Michel Dugon: The secrets of spider venom
米歇尔 · 杜冈: 蜘蛛毒液的秘密
Michel Dugon researches the potential of spider venom as a source of novel therapeutic agents. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
that are very happy to be up there now.
一定很庆幸自己离舞台很远。
is the incarnation of terror, really.
着实是恐怖的化身。
feat of bioengineering.
是一个了不起的成就。
to all those creatures
since the beginning of time;
that have managed to have offspring
until this day.
started to evolve on this planet.
to become what they are now:
to give a speech
I have to say.
to all those ruthless battles
consistently by all our ancestors,
every single one of you,
one-billion-years-old success story.
长达10亿年的成功故事。
to what she has in her chest,
that are attached to a pair of fangs,
and without this venom,
managed to survive.
venom systems in order to survive.
of chemical compounds.
have evolved purely for one purpose:
in many different ways.
pains that you've never felt before.
感到前所未有的痛疼。
your heart stop within minutes,
almost instantly,
your flesh away, like acid.
gruesome stories, I know,
all those super powerful compounds
produce new antibiotics with those venoms?
生产新的抗生素呢?
that are suffering from diabetes
毒液来帮助那些患糖尿病
are already being developed
everywhere around the world, as I speak.
regularly with a medication
by a South American viper.
can be monitored using, actually,
by a lizard from North America.
a marine snail for anesthetics.
麻醉的新的计划正在开展。
library of chemical compounds
of thousands of live creatures.
to go for a little walk.
thought to produce
kinds of compounds
actually have managed to study so far?
能够研究的有多少吗?
99.99 percent of all those compounds
to be harvested and tested,
have concentrated their efforts
very dangerous animals --
and black widows.
that we actually have all around us?
that lives behind your couch?
to just shoot through the floor
some kind of amazing compound
would have been, "We have no clue."
答案还是:我们完全没有头绪。
have started to look into it,
actually are producing
more about that in a second,
about this "we are looking into it."
更多关于“我们正在研究它”的事。
have to capture a lot of spiders.
one finds a lot of spiders.
two, three, four hundred spiders,
可能就有200-400个,
in its own individual home.
I would advise you to start.
we wait a few days,
little electric current through their body
微小的电流通过它们的身体,
a tiny little droplet of venom appearing.
我们可以看到一小滴毒液出现了。
glass tube, a capillary,
and we put it back into its home,
unharmed during the process,
of venom again and they've recovered,
并且恢复了生存能力,
of one raindrop of venom.
chemical compound that is in that venom.
of a millionth of a liter of compound,
several thousand times
a whole range of nasty stuff,
part of my job starts,
“拉斯维加斯,我来了”的呼唤。
those compounds ready,
that has absolutely amazing effects.
else from my pocket --
I have, actually, a very common spider.
that you could find in your shed,
antimicrobial compounds.
those drug-resistant bacteria
给我们造成了很多麻烦,
in your sewer pipe,
to a very, very serious concern we have.
一个非常非常严肃的问题。
every single day,
antimicrobial-resistant infections.
of 700,000 people dead every single year
30, 20 or 10 years ago
十年前还十分有效的抗生素,
very common bugs.
is running out of antibiotics,
does not have any answer,
to address that concern.
new kinds of antibiotics
every couple of years.
hit the market in the past five years?
that if we continue this way,
from being completely helpless
of penicillin 90 years ago.
is that we are at war
a lot quicker than we do.
速度远胜于我们。
one of our greatest secret weapons.
of a liter of a venom,
to any other kind of antibiotics.
this experiment, I just wonder:
do the siblings actually have?
can we really find, if we care to look?
都会开发出哪些强大的产品?
really the future of therapeutic drugs?"
“虫子真是治疗药物的未来吗?”
that they do hold some key answers."
它们掌握着关键答案。”
the means to investigate them.
in the corner of your room ...
an absolutely fantastic creature,
one day, will hold the answer,
to your very own survival.
anymore now, is she?
那么微不足道了,是吧?
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Michel Dugon - Zoologist, venom researcherMichel Dugon researches the potential of spider venom as a source of novel therapeutic agents.
Why you should listen
Michel Dugon runs the Venom Systems and Proteomics Lab and teaches zoology at the National University of Ireland Galway. His research focuses on the evolution of venom systems and on the potential of arthropod venom as a source of novel therapeutic agents. After a six-year stint chasing venomous creatures in the jungles of South East Asia, Dugon published extensively on the evolution of venom systems while pursuing a PhD in Evolutionary Developmental Biology. He was awarded the 2015 Irish National Teaching Award in Higher Education and the 2017 Ryan Award for Innovation. Dugon is currently working on developing the VIDAA network (Venom Investigations for the Development of Antimicrobial Agents) in collaboration with Irish, French and Belgian researchers.
As the founder and director of the science outreach Eco Explorers, Dugon dedicates a sizable amount of his time to promoting ecological awareness in the media and in schools throughout Ireland. Dr Dugon's work has been featured on national and international networks, including RTE, the BBC, Euronews and SKY.
Michel Dugon | Speaker | TED.com