TEDYouth 2014
Jaap de Roode: How butterflies self-medicate
Jaap de Roode: 蝴蝶如何自我治疗
Filmed:
Readability: 4.2
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。
Jaap de Roode - Biologist
Jaap de Roode studies the ecology and evolution of parasites, focusing on those that attack the monarch butterfly. Full bio
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 diseases, right?
0
190
1530
说到传染病
00:13
Infectious diseases
are still the main cause
are still the main cause
1
1720
2150
传染病仍然是全球人类
00:15
of human suffering and death
around the world.
around the world.
2
3870
2327
生病和死亡的主因。
00:18
Every year, millions of people die
of diseases such as T.B., malaria, HIV,
of diseases such as T.B., malaria, HIV,
3
6197
5170
每年，数以万计的人们死于
00:23
around the world
and even in the United States.
and even in the United States.
4
11367
2346
肺结核、疟疾、以及艾滋病
00:25
Every year, thousands of Americans
die of seasonal flu.
die of seasonal flu.
5
13713
3606
甚至在美国，
每年都有成千上万的人因流感致命。
每年都有成千上万的人因流感致命。
00:29
Now of course, humans,
we are creative. Right?
we are creative. Right?
6
17319
2155
人类不是很有创意吗？
00:31
We have come up with ways to protect
ourselves against these diseases.
ourselves against these diseases.
7
19474
3325
我们想出不少办法保护自己，
00:34
We have drugs and vaccines.
8
22799
1305
用药物和疫苗抵抗传染病。
00:36
And we're conscious --
we learn from our experiences
we learn from our experiences
9
24104
3385
我们十分谨慎地总结经验
00:39
and come up with creative solutions.
10
27489
1927
得出创新的解决办法。
00:41
We used to think we're alone in this,
but now we know we're not.
but now we know we're not.
11
29416
3065
我们以为只有人类才懂医学
00:44
We're not the only medical doctors.
12
32481
1819
但是其实不然
00:46
Now we know that there's a lot of animals
out there that can do it too.
out there that can do it too.
13
34300
3406
许多其他动物也有类似的机制
00:49
Most famous, perhaps, chimpanzees.
14
37706
1624
最典型的是大猩猩
00:51
Not so much different from us,
15
39330
1501
和人类差不多
00:52
they can use plants
to treat their intestinal parasites.
to treat their intestinal parasites.
16
40831
2865
它们会利用植物清理肠道寄生虫
00:55
But the last few decades have shown us
that other animals can do it too:
that other animals can do it too:
17
43696
3447
几十年的研究发现很多动物都会保护自己
00:59
elephants, porcupines,
sheep, goats, you name it.
sheep, goats, you name it.
18
47143
3379
大象、豪猪、绵羊、山羊…数不胜数
01:02
And even more interesting than that
is that recent discoveries are telling us
is that recent discoveries are telling us
19
50522
3639
更有趣的是，最近的研究发现
01:06
that insects and other little animals with
smaller brains can use medication too.
smaller brains can use medication too.
20
54161
5442
昆虫和其他小型生物也懂得医疗
01:11
The problem with infectious diseases,
as we all know,
as we all know,
21
59603
2529
我们都知道传染病的病原体
01:14
is that pathogens continue to evolve,
22
62132
1949
不断演化。
01:16
and a lot of the drugs
that we have developed
that we have developed
23
64081
2236
我们过去开发的一些药物
01:18
are losing their efficacy.
24
66317
1659
正在逐渐失效
01:19
And therefore, there is this great need
to find new ways to discover drugs
to find new ways to discover drugs
25
67976
4233
因此我们更需要不断开发新药物
01:24
that we can use against our diseases.
26
72209
1904
来应对不断变化的病原体。
01:26
Now, I think that we
should look at these animals,
should look at these animals,
27
74113
2554
现在我们来研究一下这些动物
01:28
and we can learn from them
how to treat our own diseases.
how to treat our own diseases.
28
76667
3134
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
我研究了十年帝王斑蝶
01:32
As a biologist, I have been studying
monarch butterflies for the last 10 years.
monarch butterflies for the last 10 years.
29
80331
4300
01:36
Now, monarchs are extremely famous
for their spectacular migrations
for their spectacular migrations
30
84631
3368
帝王斑蝶以它们壮观的迁徙而闻名
01:39
from the U.S. and Canada
down to Mexico every year,
down to Mexico every year,
31
87999
3110
每年不计其数的帝王斑蝶来到一起
01:43
where millions of them come together,
32
91109
2020
从美国和加拿大迁徙到墨西哥
01:45
but it's not why I started studying them.
33
93129
2531
但这并非我研究它们的原因
01:47
I study monarchs because they get sick.
34
95660
2391
我研究它们是因为它们会生病
01:50
They get sick like you.
They get sick like me.
They get sick like me.
35
98051
2462
就像在座的你我
01:52
And I think what they do
can tell us a lot about drugs
can tell us a lot about drugs
36
100513
2687
我认为我们可以从它们身上得到启发
01:55
that we can develop for humans.
37
103200
2212
来开发适用于人类的药物
01:57
Now, the parasites
that monarchs get infected with
that monarchs get infected with
38
105412
2435
帝王斑蝶身上的寄生虫叫做
01:59
are called ophryocystis elektroscirrha --
a mouthful.
a mouthful.
39
107847
3879
ophryocystis elektroscirrha
02:03
What they do is they produce spores,
40
111726
1766
这些寄生虫在蝶身上
02:05
millions of spores
on the outside of the butterfly
on the outside of the butterfly
41
113492
2392
引起大量的孢子
02:07
that are shown as little specks
in between the scales of the butterfly.
in between the scales of the butterfly.
42
115884
3377
可以从鳞片夹缝中看见这些细小的斑点
02:11
And this is really detrimental
to the monarch.
to the monarch.
43
119261
2358
它们威胁着帝王斑蝶的健康
02:13
It shortens their lifespan,
44
121619
1648
缩短了它们的寿命
02:15
it reduces their ability to fly,
45
123267
2105
影响它们的飞行能力
02:17
it can even kill them
before they're even adults.
before they're even adults.
46
125372
2507
甚至导致它们还没成年就死亡。
02:19
Very detrimental parasite.
47
127879
1881
这种寄生虫非常致命。
02:21
As part of my job, I spend a lot of time
in the greenhouse growing plants,
in the greenhouse growing plants,
48
129760
4156
我工作时经常需要在温室里种植植物
02:25
and the reason for this is that monarchs
are extremely picky eaters.
are extremely picky eaters.
49
133916
3553
因为帝王斑蝶十分挑食
02:29
They only eat milkweed as larvae.
50
137469
1995
它们只吃乳草的幼草
02:31
Luckily, there are several
species of milkweed that they can use,
species of milkweed that they can use,
51
139464
3085
幸好我找到了几种它们食用的乳草。
02:34
and all these milkweeds
have cardenolides in them.
have cardenolides in them.
52
142549
2356
这些乳草中含有卡烯內酯，
02:36
These are chemicals that are toxic.
53
144905
1794
是一种具有毒性的物质
02:38
They're toxic to most animals,
but not to monarchs.
but not to monarchs.
54
146699
2395
奇怪的是它对帝王斑蝶无害
02:41
In fact, monarchs
can take up the chemicals,
can take up the chemicals,
55
149094
2222
帝王斑蝶吸收了这种毒素
02:43
put it in their own bodies,
and it makes them toxic
and it makes them toxic
56
151316
2408
携带这种毒素在体内
02:45
against their predators, such as birds.
57
153724
2279
用于对付诸如鸟类的天敌
02:48
And what they do, then,
is advertise this toxicity
is advertise this toxicity
58
156003
2374
它们用身上鲜豔的黄黑白斑纹
02:50
through their beautiful
warning colorations
warning colorations
59
158377
2021
来广告自己的毒性。
02:52
with this orange, black and white.
60
160398
2078
一种自然警告标志。
02:54
So what I did during my job
is grow plants in the greenhouse,
is grow plants in the greenhouse,
61
162476
3872
当我在温室善尽己责，
02:58
different ones, different milkweeds.
62
166348
1746
种植不同乳草时，
03:00
Some were toxic, including
the tropical milkweed,
the tropical milkweed,
63
168094
2754
某些毒性很高，像是热带乳草，
03:02
with very high concentrations
of these cardenolides.
of these cardenolides.
64
170848
3289
有大量的強心甾 (cardenolides)，
03:06
And some were not toxic.
65
174137
1178
某些却没有毒素。
03:07
And then I fed them to monarchs.
66
175315
2320
在我喂食帝王斑蝶时，
03:09
Some of the monarchs were healthy.
They had no disease.
They had no disease.
67
177635
2623
某些斑蝶没有染病，很健康。
03:12
But some of the monarchs were sick,
68
180258
1775
某些斑蝶则生着病，
03:14
and what I found is that
some of these milkweeds are medicinal,
some of these milkweeds are medicinal,
69
182033
3023
我发现某些乳草有药效，
03:17
meaning they reduce the disease symptoms
in the monarch butterflies,
in the monarch butterflies,
70
185056
3237
有效减低帝王斑蝶的症状
03:20
meaning these monarchs can live longer
when they are infected
when they are infected
71
188293
3117
只要它们食用这些药草，
03:23
when feeding on these medicinal plants.
72
191410
1914
就可以延长自己的性命。
03:25
And when I found this, I had this idea,
73
193324
2711
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,
it was a crazy idea,
74
196035
2308
03:30
but I thought,
what if monarchs can use this?
what if monarchs can use this?
75
198343
2474
我想，如果帝王斑蝶可以应用呢？
03:32
What if they can use these plants
as their own form of medicine?
as their own form of medicine?
76
200817
3059
如果它们可以把这些乳草当作药物呢？
03:35
What if they can act as medical doctors?
77
203876
2602
如果它们可以为自己开药房呢？
03:38
So my team and I
started doing experiments.
started doing experiments.
78
206828
2026
我们的团队开始实验，
03:40
In the first types of experiments,
79
208854
1801
在第一类实验里，
03:42
we had caterpillars,
and gave them a choice:
and gave them a choice:
80
210655
2170
我们给幼虫两种选择：
03:44
medicinal milkweed versus
non-medicinal milkweed.
non-medicinal milkweed.
81
212825
2741
有药性的乳草和没有药性的乳草。
03:47
And then we measured how much they ate
of each species over their lifetime.
of each species over their lifetime.
82
215566
3620
然后测量它们一生各自吃了多少。
03:51
And the result, as so often
in science, was boring:
in science, was boring:
83
219186
3014
就像大部分的科学研究结果一样，
答案很无聊：
答案很无聊：
03:54
Fifty percent of their food was medicinal.
Fifty percent was not.
Fifty percent was not.
84
222200
4251
有药性和没有药性的各半。
03:58
These caterpillars didn't do
anything for their own welfare.
anything for their own welfare.
85
226451
3270
这些幼虫没有为自己做出有利的选择。
04:02
So then we moved on to adult butterflies,
86
230611
2075
于是我们转为研究成蝶。
04:04
and we started asking the question
87
232686
1891
我们想
04:06
whether it's the mothers
that can medicate their offspring.
that can medicate their offspring.
88
234577
3158
母蝶会对自己的幼虫用药吗？
04:09
Can the mothers lay their eggs
on medicinal milkweed
on medicinal milkweed
89
237735
2774
它们会把卵产在有药的乳草上，
04:12
that will make their
future offspring less sick?
future offspring less sick?
90
240509
3199
减轻幼虫的症状？
04:15
We have done these experiments now
over several years,
over several years,
91
243708
2528
我们复制这个实验多年，
04:18
and always get the same results.
92
246236
1788
得到一样的结果。
04:20
What we do is we put
a monarch in a big cage,
a monarch in a big cage,
93
248024
2162
我们把帝王斑蝶放进大笼子里，
04:22
a medicinal plant on one side,
a non-medicinal plant on the other side,
a non-medicinal plant on the other side,
94
250186
3483
一边的乳草是有药性的，一边没有，
04:25
and then we measure the number of eggs
that the monarchs lay on each plant.
that the monarchs lay on each plant.
95
253669
4576
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.
is always the same.
96
258245
3109
获得的结果是一致的。
04:33
What we find is that the monarchs
strongly prefer the medicinal milkweed.
strongly prefer the medicinal milkweed.
97
261354
3593
我们发现帝王斑蝶偏好药性乳草。
04:36
In other words,
what these females are doing
what these females are doing
98
264947
2101
换句话说
04:39
is they're laying 68 percent
of their eggs in the medicinal milkweed.
of their eggs in the medicinal milkweed.
99
267048
3344
雌蝶把 68％ 的卵产在药性乳草上。
04:42
Intriguingly, what they do
is they actually transmit the parasites
is they actually transmit the parasites
100
270392
4220
事实上，在它们产卵的时候，
04:46
when they're laying the eggs.
101
274612
1465
也不可避免的
04:48
They cannot prevent this.
102
276077
1435
传播了寄生虫。
04:49
They can also not medicate themselves.
103
277512
1931
它们不能治疗自己。
04:51
But what these experiments tell us
104
279443
2237
但这个实验告诉我们
04:53
is that these monarchs, these mothers,
can lay their eggs on medicinal milkweed
can lay their eggs on medicinal milkweed
105
281680
4829
帝王斑蝶把卵产在有药性的乳草上，
04:58
that will make their
future offspring less sick.
future offspring less sick.
106
286509
2639
减轻幼虫的病况。
05:03
Now, this is a really
important discovery, I think,
important discovery, I think,
107
291058
2523
这个发现很重要。
05:05
not just because it tells us
something cool about nature,
something cool about nature,
108
293581
2834
不只是因为它显示了大自然的奥妙，
05:08
but also because it may tell us something
more about how we should find drugs.
more about how we should find drugs.
109
296415
3686
更提醒我们应该如何开发药物。
05:12
Now, these are animals that are very small
110
300101
2000
这些动物都很小，
05:14
and we tend to think of them
as very simple.
as very simple.
111
302101
2099
我们曾经觉得它们构造单纯，
05:16
They have tiny little brains,
112
304200
1557
它们的大脑很小，
05:17
yet they can do this
very sophisticated medication.
very sophisticated medication.
113
305757
2424
但它们却懂得利用自然药草。
05:20
Now, we know that even today,
most of our drugs
most of our drugs
114
308811
2578
直至今日，
05:23
derive from natural products,
including plants,
including plants,
115
311389
2759
我们从自然中提取药物，包括植物，
05:26
and in indigenous cultures,
116
314148
1612
在一些原始文化中，
05:27
traditional healers often look
at animals to find new drugs.
at animals to find new drugs.
117
315760
2835
传统疗法时常借镜动物来找新药方。
05:30
In this way, elephants have told us
how to treat stomach upset,
how to treat stomach upset,
118
318595
3407
大象教我们如何治疗肠胃不适，
05:34
and porcupines have told people
how to treat bloody diarrhea.
how to treat bloody diarrhea.
119
322002
3289
刺猬教我们如何处理腹泻。
05:37
What I think is important,
though, is to move beyond
though, is to move beyond
120
325291
2655
我想，最重要的是，
05:39
these large-brained mammals
and give these guys more credit,
and give these guys more credit,
121
327946
3808
除了那些大脑发达的哺乳类动物外，
05:43
these simple animals, these insects
that we tend to think of
that we tend to think of
122
331754
2902
我们也应该更加注重
05:46
as very, very simple
with tiny little brains.
with tiny little brains.
123
334656
3249
那些构造简单的动物、昆虫。
05:49
The discovery that these animals
can also use medication
can also use medication
124
337905
3971
发现这些动物懂得用药，
05:53
opens up completely new avenues,
125
341876
2479
让我们进入全新领域。
05:56
and I think that maybe one day,
we will be treating human diseases
we will be treating human diseases
126
344355
4714
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 that were first
discovered by butterflies,
discovered by butterflies,
127
349069
3109
06:04
and I think that is an amazing opportunity
worth pursuing.
worth pursuing.
128
352178
3975
我想这个机会是值得把握的。
06:08
Thank you so much.
129
356153
2163
谢谢各位。
06:10
(Applause)
130
358316
4505
（掌声）
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Jaap de Roode - BiologistJaap 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.
Jaap de Roode | Speaker | TED.com