Melissa Garren: The sea we've hardly seen
Melissa Garren is a molecular and marine biologist with a passion for unlocking the mysteries of our ocean's ecosystems and finding new avenues for conservation. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
we will immerse ourselves
on a journey into the sea,
of its smallest inhabitants:
角度来看大海:
在这一短暂的旅程之后,
我们的生命与这些海洋微生物
at how deeply connected our lives are
are often neglected
and policies about our oceans.
a microbial soup full of vibrant life.
充满活跃生命的微生物汤。
海洋细菌正忙得四脚朝天,
are marine bacteria buzzing about
of the marine food web.
this world really is,
to most of my slides
of a single strand of human hair --
含有五百万的细菌
has five million bacteria
two gallons of seawater,
in those two gallons
your stomach turn,
我们不小心喝下的
we've each accidentally swallowed
因为喝的这些海水生病。
from that seawater,
都是对我们有益的,
are working for us,
我们呼吸的氧气
is that they provide
to thank the trees.
more huggable than the microbes.
that land plants only create
from macroalgae like kelp
tip your hats to the microbes.
abundant photosynthesizer
powerhouse and, I might argue,
我还得加一句,
最惊人的发现之一。
of recent marine microbiology.
不知道它的存在。
on this little microbe
无论何时何地。
no matter where or when they lived.
才刚刚24年。
of that relationship for a mere 24 years.
relationships are out there
关系在很多方面都类似于
microbes as parallel in many ways
with microbes in our gut.
of unhappy gut microbes
喝了污染了的水。
我们与海洋微生物的关联,
we have with marine microbes
我们会有怎样的不适。
when those communities change.
造成霍乱的细菌
cholera is caused by a bacterium
确实对我们有帮助,
are indeed helping us,
much like our gut,
balance of microbes.
applies to our ocean microbes as well.
也适用于我们的海洋微生物。
an overfed ocean may look like,
过度喂食的海洋有个概念,
of me sampling seawater.
a nearly dead coral reef
operation in the waters there.
只有一张是我在笑,
in one of these two pictures,
要离我非常近
had to be a whole lot closer
from each of these samples
communities would look like.
右边是渔场珊瑚礁。
fish farm reef on your right.
a part of the ocean
但也可能是污水溢洒
but it could be a sewage spill
of other sources --
the physical discomforts
带来的身体不适。
produced by some of these microbes.
from their tiny-scale existence,
a very large-scale power
具有非常大的力量
from my talk today, let it be this:
吸收一个观念,那就应该是:
relationship with these marine microbes
关系极其重要,
beginning to understand
curing a disease of unknown cause,
restoring ocean health
that control the chemistry of the ocean
can live there,
for us to swim there
characteristics we sense
数量庞大的成员,
members of the ocean,
真的会对人类的行为作出反应,
they do indeed respond to human actions,
幻灯片展示的那样,
about coral reefs may have suggested,
of my time as a researcher
微生物保护群,
our own protective community of microbes.
大多数其他有机体
organisms on this planet,
communities as well.
on the inside as we do in our gut,
保护它们免受周围环境伤害。
to protect them from their surroundings
is a three-dimensional image
with all of its living bacteria,
exciting technology --
confocal microscope.
are the symbiotic algae
they both can use,
are the protective bacteria.
of the coral in white,
some tiny little blue dots
in a mucus layer,
of the coral's protective layer.
about these relationships,
from looking like the picture on your left
热门观光浮潜景点,
a very popular tourist snorkeling spot
它已经失去了大部分珊瑚覆盖。
cover over the past decade or so.
以惊人的速度感染病菌,
all around the globe at alarming rates,
它们是怎样生病的,为什么生病。
both the good ones and the bad ones,
好的,以及坏的,
behaviors to this big picture
与整个现状联系起来:
that looks like the right
that looks more like the left?
coral disease from spreading?
还没有人见过这幅景象。
no one had ever seen a view like this.
of making the invisible visible.
变成可见的最佳示例。
of the same coral as before,
meets the seawater;
that we can finally see these bacteria
我们终于可以看着这些细菌
at their micro scale,
以它们的微观尺度看,
with the world around them.
are used to being able
每天在做什么。
what their study creatures do each day.
have desperately needed
technologies like this
让这样的尖端科技
and learn how they behave.
了解它们如何行动。
知道它们如何响应
and the environment around them
以及它们周围环境,
更好地管理海洋。
better manage our oceans.
我使用微流控,
is by using microfluidics
behave in the ocean.
在海洋中的行为模式。
nanofabrication techniques
在海洋中以它们自身的
the conditions bacteria experience
上的微流控室,
chamber on a microscope slide
记录细菌的行为。
to record bacteria behavior.
bacteria and seawater flow
that I recently discovered
真的有能力
actually has the ability
and hunt for corals.
which are the tiny green dots on the left
是所有病原体,
通道右边的珊瑚粘液,
on the right side of the channel,
over in that direction and stay there.
to find its host in the ocean.
在海洋中找到宿主。
and observing, we can learn
to seeking out their victims.
us closer than ever before
在蓝色大海中航行。
navigate that big blue ocean.
can even detect the coral mucus
甚至可以检测到
to hunting down these corals.
猎取这些珊瑚。
different environmental conditions
猎取珊瑚的能力
this pathogen more or less capable
about what triggers the hunt,
可以战胜病原体,
can fight off the pathogen
and its healthy bacteria.
into our microbial oceans
这趟了解微生物海洋的短暂旅程,
look out at the sea,
海洋空气,心里想着:
of fresh ocean air and wonder:
还在做着别的什么能让
of the unseen microbes doing
维持健康的事情吗?
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Melissa Garren - Marine biologistMelissa Garren is a molecular and marine biologist with a passion for unlocking the mysteries of our ocean's ecosystems and finding new avenues for conservation.
Why you should listen
Melissa Garren studies marine microbes to better understand how pollution and climate change are destroying coral reefs and effecting our environment. Working under a fellowship from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute she began using molecular techniques to study microbial life in the ocean. At the Costa Rican wildlife refuge, Melissa helped spearhead a long-term monitoring project as well as educational initiatives. After recently receiving her Ph.D. in Marine Biology from the Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, she is now using microfluidic technology to understand the living ecosystem of coral reefs in a postdoctoral position at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Melissa Garren | Speaker | TED.com