ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Jaap de Roode - Biologist
Jaap de Roode studies the ecology and evolution of parasites, focusing on those that attack the monarch butterfly.

Why you should listen

At his lab at Emory University, Jaap de Roode and his team study parasites and their hosts. Some of the questions that intrigue them: If a parasite depends on its host's survival for its own well-being, why do so many of them cause harm? In what ways are hosts able to self-medicate in order to make themselves less desirable to parasites? And are the abilities to harm hosts — and the ability of hosts to self-medicate — favored by natural selection?

The De Roode Lab focuses on the monarch butterfly and its parasites. The team has made a fascinating discovery: that female butterflies infected by a parasite choose to lay their eggs on a specific variety of milkweed that helps their offspring avoid getting sick. De Roode hopes that this insight could lead to new approaches in medications for human beings in the future.

More profile about the speaker
Jaap de Roode | Speaker | TED.com
TEDYouth 2014

Jaap de Roode: How butterflies self-medicate

Jaap de Roode: 蝴蝶如何自我治療

Filmed:
1,143,584 views

帝王班蝶和人類一樣為寄生蟲患病,生物學家 Roode 卻在研究時發現患病的雌蝶會把卵產在一種特別的植物上,讓下一代免為患病。牠們如何選擇這些植物?這種”新蝴蝶效應“可能會讓人類找到治病的新藥方。
- Biologist
Jaap de Roode studies the ecology and evolution of parasites, focusing on those that attack the monarch butterfly. Full bio

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

00:12
So infectious傳染病 diseases疾病, right?
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傳染病,
00:13
Infectious傳染病 diseases疾病
are still the main主要 cause原因
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傳染病仍然是全球人類
00:15
of human人的 suffering痛苦 and death死亡
around the world世界.
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生病和死亡的主因。
00:18
Every一切 year, millions百萬 of people die
of diseases疾病 such這樣 as T.B., malaria瘧疾, HIVHIV,
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每一年,全球有百萬人口
死於肺結核、瘧疾、愛滋,
00:23
around the world世界
and even in the United聯合的 States狀態.
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甚至在美國,
每年都有成千上萬的人因流感致命。
00:25
Every一切 year, thousands數千 of Americans美國人
die of seasonal時令的 flu流感.
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00:29
Now of course課程, humans人類,
we are creative創作的. Right?
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人類不是很有創意嗎?
00:31
We have come up with ways方法 to protect保護
ourselves我們自己 against反對 these diseases疾病.
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我們想出不少辦法保護自己,
00:34
We have drugs毒品 and vaccines疫苗.
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用藥物和疫苗抵抗傳染病。
00:36
And we're conscious意識 --
we learn學習 from our experiences經驗
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我們從經驗中學習,
00:39
and come up with creative創作的 solutions解決方案.
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不斷想出新的解決方案。
00:41
We used to think we're alone單獨 in this,
but now we know we're not.
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我們以為我們為此孤軍奮戰,
00:44
We're not the only medical doctors醫生.
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我們不是唯一會醫治自己的動物,
00:46
Now we know that there's a lot of animals動物
out there that can do it too.
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許多動物也有自己的方法,
00:49
Most famous著名, perhaps也許, chimpanzees黑猩猩.
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最有名的例子是黒猩猩,
00:51
Not so much different不同 from us,
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就像人類,
00:52
they can use plants植物
to treat對待 their intestinal parasites寄生蟲.
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牠們懂得用藥草驅逐腸胃裡的寄生蟲。
00:55
But the last few少數 decades幾十年 have shown顯示 us
that other animals動物 can do it too:
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過去幾十年間我們發現其它動物也能,
00:59
elephants大象, porcupines豪豬,
sheep, goats山羊, you name名稱 it.
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大象、刺蝟、山羊、綿羊,等等。
01:02
And even more interesting有趣 than that
is that recent最近 discoveries發現 are telling告訴 us
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有趣的是我們最近發現,
01:06
that insects昆蟲 and other little animals動物 with
smaller brains大腦 can use medication藥物治療 too.
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昆蟲與其它腦子較小的動物也會用藥。
01:11
The problem問題 with infectious傳染病 diseases疾病,
as we all know,
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我們都知道,傳染病的問題
01:14
is that pathogens病原體 continue繼續 to evolve發展,
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是病原體不斷演化,
01:16
and a lot of the drugs毒品
that we have developed發達
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以致我們開發出的藥物
01:18
are losing失去 their efficacy功效.
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隨之失效。
01:19
And therefore因此, there is this great need
to find new ways方法 to discover發現 drugs毒品
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我們迫切需要新方法
01:24
that we can use against反對 our diseases疾病.
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開發新藥物來治療傳染病。
01:26
Now, I think that we
should look at these animals動物,
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我認為我們應該研究這些動物,
01:28
and we can learn學習 from them
how to treat對待 our own擁有 diseases疾病.
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從牠們身上學習,來治療我們自己。
做為生物學家,
過去十年我致力研究帝王斑蝶,
01:32
As a biologist生物學家, I have been studying研究
monarch君主 butterflies蝴蝶 for the last 10 years年份.
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01:36
Now, monarchs君主 are extremely非常 famous著名
for their spectacular壯觀 migrations遷移
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帝王斑蝶以牠們的遷徙習性而出名
01:39
from the U.S. and Canada加拿大
down to Mexico墨西哥 every一切 year,
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從加拿大、美國南遷到墨西哥
01:43
where millions百萬 of them come together一起,
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數量以百萬計,
01:45
but it's not why I started開始 studying研究 them.
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但這不是我研究牠們的原因。
01:47
I study研究 monarchs君主 because they get sick生病.
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而是因為牠們和我們一樣
01:50
They get sick生病 like you.
They get sick生病 like me.
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會罹患傳染病,所以我研究牠們。
01:52
And I think what they do
can tell us a lot about drugs毒品
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我想研究牠們可以學習到
01:55
that we can develop發展 for humans人類.
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為人類開發藥物的方法。
01:57
Now, the parasites寄生蟲
that monarchs君主 get infected感染 with
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斑蝶染上的寄生蟲有個很長的名字,
01:59
are called ophryocystisophryocystis elektroscirrhaelektroscirrha --
a mouthful一口.
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叫 ophryocystis elektroscirrha。
02:03
What they do is they produce生產 spores孢子,
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它們在蝴蝶表面
02:05
millions百萬 of spores孢子
on the outside of the butterfly蝴蝶
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生產數以百萬的孢子,
02:07
that are shown顯示 as little specks斑點
in between之間 the scales of the butterfly蝴蝶.
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可以從翅膀上鱗與鱗之間的斑點見到。
02:11
And this is really detrimental有害
to the monarch君主.
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帝王斑蝶為此受到很大傷害
02:13
It shortens縮短 their lifespan壽命,
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不但縮短了牠們的壽命,
02:15
it reduces減少 their ability能力 to fly,
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也降低了牠們的飛行能力。
02:17
it can even kill them
before they're even adults成年人.
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甚至能在牠們成熟前就殺死牠們。
02:19
Very detrimental有害 parasite寄生物.
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一種極為可怕的寄生蟲。
02:21
As part部分 of my job工作, I spend a lot of time
in the greenhouse溫室 growing生長 plants植物,
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我的工作內容包括長時間在溫室養植物
02:25
and the reason原因 for this is that monarchs君主
are extremely非常 picky挑剔 eaters食客.
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因為帝王斑蝶很挑食。
02:29
They only eat milkweed馬利筋 as larvae幼蟲.
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帝王斑蝶的幼蟲只吃乳草。
02:31
Luckily, there are several一些
species種類 of milkweed馬利筋 that they can use,
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好險有幾種不同的乳草可供其食用,
02:34
and all these milkweeds馬利筋
have cardenolides卡烯內酯 in them.
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所有的乳草中都有
強心甾 (cardenolides)
02:36
These are chemicals化學製品 that are toxic有毒的.
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一種對許多動物都有影響的致命毒素。
02:38
They're toxic有毒的 to most animals動物,
but not to monarchs君主.
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但帝王斑蝶例外。
02:41
In fact事實, monarchs君主
can take up the chemicals化學製品,
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帝王斑蝶甚至能吸收這些化學成份,
02:43
put it in their own擁有 bodies身體,
and it makes品牌 them toxic有毒的
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以體內毒素抵抗牠們的天敵,
02:45
against反對 their predators大鱷, such這樣 as birds鳥類.
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例如鳥類。
02:48
And what they do, then,
is advertise廣告 this toxicity毒性
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牠們用身上鮮豔的黃黒白斑紋
02:50
through通過 their beautiful美麗
warning警告 colorations著色
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來廣告自己的毒性,
02:52
with this orange橙子, black黑色 and white白色.
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一種自然警告標識。
02:54
So what I did during my job工作
is grow增長 plants植物 in the greenhouse溫室,
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當我在溫室工作善盡己責
02:58
different不同 ones那些, different不同 milkweeds馬利筋.
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種植不同乳草時,
03:00
Some were toxic有毒的, including包含
the tropical熱帶 milkweed馬利筋,
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某些毒性很高,像是熱帶乳草,
03:02
with very high concentrations濃度
of these cardenolides卡烯內酯.
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有大量的強心甾 (cardenolides),
03:06
And some were not toxic有毒的.
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某些卻沒有毒素。
03:07
And then I fed美聯儲 them to monarchs君主.
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在我餵食帝王斑蝶時,
03:09
Some of the monarchs君主 were healthy健康.
They had no disease疾病.
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某些斑蝶沒有染病,很健康。
03:12
But some of the monarchs君主 were sick生病,
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某些斑蝶則生著病,
03:14
and what I found發現 is that
some of these milkweeds馬利筋 are medicinal藥用,
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我發現某些乳草有藥效,
03:17
meaning含義 they reduce減少 the disease疾病 symptoms症狀
in the monarch君主 butterflies蝴蝶,
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有效減低帝王斑蝶的症狀,
03:20
meaning含義 these monarchs君主 can live生活 longer
when they are infected感染
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只要牠們食用這些藥草,
03:23
when feeding饋送 on these medicinal藥用 plants植物.
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就可以延長自己的性命。
03:25
And when I found發現 this, I had this idea理念,
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當我發現的時候,
我有了一個很多人覺得很瘋狂的想法。
03:28
and a lot of people said
it was a crazy idea理念,
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03:30
but I thought,
what if monarchs君主 can use this?
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我想,如果帝王斑蝶可以應用呢?
03:32
What if they can use these plants植物
as their own擁有 form形成 of medicine醫學?
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如果牠們可以把這些乳草當做藥物呢?
03:35
What if they can act法案 as medical doctors醫生?
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如果牠們可以為自己開藥方呢?
03:38
So my team球隊 and I
started開始 doing experiments實驗.
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我的團隊和我開始實驗。
03:40
In the first types類型 of experiments實驗,
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在第一類實驗裡,
03:42
we had caterpillars毛毛蟲,
and gave them a choice選擇:
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我們給幼蟲兩種選擇:
03:44
medicinal藥用 milkweed馬利筋 versus
non-medicinal非藥物 milkweed馬利筋.
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有藥性的乳草和沒有藥性的乳草。
03:47
And then we measured測量 how much they ate
of each species種類 over their lifetime一生.
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然後測量牠們一生各自吃了多少。
03:51
And the result結果, as so often經常
in science科學, was boring無聊:
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就像大部分的科學研究結果一樣,
答案很無聊:
03:54
Fifty五十 percent百分 of their food餐飲 was medicinal藥用.
Fifty五十 percent百分 was not.
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有藥性和沒有藥性的各半。
03:58
These caterpillars毛毛蟲 didn't do
anything for their own擁有 welfare福利.
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這些幼蟲沒有為自己做出有利的選擇。
04:02
So then we moved移動 on to adult成人 butterflies蝴蝶,
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於是我們轉為研究成蝶,
04:04
and we started開始 asking the question
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我們想
04:06
whether是否 it's the mothers母親
that can medicate用藥 their offspring子孫.
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母蝶會對自己的幼蟲用藥嗎?
04:09
Can the mothers母親 lay鋪設 their eggs
on medicinal藥用 milkweed馬利筋
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牠們會把卵產在有藥效的乳草上,
04:12
that will make their
future未來 offspring子孫 less sick生病?
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減輕幼蟲的症狀?
04:15
We have doneDONE these experiments實驗 now
over several一些 years年份,
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我們複製這個實驗多年,
04:18
and always get the same相同 results結果.
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得到一樣的結果。
04:20
What we do is we put
a monarch君主 in a big cage,
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我們把帝王斑蝶放進大籠子裡
04:22
a medicinal藥用 plant on one side,
a non-medicinal非藥物 plant on the other side,
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一邊是的乳草是有藥性的,一邊沒有,
04:25
and then we measure測量 the number of eggs
that the monarchs君主 lay鋪設 on each plant.
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然後測量牠們在兩種乳草上的產卵數,
04:30
And what we find when we do that
is always the same相同.
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獲得的結果是一致的。
04:33
What we find is that the monarchs君主
strongly非常 prefer比較喜歡 the medicinal藥用 milkweed馬利筋.
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我們發現帝王斑蝶偏好藥性乳草。
04:36
In other words,
what these females女性 are doing
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換句話說,
04:39
is they're laying鋪設 68 percent百分
of their eggs in the medicinal藥用 milkweed馬利筋.
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雌蝶把 68% 的卵產在藥性乳草上。
04:42
Intriguingly有趣, what they do
is they actually其實 transmit發送 the parasites寄生蟲
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事實上,在牠們產卵的時候,
也不可避免的
04:46
when they're laying鋪設 the eggs.
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04:48
They cannot不能 prevent避免 this.
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傳播了寄生蟲。
04:49
They can also not medicate用藥 themselves他們自己.
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牠們不能治療自己。
04:51
But what these experiments實驗 tell us
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但這個實驗告訴我們
04:53
is that these monarchs君主, these mothers母親,
can lay鋪設 their eggs on medicinal藥用 milkweed馬利筋
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帝王斑蝶把卵產在有藥性的乳草上,
04:58
that will make their
future未來 offspring子孫 less sick生病.
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減輕幼蟲的病況。
05:03
Now, this is a really
important重要 discovery發現, I think,
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我覺得這個發現很重要。
05:05
not just because it tells告訴 us
something cool about nature性質,
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不只是因為它顯示了大自然的奧妙
05:08
but also because it may可能 tell us something
more about how we should find drugs毒品.
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更提醒我們應該如何開發藥物。
05:12
Now, these are animals動物 that are very small
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這些動物都很小,
05:14
and we tend趨向 to think of them
as very simple簡單.
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我們曾經覺得牠們構造單純,
05:16
They have tiny little brains大腦,
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牠們的大腦很小,
05:17
yet然而 they can do this
very sophisticated複雜的 medication藥物治療.
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但牠們卻懂得利用自然草藥。
05:20
Now, we know that even today今天,
most of our drugs毒品
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直到今日,
05:23
derive派生 from natural自然 products製品,
including包含 plants植物,
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我們從自然中提取藥物,包括植物,
05:26
and in indigenous土著 cultures文化,
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在一些原始文化中,
05:27
traditional傳統 healers術士 often經常 look
at animals動物 to find new drugs毒品.
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傳統療法時常借鏡動物來找新藥。
05:30
In this way, elephants大象 have told us
how to treat對待 stomach upset煩亂,
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大象教我們如何治療腸胃不適,
05:34
and porcupines豪豬 have told people
how to treat對待 bloody血腥 diarrhea腹瀉.
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刺蝟教我們如何處理腹瀉。
05:37
What I think is important重要,
though雖然, is to move移動 beyond
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我想,最重要的是,
除了那些大腦發達的哺乳類動物外,
05:39
these large-brained大右腦 mammals哺乳動物
and give these guys more credit信用,
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我們也應該更加注重
05:43
these simple簡單 animals動物, these insects昆蟲
that we tend趨向 to think of
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那些構造簡單的動物、昆蟲。
05:46
as very, very simple簡單
with tiny little brains大腦.
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05:49
The discovery發現 that these animals動物
can also use medication藥物治療
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發現這些動物懂得用藥,
05:53
opens打開 up completely全然 new avenues渠道,
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讓我們進入全新領域。
05:56
and I think that maybe one day,
we will be treating治療 human人的 diseases疾病
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也許有一天,
我們會用蝴蝶找到的藥物來治療人類,
06:01
with drugs毒品 that were first
discovered發現 by butterflies蝴蝶,
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06:04
and I think that is an amazing驚人 opportunity機會
worth價值 pursuing追求.
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我想這個機會是值得把握的。
06:08
Thank you so much.
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謝謝各位。
06:10
(Applause掌聲)
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(掌聲)
Translated by Coco Shen
Reviewed by Bill Hsiung

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Jaap de Roode - Biologist
Jaap de Roode studies the ecology and evolution of parasites, focusing on those that attack the monarch butterfly.

Why you should listen

At his lab at Emory University, Jaap de Roode and his team study parasites and their hosts. Some of the questions that intrigue them: If a parasite depends on its host's survival for its own well-being, why do so many of them cause harm? In what ways are hosts able to self-medicate in order to make themselves less desirable to parasites? And are the abilities to harm hosts — and the ability of hosts to self-medicate — favored by natural selection?

The De Roode Lab focuses on the monarch butterfly and its parasites. The team has made a fascinating discovery: that female butterflies infected by a parasite choose to lay their eggs on a specific variety of milkweed that helps their offspring avoid getting sick. De Roode hopes that this insight could lead to new approaches in medications for human beings in the future.

More profile about the speaker
Jaap de Roode | Speaker | TED.com