TEDGlobal 2011
Lee Cronin: Making matter come alive
Lee Cronin: Mateeriale elu sisse puhumine
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Enne elu eksisteerimist Maal oli ainult mateeria, anorgaaniline eluta "kraam". Kui ebatõenäoline on, et tekkis elu? Kas elul võiks olla teistsugune keemiline koostis? Defineerides elu kui midagi, mis võib areneda, uurib keemik Lee Cronin seda küsimust, üritades luua täielikult anorgaanilist rakku, kasutades selleks süsinikuta anorgaaniliste molekulide komplekti, mis on võimeline ühinema, paljunema ning konkureerima.
Lee Cronin - Chemist
A professor of chemistry, nanoscience and chemical complexity, Lee Cronin and his research group investigate how chemistry can revolutionize modern technology and even create life. Full bio
A professor of chemistry, nanoscience and chemical complexity, Lee Cronin and his research group investigate how chemistry can revolutionize modern technology and even create life. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:15
What I'm going to try and do in the next 15 minutes or so
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Mida ma järgneva 15 minuti jooksul teha üritan
00:18
is tell you about an idea
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on rääkida teile ühest ideest,
00:20
of how we're going to make matter come alive.
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kuidas me suudaksime panna eluta aine elama.
00:23
Now this may seem a bit ambitious,
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See võib tunduda natuke ambitsioonikana,
00:25
but when you look at yourself, you look at your hands,
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aga kui te vaatate ennast, vaatate oma käsi,
00:27
you realize that you're alive.
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siis te taipate, et te olete elus.
00:29
So this is a start.
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See on algus.
00:31
Now this quest started four billion years ago on planet Earth.
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See lugu algas neli miljardit aastat tagasi planeedil Maa.
00:34
There's been four billion years
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Viimased neli miljardit aastat on eksisteerinud
00:36
of organic, biological life.
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orgaaniline, bioloogiline elu.
00:38
And as an inorganic chemist,
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Anorgaanilise aine keemikutena,
00:40
my friends and colleagues make this distinction
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teevad mu sõbrad ja kolleegid vahet
00:42
between the organic, living world
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orgaanilisel, elus loodusel
00:45
and the inorganic, dead world.
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ja anorgaanilisel, eluta loodusel.
00:47
And what I'm going to try and do is plant some ideas
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Mida mina üritan siin teha, on juurutada mõned ideed,
00:50
about how we can transform inorganic, dead matter
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kuidas me suudame muuta anorgaanilise, eluta aine
00:54
into living matter, into inorganic biology.
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elusaks, anorgaaniliseks bioloogiaks.
00:57
Before we do that,
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Enne kui me seda teeme,
00:59
I want to kind of put biology in its place.
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tahaksin ma asetada bioloogia õigesse konteksti.
01:02
And I'm absolutely enthralled by biology.
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Ma olen absoluutselt võlutud bioloogia poolt.
01:04
I love to do synthetic biology.
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Ma armastan sünteetilise bioloogiaga tegeleda.
01:06
I love things that are alive.
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Ma armastan elusaid asju.
01:08
I love manipulating the infrastructure of biology.
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Ma armastan bioloogia taristuga manipuleerimist.
01:10
But within that infrastructure,
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Aga me peame meeles pidama,
01:12
we have to remember
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et selle taristu keskmes olev
01:14
that the driving force of biology
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bioloogiat kandev jõud
01:16
is really coming from evolution.
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tuleneb tegelikult evolutsoonist.
01:18
And evolution,
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Ja evolutsioon,
01:20
although it was established well over 100 years ago by Charles Darwin
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kuigi see tuvastati tublisti üle 100 aasta tagasi Charles Darwini
01:23
and a vast number of other people,
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ja suure hulga teiste inimeste poolt,
01:25
evolution still is a little bit intangible.
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on see siiani pisut meeltele tabamatu.
01:28
And when I talk about Darwinian evolution,
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Darwinistlikust evolutsioonist rääkides
01:30
I mean one thing and one thing only,
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pean ma silmas ühte kindlat asja ja ei midagi enamat -
01:32
and that is survival of the fittest.
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looduslikku valikut.
01:34
And so forget about evolution
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Ühesõnaga unustage evolutsioon
01:36
in a kind of metaphysical way.
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metafüüsikalisel tasandil.
01:38
Think about evolution
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Mõelge evolutsioonist
01:40
in terms of offspring competing,
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kui järglaste omavahelisest konkureerimisest,
01:42
and some winning.
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ja mõndade võitmisest.
01:44
So bearing that in mind,
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Eelnevat meeles pidades
01:46
as a chemist, I wanted to ask myself
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tahtsin ma keemikuna endalt küsida
01:48
the question frustrated by biology:
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ühe bioloogiat ärritava küsimuse:
01:50
What is the minimal unit of matter
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Mis on minimaalne mateeria ühik,
01:53
that can undergo Darwinian evolution?
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millele kehtivad Darwinistliku evolutsiooni reeglid?
01:56
And this seems quite a profound question.
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See paistab küllaltki sügavamõtteline küsimus olevat.
01:58
And as a chemist,
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Keemikutena
02:00
we're not used to profound questions every day.
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pole me harjunud igapäevaselt sügavamõtteliste küsimustega tegelema.
02:02
So when I thought about it,
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Kui ma mõtlesin selle üle,
02:04
then suddenly I realized
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taipasin ma järsku,
02:06
that biology gave us the answer.
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et bioloogia on meile vastuse juba andnud
02:08
And in fact, the smallest unit of matter
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Nimelt, kõige väiksem mateeria ühik,
02:10
that can evolve independently
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mis suudab iseseisvalt areneda,
02:12
is, in fact, a single cell --
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on üksik rakk --
02:14
a bacteria.
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bakter.
02:16
So this raises three really important questions:
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See tõstatab kolm väga olulist küsimust:
02:19
What is life?
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Mis on elu?
02:21
Is biology special?
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Kas bioloogia on eriline?
02:23
Biologists seem to think so.
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Bioloogid paistavad nii arvavat.
02:25
Is matter evolvable?
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Kas mateeria võib areneda?
02:27
Now if we answer those questions in reverse order,
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Kui me alustame nendele küsimustele vastamist tagantpoolt,
02:30
the third question -- is matter evolvable? --
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kolmandast küsimusest -- kas mateeria võib areneda? --
02:32
if we can answer that,
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kui me suudame sellele vastata,
02:34
then we're going to know how special biology is,
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siis me saame teada, kui eriline on bioloogia.
02:36
and maybe, just maybe,
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Võibolla, kõigest võibolla,
02:38
we'll have some idea of what life really is.
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suudame me mõningal määral aru saada, mis elu tegelikult on.
02:41
So here's some inorganic life.
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Siin on veidi anorgaanilist elu.
02:43
This is a dead crystal,
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See on elutu kristall
02:45
and I'm going to do something to it,
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ja ma teen sellele midagi
02:47
and it's going to become alive.
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ning see ärkab ellu.
02:49
And you can see,
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Te võite näha,
02:51
it's kind of pollinating, germinating, growing.
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et see justkui õitseb, idaneb, kasvab.
02:54
This is an inorganic tube.
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See on anorgaaniline toru.
02:56
And all these crystals here under the microscope
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Kõik need kristallid selle mikroskoobi all
02:58
were dead a few minutes ago, and they look alive.
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olid mõni minut tagasi eluta ja praegu paistavad nad elusana.
03:00
Of course, they're not alive.
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Loomulikult pole nad tegelikult elus.
03:02
It's a chemistry experiment where I've made a crystal garden.
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See on keemiline eksperiment, milles ma lõin kristalliaia.
03:05
But when I saw this, I was really fascinated,
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Kui ma seda esimest korda nägin, olin ma tõsiselt lummatud,
03:08
because it seemed lifelike.
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sest see paistis elutruuna.
03:10
And as I pause for a few seconds, have a look at the screen.
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Samal ajal kui ma paar sekundit hinge tõmban, heitke pilt ekraanile.
03:15
You can see there's architecture growing, filling the void.
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Te näete, et seal kasvab arhitektuur, täites tühjust.
03:18
And this is dead.
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See on eluta.
03:20
So I was positive that,
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Seega olin ma kindel, et
03:22
if somehow we can make things mimic life,
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kui me suudame kuidagi panna asju elu matkima.
03:24
let's go one step further.
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astume ühe sammu veelgi kaugemale.
03:26
Let's see if we can actually make life.
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Vaatame, kas meil õnnestub tegelikult elu luua.
03:28
But there's a problem,
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On vaid üks probleem -
03:30
because up until maybe a decade ago,
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alles umbes aastakümne eest,
03:32
we were told that life was impossible
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öeldi meile, et elu on võimatu
03:34
and that we were the most incredible miracle in the universe.
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ja me oleme kõige uskumatum ime universumis.
03:37
In fact, we were the only people
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Et me oleme ainukesed inimesed
03:39
in the universe.
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terves universumis.
03:41
Now, that's a bit boring.
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See on pisut igav.
03:43
So as a chemist,
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Keemikuna
03:45
I wanted to say, "Hang on. What is going on here?
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tahtsin ma öelda, et: "Oota. Mis siin toimub?
03:47
Is life that improbable?"
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Kas elu on tõesti nii ebatõenäoline?"
03:49
And this is really the question.
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Selles ongi tegelikult küsimus.
03:52
I think that perhaps the emergence of the first cells
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Ma kaldun arvama, et esimeste rakkude tekkimine
03:55
was as probable as the emergence of the stars.
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oli sama tõenäoline kui tähtede tekkimine.
03:58
And in fact, let's take that one step further.
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Tegelikult, astume veel ühe sammu edasi.
04:01
Let's say
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Ütleme,
04:03
that if the physics of fusion
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et kui aine ühinemise füüsika on
04:05
is encoded into the universe,
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universumisse sisse kodeeritud,
04:07
maybe the physics of life is as well.
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siis võibolla on elu füüsika samuti.
04:09
And so the problem with chemists --
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Ühesõnaga keemikute probleem -
04:11
and this is a massive advantage as well --
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ja tohutu eelis samal ajal -
04:13
is we like to focus on our elements.
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on see, et me keskendume elementidele.
04:15
In biology, carbon takes center stage.
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Bioloogias mängib süsinik keskset rolli.
04:18
And in a universe where carbon exists
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Universum, kus eksisteerib süsinik
04:20
and organic biology,
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ja orgaaniline bioloogia
04:22
then we have all this wonderful diversity of life.
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pakub meile imelist elu mitmekesisust.
04:25
In fact, we have such amazing lifeforms that we can manipulate.
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Meil on niivõrd hämmastavaid eluvorme, millega me saame manipuleerida.
04:29
We're awfully careful in the lab
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Me oleme laboris äärmiselt ettevaatlikud
04:31
to try and avoid various biohazards.
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ja püüame hoiduda erinevate bioloogiliste ohtude eest.
04:33
Well what about matter?
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Aga kuidas on lood mateeriaga?
04:35
If we can make matter alive, would we have a matterhazard?
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Kui me suudaksime mateeria ellu äratada, kas see oleks ohtlik?
04:38
So think, this is a serious question.
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Ühesõnaga mõelge - see on tõsine küsimus.
04:40
If your pen could replicate,
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Kui su pastakas suudaks paljuneda,
04:43
that would be a bit of a problem.
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oleks see pisut problemaatiline.
04:45
So we have to think differently
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Nii, et me peame asjale lähenema teisiti,
04:47
if we're going to make stuff come alive.
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kui me hakkame ainet elustama.
04:49
And we also have to be aware of the issues.
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Samuti peame me meeles pidama kaasnevaid küsimusi.
04:51
But before we can make life,
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Aga enne kui me saame elu luua,
04:53
let's think for a second
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mõtleme korraks,
04:55
what life really is characterized by.
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mis elu üleüldse iseloomustab.
04:57
And forgive the complicated diagram.
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Ja vabandage selle keerulise diagrammi pärast.
04:59
This is just a collection of pathways in the cell.
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See on lihtsalt hulk rakusiseseid protsesse.
05:02
And the cell is obviously for us
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Ilmselgelt on rakk meie jaoks
05:04
a fascinating thing.
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midagi paeluvat.
05:06
Synthetic biologists are manipulating it.
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Sünteetilise bioloogia teadlased manipuleerivad sellega.
05:09
Chemists are trying to study the molecules to look at disease.
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Keemikud uurivad molekulide abil haigusi.
05:12
And you have all these pathways going on at the same time.
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Ja paralleelselt toimub rakus mitmeid protsesse.
05:14
You have regulation;
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Toimub regulatsioon;
05:16
information is transcribed;
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informatsiooni transkriptsioon;
05:18
catalysts are made; stuff is happening.
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katalüsaatorite moodustumine; kõikvõimalikud protsessid.
05:20
But what does a cell do?
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Aga mida rakk teeb?
05:22
Well it divides, it competes,
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See jaguneb, konkureerib,
05:24
it survives.
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see jääb ellu.
05:26
And I think that is where we have to start
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Ning ma arvan, et sellest peamegi alustama,
05:28
in terms of thinking about
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mõeldes oma
05:30
building from our ideas in life.
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ideede elluviimisele.
05:32
But what else is life characterized by?
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Aga mis on veel elule omane?
05:34
Well, I like think of it
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Mulle meeldib sellest mõelda
05:36
as a flame in a bottle.
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kui leegist pudelis.
05:38
And so what we have here
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Ühesõnaga on meil
05:40
is a description of single cells
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üksiku raku kirjeldus, mis
05:42
replicating, metabolizing,
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paljuneb, metaboliseerib
05:44
burning through chemistries.
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ja tegeleb erinevate keemiliste protsessidega.
05:46
And so we have to understand
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Seega peame teadvustama endale,
05:48
that if we're going to make artificial life or understand the origin of life,
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et kui me tahame luua kunstlikku elu või mõista elu päritolu,
05:51
we need to power it somehow.
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peame me seda kuidagi energiaga varustama.
05:53
So before we can really start to make life,
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Enne kui me saame elu looma hakata,
05:56
we have to really think about where it came from.
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peame me mõtlema, kust see tuli.
05:58
And Darwin himself mused in a letter to a colleague
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Darwingi mainis kirjas kolleegile,
06:00
that he thought that life probably emerged
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et elu võis tõenäoliselt tekkida
06:02
in some warm little pond somewhere --
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mõnes väikses soojas tiigis --
06:05
maybe not in Scotland, maybe in Africa,
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tõenäoliselt mitte Šotimaal, kuid võib-olla Aafrikas,
06:07
maybe somewhere else.
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võib-olla kuskil mujal.
06:09
But the real honest answer is, we just don't know,
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Kui täiesti aus olla, siis me ei tea seda,
06:12
because there is a problem with the origin.
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kuna elu päritoluga on üks probleem.
06:15
Imagine way back, four and a half billion years ago,
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Kujutlege nelja ja poole miljardi aasta tagust aega,
06:18
there is a vast chemical soup of stuff.
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mil eksisteeris tohutu keemiline kompott.
06:20
And from this stuff we came.
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Sellest samast kompotist tulime ka meie.
06:22
So when you think about the improbable nature
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Kui te mõtlete järgneva mõne minu jooksul
06:25
of what I'm going to tell you in the next few minutes,
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kõlama hakkava jutu ebatõenäolisest olemusest,
06:27
just remember,
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siis pidage meeles,
06:29
we came from stuff on planet Earth.
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et me tulime mateeria kompotist planeedil Maa.
06:31
And we went through a variety of worlds.
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Me läbisime mitmesugused maailmu.
06:34
The RNA people would talk about the RNA world.
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RNA inimesed räägivad RNA maailmast.
06:37
We somehow got to proteins and DNA.
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Kuidagi jõudsime me proteiinide ja DNAni.
06:39
We then got to the last ancestor.
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Seejärel jõudsime viimase esivanemani.
06:41
Evolution kicked in -- and that's the cool bit.
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Evolutsioon sai stardipaugu -- see on asja lahe osa.
06:44
And here we are.
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Ning siin me olemegi.
06:46
But there's a roadblock that you can't get past.
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Kuid on üks takistus, millest ei saa mööda.
06:49
You can decode the genome, you can look back,
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Te võite dekodeerida genoomi, te võite ajas tagasi vaadata,
06:52
you can link us all together by a mitochondrial DNA,
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te võite meid kõiki ühendada mitokondriaalse DNA alusel,
06:55
but we can't get further than the last ancestor,
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kuid me ei saa kuidagi mööda viimasest esivanemast,
06:58
the last visible cell
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viimasest nähtavast rakust,
07:00
that we could sequence or think back in history.
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mille me suutsime järjestada või milleni ajas tagasi mõelda.
07:03
So we don't know how we got here.
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Ühesõnaga me ei tea, kuidas me siia jõudsime.
07:06
So there are two options:
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On kaks valikut:
07:08
intelligent design, direct and indirect --
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intelligentne disain, otsene ja kaudne --
07:10
so God,
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ehk Jumal,
07:12
or my friend.
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või mu sõber siin.
07:15
Now talking about E.T. putting us there, or some other life,
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Mõeldes, et me oleme siin maavälise elu abiga,
07:18
just pushes the problem further on.
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lükkab probleemi lihtsalt edasi.
07:21
I'm not a politician, I'm a scientist.
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Ma ei ole poliitik, ma olen teadlane.
07:24
The other thing we need to think about
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Teine, millele me mõtlema peame
07:26
is the emergence of chemical complexity.
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on keemilise keerukuse esilekerkimine.
07:28
This seems most likely.
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See paistab kõige tõenäolisemana.
07:30
So we have some kind of primordial soup.
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Ühesõnaga meil on mingi ürgkompott.
07:32
And this one happens to be
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Ja see juhtub olema hea allikas
07:34
a good source of all 20 amino acids.
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kõigile 20 aminohappele.
07:36
And somehow
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Ning kuidagi
07:38
these amino acids are combined,
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need aminohapped kombineeruvad
07:40
and life begins.
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ja algab elu.
07:42
But life begins, what does that mean?
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Elu algamine, mida see tähendab?
07:44
What is life? What is this stuff of life?
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Mis on elu? Mis on see elus aine
07:47
So in the 1950s,
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1950ndatel
07:49
Miller-Urey did their fantastic chemical Frankenstein experiment,
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viisid Miller ja Urey läbi oma fantastilise keemilise eksperimendi,
07:54
where they did the equivalent in the chemical world.
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mis oli Frankensteini vaste keemia valdkonnas.
07:56
They took the basic ingredients, put them in a single jar
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Nad võtsid põhilised koostisosad, panid need ühte anumasse
07:59
and ignited them
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ning süütasid need
08:01
and put a lot of voltage through.
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ja hoidsid suure elektripinge all.
08:03
And they had a look at what was in the soup,
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Ning seejärel uurisid nad kompoti koostist
08:05
and they found amino acids,
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ja leidsid aminohapped,
08:08
but nothing came out, there was no cell.
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kuid midagi polnud juhtunud, polnud tekkinud rakku.
08:10
So the whole area's been stuck for a while,
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Nii, et kogu teadusharu on olnud mõnda aega stagnatiseerunud,
08:13
and it got reignited in the '80s
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kuid see käivitati uuesti 80ndatel,
08:16
when analytical technologies and computer technologies were coming on.
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kui analüütilised- ja arvutitehnoloogiad hakkasid laialt levima.
08:19
In my own laboratory,
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Minu enda laboratooriumis
08:21
the way we're trying to create inorganic life
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üritame me luua anorgaanilist elu
08:24
is by using many different reaction formats.
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kasutades paljusid erinevaid reaktsiooniliike.
08:26
So what we're trying to do is do reactions --
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Ühesõnaga me üritame reaktsioone initsieerida
08:28
not in one flask, but in tens of flasks,
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mitte ühes anumas, vaid kümnetes,
08:30
and connect them together,
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ning ühendades need omavahel
08:32
as you can see with this flow system, all these pipes.
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torukestega, mis moodustavad ringluse.
08:34
We can do it microfluidically, we can do it lithographically,
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Me võime seda teha mikrotorude või kivitrüki abil,
08:37
we can do it in a 3D printer,
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või kasutades 3D printerit,
08:39
we can do it in droplets for colleagues.
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me võime seda teha isegi vedelikutilkades.
08:41
And the key thing is to have lots of complex chemistry
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Vaja on palju komplekseid keemilisi ühendeid
08:44
just bubbling away.
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omavahel reageerimas.
08:46
But that's probably going to end in failure,
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Tõenäoliselt lõppeb see läbikukkumisega,
08:50
so we need to be a bit more focused.
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seega peame olema pisut rohkem fokuseeritud.
08:52
And the answer, of course, lies with mice.
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Vastus peitub muidugi MICE-is.
08:54
This is how I remember what I need as a chemist.
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Nii mäletan mina, mida ma keemikuna vajan.
08:57
I say, "Well I want molecules."
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Ma ütlen: "Esiteks tahan ma molekule.",
08:59
But I need a metabolism, I need some energy.
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kuid ma vajan ainevahetust, ma vajan energiat.
09:02
I need some information, and I need a container.
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Ma vajan natuke informatsiooni ja ma vajan mahutit.
09:05
Because if I want evolution,
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Sest kui ma tahan evolutsiooni,
09:07
I need containers to compete.
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vajan ma, et mahutid omavahel konkureeriks.
09:09
So if you have a container,
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Seega kui sul on mahuti,
09:11
it's like getting in your car.
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on see nagu autosse istumine.
09:13
"This is my car,
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"See on minu auto
09:15
and I'm going to drive around and show off my car."
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ja ma sõidan ringi ning eputan sellega."
09:17
And I imagine you have a similar thing
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Ning ma kujutan ette, et midagi sarnast toimub
09:19
in cellular biology
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rakubioloogias
09:21
with the emergence of life.
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elu tekkimisega.
09:23
So these things together give us evolution, perhaps.
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Need kaks asja koos annavad meile evolutsiooni, võib-olla.
09:26
And the way to test it in the laboratory
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Viis, kuidas seda laboratooriumis katsetada,
09:28
is to make it minimal.
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on viia kõik minimaalsele tasemele.
09:30
So what we're going to try and do
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Mida me teha üritame,
09:32
is come up with an inorganic Lego kit of molecules.
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on kokku panna anorgaaniliste molekulide komplekti.
09:35
And so forgive the molecules on the screen,
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Vabandage ekraanil olevate molekulide pärast,
09:37
but these are a very simple kit.
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kuid see on väga lihtne komplekt.
09:39
There's only maybe three or four different types of building blocks present.
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Seal on vist ainult kolme või nelja tüüpi ehitusklotse.
09:41
And we can aggregate them together
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Kuid me võime need kokku ühendada
09:43
and make literally thousands and thousands
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ning luua otseses mõttes tuhandeid ja tuhandeid
09:45
of really big nano-molecular molecules
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väga suuri nanomolekulaarseid molekule,
09:48
the same size of DNA and proteins,
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mis jäävad DNA ja proteiinide suurusjärku.
09:50
but there's no carbon in sight.
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kuid milles ei ole süsinikku.
09:52
Carbon is banned.
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Süsinik on keelatud.
09:54
And so with this Lego kit,
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Selle komplektiga
09:56
we have the diversity required
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oleme me saavutanud mitmekesisuse, mis on vajalik
09:58
for complex information storage
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keeruka informatsiooni ladustamiseks
10:01
without DNA.
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ilma DNA-ta.
10:03
But we need to make some containers.
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Kuid selle jaoks on meil vaja valmistada mõned mahutid.
10:05
And just a few months ago in my lab,
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Ning kõigest mõned kuud tagasi,
10:07
we were able to take these very same molecules and make cells with them.
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suutsime me minu laboris nende samade molekulide abil valmistada rakke.
10:10
And you can see on the screen a cell being made.
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Ekraanil näete rakku valmimas.
10:13
And we're now going to put some chemistry inside and do some chemistry in this cell.
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Nüüd lisame natuke keemiat ning manipuleerime selle rakuga.
10:16
And all I wanted to show you
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Ma tahtsin teile näidata,
10:18
is we can set up molecules
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et paigutades molekulid
10:20
in membranes, in real cells,
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membraanidesse, päris rakkudesse,
10:22
and then it sets up a kind of molecular Darwinism,
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moodustub molekulaarne Darwinism,
10:26
a molecular survival of the fittest.
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molekulaarne looduslik valik.
10:28
And this movie here
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See video siin
10:30
shows this competition between molecules.
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näitab mainitud molekulide vahelist konkureerimist.
10:32
Molecules are competing for stuff.
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Molekulid võistlevad aine pärast.
10:34
They're all made of the same stuff,
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Nad on kõik tehtud samas ainest,
10:36
but they want their shape to win.
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aga nad tahavad, et just nende kujund võidaks.
10:38
They want their shape to persist.
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Nad tahavad, et nende kujund jääks püsima.
10:40
And that is the key.
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Ning selles peitubki asja võti.
10:42
If we can somehow encourage these molecules
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Kui me suudame kuidagi julgustada neid molekule
10:44
to talk to each other and make the right shapes and compete,
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üksteisega suhtlema, moodustama õigeid kujundeid ja konkureerima,
10:47
they will start to form cells
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hakkavad need moodustama rakke,
10:49
that will replicate and compete.
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mis paljunevad ja konkureerivad.
10:51
If we manage to do that,
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Kui me suudame seda teha,
10:53
forget the molecular detail.
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võib molekulaarsed detailid unustada.
10:56
Let's zoom out to what that could mean.
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Uurime, mida see suuremas pildis tähendada võiks.
10:58
So we have this special theory of evolution
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Seega on meil selline eriline evolutsiooniteooria,
11:00
that applies only to organic biology, to us.
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mis kehtib ainult orgaanilisele bioloogiale.
11:03
If we could get evolution into the material world,
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Kui me suudaksime evolutsiooni tuua materiaalsesse maailma,
11:06
then I propose we should have a general theory of evolution.
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siis oleks meil midagi üldevolutsiooniteooria laadset.
11:09
And that's really worth thinking about.
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See on juba midagi, millele tasub mõelda.
11:12
Does evolution control
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Kas evolutsioon kontrollib
11:14
the sophistication of matter in the universe?
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mateeria keerukust universumis?
11:17
Is there some driving force through evolution
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Kas evolutsioonis on mingi edasiviiv jõud,
11:20
that allows matter to compete?
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mis laseb mateerial konkureerida?
11:22
So that means we could then start
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See tähendab, et me võiks hakata
11:24
to develop different platforms
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arendama erinevaid platvorme
11:27
for exploring this evolution.
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evolutsiooni uurimiseks.
11:29
So you imagine,
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Kujutage nüüd ette,
11:31
if we're able to create a self-sustaining artificial life form,
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kui me suudame luua isemajandava kunstliku eluvormi,
11:34
not only will this tell us about the origin of life --
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siis see mitte ei räägi meile vaid elu alge kohta --
11:37
that it's possible that the universe doesn't need carbon to be alive;
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vaid ka näitab, et universum ei vaja süsinikku, et elutseda;
11:40
it can use anything --
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see võib kasutada kõike --
11:42
we can then take [it] one step further and develop new technologies,
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me võime astuda ühe sammu kaugemale ja arendada uusi tehnoloogiaid,
11:45
because we can then use software control
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sest me suudame siis kasutada tarkvaralisi kontrollmehhanisme
11:47
for evolution to code in.
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evolutsiooni juhtimiseks.
11:49
So imagine we make a little cell.
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Kujutage ette, et me loome väikese raku.
11:51
We want to put it out in the environment,
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Me tahame selle panna teatud keskkonda
11:53
and we want it to be powered by the Sun.
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ja tahame, et see töötaks päikeseenergia abil.
11:55
What we do is we evolve it in a box with a light on.
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Me kasutame selleks valgustatud kasti.
11:58
And we don't use design anymore. We find what works.
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Me ei kasuta enam disaini. Me uurime, mis töötab.
12:01
We should take our inspiration from biology.
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Me peaksime ammutama oma inspiratsiooni bioloogiast.
12:03
Biology doesn't care about the design
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Bioloogiat ei huvita disain
12:05
unless it works.
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seni kuni see töötab.
12:07
So this will reorganize
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See muudab
12:09
the way we design things.
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viisi, kuidas me asju disainime.
12:11
But not only just that,
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Aga mitte ainult,
12:13
we will start to think about
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me hakkame mõtlema sellele,
12:15
how we can start to develop a symbiotic relationship with biology.
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kuidas on võimalik saavutada sümbioos bioloogilise eluga.
12:18
Wouldn't it be great
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Kas poleks suurepärane,
12:20
if you could take these artificial biological cells
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kui saaksime võtta need kunstlikud rakud
12:22
and fuse them with biological ones
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ja ühendada need bioloogiliste rakkudega,
12:24
to correct problems that we couldn't really deal with?
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et lahendada mõned probleemid, millega me muidu hakkama ei saanud?
12:27
The real issue in cellular biology
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Tegelik probleem rakubioloogias on see,
12:29
is we are never going to understand everything,
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et me ei hakka seda kunagi täiel määral mõistma,
12:32
because it's a multidimensional problem put there by evolution.
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kuna see on evolutsiooni poolt tekitatud mitmedimensiooniline probleem.
12:35
Evolution cannot be cut apart.
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Evolutsiooni ei anna osadeks lahutada.
12:38
You need to somehow find the fitness function.
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Kuidagi tuleb leida sobivuse funktsioon.
12:41
And the profound realization for me
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Minu jaoks oli põhjapanev avastus,
12:43
is that, if this works,
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et kui see töötab,
12:45
the concept of the selfish gene gets kicked up a level,
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siis on iseka geeni kontseptsioon viidud uuele tasemele
12:48
and we really start talking about selfish matter.
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ning me võime juba rääkida isekast mateeriast.
12:51
And what does that mean in a universe
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Mida see tähendab universumis,
12:53
where we are right now the highest form of stuff?
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kus me oleme hetkel kõrgeima arengutasemega aine?
12:56
You're sitting on chairs.
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Te istute toolidel.
12:58
They're inanimate, they're not alive.
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Need on liikumatud, need ei ole elusad.
13:00
But you are made of stuff, and you are using stuff,
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Aga teie olete tehtud mingist ainest ja te kasutate mingit ainet,
13:02
and you enslave stuff.
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ning te orjastate ainet.
13:04
So using evolution
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Evolutsiooni kasutamine
13:06
in biology,
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bioloogias,
13:08
and in inorganic biology,
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ja orgaanilises bioloogias,
13:10
for me is quite appealing, quite exciting.
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on minu jaoks üpris veetlev, üpris erutav.
13:12
And we're really becoming very close
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Me oleme saavutamas edu
13:15
to understanding the key steps
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küsimuses,
13:17
that makes dead stuff come alive.
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mis paneb eluta aine elama.
13:20
And again, when you're thinking about how improbable this is,
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Ning jällegi, kui te mõtlete, kui ebatõenäoline see on,
13:23
remember, five billion years ago,
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siis tuletage meelde, et viis miljardit aastat tagasi,
13:25
we were not here, and there was no life.
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ei olnud meid siin ja polnud ka elu.
13:28
So what will that tell us
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Ühesõnaga mida see meile ütleb
13:30
about the origin of life and the meaning of life?
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elu päritolu ja tähenduse kohta?
13:33
But perhaps, for me as a chemist,
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Mina, keemikuna,
13:35
I want to keep away from general terms;
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üritan hoiduda üldistamast;
13:37
I want to think about specifics.
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ma tahan mõelda üksikasjadest.
13:39
So what does it mean about defining life?
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Mida see ütleb elu defineerimise kohta?
13:41
We really struggle to do this.
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Me pingutame väga, et sellega hakkama saada.
13:43
And I think, if we can make inorganic biology,
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Ma kaldun arvama, et kui me suudame luua anorgaanilise bioloogiaharu
13:45
and we can make matter become evolvable,
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ja me suudame panna mateeria arenema,
13:48
that will in fact define life.
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siis see defineeribki elu.
13:50
I propose to you
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Ma väidan,
13:52
that matter that can evolve is alive,
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et mateeria, mis suudab areneda, on elus
13:55
and this gives us the idea of making evolvable matter.
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ja see annabki meile mõtte luua arenev mateeria.
13:58
Thank you very much.
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Suured tänud teile.
14:00
(Applause)
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(Aplaus)
14:07
Chris Anderson: Just a quick question on timeline.
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Chris Anderson: "Üks kiire küsimus ajakava kohta.
14:11
You believe you're going to be successful in this project?
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Sa usud, et see projekt osutub edukaks?
14:13
When?
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Millal?"
14:15
Lee Cronin: So many people think
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Lee Cronin: "Paljud inimesed mõtlevad,
14:17
that life took millions of years to kick in.
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et elu tekkimine võttis aega miljoneid aastaid.
14:19
We're proposing to do it in just a few hours,
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Me üritame selle luua kõigest mõne tunni jooksul,
14:22
once we've set up
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kui me oleme ükskord suutnud valmis seada
14:24
the right chemistry.
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õige keemilise koosluse.
14:26
CA: And when do you think that will happen?
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CA: "Millal see teie arvates juhtuda võiks?"
14:28
LC: Hopefully within the next two years.
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LC: "Loodetavasti järgneva kahe aasta jooksul."
14:31
CA: That would be a big story.
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CA: "See oleks esilehe uudis."
14:33
(Laughter)
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(Naer)
14:35
In your own mind, what do you believe the chances are
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Kui suur on teie arvates tõenäosus,
14:37
that walking around on some other planet
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et mõnel teisel planeedil
14:39
is non-carbon-based life,
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on süsinikuvabad eluvormid
14:41
walking or oozing or something?
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ringi kõndimas, voolamas või midagi sellist tegemas?
14:43
LC: I think it's 100 percent.
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LC: "Ma arvan, et see on 100%."
14:45
Because the thing is, we are so chauvinistic to biology,
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Probleem on selles, et me oleme bioloogia suhtes nii šovinistlikud,
14:48
if you take away carbon, there's other things that can happen.
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kui süsinik kõrvale jätta, siis võib elu teist teed pidi kujuneda.
14:50
So the other thing
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Ning teine asi,
14:52
that if we were able to create life that's not based on carbon,
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kui me oleksime suutelised looma elu, mis ei põhine süsinikul,
14:54
maybe we can tell NASA what really to look for.
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siis võib-olla saaksime öelda NASA-le, mida nad tegelikult otsima peaksid.
14:57
Don't go and look for carbon, go and look for evolvable stuff.
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Ärge minge süsinikku otsima, minge otsige arenevat ainet.
15:00
CA: Lee Cronin, good luck. (LC: Thank you very much.)
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CA: "Lee Cronin, edu sulle." (LC: "Tänan väga.")
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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Lee Cronin - ChemistA professor of chemistry, nanoscience and chemical complexity, Lee Cronin and his research group investigate how chemistry can revolutionize modern technology and even create life.
Why you should listen
Lee Cronin's lab at the University of Glasgow does cutting-edge research into how complex chemical systems, created from non-biological building blocks, can have real-world applications with wide impact. At TEDGlobal 2012, Cronin shared some of the lab's latest work: creating a 3D printer for molecules. This device -- which has been prototyped -- can download plans for molecules and print them, in the same way that a 3D printer creates objects. In the future, Cronin says this technology could potentially be used to print medicine -- cheaply and wherever it is needed. As Cronin says: "What Apple did for music, I'd like to do for the discovery and distribution of prescription drugs."
At TEDGlobal 2011, Cronin shared his lab's bold plan to create life. At the moment, bacteria is the minimum unit of life -- the smallest chemical unit that can undergo evolution. But in Cronin's emerging field, he's thinking about forms of life that won't be biological. To explore this, and to try to understand how life itself originated from chemicals, Cronin and others are attempting to create truly artificial life from completely non-biological chemistries that mimic the behavior of natural cells. They call these chemical cells, or Chells.
Cronin's research interests also encompass self-assembly and self-growing structures -- the better to assemble life at nanoscale. At the University of Glasgow, this work on crystal structures is producing a raft of papers from his research group. He says: "Basically one of my longstanding research goals is to understand how life emerged on planet Earth and re-create the process."
Read the papers referenced in his TEDGlobal 2102 talk:
Integrated 3D-printed reactionware for chemical synthesis and analysis, Nature Chemistry
Configurable 3D-Printed millifluidic and microfluidic ‘lab on a chip’ reactionware devices, Lab on a Chip
Lee Cronin | Speaker | TED.com