The Deep Sea's Medicinal Secrets | Sam Afoullouss | TED

譯者: Lily Cheng 審譯者: Helen Chang

Who here, a year or two ago, thought that they'd be living

一兩年前，有誰想到會經歷這場

through a global pandemic?

全球疫情?

A new virus that spread across the world

新病毒散播全球

and killed millions.

殺死了數百萬人

One of the scariest things about this virus

最可怕的事情是

is that when it broke out

疫情爆發時

we had next to no cures or treatments to fight against COVID-19.

我們對新冠病毒的解藥 和治療方法毫無頭緒

But viruses, new and old, aren't our only worries.

我們的麻煩還不止這些新舊病毒

From infectious bacteria that have become immune to our antibiotics

已經免疫抗生素的傳染性細菌

to increased rates of cancers,

增加的癌症發病率

humanity is struggling to find solutions to our ever-evolving medical needs.

人類一直致力於找尋解方 以應對不斷衍生的醫療需求

To find our medicines of the future, we’re turning to Mother Nature for help.

尋找將來的藥物需要大自然的幫助

My name is Sam Afoullouss, and I’m an underwater alchemist.

我是山姆·阿弗羅斯 我是一位水下煉金術士

But instead of turning led to gold,

不是將鉛煉成金

I'm turning Ireland's hidden treasure,

而是將愛爾蘭隱藏的寶藏

deep-sea coral reefs,

深海珊瑚

into our medicines of the future.

煉成未來的藥物

For thousands of years,

數千年來

we have turned to natural remedies

我們尋求自然療法

made from the plants and animals that surround us

來自周圍的動植物的成分

to cure us of our ailments.

成為治療人類疾病的藥物

Put your hand up if, when you have a cold or a cough,

有以下經驗的人請舉手： 你得了感冒或咳嗽

you use natural treatments like honey or ginger to help relieve your symptoms.

然後使用自然療法

服用蜂蜜或薑之類，來緩解症狀

Hot whiskeys?

熱威士忌呢？

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

The reason why these natural remedies work

這些自然療法的效果

is they rely on molecules called specialized metabolites

來自於一種分子，「特殊代謝物」

that are mainly produced by organisms that can’t move,

通常由無法移動的生物製造

like plants and mushrooms,

例如植物或蕈菇

to defend themselves from diseases and predators.

為了保護自己遠離疾病和捕食者

Over the past 200 years,

過去 200 年

scientists have traveled to the four corners of our world

科學家走遍天涯海角

in search of organisms that may contain these medicinal molecules.

找尋含有這些藥用分子的有機體

This fundamental research has resulted in over half our medicines today

這項核心研究成果豐碩 如今一半以上的藥物

being derived and inspired by natural sources.

是從大自然衍生或得到啟發

Although these scientists scoured the surface of our planet

儘管這些科學家踏遍了地表

for organisms with these potential medicines,

找尋可能有藥用價值的有機體

there was one area that remained underexplored --

卻漏掉了一個地方尚未探索

and it just so happened to be the biggest part.

剛好是地球上佔比最大的區塊

The oceans.

海洋

Our oceans cover over three quarters of the Earth's surface

海洋覆蓋地球超過四分之三的地表

and contain the most biodiverse ecosystems on our planet.

孕育著地球上最豐富的生態系

In Ireland, we own eight times more ocean than we do land,

愛爾蘭的海域面積是陸地的八倍

and it's filled with forms of life that seem alien to us.

充滿著奇異的生態

All of these creatures you see here,

你們看到的這些生物

I photographed in Irish waters along the Connemara coastline,

是我在愛爾蘭的康尼瑪拉海岸拍攝的

and you can discover them for yourselves if you visit rock pools

你們若去到岩區潮間帶 或是去海藻林間浮潛

or snorkel through the kelp forests.

就能親自體驗

When Jacques Cousteau invented scuba diving in the 1940s,

雅克·庫斯托在 1940 年間 發明了水肺潛水

this provided scientists with the tools

提供了科學家

required to explore these diverse ecosystems.

探索深海豐富生態的必要工具

Now they could spend hours underwater,

如今，他們可以潛水數小時

uncovering hundreds of new species

發現數以百計的新物種

from colorful corals to spectacular sponges

色彩斑斕的珊瑚、巨無霸的海綿

of all shapes and sizes.

各種奇形怪狀的生物

When chemists got their hands on these samples

當化學家著手研究這些樣本

and started analyzing the molecules that these animals made,

分析這些動物產生的分子

they were amazed.

結果令人驚喜

New molecules,

新的分子

many of which chemists thought would be impossible to form.

有許多是原本以為不存在的結構

But then Mother Nature had something to say.

大自然再次顛覆我們的認知

When they tested the potential of turning these new molecules into medicines,

化學家研究將這些分子 製作成藥物的可能性

they found that many of these new molecules

發現許多新分子

could kill the most potent of drug-resistant bacteria,

能殺死抗藥性最強的細菌

destroy the most virulent of cancers

消滅致死率最高的癌細胞

and even be used to treat pain.

甚至可以用來止痛

There are 17 medicines today in your local pharmacies and hospitals

如今約有 17 種藥局和醫院 使用的藥物

that are derived from marine sources.

獲取自海洋資源

One of these medicines, in particular, ziconotide,

其中一樣特別的藥物，辛抗寧

was isolated from the Conus magus,

是分離自一種神奇的芋螺

also known as the magical cone snail.

What's magic about this sea snail

這種海蝸牛的神奇之處

isn't just its beautiful shell and pattern,

不只是牠美麗的外殼和花樣

but one of the natural molecules it produces

牠製造的一種天然分子

is such an effective painkiller

是超高效的止痛劑

that it’s 1,000 times stronger than morphine.

藥效是嗎啡的 1000 倍

And you’re probably asking yourself:

你或許會問：

Why would a sea snail produce something

一隻海蝸牛為什麼需要

that’s 1,000 times stronger than morphine?

製造比嗎啡強 1000 倍的麻醉藥？

Is that why they're slow?

牠們是因此動作緩慢嗎？

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

And the answer?

答案是

Ingenious evolution.

奇妙的進化

See, these sea snails hunt fish,

這些海蝸牛會捕魚吃

and they don't have the speed to chase down their prey

卻沒有足夠的速度追趕獵物

like a lion hunts a gazelle.

不像獅子狩獵羚羊

So instead, they harpoon their prey

所以牠們朝著獵物

injecting it with a potent mixture of neurotoxins

注射一種強烈的神經混合毒素

like ziconotide, that paralyze the fish instantly.

比如辛抗寧，可以立刻癱瘓一隻魚

It's ziconotide's ability to target the nervous system of vertebrates like us

辛抗寧作用於人類等 脊椎動物的神經系統

that makes it such an effective painkiller.

所以能成為有效的止痛劑

And while scuba diving was a revolutionary leap forward,

潛水是一項突破性的發明

allowing scientists to study our coastal marine ecosystems,

讓科學家能研究沿海生態系

our oceans extend far past our shores to unimaginable depths.

但海洋寬廣無邊、深不可測

We can only dive so deep

潛水的深度有限

before the physical pressure pressing down causes lethal effects.

否則就會因水壓而有致命危險

This left the vast majority of our oceans underexplored.

因此無法更深入探索海洋

More people have been to space

去過太空的人

than have been to our oceans' deepest depths.

比下到海底最深處的人還多

To find our medicines of the future,

為了找到未來的藥物

we went to explore these depths on the research vessel

我們前往海洋的深處探險

搭的是研究船「凱爾特探索號」

The Celtic Explorer,

and sailed south from Irish shores

從愛爾蘭海岸一路往南

to some of the largest geographical features that scar our planet.

駛向橫亙地球上的壯麗海洋地貌

Submarine canyon systems like Whittard Canyon,

深海峽谷，如惠塔德峽谷

where the sea floor drops from 300 meters to 3,000 meters.

海底平面從三百米陡降至三千米

And it's here in some of the most extreme environmental conditions in the world

在這世界上最極端的一種環境下

that deep-sea coral reefs flourish.

深海珊瑚蓬勃生長

Conditions at these depths are so extreme

深海的環境如此極端

we have to use a state of the art robotic submarine

我們必須用小型巴士大小的潛艇機器人

the size of a minibus to collect our samples.

來收集樣本

And when I say extreme conditions, I really mean extreme.

剛剛提到極端氣候，是真的非常極端

Unlike the coral reefs that the cone snails inhabit,

不像芋螺棲息的珊瑚礁

instead of the water being warm and tropical,

這裡不屬於熱帶，水溫也不溫暖

it's the same temperature as your fridge.

而是有如冰箱裡的溫度

Instead of it being bright, clear and sunny,

這裡也沒有提供照明的陽光和光線

it's pitch black and has never seen the light of day,

而是黑漆漆一片，不存在白日

permanently bathed in eternal darkness.

沐浴在永恆的黑暗中

And instead of being able to swim around freely,

無人能在這裡自由游泳

if you were to dive to these depths,

一旦下潛到這個深度

you would be crushed in seconds with the sheer pressure,

人類會在幾秒內被水壓碾碎

equating to the weight of 20 elephants standing on your head.

等於被 20 隻大象同時泰山壓頂

Even with these harsh conditions,

就在這樣的嚴酷環境下

deep-sea coral reefs are among the most biodiverse ecosystems in the world,

深海珊瑚成為世界上 最豐富的生態系之一

rivaling that of the Great Barrier Reef and the Amazonian rainforest.

不比大堡礁和亞馬遜叢林差

In this one picture alone,

在這張照片中

there are hundreds of unique species,

就有數百的特有種

from starfish to sea fans, cup corals to crinoids,

海星、海扇、管星珊瑚、海百合

all of which have adapted over millions of years

這裡的生物演化了數百萬年

to thrive in this unforgiving environment.

在這殘酷的環境中茁壯生長

Many of these animals are new to science

許多生物是科學家前所未見

and remain in the final frontier in studying life on our planet.

成為地球生命研究的終極目標

Some of these animals are so alien, like deep sea jellyfish,

牠們當中有特異如深海水母

that they even inspired the creatures in James Cameron's "Avatar"

是卡梅隆的電影「阿凡達」中 角色的靈感來源

after the director explored the deep sea.

導演開拍前就親自到深海探險

This abundance of biodiversity creates competition,

豐富的生態系也造就競爭

especially between the filter-feeding animals to fight for space,

特別是濾食動物之間為了 競爭生存空間

to grow as far out into the water currents as possible

盡量伸展到海流之中

to catch as much food as possible.

竭盡所能地捕捉食物

For millions of years,

數百萬年來

this battle for space and food has raged on in the darkness,

為了競爭生存空間和食物 戰鬥在黑暗中滋長

resulting in some of the most beautiful biological creations

造就最奇妙的好些生態樣貌

our world is yet to see.

等著我們為之驚嘆

And this is an example of some of that beauty.

這是其中一個例子

A two-meter-wide trumpet sponge we found at a depth of 1.5 kilometers.

一隻在 1.5 公里深海找到的 兩米長喇叭海綿

This species of sponge has evolved to grow

這種海綿生物成功演化出

an intricate skeleton of interwoven glass fibers

玻璃纖維交織而成的複雜骨架

that stretch out into the current.

可以伸長至海流中

But this beauty comes with a dark side.

但美麗外表下隱藏著危險

It turns out the battle for these sponges and corals to survive and thrive

這些海綿動物和珊瑚的生存戰鬥

is a battle that relies on chemical warfare.

其實是一場生化戰爭

My aim is to isolate these chemical weapons,

我們想要剝離出牠們的生化武器

which we can then utilize in our own fight

並加以利用

對抗微生物和癌細胞

against microbes and cancers.

If you look closely at this sponge, there are these tiny yellow dots.

仔細觀察這些海綿身上的黃色小點

Each of those yellow dots is a coral-like animal growing on the sponge,

每個小點都是一隻寄宿在 海綿上的珊瑚類生物

using it as a scaffold to feed in the currents.

將海綿當作進入海流進食的橋樑

This can negatively affect the sponge.

這對海綿造成負面影響

So in a response, the sponge and its microbiome

為了反擊，海綿的微生物基因組

produce toxic compounds to kill the corals.

製造毒化物來殺死珊瑚

And in a response to that,

而珊瑚為了反擊

the corals produce their own toxic compounds to kill the sponge.

也製造了牠們的毒化物來殺死海綿

It's these compounds we aim to develop into new anti-cancer therapies

我們的目標是研究這些毒化物 成為新型抗癌藥物

and future antibiotics.

或是未來抗生素

But these reefs contain thousands of species,

但這些珊瑚有數千種

and each species may contain thousands of molecules,

每一種又可能包含數千的分子

so you might imagine that finding the one that could be a cure for a type of cancer

想找到正確的分子 做成針對某種癌症的藥物

or might stop the next pandemic

或是預防下一波的全球疫情

would be like the proverbial finding a needle in a haystack.

就像大海撈針一樣困難

In the dark.

在黑暗裡撈

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

But the same way that we soak berries and spices in alcohol to make gin,

不過就像我們在酒裡 浸泡漿果和香料來釀出琴酒

we soak our corals and sponges in alcohol to make coral and sponge gin,

在酒裡浸泡珊瑚和海綿 也能釀出珊瑚海綿酒

which we call extract.

稱之為萃取物

We then feed this extract to different diseases --

然後將萃取物餵給各種疾病

cancers, malaria, viruses,

癌症、瘧疾、病毒

even brain-eating amoebas -- and we wait.

甚至是吃大腦的變形蟲，然後等待

Most of the time, nothing happens.

通常無事發生

But every once in a while,

但偶爾

one of these extracts manages to kill a disease,

這當中某項萃取物會殺死一種疾病

letting us know it contains a natural molecule

告訴大家它包含的天然分子

with the potential to be turned into a medicine.

有潛力成為藥物

We then isolate these molecules

接著我們分離出這些分子

and test them against the disease again

再次餵給那種疾病

until we find the one,

直到找到正確的那個分子

the one molecule that has resulted from millions of years of evolution

在數百萬年的進化中

in our oceans' dark depths

在黑暗的海底深處

that we can now use in our own wars against cancers,

長成如今的模樣，讓我們可以用來

對抗癌症、細菌和病毒

bacteria and viruses.

But once we find these medicines,

儘管找到了藥

we can't just rip these animals from the reef as our source.

但我們不能直接殺到珊瑚礁 開發這些資源

That would destroy the very vital biodiversity

否則就毀掉了演化出這些分子的

and resulting competition that created these molecules in the first place.

生物多樣性和競爭關係 如同殺雞取卵

We don't need to come up with a complex mechanism

想要在實驗室中製造這些分子

for manufacturing them in a lab.

不用建立複雜的系統

Some of these molecules are so complex we couldn't even if we tried.

甚至我們想做也做不到 因為有些分子實在太複雜

But Mother Nature has done the hard work for us.

不過大自然早已為我們預備

Hidden in the DNA of these animals and their associated microbes

這些生物和相關微生物的 DNA 中

are the genes which carry the biological recipes

隱藏著製造這些分子的基因密碼

for producing these molecules.

Using cutting-edge techniques,

使用尖端技術

we can take these genes and insert them into microbes like yeast,

可以取出這些基因

將它們嵌入酵母等微生物中

allowing us to grow them in a bioreactor,

在生物感應器裡生長

getting the microbes to do the hard work for us,

讓微生物為我們工作

producing our medicines in a sustainable, cost-effective way

用永續、符合成本效益的方式製造藥物

without the need for harsh chemicals,

不需用到刺激性化學物質

such as heavy metals,

如重金屬等

that can be required in more traditional manufacturing processes.

不需以傳統方式製造

Our research isn't just to help protect the health of humanity,

我們的研究不只有助於保護人類健康

but also to protect the health of these hidden reefs.

也能保護這些深藏海底的珊瑚

Deep-sea reefs wrap around our entire planet,

深海珊瑚纏繞著整個地球

and already over half the reefs that exist

但將近一半的珊瑚

have been destroyed,

已經被摧毀

turned to lifeless rubble by trawling and longline fishing.

被拖網和延繩釣魚線摧毀成一片廢墟

With new threats on the horizon, like deep-sea mining,

新的威脅如深海採礦也蓄勢待發

they're in more danger now than ever before.

現今，珊瑚的生存岌岌可危

By proving that their unique biodiversity

牠們證明了自己的特殊價值

can be a natural resource for providing us with new medicines,

可以成為藥物的自然資源

not only does this give a public health incentive to protect these reefs,

不只公共衛生是保護動機

but a financial one also.

經濟也是

Like how safari tours provide the economic incentive

如同生態旅遊作為經濟動機

to conserve savanna ecosystems,

保護草原生態系

potential profits from pharmaceutical sales

藥品銷售的潛在利益

could provide the financial sustainability to explore and protect these reefs.

也能建立永續經濟來探索和保護珊瑚礁

We need new medicines today more than ever before,

我們對新藥物的需求與日俱增

and the incredible biodiversity that deep-sea reefs offer

深海珊瑚奇妙的豐富生態

have created a fantastic library of natural molecules,

就像天然分子的最佳圖書館

which we can develop into our future medicines.

讓人盡情研究未來藥物

Already, our research group has found potential medicines against asthma,

我們研究團隊已經找到潛在藥物 用來治療氣喘、瘧疾

malaria and even COVID-19,

甚至新冠肺炎

showing the unbelievable potential of these reefs.

顯示這些珊瑚的無限潛能

To protect our own health

為了人類的健康

we need to protect the health of deep-sea coral reefs.

我們必須保護深海珊瑚

Our future pharmacies

我們未來的藥店

are hidden in our seas.

就藏在深海中

Thank you.

謝謝

(Applause)

（掌聲）