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Ed Boyden: A new way to study the brain's invisible secrets
Ed Boyden: 由婴儿尿布所启发的大脑研究新法
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神经工程学家Ed Boyden想要了解，我们脑中微小的生物分子是如何让我们产生情绪，思想和情感的；想要了解是怎样的生物分子变化导致了像癫痫和老年痴呆症这样的疾病。与其通过显微镜来观察这些几乎看不到的构造，他在想：可不可以将这些构造放大，然后进行观察？让我们来看看，他是怎样使用纸尿裤中含有的聚合物来更好地研究我们的大脑。
Ed Boyden - Neuroengineer
Ed Boyden is a professor of biological engineering and brain and cognitive sciences at the MIT Media Lab and the MIT McGovern Institute. Full bio
Ed Boyden is a professor of biological engineering and brain and cognitive sciences at the MIT Media Lab and the MIT McGovern Institute. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:12
Hello, everybody.
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大家好
00:14
I brought with me today a baby diaper.
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今天我带来了婴儿纸尿布
00:18
You'll see why in a second.
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等一下，你们就知道为什么了
00:20
Baby diapers have interesting properties.
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婴儿纸尿布有些很有趣的特性
00:22
They can swell enormously
when you add water to them,
when you add water to them,
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比如加水会膨胀
00:25
an experiment done
by millions of kids every day.
by millions of kids every day.
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每天有数百万的小孩在做这个实验
00:28
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
00:29
But the reason why
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但尿布会膨胀的原因
00:30
is that they're designed
in a very clever way.
in a very clever way.
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是源于它们的巧妙设计
00:33
They're made out of a thing
called a swellable material.
called a swellable material.
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它们是用可膨胀的材料制成
00:35
It's a special kind of material that,
when you add water,
when you add water,
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如果把水加到这种特殊材料中
00:38
it will swell up enormously,
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它就会疯狂地膨胀
00:40
maybe a thousand times in volume.
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体积约胀到1000倍
00:42
And this is a very useful,
industrial kind of polymer.
industrial kind of polymer.
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这是个非常有用的工业类聚合物
00:45
But what we're trying to do
in my group at MIT
in my group at MIT
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我在麻省理工学院的研究团队
00:48
is to figure out if we can do
something similar to the brain.
something similar to the brain.
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想要尝试用类似的方法让大脑膨胀
00:51
Can we make it bigger,
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试试我们能否把人脑胀大
00:52
big enough that you
can peer inside
can peer inside
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大到可以让人窥视它的内部
00:54
and see all the tiny building blocks,
the biomolecules,
the biomolecules,
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看里面的小组件和生物分子
00:57
how they're organized in three dimensions,
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看它们在三度空间的组合方式
00:59
the structure, the ground truth
structure of the brain, if you will?
structure of the brain, if you will?
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看大脑的结构和里面的实况
01:02
If we could get that,
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如果办得到
01:03
maybe we could have a better understanding
of how the brain is organized
of how the brain is organized
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也许我们能更理解人脑的组织
01:07
to yield thoughts and emotions
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理解它如何产生思想和情感
01:09
and actions and sensations.
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行动和感觉
01:10
Maybe we could try to pinpoint
the exact changes in the brain
the exact changes in the brain
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或许我们可以知道究竟是什么产生了变化
01:14
that result in diseases,
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导致大脑发生病变
01:16
diseases like Alzheimer's
and epilepsy and Parkinson's,
and epilepsy and Parkinson's,
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像是老年痴呆症、癫痫和帕金森氏症这些疾病
01:19
for which there are few
treatments, much less cures,
treatments, much less cures,
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这些疾病只有少数相应疗法，极少人可以被治愈
01:22
and for which, very often,
we don't know the cause or the origins
we don't know the cause or the origins
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我们往往不知道这些疾病的原因或者起源
01:25
and what's really causing them to occur.
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以及是什么引发了疾病
01:28
Now, our group at MIT
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我们在麻省理工学院的研究小组
01:30
is trying to take
a different point of view
a different point of view
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正尝试采取不同的观点
01:33
from the way neuroscience has
been done over the last hundred years.
been done over the last hundred years.
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这些观点有别于过往百年研究神经科学的方法
01:36
We're designers. We're inventors.
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我们既是设计师，又是发明家
01:37
We're trying to figure out
how to build technologies
how to build technologies
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我们正在尝试怎样发明出新的科技
01:40
that let us look at and repair the brain.
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能让我们审视和修复大脑
01:42
And the reason is,
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这么做的原因是
01:44
the brain is incredibly,
incredibly complicated.
incredibly complicated.
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大脑的复杂程度令人难以置信
01:47
So what we've learned
over the first century of neuroscience
over the first century of neuroscience
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回望脑神经科学研究的第一个百年,我们得知了
01:50
is that the brain is a very
complicated network,
complicated network,
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大脑是个很复杂的网络
01:52
made out of very specialized
cells called neurons
cells called neurons
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由称做神经元的特殊细胞
01:55
with very complex geometries,
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以复杂的几何形状连结而成
01:56
and electrical currents will flow
through these complexly shaped neurons.
through these complexly shaped neurons.
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电流可以通过这些形状复杂的神经元
02:01
Furthermore, neurons
are connected in networks.
are connected in networks.
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此外，神经元被连接在网络中
02:04
They're connected by little junctions
called synapses that exchange chemicals
called synapses that exchange chemicals
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它们通过被称为突触的微小连接口来交换化学物质
02:08
and allow the neurons
to talk to each other.
to talk to each other.
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让神经元彼此间交流讯息
02:10
The density of the brain is incredible.
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大脑有着不可思议的高密度
02:12
In a cubic millimeter of your brain,
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在每一立方毫米的大脑中
02:14
there are about 100,000 of these neurons
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约有十万个神经元
02:17
and maybe a billion of those connections.
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可能有十亿个连接
02:20
But it's worse.
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怎么可能进行研究
02:22
So, if you could zoom in to a neuron,
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如果你能拉近神经元放大看
02:24
and, of course, this is just
our artist's rendition of it.
our artist's rendition of it.
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当然，你们看到的这个只是我们的艺术家做的图像
02:27
What you would see are thousands
and thousands of kinds of biomolecules,
and thousands of kinds of biomolecules,
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你会看到成千上万种的生物分子
02:31
little nanoscale machines
organized in complex, 3D patterns,
organized in complex, 3D patterns,
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这些立体3D、纳米级的结构共同作用
02:36
and together they mediate
those electrical pulses,
those electrical pulses,
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产生电脉冲
02:38
those chemical exchanges
that allow neurons to work together
that allow neurons to work together
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并交换化学物质，使神经元相互作用
02:42
to generate things like thoughts
and feelings and so forth.
and feelings and so forth.
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以产生想法、感觉等等
02:46
Now, we don't know how
the neurons in the brain are organized
the neurons in the brain are organized
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我们不知道大脑中的神经元
02:50
to form networks,
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是如何形成网络系统的
02:51
and we don't know how
the biomolecules are organized
the biomolecules are organized
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我们也不知道生物分子
02:53
within neurons
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是如何在神经元中
02:55
to form these complex, organized machines.
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形成这复杂有序的机制的
02:57
If we really want to understand this,
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如果我们真想理解这些问题
02:59
we're going to need new technologies.
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就必须有新的技术
03:01
But if we could get such maps,
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如果我们可以做出图像
03:03
if we could look at the organization
of molecules and neurons
of molecules and neurons
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让我们看得到分子和神经元的构造
03:06
and neurons and networks,
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和神经元网络系统
03:07
maybe we could really understand
how the brain conducts information
how the brain conducts information
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也许我们能真正了解大脑是如何传送
03:11
from sensory regions,
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来自感官区的信号
03:12
mixes it with emotion and feeling,
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从而混合入情绪和情感
03:14
and generates our decisions and actions.
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以产生决策和行动
03:17
Maybe we could pinpoint the exact set
of molecular changes that occur
of molecular changes that occur
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也许我们可以确切查明
03:20
in a brain disorder.
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病变大脑中产生变化的分子
03:22
And once we know how
those molecules have changed,
those molecules have changed,
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一旦我们弄清楚分子如何改变
03:25
whether they've increased in number
or changed in pattern,
or changed in pattern,
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不论是数目增加或是型态改变
03:27
we could use those
as targets for new drugs,
as targets for new drugs,
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我们可以把这些分子用来开发新药
03:30
for new ways of delivering
energy into the brain
energy into the brain
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用来发明新的把能量传送到大脑的方式
03:33
in order to repair the brain
computations that are afflicted
computations that are afflicted
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帮助受脑疾折磨的患者
03:36
in patients who suffer
from brain disorders.
from brain disorders.
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修复它们脑中受损的地方
03:39
We've all seen lots of different
technologies over the last century
technologies over the last century
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我们已经见证到，上个世纪有许多技术
03:43
to try to confront this.
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都尝试要解決这个问题
03:44
I think we've all seen brain scans
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我们都见过核磁共振成像仪
03:46
taken using MRI machines.
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被用来扫描脑部
03:48
These, of course, have the great power
that they are noninvasive,
that they are noninvasive,
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当然，这些仪器有不具侵入性
03:51
they can be used on living human subjects.
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所以可用于活体研究
03:54
But also, they're spatially crude.
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但是它们的成像却很粗糙
03:56
Each of these blobs that you see,
or voxels, as they're called,
or voxels, as they're called,
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你可以看到的这些黄色块状物，或者立体像素
03:59
can contain millions
and millions of neurons.
and millions of neurons.
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可能包含有数以百万计的神经元
04:02
So it's not at the level of resolution
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这样的分辨率
04:04
where it can pinpoint
the molecular changes that occur
the molecular changes that occur
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仍不足以查明是哪些分子发生了变化
04:06
or the changes in the wiring
of these networks
of these networks
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或哪些连接有了变化
04:09
that contributes to our ability
to be conscious and powerful beings.
to be conscious and powerful beings.
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正是这些使我们成为有意识的强大的生物
04:13
At the other extreme,
you have microscopes.
you have microscopes.
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另一个极端的仪器是显微镜
04:17
Microscopes, of course, will use light
to look at little tiny things.
to look at little tiny things.
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显微镜利用光源来观察微小的东西
04:20
For centuries, they've been used
to look at things like bacteria.
to look at things like bacteria.
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数百年来被用以观察像细菌这样的小东西
04:23
For neuroscience,
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就神经科学来说
04:24
microscopes are actually how neurons
were discovered in the first place,
were discovered in the first place,
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我们首次使用显微镜发现神经元
04:28
about 130 years ago.
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大约是在130年前
04:29
But light is fundamentally limited.
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但"光"有极大的局限性
04:31
You can't see individual molecules
with a regular old microscope.
with a regular old microscope.
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用普通的旧式光学显微镜人们无法看到单个分子
04:35
You can't look at these tiny connections.
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看不到这些微小的连接
04:37
So if we want to make our ability
to see the brain more powerful,
to see the brain more powerful,
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所以，如果我们要用更强而有力的方法
04:41
to get down to the ground truth structure,
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来观察大脑的结构
04:43
we're going to need to have
even better technologies.
even better technologies.
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我们需有更好的技术
04:47
My group, a couple years ago,
started thinking:
started thinking:
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几年前，我的研究小组开始思考
04:49
Why don't we do the opposite?
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何不反向操作呢
04:51
If it's so darn complicated
to zoom in to the brain,
to zoom in to the brain,
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如果想试着拉近距离去观察大脑这么费劲
04:53
why can't we make the brain bigger?
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我们为什么不把大脑变大呢
04:56
It initially started
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开始这个项目的是我组里的两个研究生
04:57
with two grad students in my group,
Fei Chen and Paul Tillberg.
Fei Chen and Paul Tillberg.
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Fei Chen和Paul Tillberg
05:00
Now many others in my group
are helping with this process.
are helping with this process.
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现在有更多人加入进来帮着做
05:03
We decided to try to figure out
if we could take polymers,
if we could take polymers,
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我们决定要找出方法，尝试利用聚合物
05:05
like the stuff in the baby diaper,
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就是婴儿纸尿裤中的那个材料
05:07
and install it physically
within the brain.
within the brain.
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把它放在大脑中
05:09
If we could do it just right,
and you add water,
and you add water,
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如果做得恰到好处，再加入水
05:11
you can potentially blow the brain up
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就可能把大脑放大到
05:13
to where you could distinguish
those tiny biomolecules from each other.
those tiny biomolecules from each other.
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足以把小分子个别地分辨出来的程度
05:17
You would see those connections
and get maps of the brain.
and get maps of the brain.
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这样你就可以看到脑中那些(神经元)连结的图像
05:19
This could potentially be quite dramatic.
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这相当激励人心
05:22
We brought a little demo here.
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我今天准备向各位演示一下
05:25
We got some purified baby diaper material.
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这有一些婴儿纸尿裤的原料
05:28
It's much easier
just to buy it off the Internet
just to buy it off the Internet
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在网上直接买这个
05:30
than to extract the few grains
that actually occur in these diapers.
that actually occur in these diapers.
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比从纸尿布里提取少数原料要容易得多
05:33
I'm going to put just one teaspoon here
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我只放入一茶匙的
05:36
of this purified polymer.
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精致聚合物
05:39
And here we have some water.
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然后加入一些水
05:41
What we're going to do
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接下来要做的
05:42
is see if this teaspoon
of the baby diaper material
of the baby diaper material
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是看看这一茶匙的聚合物会不会
05:45
can increase in size.
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膨胀开来
05:48
You're going to see it increase in volume
by about a thousandfold
by about a thousandfold
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现在，各位可以亲眼看到
05:52
before your very eyes.
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它大约会膨胀一千倍
06:01
I could pour much more of this in there,
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我可以继续加水
06:03
but I think you've got the idea
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但大家肯定已经知道会发生什么了
06:05
that this is a very,
very interesting molecule,
very interesting molecule,
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这是一种非常有意思的分子
06:07
and if can use it in the right way,
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如果使用得当
06:09
we might be able
to really zoom in on the brain
to really zoom in on the brain
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我们就可以观察到
06:11
in a way that you can't do
with past technologies.
with past technologies.
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以前无法观察到的大脑细节
06:15
OK. So a little bit of chemistry now.
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好了，讲化学时间到
06:17
What's going on
in the baby diaper polymer?
in the baby diaper polymer?
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纸尿裤里的聚合物发生了什么呢
06:19
If you could zoom in,
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如果你能拉近放大来看
06:21
it might look something like
what you see on the screen.
what you see on the screen.
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可能就像你现在在屏幕上看到的
06:24
Polymers are chains of atoms
arranged in long, thin lines.
arranged in long, thin lines.
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这个聚合物正是由原子排成的众多细长的链条组成
06:28
The chains are very tiny,
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这些链条非常微小
06:30
about the width of a biomolecule,
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大约是一个生物分子的宽度
06:31
and these polymers are really dense.
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而且这些聚合物非常密集
06:33
They're separated by distances
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它们之间的距离
06:35
that are around the size of a biomolecule.
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大约是一个生物分子的大小
06:37
This is very good
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这非常好
06:38
because we could potentially
move everything apart in the brain.
move everything apart in the brain.
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因为我们就可能把大脑每一部分都分解开
06:41
If we add water, what will happen is,
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如果再加入水
06:43
this swellable material
is going to absorb the water,
is going to absorb the water,
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这个会膨胀的物质会吸收水分
06:46
the polymer chains will move
apart from each other,
apart from each other,
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聚合物链条彼此间的距离就会拉远
06:48
and the entire material
is going to become bigger.
is going to become bigger.
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整个体积就会变得更大
06:51
And because these chains are so tiny
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由于这些链条是如此的渺小
06:53
and spaced by biomolecular distances,
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而且原本的间距只有一个生物分子那么一丁点大
06:55
we could potentially blow up the brain
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所以我们可能令让大脑膨胀
06:57
and make it big enough to see.
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大到足以被观察
07:00
Here's the mystery, then:
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需要解决的一点是
07:01
How do we actually make
these polymer chains inside the brain
these polymer chains inside the brain
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我们要如何把聚合物链置入大脑中
07:04
so we can move all the biomolecules apart?
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让我们得以拉开生物分子的间距呢
07:07
If we could do that,
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如果做得到
07:08
maybe we could get
ground truth maps of the brain.
ground truth maps of the brain.
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或许我们就能得到大脑图的实况
07:10
We could look at the wiring.
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观察到大脑的连接系统
07:12
We can peer inside
and see the molecules within.
and see the molecules within.
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及里面的分子状况
07:15
To explain this, we made some animations
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我们准备了一个动画视频来解释这一点
07:18
where we actually look
at, in these artist renderings,
at, in these artist renderings,
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在这个艺术家的作品中，我们可以看到
07:21
what biomolecules might look
like and how we might separate them.
like and how we might separate them.
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生物分子的样貌和我们如何把它们分开的情况
07:24
Step one: what we'd have
to do, first of all,
to do, first of all,
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步骤一：首先我们要做的是
07:27
is attach every biomolecule,
shown in brown here,
shown in brown here,
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在每一个棕色的生物分子上
07:30
to a little anchor, a little handle.
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粘上一个小锚，小把手
07:32
We need to pull the molecules
of the brain apart from each other,
of the brain apart from each other,
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想要把大脑中分子之间的距离拉远
07:35
and to do that, we need
to have a little handle
to have a little handle
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我们需要利用这些小把手
07:38
that allows those polymers to bind to them
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让聚合物和分子连接起来
07:40
and to exert their force.
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因此让聚合物产生效应
07:43
Now, if you just take baby diaper
polymer and dump it on the brain,
polymer and dump it on the brain,
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如果只把尿布中的聚合物直接倒在大脑上
07:46
obviously, it's going to sit there on top.
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很显然，它们就只会堆在上面而已
07:48
So we need to find a way
to make the polymers inside.
to make the polymers inside.
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因此，我们需要找个方法让聚合物进到大脑里面去
07:51
And this is where we're really lucky.
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在研究过程中我们特别幸运
07:52
It turns out, you can
get the building blocks,
get the building blocks,
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发现我们可以利用一些建筑块
07:55
monomers, as they're called,
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一种被叫做"单体"的东西
07:56
and if you let them go into the brain
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如果把它们放到大脑里面
07:58
and then trigger the chemical reactions,
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它们就会触发化学反应
08:00
you can get them to form
those long chains,
those long chains,
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然后在大脑组织里
08:03
right there inside the brain tissue.
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形成细长的链条
08:05
They're going to wind their way
around biomolecules
around biomolecules
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这些链条会缠绕住生物分子
08:07
and between biomolecules,
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也会占住生物分子间的空隙
08:08
forming those complex webs
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形成复杂的网络
08:10
that will allow you, eventually,
to pull apart the molecules
to pull apart the molecules
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最终，这可以使
08:13
from each other.
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大脑中的分子被拉开
08:14
And every time one
of those little handles is around,
of those little handles is around,
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在有小把手的地方
08:17
the polymer will bind to the handle,
and that's exactly what we need
and that's exactly what we need
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聚合物就会粘住这些把手
08:21
in order to pull the molecules
apart from each other.
apart from each other.
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正好可以成为拉开分子的施力点
08:23
All right, the moment of truth.
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好吧，讲到关键时刻
08:25
We have to treat this specimen
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我们得先用化学物质处理样本
08:27
with a chemical to kind of loosen up
all the molecules from each other,
all the molecules from each other,
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让分子彼此分散开
08:31
and then, when we add water,
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然后加水
08:32
that swellable material is going
to start absorbing the water,
to start absorbing the water,
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这个会膨胀的材料开始吸收水分
08:35
the polymer chains will move apart,
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聚合物链条会移动开来
08:37
but now, the biomolecules
will come along for the ride.
will come along for the ride.
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这一次，生物分子也会跟随着一起移动
08:40
And much like drawing
a picture on a balloon,
a picture on a balloon,
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就像一个被画了图画的气球
08:42
and then you blow up the balloon,
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如果被吹大
08:44
the image is the same,
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气球上的画还是同一幅画
08:45
but the ink particles have moved
away from each other.
away from each other.
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但是上面的颜色分子间的距离被拉大了
08:48
And that's what we've been able
to do now, but in three dimensions.
to do now, but in three dimensions.
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这正是我们所做的，不过是在三维空间里
08:51
There's one last trick.
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还有最后一个点
08:53
As you can see here,
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如你所见
08:54
we've color-coded
all the biomolecules brown.
all the biomolecules brown.
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我们把所有的生物分子都标成棕色
08:56
That's because they all
kind of look the same.
kind of look the same.
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这是因为他们看起来都差不多是一样的
08:59
Biomolecules are made
out of the same atoms,
out of the same atoms,
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生物分子由相同的原子组成
09:01
but just in different orders.
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只是顺序有差异
09:03
So we need one last thing
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最后，我们还要做一件事
09:05
in order to make them visible.
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来把他们辨别出来
09:06
We have to bring in little tags,
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我们需要利用发光的染料
09:08
with glowing dyes
that will distinguish them.
that will distinguish them.
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作为区分他们的标示
09:11
So one kind of biomolecule
might get a blue color.
might get a blue color.
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所以某一种生物分子可能会被标成蓝色
09:14
Another kind of biomolecule
might get a red color.
might get a red color.
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而另一种会被标成红色
09:16
And so forth.
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等等
09:17
And that's the final step.
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这就是最后一步
09:19
Now we can look at something like a brain
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如此，我们就可以观察到大脑
09:21
and look at the individual molecules,
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和一个个不同的分子
09:23
because we've moved them
far apart enough from each other
far apart enough from each other
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因为我们已经把分子拉得足够开
09:26
that we can tell them apart.
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可以对它们进行分辨
09:27
So the hope here is that
we can make the invisible visible.
we can make the invisible visible.
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我们愿望是把不可见的变成可见的
09:30
We can turn things that might seem
small and obscure
small and obscure
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把小而模糊的东西放大
09:33
and blow them up
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并且不停地放大
09:34
until they're like constellations
of information about life.
of information about life.
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直到它们看起来像是生命信息的星座图
09:37
Here's an actual video
of what it might look like.
of what it might look like.
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这个视频正可以展现这个过程
09:40
We have here a little brain in a dish --
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碟里放着一個小小的脑
09:42
a little piece of a brain, actually.
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实际上是一片脑标本的切片
09:44
We've infused the polymer in,
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我们已在里面注入聚合物
09:45
and now we're adding water.
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现在要加水
09:47
What you'll see is that,
right before your eyes --
right before your eyes --
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你们现在看到的
09:49
this video is sped up about sixtyfold --
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是以加快了60倍速度放映的视频
09:51
this little piece of brain tissue
is going to grow.
is going to grow.
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这小片脑组织将会胀大
09:54
It can increase by a hundredfold
or even more in volume.
or even more in volume.
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它的体积将会胀成百倍或更大
09:57
And the cool part is, because
those polymers are so tiny,
those polymers are so tiny,
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最牛的是，因为聚合物是如此渺小
10:00
we're separating biomolecules
evenly from each other.
evenly from each other.
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我们能均匀地分开这些生物分子
10:03
It's a smooth expansion.
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这个过程会缓慢有序地进行
10:04
We're not losing the configuration
of the information.
of the information.
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而且信息的型态不会失真
10:07
We're just making it easier to see.
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我们只是把它变得更容易被观察
10:11
So now we can take
actual brain circuitry --
actual brain circuitry --
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现在我们可以取一个真实的大脑神经组织
10:13
here's a piece of the brain
involved with, for example, memory --
involved with, for example, memory --
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例如这片与记忆有关的部分
10:16
and we can zoom in.
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拉近放大后
10:17
We can start to actually look at
how circuits are configured.
how circuits are configured.
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就可以看到实际的神经电路构造
10:20
Maybe someday we could read out a memory.
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也许有一天我们能读出一段记忆
10:22
Maybe we could actually look
at how circuits are configured
at how circuits are configured
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也许我们能看到大脑在处理情绪的过程中
10:25
to process emotions,
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脑神经的回路状态
10:26
how the actual wiring
of our brain is organized
of our brain is organized
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以及脑内的神经是如何连结的
10:29
in order to make us who we are.
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正是这些决定了人与人思想之间的区别
10:32
And of course, we can pinpoint, hopefully,
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当然我们也更希望
10:34
the actual problems in the brain
at a molecular level.
at a molecular level.
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能在脑分子层面上分析出脑部病变的原因
10:37
What if we could actually
look into cells in the brain
look into cells in the brain
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试想，假如我们真的深入到大脑细胞里
10:40
and figure out, wow, here are the 17
molecules that have altered
molecules that have altered
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发现原来大脑组织中的有17个分子发生了病变
10:43
in this brain tissue that has been
undergoing epilepsy
undergoing epilepsy
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所以病人患了癫痫
10:46
or changing in Parkinson's disease
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或者帕金森氏综合症
10:48
or otherwise being altered?
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以及其它疾病，那就太好了
10:50
If we get that systematic list
of things that are going wrong,
of things that are going wrong,
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如果我们能有系统地把这些变异列表
10:53
those become our therapeutic targets.
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这就会变成我们治疗的目标
10:55
We can build drugs that bind those.
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我们可以针对那些目标来制药
10:57
We can maybe aim energy
at different parts of the brain
at different parts of the brain
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或许我们能集中精力研究不同的大脑部位
10:59
in order to help people
with Parkinson's or epilepsy
with Parkinson's or epilepsy
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以帮助世界各地
11:02
or other conditions that affect
over a billion people
over a billion people
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患有帕金森症、癫痫病
11:04
around the world.
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或其他病症的十亿人口
11:07
Now, something interesting
has been happening.
has been happening.
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有一种有意思的现象正在发生
11:09
It turns out that throughout biomedicine,
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原来，这个方法对整个生物医药界的研究
11:12
there are other problems
that expansion might help with.
that expansion might help with.
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也许都能帮得上忙
11:14
This is an actual biopsy
from a human breast cancer patient.
from a human breast cancer patient.
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这是来自一个乳腺癌患者的活体标本
11:18
It turns out that if you look at cancers,
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实际上，癌症
11:20
if you look at the immune system,
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免疫系统
11:22
if you look at aging,
if you look at development --
if you look at development --
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老化，生长
11:24
all these processes are involving
large-scale biological systems.
large-scale biological systems.
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所有这些过程都与大规模的生物系统有关
11:29
But of course, the problems begin
with those little nanoscale molecules,
with those little nanoscale molecules,
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当然，问题是从纳米级的分子开始的
11:33
the machines that make the cells
and the organs in our body tick.
and the organs in our body tick.
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这些分子正是引发细胞和器官活动的机器
11:37
So what we're trying
to do now is to figure out
to do now is to figure out
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我们目前正在试着理清
是否真的能用这个技术描绘出
11:39
if we can actually use this technology
to map the building blocks of life
to map the building blocks of life
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各式各样疾病中基础生命结构组成的脉络
11:43
in a wide variety of diseases.
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11:44
Can we actually pinpoint
the molecular changes in a tumor
the molecular changes in a tumor
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我们能否精确地看到肿瘤的分子变化
11:47
so that we can actually
go after it in a smart way
go after it in a smart way
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从而更有效地应对
11:50
and deliver drugs that might wipe out
exactly the cells that we want to?
exactly the cells that we want to?
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并将药物直接传送到我们想要的位置内呢
11:54
You know, a lot of medicine
is very high risk.
is very high risk.
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要知道，很多药物的风险非常高
11:56
Sometimes, it's even guesswork.
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有的药物并未被确定真正有效
11:58
My hope is we can actually turn
what might be a high-risk moon shot
what might be a high-risk moon shot
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我希望我们不只以高风险的登月思维做事
12:02
into something that's more reliable.
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而是发现更可靠的方式
12:04
If you think about the original moon shot,
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如果仔细想想我们的登月计划
12:06
where they actually landed on the moon,
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宇航员登陆月球的壮举
12:08
it was based on solid science.
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是基于扎实的科学研究的
12:09
We understood gravity;
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我们通晓重力
12:11
we understood aerodynamics.
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通晓空气动力学
12:12
We knew how to build rockets.
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知道如何建造火箭
12:14
The science risk was under control.
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科学的风险在我们的掌控之中
12:16
It was still a great, great
feat of engineering.
feat of engineering.
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至今，登月仍是个伟大的工程壮举
12:19
But in medicine, we don't
necessarily have all the laws.
necessarily have all the laws.
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但在医学上，我们未必有定律可循
12:22
Do we have all the laws
that are analogous to gravity,
that are analogous to gravity,
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我们未必能研究出类似重力
12:25
that are analogous to aerodynamics?
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和类似空气动力学的所有定律
12:27
I would argue that with technologies
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我认为，以我今天所谈论的技术
12:29
like the kinds I'm talking about today,
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也许某天我们真的能够
12:31
maybe we can actually derive those.
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导出那些定律来
12:33
We can map the patterns
that occur in living systems,
that occur in living systems,
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我们能描绘和测绘生命系统的模型
12:35
and figure out how to overcome
the diseases that plague us.
the diseases that plague us.
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找出方法来克服困扰我们的疾病
12:41
You know, my wife and I
have two young kids,
have two young kids,
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我妻子和我有两个年幼的孩子
12:43
and one of my hopes as a bioengineer
is to make life better for them
is to make life better for them
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身为一个生物工程学家，我有个心愿是
12:46
than it currently is for us.
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希望孩子们未来的生活能比目前我们的更美好
12:48
And my hope is, if we can
turn biology and medicine
turn biology and medicine
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我希望我们能把生物学和医学的研究
12:52
from these high-risk endeavors
that are governed by chance and luck,
that are governed by chance and luck,
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从偶然和运气支配又高风险的努力
12:56
and make them things
that we win by skill and hard work,
that we win by skill and hard work,
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转向以技艺和勤奋支配却真正有效的工作
13:00
then that would be a great advance.
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那么这将是一个巨大的进步
13:02
Thank you very much.
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非常感谢
13:03
(Applause)
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（掌声）
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Ed Boyden - NeuroengineerEd Boyden is a professor of biological engineering and brain and cognitive sciences at the MIT Media Lab and the MIT McGovern Institute.
Why you should listen
Ed Boyden leads the Synthetic Neurobiology Group, which develops tools for analyzing and repairing complex biological systems such as the brain. His group applies these tools in a systematic way in order to reveal ground truth scientific understandings of biological systems, which in turn reveal radical new approaches for curing diseases and repairing disabilities. These technologies include expansion microscopy, which enables complex biological systems to be imaged with nanoscale precision, and optogenetic tools, which enable the activation and silencing of neural activity with light (TED Talk: A light switch for neurons). Boyden also co-directs the MIT Center for Neurobiological Engineering, which aims to develop new tools to accelerate neuroscience progress.
Amongst other recognitions, Boyden has received the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences (2016), the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award (2015), the Carnegie Prize in Mind and Brain Sciences (2015), the Jacob Heskel Gabbay Award (2013), the Grete Lundbeck Brain Prize (2013) and the NIH Director's Pioneer Award (2013). He was also named to the World Economic Forum Young Scientist list (2013) and the Technology Review World's "Top 35 Innovators under Age 35" list (2006). His group has hosted hundreds of visitors to learn how to use new biotechnologies and spun out several companies to bring inventions out of his lab and into the world. Boyden received his Ph.D. in neurosciences from Stanford University as a Hertz Fellow, where he discovered that the molecular mechanisms used to store a memory are determined by the content to be learned. Before that, he received three degrees in electrical engineering, computer science and physics from MIT. He has contributed to over 300 peer-reviewed papers, current or pending patents and articles, and he has given over 300 invited talks on his group's work.
Ed Boyden | Speaker | TED.com