TED2013
Miranda Wang and Jeanny Yao: Two young scientists break down plastics with bacteria
两个年轻科学家用细菌降解塑料
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Readability: 5.9
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塑料一旦被制造出来，就很难消解。当高三学生汪郁雯跟姚佳韵在寻找可以生物降解塑料的细菌时，尤其是邻苯二甲酸酯，这样一种有害的塑化剂时，她们意外地在“附近”找到了答案。
Miranda Wang and Jeanny Yao - Science fair winners
Miranda Wang and Jeanny Yao have identified a new bacteria that breaks down nasty compounds called phthalates, common to flexible plastics and linked to health problems. And they’re still teenagers. Full bio
Miranda Wang and Jeanny Yao have identified a new bacteria that breaks down nasty compounds called phthalates, common to flexible plastics and linked to health problems. And they’re still teenagers. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:12
Miranda Wang: We're here to talk about accidents.
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汪郁雯： 今天我们来聊聊“意外”。
00:15
How do you feel about accidents?
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大家觉得“意外”怎么样？
00:17
When we think about accidents,
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当我们想到“意外”的时候，
00:19
we usually consider them to be harmful,
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通常我们都会认为“意外”是有害的，
00:21
unfortunate or even dangerous, and they certainly can be.
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是不幸的，甚至是危险的，很多时候“意外”的确是这样的。
00:25
But are they always that bad?
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但是，“意外”真的那么糟糕吗？
00:28
The discovery that had led to penicillin, for example,
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比方说，青霉素的发现，
00:30
is one of the most fortunate accidents of all time.
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可能是有史以来最幸运的“意外”。
00:34
Without biologist Alexander Fleming's moldy accident,
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要是没有生物学家亚历山大·弗莱明
00:37
caused by a neglected workstation,
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一时疏忽而造成的“发霉”意外
00:39
we wouldn't be able to fight off so many bacterial infections.
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我们根本无法抵抗如此之多的细菌感染。
00:44
Jeanny Yao: Miranda and I are here today
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姚佳韵： 今天我和米兰达来到这儿
00:46
because we'd like to share how our accidents
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向大家分享“意外”
00:48
have led to discoveries.
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是如何造就我们的发现
00:50
In 2011, we visited the Vancouver Waste Transfer Station
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我们在2011年的时候参观了温哥华废物转移站，
00:54
and saw an enormous pit of plastic waste.
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看到了非常非常多的塑料垃圾。
00:57
We realized that when plastics get to the dump,
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我们意识到，当塑料垃圾聚集到垃圾场的时候，
01:00
it's difficult to sort them because they have similar densities,
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是很难将它们分类的，因为他们的密度很接近，
01:03
and when they're mixed with organic matter
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而且，当这些塑料跟有机物
01:05
and construction debris, it's truly impossible
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以及建筑碎片混合的时候，几乎不可能
01:07
to pick them out and environmentally eliminate them.
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将它们筛选出来并环保地处理掉。
01:10
MW: However, plastics are useful
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汪郁雯：可是呢，塑料确实是有用的
01:13
because they're durable, flexible,
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因为它们很耐用，韧性大，
01:15
and can be easily molded into so many useful shapes.
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并且可以很容易制作成各种有用的形状。
01:18
The downside of this convenience
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这种便利的不足之处在于
01:20
is that there's a high cost to this.
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需要付出很大的代价。
01:23
Plastics cause serious problems, such as
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塑料会引发一系列严重的问题，比如
01:25
the destruction of ecosystems,
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对生态系统的破坏，
01:27
the pollution of natural resources,
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对自然资源的污染，
01:29
and the reduction of available land space.
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以及侵蚀有用的土地资源。
01:31
This picture you see here is the Great Pacific Gyre.
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图片中展示的是太平洋环流。
01:34
When you think about plastic pollution
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当我们将塑料污染
01:36
and the marine environment,
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跟海洋环境联系在一起时，
01:38
we think about the Great Pacific Gyre,
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我们想到了太平洋环流，
01:39
which is supposed to be a floating island of plastic waste.
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这本该是一个由塑料垃圾组成的浮岛。
01:43
But that's no longer an accurate depiction
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然而，对于海洋中的塑料垃圾
01:45
of plastic pollution in the marine environment.
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这已经不再是一个准确的描述了。
01:48
Right now, the ocean is actually a soup of plastic debris,
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此刻，海洋事实上像是悬浮着塑料碎片的“云带”
01:52
and there's nowhere you can go in the ocean
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并且已经不能在海里找到
01:54
where you wouldn't be able to find plastic particles.
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一片没有塑料碎片的地方了。
01:57
JY: In a plastic-dependent society,
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姚佳韵：在一个依赖塑料制品的社会，
02:00
cutting down production is a good goal, but it's not enough.
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减少塑料的生产是个好主意，但这还不够。
02:03
And what about the waste that's already been produced?
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那些已经存在的塑料垃圾怎么办？
02:06
Plastics take hundreds to thousands of years to biodegrade.
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塑料需要成百上千年才能生物降解。
02:10
So we thought, you know what?
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所以，我们想，
02:11
Instead of waiting for that garbage to sit there and pile up,
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与其等待这些垃圾慢慢堆积，
02:15
let's find a way to break them down
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不如想个办法
02:17
with bacteria.
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用细菌分解。
02:19
Sounds cool, right?
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听起来不错吧？！
02:21
Audience: Yeah. JY: Thank you.
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观众：是的。 姚佳韵：谢谢大家。
02:22
But we had a problem.
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但我们遇到了一个问题。
02:24
You see, plastics have very complex structures
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你知道的，塑料构造十分复杂
02:27
and are difficult to biodegrade.
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并且很难降解。
02:30
Anyhow, we were curious and hopeful
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然而，我们还是很好奇并且怀着希望
02:32
and still wanted to give it a go.
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想要尝试一把。
02:33
MW: With this idea in mind, Jeanny and I read through
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汪郁雯：怀着这样的想法，珍妮和我从因特网上
02:36
some hundreds of scientific articles on the Internet,
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阅读了上百篇科学论文，
02:38
and we drafted a research proposal
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然后我们在高三刚开始的时候
02:40
in the beginning of our grade 12 year.
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起草了一个研究提案。
02:43
We aimed to find bacteria from our local Fraser River
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我们的目标是从本地的弗雷泽河（音译）中寻找到一种细菌，
02:46
that can degrade a harmful plasticizer called phthalates.
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可以降解一种叫做邻苯二甲酸酯（phthalate）的有害塑化剂。
02:50
Phthalates are additives used in everyday plastic products
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邻苯二甲酸酯是一种应用于日常塑料制品的添加剂，
02:52
to increase their flexibility, durability and transparency.
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用以增加塑料的柔软度，耐久性以及透明度。
02:57
Although they're part of the plastic,
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尽管它们（邻苯二甲酸酯）也是塑料的一部分，
02:59
they're not covalently bonded to the plastic backbone.
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但它们并非共价绑定在塑料聚合物主链上。
03:01
As a result, they easily escape into our environment.
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因而，它们（邻苯二甲酸酯）可以轻易地进入我们的环境。
03:04
Not only do phthalates pollute our environment,
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邻苯二甲酸酯不仅可以污染我们的环境，
03:07
but they also pollute our bodies.
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它们还可以“污染”我们的身体。
03:09
To make the matter worse, phthalates are found in products
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更严重的是，邻苯二甲酸酯存在于很多
03:12
to which we have a high exposure, such as babies' toys,
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我们经常接触到的产品中，比如婴儿的玩具，
03:16
beverage containers, cosmetics, and even food wraps.
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饮料容器，化妆品，甚至食品包装。
03:20
Phthalates are horrible because
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邻苯二甲酸酯是很可怕的，原因在于
03:22
they're so easily taken into our bodies.
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它们可以很轻易进入我们的身体。
03:24
They can be absorbed by skin contact, ingested, and inhaled.
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它们（邻苯二甲酸酯）可以通过皮肤接触，吞食，呼吸等方式被吸收。
03:29
JY: Every year, at least 470 million pounds of phthalates
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姚佳韵：每年，至少有4亿7千万磅的邻苯二甲酸酯
03:32
contaminate our air, water and soil.
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污染我们的空气，水以及土地。
03:36
The Environmental Protection Agency
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环境保护署
03:37
even classified this group as a top-priority pollutant
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甚至将邻苯二甲酸酯归类为最严重污染物
03:40
because it's been shown to cause cancer and birth defects
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因为研究显示邻苯二甲酸酯会通过干扰荷尔蒙
03:44
by acting as a hormone disruptor.
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引起癌症和生理缺陷。
03:46
We read that each year, the Vancouver municipal government
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我们了解到，每年温哥华市政府
03:49
monitors phthalate concentration levels in rivers
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都会监测河流中邻苯二甲酸酯的浓度
03:51
to assess their safety.
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来评估河流的安全性。
03:53
So we figured, if there are places along our Fraser River
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所以我们设想，假如弗雷泽河周边
03:56
that are contaminated with phthalates,
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有已经被邻苯二甲酸酯污染的地区，
03:58
and if there are bacteria that are able to live in these areas,
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同时在这些地区有可以存活的细菌，
04:01
then perhaps, perhaps these bacteria could have evolved
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那么也许，也许这些细菌可以进化
04:05
to break down phthalates.
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到分解邻苯二甲酸酯。
04:07
MW: So we presented this good idea
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汪郁雯：所以我们将这个不错的主意
04:10
to Dr. Lindsay Eltis at the University of British Columbia,
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提交给了英属哥伦比亚大学的林赛埃尔迪斯（音译）博士，
04:13
and surprisingly, he actually took us into his lab
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出乎我们意料的是，他让我们加入了他的实验室
04:16
and asked his graduate students Adam and James to help us.
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同时让他的研究生亚当（音译）和詹姆斯（音译）协助我们。
04:20
Little did we know at that time
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那时候我们根本没有想到
04:22
that a trip to the dump and some research on the Internet
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这段参观垃圾场的经历，在因特网上做的一些研究以及
04:25
and plucking up the courage to act upon inspiration
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鼓起勇气按照灵感行动
04:28
would take us on a life-changing journey
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会将我们带上一段充满意外跟发现
04:30
of accidents and discoveries.
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甚至改变了我们人生的旅程。
04:33
JY: The first step in our project
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姚佳韵：我们计划中的第一步
04:35
was to collect soil samples from three different sites
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是从弗雷泽河周边三个不同地点
04:37
along the Fraser River.
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采集土壤样本。
04:39
Out of thousands of bacteria, we wanted to find ones
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我们想要从上千种细菌中找出
04:42
that could break down phthalates,
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可以分解邻苯二甲酸酯的，
04:43
so we enriched our cultures with phthalates
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为此我们用邻苯二甲酸酯作为
04:45
as the only carbon source.
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培养基中的唯一碳源。
04:47
This implied that, if anything grew in our cultures,
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这意味着，如果有任何细菌可以在我们的培养基中生长，
04:49
then they must be able to live off of phthalates.
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那么他们必然可以靠邻苯二甲酸酯存活。
04:52
Everything went well from there,
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从那以后一切都很顺利，
04:54
and we became amazing scientists. (Laughter)
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并且我们成为了不可思议的科学家。（笑声）
04:57
MW: Um ... uh, Jeanny. JY: I'm just joking.
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汪郁雯：唔，珍妮。 姚佳韵：我就是开个玩笑。
05:00
MW: Okay. Well, it was partially my fault.
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汪郁雯：好吧，我也有部分责任。
05:02
You see, I accidentally cracked the flask
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你看，我意外地打破了
05:05
that had contained our third enrichment culture,
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装有我们第三个加富培养基的烧瓶，
05:07
and as a result, we had to wipe down the incubator room
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结果就是我们不得不用漂白剂跟酒精
05:10
with bleach and ethanol twice.
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将细菌培养室擦洗了两遍。
05:12
And this is only one of the examples of the many accidents
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这仅仅是我们实验过程中
05:15
that happened during our experimentation.
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许多意外中的一个例子。
05:17
But this mistake turned out to be rather serendipitous.
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但这个不小心却变成了一个意外的收获。
05:20
We noticed that the unharmed cultures
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我们注意到没有破损的培养基
05:23
came from places of opposite contamination levels,
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来自于污染程度完全相反的两个地方（鸟类保护区和垃圾填堆区），
05:26
so this mistake actually led us to think that
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这使我们想到
05:28
perhaps we can compare
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也许我们可以比较
05:30
the different degradative potentials of bacteria
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污染程度相反地点所采集到的细菌
05:33
from sites of opposite contamination levels.
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降解能力的不同。
05:37
JY: Now that we grew the bacteria,
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姚佳韵：接下来在我们培养细菌的时候，
05:39
we wanted to isolate strains by streaking onto mediate plates,
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我们想要用划线接种到调节板的方法来将菌种分离，
05:42
because we thought that would be
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因为我们觉得这样可以
05:44
less accident-prone, but we were wrong again.
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降低发生意外的可能，但我们又错了。
05:47
We poked holes in our agar while streaking
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当我们在划线接种的时候戳破了培养基
05:51
and contaminated some samples and funghi.
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并且污染了一些样本跟真菌。
05:53
As a result, we had to streak and restreak several times.
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结果就是，我们不得不多尝试几次。
05:56
Then we monitored phthalate utilization
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之后我们监测了邻苯二甲酸酯使用率
05:59
and bacterial growth,
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跟细菌增长率，
06:01
and found that they shared an inverse correlation,
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我们发现这两者呈现出负相关，
06:03
so as bacterial populations increased,
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所以当细菌数量增长时，
06:06
phthalate concentrations decreased.
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邻苯二甲酸酯浓度就会降低。
06:08
This means that our bacteria were actually living off of phthalates.
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这意味着我们的细菌实际上是靠邻苯二甲酸酯存活的。
06:12
MW: So now that we found bacteria that could break down phthalates,
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汪郁雯： 如今我们发现了可以分解邻苯二甲酸酯的细菌，
06:15
we wondered what these bacteria were.
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我们想要了解这些究竟是怎样的细菌。
06:17
So Jeanny and I took three of our most efficient strains
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所以珍妮和我取样了三种最有效的菌株
06:20
and then performed gene amplification sequencing on them
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之后对它们进行了基因扩增测序
06:23
and matched our data with an online comprehensive database.
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并且将我们的数据跟一个综合在线数据库进行了比对。
06:26
We were happy to see that,
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我们高兴地发现，
06:27
although our three strains had been previously identified bacteria,
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尽管我们的三个菌株是已经被识别的细菌，
06:31
two of them were not previously associated
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但其中两个之前并未与
06:34
with phthalate degradation, so this was actually a novel discovery.
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邻苯二甲酸酯的降解联系在一起，所以这实际上是一个全新的发现。
06:38
JY: To better understand how this biodegradation works,
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姚佳韵：为了更好地理解这样一个生物降解过程，
06:42
we wanted to verify the catabolic pathways of our three strains.
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我们想要检测这三个菌株的分解代谢过程。
06:46
To do this, we extracted enzymes from our bacteria
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为此，我们从这些细菌中提举了酶样本
06:49
and reacted with an intermediate of phthalic acid.
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并且跟一种邻苯二甲酸媒介进行了化学反应。
06:52
MW: We monitored this experiment with spectrophotometry
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汪郁雯：我们使用分光光度测定法监测了这个实验
06:55
and obtained this beautiful graph.
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并且获得了这个美丽的曲线图。
06:58
This graph shows that our bacteria really do have
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这个曲线图显示我们的细菌确实有一种
07:00
a genetic pathway to biodegrade phthalates.
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可以生物降解邻苯二甲酸酯的基因路径。
07:03
Our bacteria can transform phthalates, which is a harmful toxin,
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我们的细菌可以将邻苯二甲酸酯这样一种有害毒素
07:06
into end products such as carbon dioxide, water
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转化成二氧化碳，水
07:09
and alcohol.
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还有酒精。
07:10
I know some of you in the crowd are thinking,
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我知道你们当中肯定会有人在想，
07:11
well, carbon dioxide is horrible, it's a greenhouse gas.
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二氧化碳是很可怕的，它是温室气体。
07:15
But if our bacteria did not evolve to break down phthalates,
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但如果我们的细菌没有进化到可以降解邻苯二甲酸酯，
07:18
they would have used some other kind of carbon source,
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他们就会使用其它碳资源，
07:21
and aerobic respiration would have led it
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同时有氧呼吸会使其
07:23
to have end products such as carbon dioxide anyway.
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最终还是成为二氧化碳。
07:26
We were also interested to see that,
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我们惊喜地看到，
07:28
although we've obtained greater diversity
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尽管我们从鸟类栖息地采集到了
07:31
of bacteria biodegraders from the bird habitat site,
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多种多样的具有降解能力的细菌，
07:33
we obtained the most efficient degraders from the landfill site.
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我们所获取到的降解效果最佳的细菌却来自垃圾堆。
07:37
So this fully shows that nature evolves
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这也充分显示了是自然界进化是
07:39
through natural selection.
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物竞天择的。
07:42
JY: So Miranda and I shared this research
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姚佳韵：米兰达和我在赛诺菲（音译）生物天才挑战赛上
07:44
at the Sanofi BioGENEius Challenge competition and were recognized
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分享了这个研究，同时
07:47
with the greatest commercialization potential.
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也被认为最具有商业潜能。
07:50
Although we're not the first ones to find bacteria
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尽管我们不是第一个发现细菌
07:53
that can break down phthalates,
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可以用来分解邻苯二甲酸酯的人，
07:54
we were the first ones to look into our local river
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但我们是第一个对本地的河流进行调查
07:56
and find a possible solution to a local problem.
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并找出方法解决本地问题的人。
08:00
We have not only shown that bacteria
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我们不仅证明了细菌
08:03
can be the solution to plastic pollution, but also that
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解决塑料污染的方法，也证明了
08:06
being open to uncertain outcomes and taking risks
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对未知结果的开放态度以及冒险精神
08:09
create opportunities for unexpected discoveries.
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可以为意外发现创造机会。
08:13
Throughout this journey, we have also discovered our passion for science,
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通过这样的经历，我们也发现自己对于科学的热情，
08:16
and are currently continuing research
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如今我们在大学里继续着
08:18
on other fossil fuel chemicals in university.
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对其它化石燃料化学成分的研究。
08:21
We hope that in the near future,
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我们希望在不久的将来，
08:23
we'll be able to create model organisms
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我们可以创造出模型生物体
08:25
that can break down not only phthalates
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用来分解除了邻苯二甲酸酯以外
08:27
but a wide variety of different contaminants.
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更多品种的污染物。
08:31
We can apply this to wastewater treatment plants
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我们可以将此应用在污水处理厂
08:34
to clean up our rivers
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来净化我们的河流
08:35
and other natural resources.
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以及其他自然资源。
08:37
And perhaps one day we'll be able to tackle
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并且也许有一天我们能够解决
08:40
the problem of solid plastic waste.
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固体塑料垃圾的问题。
08:44
MW: I think our journey has truly transformed
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汪郁雯：我认为我们的经历确实改变了
08:46
our view of microorganisms,
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我们关于微生物的观点，
08:48
and Jeanny and I have shown that
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珍妮和我证明了
08:50
even mistakes can lead to discoveries.
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即使错误也能带来新的发现。
08:52
Einstein once said,
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爱因斯坦曾说过，
08:53
"You can't solve problems by using the same kind
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“你不可以用你造成问题的思路
08:56
of thinking you used when you created them."
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去解决你的问题。”
08:59
If we're making plastic synthetically, then we think
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如果我们制造塑料的方式是“（人工）合成式”的，那么我们
09:02
the solution would be to break them down biochemically.
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解决塑料污染问题的方式就是“生物化学降解式”的。
09:06
Thank you. JY: Thank you.
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谢谢大家。姚佳韵：谢谢大家。
09:08
(Applause)
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（掌声）
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Miranda Wang and Jeanny Yao - Science fair winnersMiranda Wang and Jeanny Yao have identified a new bacteria that breaks down nasty compounds called phthalates, common to flexible plastics and linked to health problems. And they’re still teenagers.
Why you should listen
After a visit to a plastic-filled waste transfer station last year, students Miranda Wang and Jeanny Yao learned that much of the plastic in trash may not degrade for 5,000 years. Synthesized into plastics are phthalates, compounds that make shower curtain liners, food wraps and other products bendable but may also adversely impact human reproductive development and health. As plastics slowly break down, these phthalates would leach into the surrounding environment.
So, the two young scientists tackled the problem and ultimately discovered strains of bacteria that have the potential to naturally degrade phthalates. Their work earned a regional first place in British Columbia for the 2012 Sanofi BioGENEius Challenge Canada, as well as a special award for the most commercial potential at the contest’s finals.
Miranda Wang and Jeanny Yao | Speaker | TED.com