ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Tal Danino - Synthetic biologist
Tal Danino explores the emerging frontier of combining biology and engineering (and art). He is a 2015 TED Fellow.

Why you should listen

Tal Danino's research explores the emerging frontier of combining biology, engineering and medicine. His work as a synthetic biologist focuses on reprogramming bacteria to detect and treat diseases in our bodies such as cancer.

Originally from Los Angeles, Danino received B.S. degrees from UCLA in Physics, Chemistry and Math, and received his Ph.D. in Bioengineering from UCSD. He did a postdoctoral fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is currently an assistant professor at Columbia University in New York.

Danino's work has been published in scientific journals and highlighted in several popular press venues. He actively develops "Bio-Art" projects that share perspectives and stories about science with recent projects featured in the New York Times, WIRED, and the Wall Street Journal.

More profile about the speaker
Tal Danino | Speaker | TED.com
TED2015

Tal Danino: Programming bacteria to detect cancer (and maybe treat it)

Tal Danino: 我們可以使用病毒偵測 (或者治療) 癌症

Filmed:
1,329,748 views

肝癌是幾個最難偵測的癌症之一,但綜合生物學家 Tal Danino 突發奇想: 如果我們能創造一種益生、可編輯的細菌,在「編碼」後可以找到肝腫瘤呢? 他的洞察開發了一些我們剛開始了解的細菌: 他們聚合感應的能力,或在聚集起來達到臨界數量後會做的事。一名 TED 人 Danino 解釋了這聚合反應是如何運作的──以及細菌一起運作的時候有多聰明至某天將可以改變癌症療法。
- Synthetic biologist
Tal Danino explores the emerging frontier of combining biology and engineering (and art). He is a 2015 TED Fellow. Full bio

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

00:12
You may可能 not realize實現 this,
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你可能沒有意識到 :
00:14
but there are more bacteria in your body身體
than stars明星 in our entire整個 galaxy星系.
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身體裡細菌的數量,
其實比整個銀河系的星星還要多。
00:20
This fascinating迷人 universe宇宙
of bacteria inside of us
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這個迷人的細菌宇宙,在我們的身體裡,
00:23
is an integral積分 part部分 of our health健康,
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構成我們健康的一部分。
00:25
and our technology技術 is evolving進化 so rapidly急速
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隨著科技快速地進步,
00:27
that today今天 we can program程序 these bacteria
like we program程序 computers電腦.
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今日,我們可以像在電腦裡
寫程式一樣設定這些細菌。
00:33
Now, the diagram that you see here,
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現在,來看這張圖表:
00:34
I know it looks容貌 like
some kind of sports體育 play,
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我知道這看起來有點像某種體育比賽,
00:37
but it is actually其實 a blueprint藍圖 of
the first bacterial細菌 program程序 I developed發達.
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實際上,是我研發的第一支細菌程式的藍圖。
00:41
And like writing寫作 software軟件,
we can print打印 and write DNA脫氧核糖核酸
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就像寫軟體一樣,可以將DNA列印、撰寫成
00:44
into different不同 algorithms算法
and programs程式 inside of bacteria.
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細菌內不同的演算法或程式。
00:48
What this program程序 does
is produces產生 fluorescent proteins蛋白質
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這個程序用富有節奏的方式,
00:51
in a rhythmic有板有眼 fashion時尚
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產生螢光蛋白質
00:52
and generates生成 a small molecule分子
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以及一個小分子,
00:54
that allows允許 bacteria
to communicate通信 and synchronize同步,
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讓細菌可以溝通、同步,
00:57
as you're seeing眼看 in this movie電影.
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就像你在影片裡看到的那樣。
00:59
The growing生長 colony殖民地 of bacteria
that you see here
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這個成長中菌落的寬度
01:01
is about the width寬度 of a human人的 hair頭髮.
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大概和人類頭髮差不多。
01:03
Now, what you can't see
is that our genetic遺傳 program程序
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現在,你沒有辦法看到我們的基因程式
01:06
instructs指示 these bacteria
to each produce生產 small molecules分子,
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命令這些細菌產生小分子,
01:09
and these molecules分子 travel旅行 between之間
the thousands數千 of individual個人 bacteria
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這些分子在數千個獨立的細菌之間游走,
01:13
telling告訴 them when to turn on and off.
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告訴它們什麼時候要開、關。
01:15
And the bacteria synchronize同步
quite相當 well at this scale規模,
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細菌的同步在這個尺度下表現很好,
01:19
but because the molecule分子 that synchronizes下同步
them together一起 can only travel旅行 so fast快速,
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但因這些讓細菌同步的分子傳導地很快,
01:23
in larger colonies群落 of bacteria,
this results結果 in traveling旅行 waves波浪
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在比較大的菌落裡,
將導致細菌間產生傳導波,
01:26
between之間 bacteria that are
far away from each other,
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讓細菌之間彼此遠離,
01:29
and you can see these waves波浪 going
from right to left across橫過 the screen屏幕.
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你可以看到這些軌跡
從螢幕的右邊一直傳到左邊。
01:33
Now, our genetic遺傳 program程序
relies依賴 on a natural自然 phenomenon現象
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我們的遺傳程序仰賴於一種稱作
01:36
called quorum法定人數 sensing傳感,
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「群聚感應」的自然現像,
01:37
in which哪一個 bacteria trigger觸發 coordinated協調
and sometimes有時 virulent有毒 behaviors行為
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一但菌落達到臨界密度,
細菌之間就會開始相互協調,
01:40
once一旦 they reach達到 a critical危急 density密度.
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甚至會產生致命的反應。
01:43
You can observe quorum法定人數 sensing傳感
in action行動 in this movie電影,
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你可以觀察「群聚感應」
在這部影片中正在起作用,
01:46
where a growing生長 colony殖民地 of bacteria
only begins開始 to glow輝光
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成長中的菌落在達到高密度
或臨界密度後
01:49
once一旦 it reaches到達 a high
or critical危急 density密度.
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才會開始發光。
01:52
Our genetic遺傳 program程序
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我們的基因程序
01:54
continues繼續 producing生產 these
rhythmic有板有眼 patterns模式 of fluorescent proteins蛋白質
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在菌落向外成長時,
用這種富有節奏的樣式
01:57
as the colony殖民地 grows成長 outwards向外.
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持續製造螢光蛋白質。
01:59
This particular特定 movie電影 and experiment實驗
we call The Supernova超新星,
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我們稱這個特別的影片和實驗作「超新星」,
02:03
because it looks容貌 like an exploding爆炸 star.
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因為這看起來很像星星爆炸。
02:06
Now, besides除了 programming程序設計
these beautiful美麗 patterns模式,
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除了編譯這些美麗的樣式外,
02:08
I wondered想知道, what else其他 can we get
these bacteria to do?
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我開始想:這些細菌還能做什麼?
02:11
And I decided決定 to explore探索
how we can program程序 bacteria
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我決定探索如何編譯細菌
02:13
to detect檢測 and treat對待 diseases疾病
in our bodies身體 like cancer癌症.
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去偵測和治療身體的疾病,像是癌症。
02:18
One of the surprising奇怪 facts事實 about bacteria
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關於細菌的其中一個驚人事實是
02:20
is that they can naturally自然 grow增長
inside of tumors腫瘤.
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細菌可以在腫瘤裡自然地生長。
02:23
This happens發生 because typically一般 tumors腫瘤
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這現像會發生是因為基本上腫瘤
02:25
are areas where the immune免疫的 system系統
has no access訪問,
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是免疫系統鞭長莫及的區域,
02:27
and so bacteria find these tumors腫瘤
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所以當細菌發現這些腫瘤時,
02:29
and use them as a safe安全 haven避風港
to grow增長 and thrive興旺.
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細菌會將腫瘤當作避風港,
並在此茁壯、成長。
02:33
We started開始 using運用 probiotic益生菌 bacteria
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我們開始使用一種益生菌,
02:35
which哪一個 are safe安全 bacteria
that have a health健康 benefit效益,
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一種安全且對身體有益的細菌。
02:38
and found發現 that
when orally口頭 delivered交付 to mice老鼠,
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我們發現,當老鼠口服時,
02:40
these probiotics益生菌 would selectively選擇
grow增長 inside of liver tumors腫瘤.
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這些益生菌會選擇生長在肝臟的腫瘤裡。
02:44
We realized實現 that the most convenient方便 way
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我們了解到,最方便
02:46
to highlight突出 the presence存在
of the probiotics益生菌,
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標出益生菌,
02:48
and hence於是, the presence存在 of the tumors腫瘤,
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也就是,讓腫瘤現形的方法
02:50
was to get these bacteria
to produce生產 a signal信號
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是讓這些細菌產生
02:52
that would be detectable檢測 in the urine尿,
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可以在尿液中被偵測到的訊號,
02:55
and so we specifically特別
programmed程序 these probiotics益生菌
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所以我們特別編譯了這些益生菌,
02:57
to make a molecule分子 that would change更改
the color顏色 of your urine尿
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讓分子可以改變你尿液的顏色
03:00
to indicate表明 the presence存在 of cancer癌症.
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以檢驗是否患有癌症。
03:03
We went on to show顯示 that this technology技術
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我們接著證明這項技術
03:05
could sensitively敏感地 and specifically特別
detect檢測 liver cancer癌症,
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可以敏感地偵測出肝癌,
03:08
one that is challenging具有挑戰性的
to detect檢測 otherwise除此以外.
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如果用傳統方法檢測,
並不容易偵測到。
03:11
Now, since以來 these bacteria
specifically特別 localize本土化 to tumors腫瘤,
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既然這些細菌能專門定位癌症位置,
03:14
we've我們已經 been programming程序設計 them
to not only detect檢測 cancer癌症
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我們將它們編譯成不只偵測癌症,
03:17
but also to treat對待 cancer癌症
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也能治療癌症。
03:19
by producing生產 therapeutic治療 molecules分子
from within the tumor environment環境
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藉由從腫瘤內部環境產生治療性分子,
03:22
that shrink收縮 the existing現有 tumors腫瘤,
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讓現有的腫瘤萎縮,
03:24
and we've我們已經 been doing this
using運用 quorum法定人數 sensing傳感 programs程式
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而我們我們已經在用群聚感應程序實作了,
03:27
like you saw in the previous以前 movies電影.
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就像之前影片中看到的一樣。
03:29
Altogether, imagine想像 in the future未來
taking服用 a programmed程序 probiotic益生菌
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想像一下,未來可以服用這些編譯過的細菌
03:33
that could detect檢測 and treat對待 cancer癌症,
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來偵測、治療癌症,
03:35
or even other diseases疾病.
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甚至其他的疾病。
03:38
Our ability能力 to program程序 bacteria
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我們這編譯細菌
03:40
and program程序 life
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以及編譯生命的能力
03:42
opens打開 up new horizons視野 in cancer癌症 research研究,
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在癌症研究上開闢了新的視野。
03:45
and to share分享 this vision視力,
I worked工作 with artist藝術家 Vik維克 Muniz穆尼斯
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為了分享這個願景,
我和藝術家維克穆尼茲,
03:47
to create創建 the symbol符號 of the universe宇宙,
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共同創造了這個完全由細菌和癌症細胞
03:49
made製作 entirely完全 out of bacteria
or cancer癌症 cells細胞.
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所組成的宇宙符號。
03:53
Ultimately最終,, my hope希望 is that the beauty美女
and purpose目的 of this microscopic顯微 universe宇宙
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最終,我希望這個美麗的微觀宇宙,
03:58
can inspire啟發 new and creative創作的 approaches方法
for the future未來 of cancer癌症 research研究.
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能夠在未來的癌症研究中
啟發新穎和創意的方法。
04:03
Thank you.
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謝謝。
04:06
(Applause掌聲)
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(掌聲)
Translated by Hans Chen
Reviewed by Alan Wang

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Tal Danino - Synthetic biologist
Tal Danino explores the emerging frontier of combining biology and engineering (and art). He is a 2015 TED Fellow.

Why you should listen

Tal Danino's research explores the emerging frontier of combining biology, engineering and medicine. His work as a synthetic biologist focuses on reprogramming bacteria to detect and treat diseases in our bodies such as cancer.

Originally from Los Angeles, Danino received B.S. degrees from UCLA in Physics, Chemistry and Math, and received his Ph.D. in Bioengineering from UCSD. He did a postdoctoral fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is currently an assistant professor at Columbia University in New York.

Danino's work has been published in scientific journals and highlighted in several popular press venues. He actively develops "Bio-Art" projects that share perspectives and stories about science with recent projects featured in the New York Times, WIRED, and the Wall Street Journal.

More profile about the speaker
Tal Danino | Speaker | TED.com