to take responsibility

我們必須扛起責任，

is because we're in charge.

因為我們是掌控者。

這並非隨機突變。

These aren't random mutations.

This is what we are doing, what we are choosing.

這是我們的行為和選擇。

It's not, "Stuff happened."

這不是，「啊就發生了啊！」

It didn't happen at random.

它不會隨機發生。

It didn't come down by a verdict of somebody else.

它不會是他人的決定。

We engineer this stuff,

是我們使用了這技術，

and it's the Pottery Barn rule: you break it, you own it.

就像賣場裡的原則： 你把東西弄壞了，你就得買。

Principle number two:

原則二：

we have to recognize and celebrate diversity in this stuff.

我們必須體認到多樣性的重要。

There have been at least 33 versions of hominids

曾有至少 33 種原始人，

that have walked around this Earth.

遍佈世界各地。

Most all of them went extinct except us.

除了我們其他大部分都絕跡了。

But the normal and natural state of this Earth

但正常且自然的狀態，

is we have various versions of humans walking around at the same time,

是地球上同時存在不同人種。

which is why most of us have some Neanderthal in us.

這也是為什麼多數人 有些尼安德塔人的血統。

Some of us have some Denisova in us.

部分人有些丹尼索瓦人血統。

And some in Washington have a lot more of it.

在華府有些人這血統特別濃厚。 （華府與丹尼索瓦洞縮寫同為 D.C.）

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Principle number three:

原則三：

we have to respect other people's choices.

我們必須尊重別人的選擇。

Some people will choose to never alter.

有些人選擇絕不改造。

Some people will choose to alter all.

有些人選擇改造一切。

Some people will choose to alter plants but not animals.

有些人選擇改植物，不改動物。

Some people will choose to alter themselves.

有些人選擇改造他們自己。

Some people will choose to evolve themselves.

有些人選擇讓自己演化。

Diversity is not a bad thing,

多樣性並非壞事，

because even though we think of humans as very diverse,

因為即使我們認為人類非常多樣，

we came so close to extinction

我們離滅種卻曾無比接近，

that all of us descend from a single African mother

以致我們都是同一個 非洲母親的後嗣，

and the consequence of that

後果就是，

is there's more genetic diversity in 55 African chimpanzees

光 55 隻非洲的猩猩 所帶有的基因多樣性

than there are in seven billion humans.

就勝過了 70 億人所帶有的。

Principle number four:

原則四：

we should take about a quarter of the Earth

我們應該保留地球的四分之一，

and only let Darwin run the show there.

讓生物在這些地方完全自然地演化。

It doesn't have to be contiguous,

那些地域無須毗鄰，

doesn't have to all be tied together.

也沒必要都綁在一起。

It should be part in the oceans, part on land.

應該有部分海洋，部分陸地。

But we should not run every evolutionary decision on this planet.

我們不應控制這星球上的 每個演化決定。

We want to have our evolutionary system running.

我們要讓人工演化系統運作，

We want to have Darwin's evolutionary system running.

也要讓自然演化系統運作。

And it's just really important to have these two things running in parallel

讓這兩個系統並行真的很重要，

and not overwhelm evolution.

不要讓它失衡了。

(Applause)

（掌聲）

Last thing I'll say.

最後一點：

This is the single most exciting adventure human beings have been on.

這是人類史中 最令人興奮的冒險旅程。

This is the single greatest superpower humans have ever had.

這是人類前所未有的強大超能力。

It would be a crime for you not to participate in this stuff

不參與其中並不明智──

because you're scared of it,

就因為你害怕它，

because you're hiding from it.

就因為你逃避它。

You can participate in the ethics. You can participate in the politics.

你可以參與它的 道德研討、政策制定，

You can participate in the business.

或者是事業經營。

You can participate in just thinking about where medicine is going,

你可以想想醫學的未來、

where industry is going,

產業的未來，

where we're going to take the world.

希望將這個世界引領何處。

It would be a crime for all of us

這將是我們所有人的失職──

not to be aware when somebody shows up at a swimming pool

若你未曾意識到那個泳池邊的人，

and says one word, just one word,

告訴你的那個字，就一個字，

if you don't listen if that word is "lifecode."

是否就是「生物工程」。

Thank you very much.

非常感謝各位。

(Applause)

（掌聲）