The living tech we need to support human life on other planets | Lynn Rothschild

Translator: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Joanna Pietrulewicz

譯者: Helen Chang 審譯者: Marssi Draw

For thousands of years, well, really probably millions of years,

幾千年或幾百萬年來，

our ancestors have looked up at the sky and wondered what's up there,

我們的祖先抬頭仰望天空， 想知道那裡有什麼。

and they've also started to wonder,

他們納悶：

hmm, could we be alone in this planet?

人類和地球獨一無二嗎？

Now, I'm fortunate that I get to get paid to actually ask some of those questions,

我很幸運能夠領著薪水 實際探討這些問題；

and sort of bad news for you,

對你而言算是個壞消息，

your tax dollars are paying me to try to answer some of those questions.

因為你納的稅正付我薪水 去探索其中的一些問題。

But then, about 10 years ago,

大約 10 年前我被告知，

I was told, I mean asked,

換言之，

if I would start to look at the technology to help get us off planet,

我被要求研究 幫人類飛離地球的技術，

and so that's what I'm going to talk to you about today.

這就是我今天的主題。

So playing to the local crowd,

這是波士頓本地人日常生活的樣貌；

this is what it looks like in your day-to-day life in Boston,

but as you start to go off planet, things look very, very different.

一旦你離開地球就大不相同。

So there we are, hovering above the WGBH studios.

這是我們在 WGBH 電台的上空徘徊。

And here's a very famous picture of the Earthrise from the Moon,

這是一張非常著名 從月球看地球升起的照片，

and you can see the Earth starting to recede.

看得到地球漸行漸遠。

And then what I love is this picture

我喜歡從火星表面看地球的照片。

that was taken from the surface of Mars looking back at the Earth.

Can anyone find the Earth?

誰找得到地球？

I'm going to help you out a little.

讓我來幫忙。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Yeah.

是啊。

The point of showing this is that when people start to go to Mars,

關鍵是前往火星的人

they're not going to be able to keep calling in

無法繼續打電話，

and be micromanaged the way people on a space station are.

也無法像在太空站上那樣微觀管理。

They're going to have to be independent.

他們必須靠自己。

So even though they're up there,

因此，在火星那裡的人

there are going to be all sorts of things that they're going to need,

將會需要各種各樣的東西，

just like people on Earth need things like, oh, transportation,

就像地球上的人需要東西一樣，

諸如運輸、維生、食物、衣服等等。

life support, food, clothing and so on.

But unlike on Earth, they are also going to need oxygen.

但與地球不同，他們還需要氧氣，

They're going to have to deal with about a third of the gravity that we have here.

還得面對這裡三分之一的重力。

They're going to have to worry about habitats, power, heat, light

他們得擔心棲息地、

能源、高溫、光線和輻射防護，

and radiation protection,

something that we don't actually worry about nearly as much on the Earth,

在地球上無需擔心這些，

因為我們有美麗的大氣層和磁層。

because we have this beautiful atmosphere and magnetosphere.

The problem with that is that we also have a lot of constraints.

問題是限制很多，

So the biggest one for us is upmass,

其中最大的問題就是載重 （升空承載質量，upmass）。

and the number that I've used for years

多年來我用的數字是

is it costs about 10,000 dollars to launch a can of Coke into low Earth orbit.

將一罐可樂推入近地軌道 約需一萬美元。

The problem is, there you are with 10,000 dollars later,

問題是花了一萬美元後

and you're still in low Earth orbit.

你仍處於近地軌道，

You're not even at the Moon or Mars or anything else.

還沒到月球、火星或其他任何地方。

So you're going to have to try to figure out

因此得想出辦法

how to keep the mass as low as possible so you don't have to launch it.

盡可能降低送上太空的質量。

But on top of that cost issue with the mass,

除了質量和成本問題，

you also have problems of storage

還有存儲、靈活度 和可靠性方面的問題。

and flexibility and reliability.

You can't just get there and say, "Oops, I forgot to bring,"

你不能到了那裡才說： 「哎呀，我忘了帶」，

because Amazon.com just does not deliver to Mars.

因為亞馬遜不送貨到火星。

So you better be prepared.

你最好先準備好。

So what is the solution for this?

那麼有什麼解決方案？

And I'm going to propose to you for the rest of this talk

在接下來的演講

that the solution actually is life,

我提的解決之道就是生命。

and when you start to look at life as a technology,

當你把生命視為科技時

you realize, ah, that's it,

就會意識到：「啊，果真如此，

that's exactly what we needed.

正是我們需要的。」

This plant here, like every person here

這株植物，就像這裡的每個人、

and every one of your dogs and cats

你們的狗、貓和植物等，

and plants and so on,

all started as a single cell.

都從一個單細胞開始。

So imagine, you're starting as a very low upmass object

想像你一開始的質量很小，

and then growing into something a good deal bigger.

然後長得很大。

Now, my hero Charles Darwin,

雖然我的英雄 查爾斯•達爾文提醒我們

of course, reminds us that there's no such thing as a designer in biology,

在生物學中沒有設計師這號人物，

but what if we now have the technology

但倘若我們擁有設計生物的技術，

to design biology,

maybe even design, oh, whole new life-forms

能夠設計全新的生物，

that can do things for us that we couldn't have imagined otherwise?

來為我們做過去無法想像的事呢？

So years ago, I was asked to start to sell this program,

幾年前，我被指派來推展這個專案，

and while I was doing that,

I was put in front of a panel at NASA,

我面對美國太空總署的一個小組——

as you might sort of imagine,

想像一群

a bunch of people in suits and white shirts and pencil protectors,

穿西裝、白襯衫， 外加防筆漬保護套的人——

and I did this sort of crazy, wild,

我瘋狂地推銷：

"This is all the next great thing,"

「這是下一個壯舉」，

and I thought they would be blown over,

以為他們會驚為天人。

and instead the chairman of the committee just looked at me straight in the eye,

然而委員會主席只是直視著我並說：

and said, "So what's the big idea?"

「是什麼壯舉？」

So I was like, "OK, you want Star Trek?

我想：「好吧，你想要星際迷航？

We'll do Star Trek."

就給你星際迷航。」

And so let me tell you what the big idea is.

聽我說明這壯舉是什麼。

We've used organisms to make biomaterials for years.

多年來我們一直 用生物製造生物材料。

So here's a great picture taken outside of Glasgow,

這是在格拉斯哥外拍攝的精美照片，

and you can see lots of great biomaterials there.

看得到很多很棒的生物材料：

There are trees that you could use to build houses.

有樹可以用來建房子，

There are sheep where you can get your wool from.

有羊可以取得羊毛和皮革。

You could get leather from the sheep.

Just quickly glancing around the room, I'll bet there's no one in this room

快速瀏覽這大廳， 我敢打賭這裡沒有任何人

that doesn't have some kind of animal or plant product on them,

不用某種動物或植物產品，

some kind of biomaterial.

都用某種生物材料。

But you know what?

但你知道嗎？

我們不會把羊、樹和東西帶上火星，

We're not going to take sheep and trees and stuff to Mars.

That's nuts, because of the upmass problem.

由於載重的問題，那樣行不通。

But we are going to take things like this.

我們會用的方式如下。

This is Bacillus subtilis.

這是枯草芽孢桿菌。

Those white dots that you see are spores.

那些看得到的白點是孢子，

This happens to be a bacterium that can form incredibly resistant spores,

恰好是一種可以形成 非凡抗性孢子的細菌，

and when I say incredibly resistant, they've proven themselves.

它們已經證明了自己的非凡抗性。

Bacillus subtilis spores have been flown on what was called LDEF,

枯草芽孢桿菌孢子 已經長時間暴露在

太空梭的長時照射設備（LDEF）上

Long Duration Exposure Facility, for almost six years

將近六年了，

and some of them survived that in space.

有些倖存在太空中。

Unbelievable, a lot better than any of us can do.

令人難以置信的是 它們的表現比我們人類好。

So why not just take the capabilities,

那麼，為什麼不利用這能力來製作

like to make wood or to make wool or spider silk or whatever,

木頭、羊毛、蜘蛛絲等材料，

and put them in Bacillus subtilis spores,

將其放入枯草芽孢桿菌孢子中

and take those with you off planet?

帶離地球呢？

So what are you going to do when you're off planet?

離開地球後要怎麼做？

這張標誌性的照片是 外號「嗡嗡」的太空人艾德林上校，

Here's an iconic picture of Buzz Aldrin looking back at the Eagle

when he landed, oh, it was almost 50 years ago, on the surface of the Moon.

約在 50 年前登月時， 他回頭看「鷹」號登月艙。

Now if you're going to go to the Moon for three days

如果你是第一個踏足月球的人，

and you're the first person to set foot,

要在那裡待上三天，

yeah, you can live in a tin can,

那麼你的確可以靠罐頭過日子；

but you wouldn't want to do that for, say, a year and a half.

但是要住上一年半載就不行了。

So I did actually a calculation, being in California.

因此我在加州實際算了一下。

I looked at what the average size of a cell at Alcatraz is,

我看過惡魔島禁閉室的平均大小，

and I have news for you,

讓我告訴你，

the volume in the Eagle there, in the Lunar Module,

「鷹」號登月艙的大小

會和惡魔島的禁閉室大小差不多，

was about the size of a cell at Alcatraz

如果艙高只有 150 公分。

if it were only five feet high.

So incredibly cramped living quarters.

生活空間狹窄得如此難以置信，

You just can't ask a human to stay in there for long periods of time.

無法要求人類長時間住在那裡。

So why not take these biomaterials and make something?

那麼何不用這些生物材料 製造點什麼呢？

So here's an image that a colleague of mine

我的建築師同事克里斯•毛惹

who is an architect, Chris Maurer, has done of what we've been proposing,

已經完成了我們的提案，

and we'll get to the point

稍後會說明為什麼我站在這裡

of why I've been standing up here holding something

手裡一直拿著看似乾掉的三明治。

that looks like a dried sandwich this whole lecture.

So we've proposed that the solution to the habitat problem on Mars

我們已經提出解決火星棲地的辦法

could just simply lie in a fungus.

可能就在於真菌。

So I'm now probably going to turn off everyone

如果我現在再次提到吃蘑菇

from ever eating a mushroom again.

可能會使所有的人厭煩。

So let's talk about fungi for a second.

讓我們來討論一下真菌。

So you're probably familiar with this fruiting body of the fungus.

或許你熟悉真菌的子實體，

That's the mushroom.

也就是蘑菇。

But what we're interested in actually is what's beneath the surface there,

但實際上我們感興趣的是

表面下的菌絲體，

the mycelium,

which are these root hair-like structures

這些根毛狀的結構，

that are really the main part of the mushroom.

乃是蘑菇真正主要的部分。

Well, it turns out you can take those --

你能拿那些——

there's a micrograph I did --

這是一張顯微照片——

and you can put them in a mold

把真菌放在模具裡，

and give them a little food --

餵一點食物，

and it doesn't take much, you can grow these things on sawdust --

不需要多，它們可以長在木屑上——

so this piece here was grown on sawdust,

這個長在木屑上，

and that mycelium then will fill that structure

菌絲體將會長滿該結構。

to make something.

We've actually tried growing mycelium on Mars Simulant.

我們在火星模擬物上 實際試種過真菌——

So no one's actually gone to the surface of Mars,

沒有人真的去過火星的表面，

but this is a simulated surface of Mars,

這是模擬火星的表面——

在那裡看得到那些毛髮狀的菌絲體。

and you can see those hair-like mycelia out there.

It's really amazing stuff.

真是神奇。

How strong can you make these things?

這東西有多強呢？

Well, you know, I could give you numbers and tests and so on,

我可以提供數字和測試之類，

but I think that's probably the best way to describe it.

但我認為這可能是最佳的描述方式。

There's one of my students proving that you can do this.

我一個學生證明能坐在上面。

To do this, then, you've got to figure out how to put it in context.

為了要做到，得要弄清楚周遭的環境。

How's this actually going to happen?

要怎麼做呢？

我的意思是，主意是不錯，

I mean, this is a great idea, Lynn,

但要怎麼辦到呢？

but how are you going to get from here to there?

我們的作法是在實驗室中長菌絲體，

So what we're saying is you grow up the mycelium in the lab, for example

and then you fill up a little structure, maybe a house-like structure that's tiny,

填滿一個像房子一樣的小結構，

大概像充氣的雙層塑膠袋那樣吧——

that is maybe a double-bagged sort of plastic thing, like an inflatable --

I sort of think L.L.Bean when I see this.

看到這個我就會想到 L. L. Bean。 （戶外用品網購公司）

And then you put it in a rocket ship and you send it off to Mars.

把它放入火箭太空船，

送上火星。

Rocket lands,

火箭降落，

you release the bag

釋出袋子，

and you add a little water,

加點水，

and voila, you've got your habitat.

瞧，你有棲息地了。

You know, how cool would that be?

你知道這有多酷嗎？

And the beauty of that is you don't have to take something prebuilt.

最棒的是你不必預先鑄造。

And so our estimates are that we could save 90 percent of the mass

我們估計

如果實際在現場種植，

that NASA is currently proposing by taking up a big steel structure

可以比現在太空總署用的大型鋼構 節省 90％ 的質量。

if we actually grow it on site.

So let me give you another big idea.

讓我再說個好主意。

怎麼處理數位訊息呢？

What about digital information?

What's really interesting is you have a physical link to your parents

最有趣的地方是： 你與父母有基因上的聯繫，

and they have a physical link to their parents, and so on,

它們與它們的父母 也有基因上的聯繫等等，

一直回溯到生命的起源。

all the way back to the origin of life.

You have never broken that continuum.

那連續從未被打破。

But the fact is that we can do that today.

事實上我們今天做得到。

So we have students every day in our labs --

因此，我們實驗室每天都有學生——

students in Boston even do this --

波士頓的學生——

that make up DNA sequences

甚至排序 DNA，

and they hit the "send" button

排好後按「發送」鈕，

and they send them to their local DNA synthesis company.

送給當地的 DNA 合成公司。

Now once you break that physical link

一旦你打破了那從此地 送到彼地的實體連結，

where you're sending it across town,

it doesn't matter if you're sending it across the Charles River

不論是送到查爾斯河對岸

or if you're sending that information to Mars.

或送上火星並不是重點。

You've broken that physical link.

你打破了那個實體的連結。

So then, once you're on Mars,

那麼，一旦你在火星上，

or across the river or wherever,

或者在河對岸或任何地方，

you can take that digital information,

你能接收數位訊息，

synthesize the physical DNA,

合成 DNA 實體，

put it maybe in another organism

把它放在另一個有機體中，

and voila, you've got new capabilities there.

瞧，你就有了新的能力。

So again, you've broken that physical link. That's huge.

再說一次，你突破實體連結，真棒！

What about chemistry?

化學呢？

Biology does chemistry for us on Earth,

生物學在地球上為我們做化學反應

and again has for literally thousands of years.

已經有幾千年了。

I bet virtually everyone in this room has eaten something today

我敢打賭，這個房間裡的每個人

今天都吃過生物化學做的東西。

that has been made by biology doing chemistry.

讓我給你一個很大的提示。

Let me give you a big hint there.

What about another idea?

另一個想法如何呢？

What about using DNA itself to make a wire?

用 DNA 來製作電線如何？

Because again, we're trying to miniaturize everything.

再說一次，因為我們 努力縮小化一切。

DNA is really cheap.

DNA 非常便宜。

Strawberries have a gazillion amount of DNA.

草莓含有大量的 DNA。

You know, you could take a strawberry with you, isolate the DNA,

你可以隨身攜帶草莓， 分離 DNA 出來，

and one of my students has figured out a way

我的一個學生已經找到了一種方法

to take DNA and tweak it a little bit

擷取 DNA，略微調整它，

so that you can incorporate silver atoms in very specific places,

將銀原子連接在特定之處，

thus making an electrical wire.

從而製成電線。

How cool is that?

多麼酷啊！

So while we're on the subject of metals,

既然我們正在談論金屬，

we're going to need to use metals for things like integrated circuits.

我們將需要將金屬 用於積體電路之類的東西上。

Probably we're going to want it for some structures, and so on.

可能我們會想要把它 用在某些結構上之類的。

And things like integrated circuits ultimately go bad.

像積體電路這樣的東西最終會壞掉。

We could talk a lot about that, but I'm going to leave it at that,

這部分有很多可談，但我不多說了。

that they do go bad,

當它們壞了的時候，

and so where are you going to get those metals?

你去哪裡找這些金屬呢？

Yeah, you could try to mine them with heavy equipment,

沒錯，你可以嘗試用重型設備挖礦，

but you get that upmass problem.

但是你又碰到了那個載重的問題。

And I always tell people, the best way to find the metals for a new cell phone

而我總是說，

為新手機找金屬的最佳方法是 回收舊手機的金屬。

is in a dead cell phone.

So what if you take biology

如果用生物學

as the technology to get these metals out?

作為獲取這些金屬的技術呢？

And how do you do this?

怎麼做呢？

Well, take a look at the back of a vitamin bottle

看一下維生素瓶的背面，

and you'll get an idea of all the sorts of metals

你就會知道我們體內 實際上用到各種金屬。

that we actually use in our bodies.

So we have a lot of proteins as well as other organisms

因此，我們有很多 蛋白質和其他的生物

that can actually specifically bind metals.

能夠結合特定的金屬。

So what if we now take those proteins

如果我們把這些蛋白質

附著在這種真菌的菌絲體上

and maybe attach them to this fungal mycelium

and make a filter so we can start to pull those metals out

製成濾器，

那麼我們能用非常特殊的 方式取出這些金屬，

in a very specific way without big mining equipment,

不需要大型採礦設備。

and, even better, we've actually got a proof of concept

更棒的是，我們實際上 驗證了一個概念：

where we've then taken those metals that we pulled out with proteins

我們用那些從蛋白質取出的金屬，

and reprinted an integrated circuit using a plasma printer.

透過離子印表機重新印出積體電路。

Again, how cool?

再次，多酷啊！

Electricity: I was asked by a head of one of the NASA centers

電力：美國太空總署 其中一個中心的負責人問我，

if you could ever take chemical energy and turn that into electrical energy.

是否可以吸收化學能， 將其轉化為電能。

Well, the great news is it's not just the electric eel that does it.

好消息是不僅電鰻辦得到，

Everybody in this room who is still alive and functioning

這裡的每個活人都在發電。

is doing that.

Part of the food that you've eaten today

你今天吃的部分食物

has gone to operate the nerve cells in your body.

已用於操作你體內的神經細胞。

But even other organisms, nonsentient ones,

即使是「非有情」 （nonsentient）的其他有機體

are creating electric energy,

也正在產生電能。

even bacteria.

細菌也是。

Some bacteria are very good at making little wires.

有些細菌擅長製作電線。

So if we can harvest that ability

因此，如果我們能夠妥善利用 把化學能轉為電能的能力

of turning chemical energy into electrical energy,

again, how cool would that be?

又會多酷呢？

So here are some of the big ideas we talked about.

以下是我們談到的一些重要想法。

Let me try one more: life 2.0.

讓我再說一次：生活 2.0。

So for example, all of the sugars in our body are right-handed.

例如，我們體內所有的糖 都是右旋的。

Why shouldn't we make an organism with left-handed sugars?

為什麼我們不製造左旋的有機體呢？

Why not make an organism that can do things that no organism can do today?

為什麼不製造一種有機體

來做今天別的有機體做不到的事呢？

So organisms normally have evolved to live in very specific environments.

有機體通常已經進化到 適應非常特定的環境。

So here's this lion cub literally up a tree,

這隻小獅子爬上一棵樹，

and I took a picture of him a bit later,

稍後我給牠拍了一張照片，

and he was a lot happier when he was down on the ground.

是牠高興地躺在地上。

So organisms are designed for specific environments.

有機體針對特定環境而演化。

But what if you can go back to that idea of synthetic biology

但是如果你能回到合成生物學的想法

and tweak 'em around?

並稍做調整呢？

So here is one of our favorite places in Yellowstone National Park.

這是我們最喜歡的 黃石公園地景之一：

This is Octopus Springs.

章魚（Octopus）熱泉。

If you tilt your head a little bit,

如果你稍微傾斜頭部，

it sort of looks like a body and tentacles coming out.

它看起來就像身體和伸出的觸手。

It's above the boiling temperature of water.

這裡的溫度高於水沸騰的溫度。

Those organisms that you see on the edge and the colors

在邊緣看到的那些生物和顏色

actually match the temperatures that are there,

實際上與那裡的溫度相匹配，

very, very high-temperature thermophiles.

非常非常高溫的嗜熱生物。

So why not take organisms that can live at extremes,

因此，為什麼不拿那些 可以生活在極端環境的生物，

whether it's high temperature or low temperature

無論是高溫、低溫，

or low pH or high pH

低 pH 值或高 pH 值，

or high salt or high levels of radiation,

高鹽或高輻射水平，

and take some of those capabilities

採取一些這些能力，

and put it into other organisms.

把它放入其他生物體中。

And this is a project that my students have called,

這是我的學生稱為 「地獄細胞」的專案——

and I love this, the "hell cell."

我喜歡這名字——

And so we've done that.

我們已經完成了。

We've taken organisms and sort of tweaked them and pushed them to the edges.

我們拿有機體，做了一些調整，

挑戰極限。

And this is important for getting us off planet

這對於讓我們離開地球

and also for understanding what life is like in the universe.

和了解宇宙生命極為重要。

So let me give you just a couple of final thoughts.

最後讓我總結兩個想法。

First is this whole idea that we have all these needs

首先是整體的想法，

我們地球人定居外星的所有需求，

for human settlement off planet

that are in some ways exactly like we have on the Earth,

在某種程度上與我們 在地球上的完全一樣：

that we need the food and we need the shelter and so on,

我們需要食物、住屋等等，

but we have very, very different constraints

但我們有非常非常不同的限制——

of this upmass problem and the reliability and the flexibility and so on.

載重、可靠性和靈活度等等。

But because we have these constraints that you don't have here,

因為有這些地球上沒有的限制，

where you might have to think about the indigenous petrochemical industry,

不得不考慮本土的石化行業或其他。

or whatever,

you now have constraints that have to unleash creativity.

這些限制使我們必須發揮創造力。

And once you unleash this creativity because you have the new constraints,

一旦你釋放了這種創造力——

因為存在新制約之故——

you're forcing game-changing technological advances

你被迫發展改變遊戲規則的技術，

that you wouldn't have gotten any other way.

沒有其他的辦法。

Finally, we have to think a little bit,

最後，我們得要思考

is it a good idea to tinker around with life?

擺弄生命的 DNA 是個好主意嗎？

Well, the sort of easy answer to that is

簡單的回答是，

that probably no one in the room keeps a wolf cub at home,

大概沒有人在家裡養一窩小狼，

but you might have a puppy or a dog;

但可能有隻小狗；

you probably didn't eat teosinte this summer, but you ate corn.

今年夏天你可能沒吃蜀黍， 但是吃了玉米。

We have been doing genetic modification with organisms

生物的基因改造

for literally 10,000 or more years.

已經持續一萬年或更長時間。

This is a different approach, but to say all of a sudden

這是不同的做法，

但是突然說

humans should never touch an organism

人類永遠不應該擺弄 有機體的基因就有點蠢，

is kinda silly

because we have that capability now

因為我們現在有能力去做

to do things that are far more beneficial for the planet Earth

對地球和生命極為有利的事情。

and for life beyond that.

And so then the question is, should we?

那麼問題是，我們應該嗎？

And of course I feel that not only should we,

當然，我覺得我們不僅應該——

at least for getting off Earth,

至少是為了離開地球——

but actually if we don't use synthetic biology,

但實際上如果我們不用合成生物學，

we will never solve this upmass problem.

我們永遠解決不了載重的問題。

So once you think of life as a technology, you've got the solution.

因此一旦將生命視為一項技術， 就擁有了解決方案。

And so, with that, I'd like to finish the way I always finish,

說到這裡，我想用 我用來結尾的老方式來結束，

and say "ad astra," which means, "to the stars."

說「ad astra」，意思是「前往星際」。

Thank you very much, Boston.

非常感謝，波士頓。

(Applause)

（掌聲）