ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Jaap de Roode - Biologist
Jaap de Roode studies the ecology and evolution of parasites, focusing on those that attack the monarch butterfly.

Why you should listen

At his lab at Emory University, Jaap de Roode and his team study parasites and their hosts. Some of the questions that intrigue them: If a parasite depends on its host's survival for its own well-being, why do so many of them cause harm? In what ways are hosts able to self-medicate in order to make themselves less desirable to parasites? And are the abilities to harm hosts — and the ability of hosts to self-medicate — favored by natural selection?

The De Roode Lab focuses on the monarch butterfly and its parasites. The team has made a fascinating discovery: that female butterflies infected by a parasite choose to lay their eggs on a specific variety of milkweed that helps their offspring avoid getting sick. De Roode hopes that this insight could lead to new approaches in medications for human beings in the future.

More profile about the speaker
Jaap de Roode | Speaker | TED.com
TEDYouth 2014

Jaap de Roode: How butterflies self-medicate

Jaap de Roode: 蝴蝶如何自我治疗

Filmed:
1,143,584 views

帝王班蝶和人类一样为寄生虫患病,生物学家 Roode 却在研究时发现患病的雌蝶会把卵产在一种特别的植物上,让下一代免为患病。它们如何选择这些植物?这种”新蝴蝶效应“可能会让人类找到治病的新药方。
- Biologist
Jaap de Roode studies the ecology and evolution of parasites, focusing on those that attack the monarch butterfly. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:12
So infectious传染病 diseases疾病, right?
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说到传染病
00:13
Infectious传染病 diseases疾病
are still the main主要 cause原因
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传染病仍然是全球人类
00:15
of human人的 suffering痛苦 and death死亡
around the world世界.
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生病和死亡的主因。
00:18
Every一切 year, millions百万 of people die
of diseases疾病 such这样 as T.B., malaria疟疾, HIVHIV,
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每年,数以万计的人们死于
00:23
around the world世界
and even in the United联合的 States状态.
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肺结核、疟疾、以及艾滋病
00:25
Every一切 year, thousands数千 of Americans美国人
die of seasonal时令的 flu流感.
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甚至在美国,
每年都有成千上万的人因流感致命。
00:29
Now of course课程, humans人类,
we are creative创作的. Right?
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人类不是很有创意吗?
00:31
We have come up with ways方法 to protect保护
ourselves我们自己 against反对 these diseases疾病.
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我们想出不少办法保护自己,
00:34
We have drugs毒品 and vaccines疫苗.
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用药物和疫苗抵抗传染病。
00:36
And we're conscious意识 --
we learn学习 from our experiences经验
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我们十分谨慎地总结经验
00:39
and come up with creative创作的 solutions解决方案.
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得出创新的解决办法。
00:41
We used to think we're alone单独 in this,
but now we know we're not.
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我们以为只有人类才懂医学
00:44
We're not the only medical doctors医生.
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但是其实不然
00:46
Now we know that there's a lot of animals动物
out there that can do it too.
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许多其他动物也有类似的机制
00:49
Most famous著名, perhaps也许, chimpanzees黑猩猩.
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最典型的是大猩猩
00:51
Not so much different不同 from us,
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和人类差不多
00:52
they can use plants植物
to treat对待 their intestinal parasites寄生虫.
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它们会利用植物清理肠道寄生虫
00:55
But the last few少数 decades几十年 have shown显示 us
that other animals动物 can do it too:
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几十年的研究发现很多动物都会保护自己
00:59
elephants大象, porcupines豪猪,
sheep, goats山羊, you name名称 it.
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大象、豪猪、绵羊、山羊…数不胜数
01:02
And even more interesting有趣 than that
is that recent最近 discoveries发现 are telling告诉 us
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更有趣的是,最近的研究发现
01:06
that insects昆虫 and other little animals动物 with
smaller brains大脑 can use medication药物治疗 too.
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昆虫和其他小型生物也懂得医疗
01:11
The problem问题 with infectious传染病 diseases疾病,
as we all know,
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我们都知道传染病的病原体
01:14
is that pathogens病原体 continue继续 to evolve发展,
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不断演化。
01:16
and a lot of the drugs毒品
that we have developed发达
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我们过去开发的一些药物
01:18
are losing失去 their efficacy功效.
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正在逐渐失效
01:19
And therefore因此, there is this great need
to find new ways方法 to discover发现 drugs毒品
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因此我们更需要不断开发新药物
01:24
that we can use against反对 our diseases疾病.
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来应对不断变化的病原体。
01:26
Now, I think that we
should look at these animals动物,
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现在我们来研究一下这些动物
01:28
and we can learn学习 from them
how to treat对待 our own拥有 diseases疾病.
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看看从它们身上哪些是值得借鉴的
作为生物学家,
我研究了十年帝王斑蝶
01:32
As a biologist生物学家, I have been studying研究
monarch君主 butterflies蝴蝶 for the last 10 years年份.
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01:36
Now, monarchs君主 are extremely非常 famous著名
for their spectacular壮观 migrations迁移
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帝王斑蝶以它们壮观的迁徙而闻名
01:39
from the U.S. and Canada加拿大
down to Mexico墨西哥 every一切 year,
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每年不计其数的帝王斑蝶来到一起
01:43
where millions百万 of them come together一起,
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从美国和加拿大迁徙到墨西哥
01:45
but it's not why I started开始 studying研究 them.
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但这并非我研究它们的原因
01:47
I study研究 monarchs君主 because they get sick生病.
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我研究它们是因为它们会生病
01:50
They get sick生病 like you.
They get sick生病 like me.
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就像在座的你我
01:52
And I think what they do
can tell us a lot about drugs毒品
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我认为我们可以从它们身上得到启发
01:55
that we can develop发展 for humans人类.
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来开发适用于人类的药物
01:57
Now, the parasites寄生虫
that monarchs君主 get infected感染 with
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帝王斑蝶身上的寄生虫叫做
01:59
are called ophryocystisophryocystis elektroscirrhaelektroscirrha --
a mouthful一口.
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ophryocystis elektroscirrha
02:03
What they do is they produce生产 spores孢子,
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这些寄生虫在蝶身上
02:05
millions百万 of spores孢子
on the outside of the butterfly蝴蝶
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引起大量的孢子
02:07
that are shown显示 as little specks斑点
in between之间 the scales of the butterfly蝴蝶.
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可以从鳞片夹缝中看见这些细小的斑点
02:11
And this is really detrimental有害
to the monarch君主.
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它们威胁着帝王斑蝶的健康
02:13
It shortens缩短 their lifespan寿命,
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缩短了它们的寿命
02:15
it reduces减少 their ability能力 to fly,
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影响它们的飞行能力
02:17
it can even kill them
before they're even adults成年人.
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甚至导致它们还没成年就死亡。
02:19
Very detrimental有害 parasite寄生物.
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这种寄生虫非常致命。
02:21
As part部分 of my job工作, I spend a lot of time
in the greenhouse温室 growing生长 plants植物,
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我工作时经常需要在温室里种植植物
02:25
and the reason原因 for this is that monarchs君主
are extremely非常 picky挑剔 eaters食客.
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因为帝王斑蝶十分挑食
02:29
They only eat milkweed马利筋 as larvae幼虫.
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它们只吃乳草的幼草
02:31
Luckily, there are several一些
species种类 of milkweed马利筋 that they can use,
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幸好我找到了几种它们食用的乳草。
02:34
and all these milkweeds马利筋
have cardenolides卡烯内酯 in them.
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这些乳草中含有卡烯內酯,
02:36
These are chemicals化学制品 that are toxic有毒的.
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是一种具有毒性的物质
02:38
They're toxic有毒的 to most animals动物,
but not to monarchs君主.
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奇怪的是它对帝王斑蝶无害
02:41
In fact事实, monarchs君主
can take up the chemicals化学制品,
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帝王斑蝶吸收了这种毒素
02:43
put it in their own拥有 bodies身体,
and it makes品牌 them toxic有毒的
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携带这种毒素在体内
02:45
against反对 their predators大鳄, such这样 as birds鸟类.
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用于对付诸如鸟类的天敌
02:48
And what they do, then,
is advertise广告 this toxicity毒性
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它们用身上鲜豔的黄黑白斑纹
02:50
through通过 their beautiful美丽
warning警告 colorations着色
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来广告自己的毒性。
02:52
with this orange橙子, black黑色 and white白色.
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一种自然警告标志。
02:54
So what I did during my job工作
is grow增长 plants植物 in the greenhouse温室,
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当我在温室善尽己责,
02:58
different不同 ones那些, different不同 milkweeds马利筋.
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种植不同乳草时,
03:00
Some were toxic有毒的, including包含
the tropical热带 milkweed马利筋,
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某些毒性很高,像是热带乳草,
03:02
with very high concentrations浓度
of these cardenolides卡烯内酯.
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有大量的強心甾 (cardenolides),
03:06
And some were not toxic有毒的.
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某些却没有毒素。
03:07
And then I fed美联储 them to monarchs君主.
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在我喂食帝王斑蝶时,
03:09
Some of the monarchs君主 were healthy健康.
They had no disease疾病.
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某些斑蝶没有染病,很健康。
03:12
But some of the monarchs君主 were sick生病,
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某些斑蝶则生着病,
03:14
and what I found发现 is that
some of these milkweeds马利筋 are medicinal药用,
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我发现某些乳草有药效,
03:17
meaning含义 they reduce减少 the disease疾病 symptoms症状
in the monarch君主 butterflies蝴蝶,
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有效减低帝王斑蝶的症状
03:20
meaning含义 these monarchs君主 can live生活 longer
when they are infected感染
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只要它们食用这些药草,
03:23
when feeding馈送 on these medicinal药用 plants植物.
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就可以延长自己的性命。
03:25
And when I found发现 this, I had this idea理念,
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当我发现的时候,
我有了一很多人觉得很疯狂的想法
03:28
and a lot of people said
it was a crazy idea理念,
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03:30
but I thought,
what if monarchs君主 can use this?
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我想,如果帝王斑蝶可以应用呢?
03:32
What if they can use these plants植物
as their own拥有 form形成 of medicine医学?
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如果它们可以把这些乳草当作药物呢?
03:35
What if they can act法案 as medical doctors医生?
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如果它们可以为自己开药房呢?
03:38
So my team球队 and I
started开始 doing experiments实验.
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我们的团队开始实验,
03:40
In the first types类型 of experiments实验,
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在第一类实验里,
03:42
we had caterpillars毛毛虫,
and gave them a choice选择:
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我们给幼虫两种选择:
03:44
medicinal药用 milkweed马利筋 versus
non-medicinal非药物 milkweed马利筋.
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有药性的乳草和没有药性的乳草。
03:47
And then we measured测量 how much they ate
of each species种类 over their lifetime一生.
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然后测量它们一生各自吃了多少。
03:51
And the result结果, as so often经常
in science科学, was boring无聊:
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就像大部分的科学研究结果一样,
答案很无聊:
03:54
Fifty五十 percent百分 of their food餐饮 was medicinal药用.
Fifty五十 percent百分 was not.
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有药性和没有药性的各半。
03:58
These caterpillars毛毛虫 didn't do
anything for their own拥有 welfare福利.
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这些幼虫没有为自己做出有利的选择。
04:02
So then we moved移动 on to adult成人 butterflies蝴蝶,
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于是我们转为研究成蝶。
04:04
and we started开始 asking the question
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我们想
04:06
whether是否 it's the mothers母亲
that can medicate用药 their offspring子孙.
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母蝶会对自己的幼虫用药吗?
04:09
Can the mothers母亲 lay铺设 their eggs
on medicinal药用 milkweed马利筋
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它们会把卵产在有药的乳草上,
04:12
that will make their
future未来 offspring子孙 less sick生病?
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减轻幼虫的症状?
04:15
We have doneDONE these experiments实验 now
over several一些 years年份,
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我们复制这个实验多年,
04:18
and always get the same相同 results结果.
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得到一样的结果。
04:20
What we do is we put
a monarch君主 in a big cage,
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我们把帝王斑蝶放进大笼子里,
04:22
a medicinal药用 plant on one side,
a non-medicinal非药物 plant on the other side,
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一边的乳草是有药性的,一边没有,
04:25
and then we measure测量 the number of eggs
that the monarchs君主 lay铺设 on each plant.
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然后测量它们在两种乳草上的产卵数,
04:30
And what we find when we do that
is always the same相同.
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获得的结果是一致的。
04:33
What we find is that the monarchs君主
strongly非常 prefer比较喜欢 the medicinal药用 milkweed马利筋.
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我们发现帝王斑蝶偏好药性乳草。
04:36
In other words,
what these females女性 are doing
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换句话说
04:39
is they're laying铺设 68 percent百分
of their eggs in the medicinal药用 milkweed马利筋.
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雌蝶把 68% 的卵产在药性乳草上。
04:42
Intriguingly有趣, what they do
is they actually其实 transmit发送 the parasites寄生虫
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事实上,在它们产卵的时候,
04:46
when they're laying铺设 the eggs.
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也不可避免的
04:48
They cannot不能 prevent避免 this.
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传播了寄生虫。
04:49
They can also not medicate用药 themselves他们自己.
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它们不能治疗自己。
04:51
But what these experiments实验 tell us
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但这个实验告诉我们
04:53
is that these monarchs君主, these mothers母亲,
can lay铺设 their eggs on medicinal药用 milkweed马利筋
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帝王斑蝶把卵产在有药性的乳草上,
04:58
that will make their
future未来 offspring子孙 less sick生病.
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减轻幼虫的病况。
05:03
Now, this is a really
important重要 discovery发现, I think,
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这个发现很重要。
05:05
not just because it tells告诉 us
something cool about nature性质,
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不只是因为它显示了大自然的奥妙,
05:08
but also because it may可能 tell us something
more about how we should find drugs毒品.
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更提醒我们应该如何开发药物。
05:12
Now, these are animals动物 that are very small
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这些动物都很小,
05:14
and we tend趋向 to think of them
as very simple简单.
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我们曾经觉得它们构造单纯,
05:16
They have tiny little brains大脑,
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它们的大脑很小,
05:17
yet然而 they can do this
very sophisticated复杂的 medication药物治疗.
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但它们却懂得利用自然药草。
05:20
Now, we know that even today今天,
most of our drugs毒品
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直至今日,
05:23
derive派生 from natural自然 products制品,
including包含 plants植物,
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我们从自然中提取药物,包括植物,
05:26
and in indigenous土著 cultures文化,
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在一些原始文化中,
05:27
traditional传统 healers术士 often经常 look
at animals动物 to find new drugs毒品.
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传统疗法时常借镜动物来找新药方。
05:30
In this way, elephants大象 have told us
how to treat对待 stomach upset烦乱,
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大象教我们如何治疗肠胃不适,
05:34
and porcupines豪猪 have told people
how to treat对待 bloody血腥 diarrhea腹泻.
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刺猬教我们如何处理腹泻。
05:37
What I think is important重要,
though虽然, is to move移动 beyond
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我想,最重要的是,
05:39
these large-brained大右脑 mammals哺乳动物
and give these guys more credit信用,
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除了那些大脑发达的哺乳类动物外,
05:43
these simple简单 animals动物, these insects昆虫
that we tend趋向 to think of
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我们也应该更加注重
05:46
as very, very simple简单
with tiny little brains大脑.
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那些构造简单的动物、昆虫。
05:49
The discovery发现 that these animals动物
can also use medication药物治疗
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发现这些动物懂得用药,
05:53
opens打开 up completely全然 new avenues渠道,
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让我们进入全新领域。
05:56
and I think that maybe one day,
we will be treating治疗 human人的 diseases疾病
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也许有一天,
我们会用蝴蝶找到的药物来治疗人类,
06:01
with drugs毒品 that were first
discovered发现 by butterflies蝴蝶,
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06:04
and I think that is an amazing惊人 opportunity机会
worth价值 pursuing追求.
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我想这个机会是值得把握的。
06:08
Thank you so much.
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谢谢各位。
06:10
(Applause掌声)
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(掌声)
Translated by Coco Shen
Reviewed by daohan xiong

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Jaap de Roode - Biologist
Jaap de Roode studies the ecology and evolution of parasites, focusing on those that attack the monarch butterfly.

Why you should listen

At his lab at Emory University, Jaap de Roode and his team study parasites and their hosts. Some of the questions that intrigue them: If a parasite depends on its host's survival for its own well-being, why do so many of them cause harm? In what ways are hosts able to self-medicate in order to make themselves less desirable to parasites? And are the abilities to harm hosts — and the ability of hosts to self-medicate — favored by natural selection?

The De Roode Lab focuses on the monarch butterfly and its parasites. The team has made a fascinating discovery: that female butterflies infected by a parasite choose to lay their eggs on a specific variety of milkweed that helps their offspring avoid getting sick. De Roode hopes that this insight could lead to new approaches in medications for human beings in the future.

More profile about the speaker
Jaap de Roode | Speaker | TED.com