Conception to birth -- visualized | Alexander Tsiaras

譯者: Regina Chu 審譯者: Ana Choi

I was offered a position as associate professor of medicine

我曾經在耶魯大學

and chief of scientific visualization

擔任醫學系

at Yale University

副教授

in the department of medicine.

以及科學視覺化主任。

And my job was to write many of the algorithms and code

我的工作是替美國太空總署寫演算法及程式

for NASA to do virtual surgery

讓即將出發進入太空飛行的宇航員

in preparation for the astronauts going into deep-space flight,

練習做虛擬手術,

so they could be kept in robotic pods.

因而太空人可以在太空裝內做實驗。

One of the fascinating things about what we were working on

我們的計畫裡有一件很有趣的事,

就是我們透過最新的掃描科技

is that we were seeing, using new scanning technologies,

觀看那些前所未見的東西--

things that had never been seen before.

我的意思是，新科技不僅運用於疾病管理,

Not only in disease management,

but also things that allowed us to see things about the body

還可以讓我們看到那些

that just made you marvel.

讓你驚嘆不已的身體結構。

I remember one of the first times we were looking at collagen.

我記得我們最初幾次看膠原蛋白。

And your entire body, everything --

你全身所有的構造--

your hair, skin, bone, nails --

你的頭髮、皮膚、骨頭、指甲--

everything is made of collagen.

每一樣都由膠原蛋白組成。

And it's a kind of rope-like structure that twirls and swirls like this.

它的結構很像繩子,

像這樣螺旋纏繞。

唯一一個膠原蛋白改變結構的地方

And the only place that collagen changes its structure

是你的角膜。

is in the cornea of your eye.

在你的眼睛裡,

In your eye, it becomes a grid formation,

它變成格狀的結晶結構,

and therefore, it becomes transparent, as opposed to opaque.

因此它從原本的不透明變成透明的。

So perfectly organized a structure,

這個組織是如此的完美,

it was hard not to attribute divinity to it.

你很難不把它歸功於神蹟。

Because we kept on seeing this in different parts of the body.

因為我們不斷地在身體的不同部位

看到這樣的結構。

One of the opportunities I had

我曾有個機會

was one person was working on a really interesting

是與一位在美國國立衛生研究院

micromagnetic resonance imaging machine with the NIH.

研究非常有趣的核磁共振的人共事。

And what we were going to do

我們做的事情

was scan a new project

是發展一個新計畫,

on the development of the fetus from conception to birth

要使用這些新科技

掃描從受孕到出生的胎兒發育。

using these new technologies.

So I wrote the algorithms and code,

所以我寫了一些演算程式,

and he built the hardware -- Paul Lauterbur --

而他--美國化學教授羅特博--則製造機器,

then went onto win the Nobel Prize for inventing the MRI.

他後來因為發明核磁共振而得到諾貝爾獎。

I got the data.

而我得到了這些資料。

And I'm going to show you a sample of the piece,

我現在要播出這個計畫的部分成果

"From Conception to Birth."

從受孕到出生（又譯：孕─目睹子宮內的奇蹟。天下文化）

(Music)

（音樂）

[From Conception to Birth]

影片文字：從受孕到出生

[Oocyte]

卵母細胞

[Sperm]

精子

[Egg Inseminated]

受精的卵

[24 Hours: Baby's first division]

24小時：寶寶第一次細胞分裂

[The fertilized ovum divides a few hours after fusion...]

受精卵在新細胞完成融合後數小時開始分裂...

[And divides anew every 12 to 15 hours.]

每12至15小時分裂一次。

胚胎早期

[Early Embryo]

仍然由卵黃囊供給寶寶營養。

[Yolk sack still feeding baby.]

[25 Days: Heart chamber developing.]

25天：心室開始成長

[32 Days: Arms & hands are developing]

32天：手臂及雙手開始成形

[36 Days: Beginning of the primitive vertebrae]

36天：脊椎骨的原始形態出現

[These weeks are the period of the most rapid development

這幾個星期是胚胎成長最快速的時期。

of the fetus.]

[If the fetus continues to grow at this speed for the entire 9 months,

如果胚胎在這九個月都照這個速率持續成長,

it would be 1.5 tons at birth.]

寶寶出生時會重達1.5噸。

[45 Days]

45天

胚胎的心臟跳動比媽媽的快兩倍。

[Embryo's heart is beating twice as fast as the mother's.]

[51 Days]

51天

[Developing retina, nose and fingers]

52天：視網膜、鼻子以及指頭開始生長

胎兒在子宮裡不停地動

[The fetus' continual movement in the womb

is necessary for muscular and skeletal growth.]

對肌肉及骨骼的生長不可或缺。

[12 Weeks: Indifferent penis]

12週：沒有性別之分的陰莖─

[Girl or boy yet to be determined]

尚不能分辨是男是女

[8 Months]

八個月

[Delivery: The expulsion stage]

分娩：胎兒脫出期

[The moment of birth]

出生的瞬間

（掌聲）

(Applause)

亞歷山大：謝謝。

Alexander Tsiaras: Thank you.

不過正如你所見,

But as you can see,

when you actually start working on this data,

當你開始處理這些資料,

其實是很壯觀的。

it's pretty spectacular.

And as we kept on scanning more and more,

而且當我們繼續的掃描,

working on this project,

持續進行這個計畫,

看著這兩個簡單的細胞

looking at these two simple cells

居然擁有這種令人無法置信的機制

that have this unbelievable machinery that will become the magic of you.

可以長成神奇的「你」。

And as we kept on working on this data,

當我們繼續處理資料

looking at small clusters of the body,

看著身體的這個小小的部分,

these little pieces of tissue

這團小小的組織

that were the trophoblasts coming off of the blastocyst,

從囊胚分化出來的滋養細胞群,

瞬間就在子宮壁上著床,

all of a sudden burrowing itself into the side of the uterus,

說：「我要在這停留。」

saying, "I'm here to stay."

Having conversation and communications

瞬間就跟雌激素及黃體素

with the estrogens, the progesterones,

對話及溝通,

saying, "I'm here to stay, plant me,"

說：「我要在這裡長大，養我。」

長成這個不可思議的三胚層胚胎,

building this incredible trilinear fetus

在44天內

that becomes, within 44 days, something that you can recognize,

長成一個你可以辨識的胎兒雛形,

and then at nine weeks is really kind of a little human being.

然後在九週內

長成一個小小的人。

The marvel of this information:

這項資訊令人驚異之處在於

How do we actually have this biological mechanism

到底我們是如何在體內

擁有這樣的生物機制

inside our body

to actually see this information?

能夠了解這樣的資訊？

I'm going to show you something pretty unique.

我們來看一段非常特別的東西。

這個是胎兒在25週大時的心臟。

Here's a human heart at 25 days.

看起來只是兩股絞線。

It's just basically two strands.

And like this magnificent origami,

就像美麗的摺紙,

cells are developing at one million cells per second at four weeks,

細胞成長的速率

在第四週時為每一秒產生一百萬個細胞,

as it's just folding on itself.

就好像自己在摺疊複製自己。

Within five weeks, you start to see the early atrium and the early ventricles.

五週內你就可以開始看見心房及腦室的初始結構。

六週時，這些摺疊就開始

Six weeks, these folds are now beginning

與心臟內的乳頭肌一起

with the papilla on the inside of the heart

能夠拉扯

actually being able to pull down each one of those valves in your heart

你心臟裡的每一個瓣膜

until you get a mature heart --

直到你的心臟成熟為止--

and then basically the development of the entire human body.

直到你的全身結構發展完成。

這些在每一個遺傳結構內

The magic of the mechanisms inside each genetic structure

準確的告訴神經細胞要去哪裡的機制,

saying exactly where that nerve cell should go --

其不可思議之處在於--

the complexity of these,

這些數學模型的複雜程度,

the mathematical models of how these things are indeed done

這些事情是怎樣發生的

遠遠超過人類所能理解。

are beyond human comprehension.

即使像我身為數學家,

Even though I am a mathematician,

我也要驚嘆

I look at this with marvel

of how do these instruction sets not make these mistakes

當我們在成形的時候

是如何讓這些指令

as they build what is us?

不出錯？

It's a mystery, it's magic, it's divinity.

這真神秘，真不可思議，真是神蹟。

Then you start to take a look at adult life.

然後你開始觀察成人的生命。

Take a look at this little tuft of capillaries.

看看這些小小綹的微血管。

It's just a tiny sub-substructure, microscopic.

這只是一個微小的次次結構，非常微觀的。

But basically by the time you're nine months and you're given birth,

但是基本上當你在體內九個月大，即將出生時,

you have almost 60,000 miles of vessels inside your body.

你的體內擁有

將近六萬英哩（九萬六千多公里）的血管。

And only one mile is visible.

而且只有一英哩是看的見的。

59,999 miles

其他的59,999英哩

that are basically bringing nutrients and taking waste away.

基本上都在輸送營養及帶走廢物。

The complexity of building that within a single system

在一個單一系統內建造這個的複雜度,

is, again, beyond any comprehension or any existing mathematics today.

再說一次，是超乎理解的,

也不是所有現存的數學公式可以解答的。

And then instructions set,

而這些指令,

from the brain to every other part of the body --

從頭腦到身體的每一部分--

看看這些摺疊有多複雜。

look at the complexity of the folding.

Where does this intelligence

到底身體從何而知

of knowing that a fold can actually hold more information,

摺疊結構其實可以儲存更多的資料,

所以現在你在看的是寶寶的腦子成長--

so as you actually watch the baby's brain grow.

And this is one of the things we're doing.

這也正是我們在做的事。

We're launching two new studies

我們正開始作兩個新的研究

of scanning babies' brains from the moment they're born.

要從寶寶一出生起就開始掃瞄他們的腦子。

Every six months until they're six years old,

每六個月掃瞄一次，直到他們六歲為止--

we're going to be doing about 250 children,

我們要掃描大約250個小孩--

watching exactly how the gyri and the sulci of the brains fold

觀察他們的腦迴及腦溝如何發展

to see how this magnificent development

觀察這個令人讚嘆的發展,

如何轉化成記憶及奇蹟的「我們」。

actually turns into memories and the marvel that is us.

And it's not just our own existence,

而且這奇蹟不僅僅在於我們的存在本身,

but how does the woman's body understand

還在於女性的身體要如何理解

這些遺傳結構，不但讓她自己成長,

to have genetic structure that not only builds her own,

而且還能了解到

but then has the understanding

that allows her to become

自己要成為

a walking immunological, cardiovascular system

一個活的免疫及心血管系統

that basically is a mobile system

基本上就是一個行動保溫箱,

that can actually nurture,

用這種奇妙的方法培育、對待孩子,

treat this child with a kind of marvel

that is beyond, again, our comprehension --

再說一次，這實在不是我們能理解的--

而我們，人類的存在不就是奇蹟？

the magic that is existence, that is us?

謝謝。

Thank you.

(Applause)

（掌聲）