TED2007
Paul Rothemund: Playing with DNA that self-assembles
Paul Rothemund face o vraja cu ADN-ul
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Paul Rothemund scrie cod-ul care face ca ADN-ul sa se aranjeze intr-o stea, o fata zambitoare si altele. Desigur, e un tur de forta, dar in acelasi timp e o demonstratie de auto-asamblare la cea mai mica scara -- cu multiple implicatii pentru viitorul crearii lucrurilor.
Paul Rothemund - DNA origamist
Paul Rothemund folds DNA into shapes and patterns. Which is a simple enough thing to say, but the process he has developed has vast implications for computing and manufacturing -- allowing us to create things we can now only dream of. Full bio
Paul Rothemund folds DNA into shapes and patterns. Which is a simple enough thing to say, but the process he has developed has vast implications for computing and manufacturing -- allowing us to create things we can now only dream of. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:26
There's an ancient and universal concept that words have power,
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Exista un concept antic si universal ca toate cuvintele au putere,
00:30
that spells exist, and that if we could only pronounce the right words,
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ca vrajile exista, si daca am putea doar sa pronuntam cuvintele potrivite,
00:34
then -- whooosh -- you know, an avalanche would come
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atunci, puuuf! Ar veni o avalansa
00:36
and wipe out the hobbits, right? So this is a very attractive idea
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si ar omori hobbitii, nu-i asa? Deci asta e o idee foarte atractiva
00:41
because we're very lazy, like the sorcerer's apprentice,
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pentru ca suntem foarte lenesi, ca ucenicul vrajitorului,
00:43
or the world's greatest computer programmer.
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sau ca cel mai bun programator din lume.
00:45
And so this idea has a lot of traction with us.
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Asa ca, ideea asta ne atrage foarte tare.
00:47
We love the idea that words, when pronounced --
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Ne place ideea ca atunci cand pronuntam cuvintele --
00:49
they're just little more than pure information,
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ele sunt un pic mai mult decat informatie pura,
00:51
but they evoke some physical action
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dar evoca o anumita actiune fizica
00:53
in the real world that helps us do work.
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in lumea reala, care ne ajuta sa lucram.
00:54
And so, of course, with lots of programmable computers
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Desigur, cu atatea computere programabile
00:57
and robots around this is an easy thing to picture.
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si roboti prin jurul nostru, asta e usor de imaginat.
01:00
So how many of you know what I'm talking about?
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Deci cati dintre voi stiu despre ce vorbesc?
01:02
Raise your right hand. OK. How many of you
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Ridicati mana dreapta. OK. Cati dintre voi
01:03
don't know what I'm talking about? Raise your left hand.
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nu stiu despre ce vorbesc? Ridicati mana stanga. OK
01:06
So that's great. So that was too easy.
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Bine. Asta e grozav. Deci asta a fost prea usor.
01:09
You guys have very insecure computers, OK?
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Voi aveti computere foarte nesigure, asa-i?
01:12
So now, the thing is that this is a different kind of spell.
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Dar asta e un alt tip de vraja.
01:17
This is a computer program made of zeros and ones.
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Asta este un program de calculator format din zero si unu.
01:18
It can be pronounced on a computer. It does something like this.
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Poate fi pronuntat pe un calculator. Face ceva de genul asta.
01:21
The important thing is we can write it in a high-level language.
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Important e ca il putem scrie intr-un limbaj de nivel inalt.
01:23
A computer magician can write this thing.
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Un magician de calculatoare poate scrie asta.
01:26
It can be compiled into this -- into zeros and ones --
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Poate fi compilat in asta -- zero si unu --
01:29
and pronounced by a computer.
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si pronuntat de un calculator.
01:30
And that's what makes computers powerful:
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Si asta e ce le face pe calculatoare puternice:
01:32
these high-level languages that can be compiled.
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aceste limbaje de nivel inalt care pot fi compilate.
01:34
And so, I'm here to tell you, you don't need a computer
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Asadar, sunt aici sa va spun ca nu ai nevoie de un calculator
01:37
to actually have a spell. In fact, what you can do
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pentru a avea o vraja. De fapt, ce poti face
01:40
at the molecular level is that if you encode information --
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la nivel molecular este ca daca vei codifica informatia --
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you encode a spell or program as molecules --
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vei codifica o vraja sau un program ca molecule --
01:46
then physics can actually directly interpret that information
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atunci fizica poate interpreta direct aceasta informatie
01:49
and run a program. That's what happens in proteins.
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si sa deruleze un program. Asta se intampla in proteine.
01:52
When this amino acid sequence gets pronounced as atoms,
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Cand aceasta secventa de amino acizi e pronuntata ca atomi,
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these little letters are sticky for each other.
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aceste litere mici sunt lipicioase una pentru cealalta.
01:57
It collapses into a three-dimensional shape that turns it into
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Se strange intr-o forma tridimensionala care se transforma intr-o
02:00
a nanomachine that actually cuts DNA.
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nanomasina care practic taie ADN.
02:02
And the interesting thing is that if you change the sequence,
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Si lucrul interesant este ca daca schimbi secventa,
02:05
you change the three-dimensional folding.
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schimbi si impaturirea tridimensionala.
02:07
You get now a DNA stapler instead. These are the kind of
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Obtii acum un capsator ADN in loc. Acestea sunt tipurile
02:10
molecular programs that we want to be able to write,
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de programe moleculare pe care vrem sa fim in stare sa le scriem,
02:12
but the problem is, we don't know the machine language of
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dar problema este ca nu stim limbajul
02:14
proteins. We don't have a compiler for proteins.
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proteinelor; nu avem un compilator pentru proteine.
02:17
So I've joined a growing band of people that try to make
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Deci m-am alaturat unui grup de oameni care incearca sa faca
02:19
molecular spells using DNA. We use DNA because it's cheaper.
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vraji moleculare utilizand ADN. Folosim ADN pentru ca e mai ieftin.
02:23
It's easier to handle. It's something that we understand really well.
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E mai usor de manipulat. E ceva ce intelegem foarte bine.
02:25
We understand it so well, in fact, that we think we can actually write
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Il intelegem atat de bine incat credem ca putem chiar sa scriem
02:29
programming languages for DNA and have molecular compilers.
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limbaje de programare pentru ADN si sa avem compilatoare moleculare.
02:32
So then, we think we can do that. And my first question doing this --
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Asadar, putem face asta. Si prima mea intrebare in legatura cu asta --
02:36
or one of my questions doing this -- was how can you make
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sau una din intrebarile mele in legatura cu asta -- era: Cum poti face
02:38
an arbitrary shape or pattern out of DNA? And I decided to use
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o forma oarecare sau un model din ADN? Si am decis sa folosesc
02:41
a type of DNA origami, where you take a long strand of DNA
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un fel de ADN origami, unde iei o fasie lunga de ADN
02:44
and fold it into whatever shape or pattern you might want.
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si o impaturesti in orice forma sau model vrei.
02:47
So here's a shape. I actually spent about a year in my home,
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Deci asta e o forma. Am petrecut de fapt aproximativ un an acasa,
02:50
in my underwear, coding, like Linus [Torvalds], in that picture before.
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codand, ca Linus [Torvalds], in imaginea de mai inainte.
02:54
And this program takes a shape, spits out 250 DNA sequences.
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Si programul asta ia o forma, da nastere la 250 de secvente ADN.
02:57
These short DNA sequences are what are going to fold the long strand
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Aceste scurte secvente de ADN sunt fasia pe care o sa o impaturim
03:00
into this shape that we want to make. So you send an e-mail
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in aceasta forma pe care vrem sa o creem. Asa ca trimiti un email
03:03
with these sequences in it to a company, and what it does --
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cu aceste secvente in el la o companie, si ce face --
03:07
the company pronounces them on a DNA synthesizer.
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compania le pronunta cu un sintetizator ADN.
03:09
It's a machine about the size of a photocopier. And what happens is,
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E o masina cam de marimea unui fotocopiator. Si ce se intampla e ca,
03:12
they take your e-mail and every letter in your e-mail,
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ei iau email-ul tau si fiecare litera din el,
03:14
they replace with 30-atom cluster -- one for each letter,
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il inlocuiesc cu o grupare de 30 de atomi, unul pentru fiecare litera,
03:17
A, T, C, and G in DNA. They string them up in the right sequence,
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A, T, C si G in ADN. Le leaga in secventele corecte,
03:21
and then they send them back to you via FedEx.
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si apoi ti le trimit inapoi prin FexEx.
03:23
So you get 250 of these in the mail in little tubes.
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Asa ca primesti 250 din astea in posta in tuburi mici.
03:25
I mix them together, add a little bit of salt water,
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Eu le-am amestecat, am adaugat un pic de apa sarata,
03:28
and then add this long strand I was telling you about,
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si am adaugat aceasta fasie lunga de care va spuneam,
03:30
that I've stolen from a virus. And then what happens is,
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pe care am furat-o de la un virus. Si ceea ce se intampla este ca,
03:33
you heat this whole thing up to about boiling. You cool it down
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incalzesti toata asta pana aproape de fierbere. O racesti
03:37
to room temperature, and as you do,
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la temperatura camerei, si pe masura ce faci asta,
03:38
what happens is those short strands, they do the following thing:
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ce se intampla e ca fasiile alea scurte, fac urmatorul lucru:
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each one of them binds that long strand in one place,
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fiecare din ele leaga fasia aia lunga in cate un loc,
03:44
and then has a second half that binds that long strand
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si apoi mai are o jumatate care leaga fasia mare
03:47
in a distant place, and brings those two parts of the long strand
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intr-un loc mai indepartat, si aduce acele doua parti din fasia mare
03:50
close together so that they stick together.
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aproape una de alta, astfel incat se lipesc.
03:52
And so the net effect of all 250 of these strands is to fold
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Asadar efectul net al tuturor celor 250 de fasii este sa impatureasca
03:55
the long strand into the shape that you're looking for.
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fasia mare in forma pe care o vrei;
03:59
It'll approximate that shape. We do this for real in the test tube.
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o sa aproximeze forma respectiva. Facem asta in realitate in tub de testare.
04:02
In each little drop of water you get 50 billion of these guys.
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In fiecare picatura de apa obtii 50 de miliarde din acestea.
04:05
You can look with a microscope and see them on a surface.
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Poti sa te uiti cu un microscop si sa le vezi pe o suprafata.
04:08
And the neat thing is that if you change the sequence
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Si lucrul frumos este ca daca schimbi secventa
04:09
and change the spell, you just change the sequence of the staples.
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si modifici vraja, schimbi pur si simplu secventa capselor.
04:13
You can make a molecule that looks like this, and, you know,
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Poti face o molecula care sa arate asa, si careia de fapt,
04:16
he likes to hang out with his buddies, right.
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ii place sa stea cu prietenii ei.
04:19
And a lot of them are actually pretty good.
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Si multe dintre ele sunt chiar reusite.
04:21
If you change the spell again, you change the sequence again.
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Daca schimbi iar vraja, modifici din nou secventa.
04:23
You get really nice 130 nanometer triangles. If you do it again,
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Obtii triunghiuri foarte dragute de 130 de nanometri. Daca faci asta din nou,
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you can get arbitrary patterns. So on a rectangle
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poti obtine modele intamplatoare. Asadar pe un dreptunghi
04:30
you can paint patterns of North and South America, or the words, "DNA."
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poti desena modele ale Americii de Nord si de Sud, sau literele "ADN".
04:35
So that's DNA origami. That's one way. There are many ways
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Asadar asta este ADN origami. Asta e o modalitate. Sunt mai multe modalitati,
04:39
of casting molecular spells using DNA.
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de a face vraji moleculare folosind ADN.
04:42
What we really want to do in the end is learn how to program
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Ceea ce vrem sa facem in final este sa invatam cum sa programam
04:45
self-assembly so that we can build anything, right?
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auto-asamblarea, asa incat sa putem construi orice.
04:48
We want to be able to build technological artifacts
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Vrem sa putem construi artefacte tehnologice
04:50
that are maybe good for the world. We want to learn
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care poate ar fi folositoare pentru omenire. Vrem sa invatam
04:52
how to build biological artifacts, like people and whales and trees.
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cum sa construim artefacte biologice, ca oameni si balene si copaci.
04:57
And if it's the case that we can reach that level of complexity,
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Si daca vom atinge gradul acela de complexitate,
04:59
if our ability to program molecules gets to be that good,
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daca abilitatea noastra de a programa molecule ajunge sa fie atat de buna,
05:03
then that will truly be magic. Thank you very much.
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atunci asta va fi cu adevarat magic. Multumesc foarte mult.
05:06
(Applause)
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(Aplauze)
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Paul Rothemund - DNA origamistPaul Rothemund folds DNA into shapes and patterns. Which is a simple enough thing to say, but the process he has developed has vast implications for computing and manufacturing -- allowing us to create things we can now only dream of.
Why you should listen
Paul Rothemund won a MacArthur grant this year for a fairly mystifying study area: "folding DNA." It brings up the question: Why fold DNA? The answer is -- because the power to manipulate DNA in this way could change the way we make things at a very basic level.
Rothemund's work combines the study of self-assembly (watch the TEDTalks from Neil Gershenfeld and Saul Griffith for more on this) with the research being done in DNA nanotechnology -- and points the way toward self-assembling devices at microscale, making computer memory, for instance, smaller, faster and maybe even cheaper.
Paul Rothemund | Speaker | TED.com