ABOUT THE SPEAKER
David Bolinsky - Medical animator
David Bolinsky and his team illustrate scientific and medical concepts with high-drama animation. You've never seen the life of a cell quite like this.

Why you should listen

Medical illustrator and animator David Bolinsky has devoted his career to displaying scientific and medical concepts in a clear, fresh light.

Since the earliest days of computer animation, he knew this art could be a powerful tool for explaining scientific concepts in ways that traditional medical illustration simply couldn't. Now, with XVIVO, the company he co-founded, he works with schools and with medical and scientific firms, turning complex processes into understandable, compelling films.

"The Inner Life of a Cell," highlighted at TED2007, represents the leading edge of medical animation, in both its technical achievement and its focus on compelling, memorable action. Created as part of the BioVision initiative to help explain cellular processes to students at Harvard's Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, the clip has captured the imagination of the press -- and reportedly, of Hollywood.

More profile about the speaker
David Bolinsky | Speaker | TED.com
TED2007

David Bolinsky: Visualizing the wonder of a living cell

戴维-布林斯基(David Bolinsky)用动画描绘了细胞

Filmed:
2,216,452 views

医学绘画家戴维-布林斯基通过3分钟的惊人动画展现了细胞里熙熙攘攘的生命运动。
- Medical animator
David Bolinsky and his team illustrate scientific and medical concepts with high-drama animation. You've never seen the life of a cell quite like this. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:25
I'm a medical医 illustrator插画,
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我是一个医学画家，
00:28
and I come from a slightly略 different不同 point点 of view视图.
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我从一个略微不同的视角看待问题。
00:31
I've been watching观看, since以来 I grew成长 up,
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我长大后就一直在观察，
00:34
the expressions表达式 of truth真相 and beauty美女 in the arts艺术
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在艺术里真和美的表现形式
00:38
and truth真相 and beauty美女 in the sciences科学.
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以及科学中真和美的表现形式。
00:40
And while these are both都 wonderful精彩 things in their其 own拥有 right --
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因为艺术和科学两者本身就是极美妙的事物—
00:43
they both都 have very wonderful精彩 things going for them --
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它们都有许多美妙的东西—
00:46
truth真相 and beauty美女 as ideals理想 that can be looked看着 at by the sciences科学
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真和美，作为可以被科学及数学研究的思想，
00:52
and by math数学 are almost几乎 like the ideal理想 conjoined连体 twins双胞胎
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就好象是完美的连体双胞胎
00:57
that a scientist科学家 would want to date日期.
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使每个科学家都想与之约会。
01:00
(Laughter笑声)
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（笑声）
01:02
These are expressions表达式 of truth真相 as awe-full令人惊叹的全 things,
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以下是值得敬畏的事情中“真”的一些表现形式，
01:07
by meaning含义 they are things you can worship崇拜.
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也就是说，这些事情是值得你仰慕的。
01:10
They are ideals理想 that are powerful强大. They are irreducible束缚.
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它们是强有力的理想，它们是不能简化的，
01:15
They are unique独特. They are useful有用 --
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它们是独一无二的，它们是有用的 ---
01:17
sometimes有时, often经常 a long time after the fact事实.
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有些时候，要事后很久才能体现出来。
01:20
And you can actually其实 roll滚 some of the pictures图片 now,
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事实上，现在您可以开始播放一些图片了，
01:22
because I don't want to look at me on the screen屏幕.
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因为我不想在屏幕上看到自己。
01:26
Truth真相 and beauty美女 are things
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真和美的事，往往是摸不透的，
01:28
that are often经常 opaque不透明 to people who are not in the sciences科学.
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对于非科学领域的人来说。
01:33
They are things that describe描述 beauty美女 in a way
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它们用自己独特的方式来描述美，
01:39
that is often经常 only accessible无障碍 if you understand理解 the language语言
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而只有当你懂得研究课题的人所使用的语言和语法时，
01:44
and the syntax句法 of the person人
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你才会明白。
01:46
who studies学习 the subject学科 in which哪一个 truth真相 and beauty美女 is expressed表达.
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该课题中表达着真与美。
01:49
If you look at the math数学, E=mcMC squared平方,
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就拿数学来说，E=mc^2
01:52
if you look at the cosmological宇宙 constant不变,
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或是宇宙常数，
01:55
where there's an anthropic人为 ideal理想, where you see that life had to evolve发展
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隐藏着跟人类学有关的理论，从中你可以体会到生命必须
02:00
from the numbers数字 that describe描述 the universe宇宙 --
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从描述宇宙的数字中演化而来--
02:03
these are things that are really difficult难 to understand理解.
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这些事真得很难理解。
02:06
And what I've tried试着 to do
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一直以来我想要做的是，
02:07
since以来 I had my training训练 as a medical医 illustrator插画 --
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既然我已训练成一个医学画家--
02:09
since以来 I was taught教 animation动画 by my father父亲,
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因为我老爸教我动画技术，
02:12
who was a sculptor雕塑家 and my visual视觉 mentor导师 --
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他是一位雕刻家及我的视觉导师
02:16
I wanted to figure数字 out a way to help people
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我希望能过找到一种解决办法，能帮助人们
02:20
understand理解 truth真相 and beauty美女 in the biological生物 sciences科学
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理解生命科学中的真和美，
02:24
by using运用 animation动画, by using运用 pictures图片, by telling告诉 stories故事
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通过使用动画，使用图片以及讲述故事等方式。
02:28
so that the things that are not necessarily一定 evident明显 to people
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使那些人们不一定很清楚的事物
02:32
can be brought带 forth向前, and can be taught教, and can be understood了解.
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可以被提出，被教授，被理解
02:36
Students学生们 today今天 are often经常 immersed沉浸 in an environment环境
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当今的学生常常处在一种环境中
02:42
where what they learn学习 is subjects主题 that have truth真相 and beauty美女
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这里，他们所学的科目中包含了真与美，
02:47
embedded嵌入式 in them, but the way they're taught教 is compartmentalized条块
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但是他们所被教授的方法却是被分割的
02:52
and it's drawn画 down to the point点 where the truth真相 and beauty美女
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这种方法
02:57
are not always evident明显.
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使得真和美并不总是那么明显。
02:58
It's almost几乎 like that old旧 recipe食谱 for chicken鸡 soup汤
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就像是一道古老的鸡汤菜谱，
03:01
where you boil熬 the chicken鸡 until直到 the flavor味道 is just gone走了.
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烹煮鸡肉直到香味通通散去
03:06
We don't want to do that to our students学生们.
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我们并不想对我们学生也这么做。
03:08
So we have an opportunity机会 to really open打开 up education教育.
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所以我们有机会可以真正开启教育。
03:12
And I had a telephone电话 call from Robert罗伯特 Lue攻略 at Harvard哈佛,
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数年前，我接到哈佛大学，
03:15
in the Molecular分子 and Cellular细胞的 Biology生物学 Department部,
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分子与细胞生物学系
03:17
a couple一对 of years年份 ago前. He asked问 me if my team球队 and I
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Robert Lue 的电话。他问我，我和我的团队
03:21
would be interested有兴趣 and willing愿意 to really change更改
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是否有兴趣和愿望来真正改变
03:25
how medical医 and scientific科学 education教育 is doneDONE at Harvard哈佛.
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哈佛大学里的医学和科学教育方式。
03:28
So we embarked开始 on a project项目 that would explore探索 the cell细胞 --
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所以我们开始了进行细胞探索的一个计划，
03:33
that would explore探索 the truth真相 and beauty美女 inherent固有
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这将展示分子细胞生物学中
03:36
in molecular分子 and cellular细胞的 biology生物学
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内在的真和美
03:38
so that students学生们 could understand理解 a larger大 picture图片
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由此学生会有更全面的印像
03:41
that they could hang挂 all of these facts事实 on.
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能把所有事情联系在一起
03:44
They could have a mental心理 image图片 of the cell细胞
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他们脑海中，将会形成一个生动的细胞印象
03:47
as a large大, bustling繁华, hugely巨大 complicated复杂 city市
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细胞好像是一个庞大的、繁忙的、非常复杂的城市
03:55
that's occupied占据 by micro-machines微机.
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充满了微型机器
03:57
And these micro-machines微机 really are at the heart心 of life.
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而这些微型机器却是生命的中心。
04:00
These micro-machines微机,
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这些微型机器，
04:01
which哪一个 are the envy羡慕 of nanotechnologists纳米技术 the world世界 over,
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能让当今全球纳米工程师嫉妒，
04:05
are self-directed自我导向, powerful强大, precise精确, accurate准确 devices设备
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它们是能自我引导、功能强大且精密严谨的设备
04:12
that are made制作 out of strings字符串 of amino氨基 acids酸.
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它们是由氨基酸链所构成的。
04:15
And these micro-machines微机 power功率 how a cell细胞 moves移动.
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这些微型机器能让细胞移动
04:19
They power功率 how a cell细胞 replicates重复. They power功率 our hearts心中.
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能让细胞复制，它们也使我们心脏跳动，
04:24
They power功率 our minds头脑.
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同时赋予我们心智。
04:26
And so what we wanted to do was to figure数字 out
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我们想做的是，
04:30
how we could make this story故事 into an animation动画
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如何通过动画讲述这个故事
04:33
that would be the centerpiece核心 of BioVisionsBioVisions at Harvard哈佛,
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这就是哈佛大学BioVisions的主轴
04:37
which哪一个 is a website网站 that Harvard哈佛 has
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这是哈佛大学为分子细胞生物学学生
04:41
for its molecular分子 and cellular细胞的 biology生物学 students学生们
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开设的网站
04:43
that will -- in addition加成 to all the textual文本 information信息,
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这些动画，作为课本文本信息，
04:48
in addition加成 to all the didactic教导的 stuff东东 --
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和所有老师授课内容的补充
04:50
put everything together一起 visually视觉, so that these students学生们
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将所有东西视觉化地呈现在一起，这样这些学生
04:53
would have an internalized内在 view视图 of what a cell细胞 really is
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能够从细胞内部发现细胞的真和美
04:57
in all of its truth真相 and beauty美女, and be able能够 to study研究
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并在学习过程中，能一直将此画面
05:01
with this view视图 in mind心神, so that their其 imaginations想象 would be sparked引发,
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印在脑海中，从而他们的想象力被激发出来，
05:05
so that their其 passions激情 would be sparked引发
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学习激情也能够激发出来。
05:08
and so that they would be able能够 to go on
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然后他们可以继续前行
05:10
and use these visions愿景 in their其 head头 to make new新 discoveries发现
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用它们脑海中的这些画面做新的探索
05:14
and to be able能够 to find out, really, how life works作品.
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并最终发现生命的原理。
05:17
So we set组 out by looking at how these molecules分子 are put together一起.
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所以我们开始研究这些分子到底是如何整合在一起的。
05:24
We worked工作 with a theme主题, which哪一个 is, you've got macrophages巨噬细胞
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我们想出了一个剧情大纲，那就是，巨噬细胞
05:30
that are streaming流 down a capillary毛细管,
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正在流过一个毛细血管
05:32
and they're touching接触 the surface表面 of the capillary毛细管 wall壁,
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它们不时接触着毛细血管管壁
05:35
and they're picking选择 up information信息 from cells细胞
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它们收集来自细胞散布在毛细血管管壁上的信号，
05:37
that are on the capillary毛细管 wall壁, and they are given特定 this information信息
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这个信号是：
05:41
that there's an inflammation炎 somewhere某处 outside外,
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在（毛细血管）外侧，有炎症发生，
05:44
where they can't see and sense感.
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巨噬细胞本来是无从得知（此事的）。
05:46
But they get the information信息 that causes原因 them to stop,
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但是，它们得到的信息，使它们停下来
05:49
causes原因 them to internalize内在 that they need to make
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使它们内化，使它们动员细胞各部分
05:53
all of the various各个 parts部分 that will cause原因 them to change更改 their其 shape形状,
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使自己改变形状，
05:58
and try to get out of this capillary毛细管 and find out what's going on.
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并努力穿越毛细血管搞清楚到底放生了什么
06:03
So these molecular分子 motors马达 -- we had to work
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因此这些分子的马达-- 我们必须
06:05
with the Harvard哈佛 scientists科学家们 and databank数据银行 models楷模
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和哈佛的科学家一起研究，使用数据库中真实的
06:11
of the atomically原子 accurate准确 molecules分子
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由原子构成的分子结构模型
06:14
and figure数字 out how they moved移动, and figure数字 out what they did.
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并搞清楚他们是如何运动的，它们做了什么。
06:18
And figure数字 out how to do this in a way
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并想出一个办法，能够真实的表现
06:20
that was truthful真实 in that it imparted赋予的 what was going on,
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（细胞）里面正在发生的事情，
06:26
but not so truthful真实 that the compact紧凑 crowding拥挤 in a cell细胞
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但又不是那么地真实，因为实际上细胞中紧密拥挤
06:31
would prevent避免 the vista远景 from happening事件.
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使这种景象变得不可能。
06:34
And so what I'm going to show显示 you is a three-minute三分钟
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我将给您展示的是一段3分钟的影片
06:38
Reader's读者 Digest消化 version版 of the first aspect方面 of this film电影
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这是我们做的影片第一部分的《读者文摘》版
06:41
that we produced生成. It's an ongoing不断的 project项目
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这个计划尚未完成，
06:44
that's going to go another另一个 four四 or five五 years年份.
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还需要4，5年时间
06:47
And I want you to look at this
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我请您看这个
06:49
and see the paths路径 that the cell细胞 manufactures制成品 --
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并看看这些细胞造的路
06:53
these little walking步行 machines机, they're called叫 kinesins驱动蛋白 --
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这些小的正在走动的机器，是驱动蛋白--
06:57
that take these huge巨大 loads负载
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它们负载而行
06:59
that would challenge挑战 an ant蚂蚁 in relative相对的 size尺寸.
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在大小比例关系上，可以和蚂蚁一决雌雄。
07:02
Run跑 the movie电影, please.
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请播放动画
07:06
But these machines机 that power功率 the inside内 of the cells细胞
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但这些赋予细胞内部生机的机器
07:09
are really quite相当 amazing惊人, and they really are the basis基础 of all life
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实在令人惊奇，他们真的是所有生命的基础。
07:13
because all of these machines机 interact相互作用 with each每 other.
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因为所有这些机器都在互相交流。
07:18
They pass通过 information信息 to each每 other.
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他们互相传递信息
07:20
They cause原因 different不同 things to happen发生 inside内 the cell细胞.
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他们决定细胞里不同的事件发生。
07:23
And the cell细胞 will actually其实 manufacture制造 the parts部分 that it needs需求
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在空间里，细胞通过利用能读懂基因的分子
07:26
on the fly飞, from information信息
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从细胞核中带来信息，
07:28
that's brought带 from the nucleus核 by molecules分子 that read读 the genes基因.
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从而正确生产出它所需要的部分。
07:33
No life, from the smallest最少 life to everybody每个人 here,
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没有任何生命，从最小的生命到在坐的各位，
07:38
would be possible可能 without无 these little micro-machines微机.
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如果没有这些小型机器，可以存在。
07:41
In fact事实, it would really, in the absence缺席 of these machines机,
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事实上，没有这些机器的话，
07:45
have made制作 the attendance勤 here, Chris克里斯, really quite相当 sparse疏.
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Chris, 今天的出席状况将非常惨烈。
07:47
(Laughter笑声)
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（笑）
07:51
(Music音乐)
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（音乐）
08:03
This is the FedEx联邦快递 delivery交货 guy of the cell细胞.
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这是细胞中FedEx快递人员：
08:07
This little guy is called叫 the kinesin驱动蛋白,
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这个小家伙叫驱动蛋白
08:09
and he pulls拉 a sack解雇 that's full充分 of brand牌 new新 manufactured制成的 proteins蛋白质
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他拉着一大袋新合成的蛋白质，
08:13
to wherever哪里 it's needed需要 in the cell细胞 --
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到细胞所需要的任何地方--
08:15
whether是否 it's to a membrane膜, whether是否 it's to an organelle细胞器,
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不论它是细胞膜，还是一个细胞器
08:18
whether是否 it's to build建立 something or repair修理 something.
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也不管是用来搭建什么，还是修复什么
08:20
And each每 of us has about 100,000 of these things
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我们体内每个细胞，大约有10万个这样的小家伙
08:24
running赛跑 around, right now,
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此时此刻，正在跑来跑去
08:26
inside内 each每 one of your 100 trillion兆 cells细胞.
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而我们大约有100万亿个细胞。
08:29
So no matter物 how lazy懒 you feel,
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所以无论你觉得自己有多懒
08:32
you're not really intrinsically本质 doing nothing.
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本质上，你并不是什么都没做。
08:34
(Laughter笑声)
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（笑）
08:38
So what I want you to do when you go home
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当你回家时，我希望你们
08:40
is think about this, and think about how powerful强大 our cells细胞 are.
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能够思考这个问题，想想我们的细胞是多么地强大
08:44
And think about some of the things
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想想我们正在学的
08:45
that we're learning学习 about cellular细胞的 mechanics机械学.
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细胞机器的种种事情。
08:49
Once一旦 we figure数字 out all that's going on --
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一旦我们全盘了解细胞内发生的所有事情—
08:52
and believe me, we know almost几乎 a percent百分 of what's going on --
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相信我，我们大概才知道1%而已--
08:56
once一旦 we figure数字 out what's going on,
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一旦我们了解细胞内的状况，
08:57
we're really going to be able能够 to have a lot of control控制
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我们将能更好地控制
09:00
over what we do with our health健康,
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我们的健康，
09:02
with what we do with future未来 generations代,
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我们的下一代，
09:05
and how long we're going to live生活.
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我们的寿命。
09:07
And hopefully希望 we'll好 be able能够 to use this
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并且，希望我们可以借此
09:09
to discover发现 more truth真相, and more beauty美女.
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去发现更多的真和美。
09:12
(Music音乐)
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（音乐）
09:26
But it's really quite相当 amazing惊人 that these cells细胞, these micro-machines微机,
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这些细胞，这些微型机器，真的不可思议，
09:31
are aware知道的 enough足够 of what the cell细胞 needs需求 that they do their其 bidding投标.
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它们能过意识到细胞需要它们为其做些什么事情
09:36
They work together一起. They make the cell细胞 do what it needs需求 to do.
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他们同心协力，它们使细胞能够完成需要做的事情
09:40
And their其 working加工 together一起 helps帮助 our bodies身体 --
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他们通力合作才使我们身体--
09:46
huge巨大 entities实体 that they will never see -- function功能 properly正确.
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这个他们永远看不见的巨大整体—能够正常工作。
09:51
Enjoy请享用 the rest休息 of the show显示. Thank you.
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请继续欣赏接下来的表演。谢谢。
09:52
(Applause掌声)
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（掌声）
Translated by Chen Chen
Reviewed by Jubin Xing

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
David Bolinsky - Medical animator
David Bolinsky and his team illustrate scientific and medical concepts with high-drama animation. You've never seen the life of a cell quite like this.

Why you should listen

Medical illustrator and animator David Bolinsky has devoted his career to displaying scientific and medical concepts in a clear, fresh light.

Since the earliest days of computer animation, he knew this art could be a powerful tool for explaining scientific concepts in ways that traditional medical illustration simply couldn't. Now, with XVIVO, the company he co-founded, he works with schools and with medical and scientific firms, turning complex processes into understandable, compelling films.

"The Inner Life of a Cell," highlighted at TED2007, represents the leading edge of medical animation, in both its technical achievement and its focus on compelling, memorable action. Created as part of the BioVision initiative to help explain cellular processes to students at Harvard's Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, the clip has captured the imagination of the press -- and reportedly, of Hollywood.

More profile about the speaker
David Bolinsky | Speaker | TED.com
THE ORIGINAL VIDEO ON TED.COM