ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Nathan Wolfe - Virus hunter
Armed with blood samples, high-tech tools and a small army of fieldworkers, Nathan Wolfe hopes to re-invent pandemic control -- and reveal hidden secrets of the planet's dominant lifeform: the virus.

Why you should listen

Using genetic sequencing, needle-haystack research, and dogged persistence (crucial to getting spoilage-susceptible samples through the jungle and to the lab), Nathan Wolfe has proven what was science-fiction conjecture only a few decades ago -- not only do viruses jump from animals to humans, but they do so all the time. Along the way Wolfe has discovered several new viruses, and is poised to discover many more.

Wolfe's research has turned the field of epidemiology on its head, and attracted interest from philanthropists at Google.org and the Skoll foundation. Better still, the research opens the door to preventing epidemics before they happen, sidelining them via early-warning systems and alleviating the poverty from which easy transmission emerges.

More profile about the speaker
Nathan Wolfe | Speaker | TED.com
TED2012

Nathan Wolfe: What's left to explore?

内森·沃尔夫:还有什么值得探索?

Filmed:
948,653 views

我们已踏上过月球,我们已测绘了大陆,我们甚至已去过海底最深处 -- 两次。还剩下什么值得我们的下一代去探索?生物学家和内森·沃尔夫提出了这样的答案:几乎所有事物。“我们可以从那小到看不见的世界开始”,他说。
- Virus hunter
Armed with blood samples, high-tech tools and a small army of fieldworkers, Nathan Wolfe hopes to re-invent pandemic control -- and reveal hidden secrets of the planet's dominant lifeform: the virus. Full bio

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

00:16
Recently最近 I visited参观 Beloit伯洛伊特, Wisconsin威斯康星.
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最近我去了威斯康星州的伯洛伊特市。
00:19
And I was there to honor荣誉 a great 20th century世纪 explorer探险者,
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我去那里是为了纪念一名20世纪的探险家,
00:22
Roy罗伊 Chapman查普曼 Andrews安德鲁斯.
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罗伊·查普曼·安德鲁斯。
00:24
During his time at the American美国 Museum博物馆 of Natural自然 History历史,
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当他在美国自然历史博物馆的时候,
00:27
Andrews安德鲁斯 led a range范围 of expeditions探险 to uncharted未知 regions地区,
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安德鲁斯领导了一系列对未知领域的探险,
00:31
like here in the Gobi戈壁 Desert沙漠.
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比如说在这里的戈壁滩。
00:33
He was quite相当 a figure数字.
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他是个了不起的人物。
00:34
He was later后来, it's said, the basis基础 of the Indiana印地安那 Jones琼斯 character字符.
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他后来据说是印第安娜琼斯角色的原型。
00:38
And when I was in Beloit伯洛伊特, Wisconsin威斯康星,
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当我在威斯康星州的伯洛伊特市的时候,
00:40
I gave a public上市 lecture演讲 to a group of middle中间 school学校 students学生们.
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我给一群中学学生上了一堂公开课。
00:44
And I'm here to tell you,
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我现在想告诉你们,
00:46
if there's anything more intimidating吓人 than talking here at TEDTED,
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如果真的有什么比在TED做演讲还难的话,
00:49
it'll它会 be trying to hold保持 the attention注意
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那就是尝试保持他们的注意力
00:50
of a group of a thousand 12-year-olds- 年的孩子 for a 45-minute-分钟 lecture演讲.
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一群上千个12岁的孩子,并保持45分钟。
00:54
Don't try that one.
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别想了
00:56
At the end结束 of the lecture演讲 they asked a number of questions问题,
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在我讲完之后,他们问了很多问题,
01:00
but there was one that's really stuck卡住 with me since以来 then.
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但有一个让我自始至终难以忘记。
01:03
There was a young年轻 girl女孩 who stood站在 up,
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有个小女孩站起来,
01:05
and she asked the question:
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问了一个问题:
01:06
"Where should we explore探索?"
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“我们该去哪里探索呢?”
01:08
I think there's a sense that many许多 of us have
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我想我们中的绝大多数有种观念,
01:11
that the great age年龄 of exploration勘探 on Earth地球 is over,
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那就是,地球上的大探索时代已经结束,
01:13
that for the next下一个 generation
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我们的下一代人
01:15
they're going to have to go to outer space空间 or the deepest最深 oceans海洋
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应该去外太空或者海洋最深处
01:18
in order订购 to find something significant重大 to explore探索.
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从而去寻找值得探索的东西。
01:21
But is that really the case案件?
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但真的是这样吗?
01:23
Is there really nowhere无处 significant重大 for us to explore探索
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真的没有重要的地方留给我们探索了吗?
01:26
left here on Earth地球?
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整个地球上都没有?
01:28
It sort分类 of made制作 me think back
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这让我回忆起
01:29
to one of my favorite喜爱 explorers探险 in the history历史 of biology生物学.
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我最喜欢的生物领域的探险家之一。
01:32
This is an explorer探险者 of the unseen看不见 world世界, Martinus马丁努斯 Beijerinck贝杰林克.
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他是位未知世界的探索家,马丁努斯·威廉·拜耶林克。
01:35
So Beijerinck贝杰林克 set out to discover发现 the cause原因
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拜叶林克当初想找出
01:38
of tobacco烟草 mosaic镶嵌 disease疾病.
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引起烟草花叶病的原因。
01:40
What he did is he took the infected感染 juice果汁 from tobacco烟草 plants植物
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他提取了受过感染的烟草汁液,
01:44
and he would filter过滤 it through通过 smaller and smaller filters过滤器.
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然后让这些汁液经过一层比一层更细的过滤。
01:47
And he reached到达 the point
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他得出一个结论,
01:48
where he felt that there must必须 be something out there
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剩下的(汁液)里面一定有什么东西
01:51
that was smaller than the smallest最少 forms形式 of life that were ever known已知 --
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它们比那时最小的已知的生命形态 --
01:55
bacteria, at the time.
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细菌,还要小。
01:57
He came来了 up with a name名称 for his mystery神秘 agent代理人.
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他给这个神秘的东西起了个名字
02:00
He called it the virus病毒 --
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叫它们,病毒
02:02
Latin拉丁 for "poison."
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在拉丁文里是“毒药”的意思。
02:04
And in uncovering揭开 viruses病毒,
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在发现病毒之后,
02:07
Beijerinck贝杰林克 really opened打开 this entirely完全 new world世界 for us.
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拜耶林克为我们打开了一个全新的世界。
02:11
We now know that viruses病毒 make up the majority多数
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我们现在知道病毒构成我们
02:13
of the genetic遗传 information信息 on our planet行星,
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星球上绝大部分的遗传信息
02:15
more than the genetic遗传 information信息
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超过所有
02:17
of all other forms形式 of life combined结合.
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其他生命的遗传信息的总和。
02:18
And obviously明显 there's been tremendous巨大 practical实际的 applications应用
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而且显然已经出现了无数有关病毒的
02:22
associated相关 with this world世界 --
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切实应用在这个世界上 --
02:23
things like the eradication根除 of smallpox天花,
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像天花的根除,
02:25
the advent来临 of a vaccine疫苗 against反对 cervical颈椎 cancer癌症,
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子宫癌的疫苗的降临--
02:29
which哪一个 we now know is mostly大多 caused造成 by human人的 papillomavirus乳头瘤病毒.
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我们现在知道它大部分是由乳头瘤病毒引起的。
02:32
And Beijerinck's贝杰林克的 discovery发现,
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而且拜耶林克的发现
02:34
this was not something that occurred发生 500 years年份 ago.
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可不是500年前的事情。
02:37
It was a little over 100 years年份 ago
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拜耶林克发现病毒这件事
02:40
that Beijerinck贝杰林克 discovered发现 viruses病毒.
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也就发生于100多年前。
02:42
So basically基本上 we had automobiles汽车,
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也就是说当汽车都已经出现在世的时候,
02:44
but we were unaware不知道 of the forms形式 of life
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我们还不知道这种
02:46
that make up most of the genetic遗传 information信息 on our planet行星.
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构成了我们星球上大部分的遗传信息的生物。
02:49
We now have these amazing惊人 tools工具
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我们现在有些很了不起的工具
02:51
to allow允许 us to explore探索 the unseen看不见 world世界 --
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来帮助我们探索未知世界,
02:54
things like deep sequencing测序,
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像基因深度测序,
02:56
which哪一个 allow允许 us to do much more than just skim撇去 the surface表面
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可以让我们不只是停留在表面
02:59
and look at individual个人 genomes基因组 from a particular特定 species种类,
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来看自某个特定物种的独立基因组,
03:02
but to look at entire整个 metagenomes宏基因组,
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而是研究整个基因组--
03:05
the communities社区 of teeming丰富的 microorganisms微生物 in, on and around us
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我们身体里面和周边无处不在的微生物群落,
03:09
and to document文件 all of the genetic遗传 information信息 in these species种类.
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并且记录下这些物种的遗传信息。
03:12
We can apply应用 these techniques技术
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我们可以应用这些技术
03:14
to things from soil to skin皮肤 and everything in between之间.
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来研究从土壤到皮肤和它们中间的一切。
03:18
In my organization组织 we now do this on a regular定期 basis基础
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在我所在的机构里面,我们现在经常这么做,
03:21
to identify鉴定 the causes原因 of outbreaks爆发
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来寻找(疾病)暴发的原因,
03:24
that are unclear不明 exactly究竟 what causes原因 them.
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那些我们还不清楚的原因.
03:27
And just to give you a sense of how this works作品,
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稍微给你们讲下这是怎么做的,
03:29
imagine想像 that we took a nasal鼻音 swab拖把 from every一切 single one of you.
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想象下从你们每个人那里取一个鼻腔分泌物标本
03:32
And this is something we commonly常用 do
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像这种事是我们经常做的,
03:34
to look for respiratory呼吸 viruses病毒 like influenza流感.
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为了寻找呼吸道病毒,像流行性感冒病毒。
03:37
The first thing we would see
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我们首先看到的是
03:39
is a tremendous巨大 amount of genetic遗传 information信息.
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海量的遗传信息。
03:42
And if we started开始 looking into that genetic遗传 information信息,
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如果我们开始仔细看看这些遗传信息,
03:44
we'd星期三 see a number of usual通常 suspects犯罪嫌疑人 out there --
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我们会看到一些常见的信息
03:46
of course课程, a lot of human人的 genetic遗传 information信息,
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当然了,有很多人类的遗传信息,
03:48
but also bacterial细菌 and viral病毒 information信息,
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但也有很多细菌和病毒的信息,
03:51
mostly大多 from things that are completely全然 harmless无害 within your nose鼻子.
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大部分是你鼻子里面完全无害的东西。
03:54
But we'd星期三 also see something very, very surprising奇怪.
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但我们也会看到一些非常非常让人吃惊的东西。
03:57
As we started开始 to look at this information信息,
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当我们开始研究这些信息,
03:59
we would see that about 20 percent百分 of the genetic遗传 information信息 in your nose鼻子
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我们会发现你鼻子里面20%的遗传信息
04:04
doesn't match比赛 anything that we've我们已经 ever seen看到 before --
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跟我们所见过的东西--
04:07
no plant, animal动物, fungus, virus病毒 or bacteria.
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任何植物,动物,真菌或者细菌,都对不上号。
04:10
Basically基本上 we have no clue线索 what this is.
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我们基本上对这些一无所知。
04:13
And for the small group of us who actually其实 study研究 this kind of data数据,
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我们这里的一小部分研究这些数据的人们,
04:17
a few少数 of us have actually其实 begun开始 to call this information信息
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称呼这些信息为
04:21
biological生物 dark黑暗 matter.
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生物暗物质。
04:23
We know it's not anything that we've我们已经 seen看到 before;
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我们知道以前从未见过这些生物暗物质;
04:26
it's sort分类 of the equivalent当量 of an uncharted未知 continent大陆
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这似乎可以被称之为
04:29
right within our own拥有 genetic遗传 information信息.
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我们自己遗传信息里的未知大陆。
04:32
And there's a lot of it.
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而且数量非常之多。
04:34
If you think 20 percent百分 of genetic遗传 information信息 in your nose鼻子 is a lot
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如果你认为你鼻子里面20%的遗传信息
04:37
of biological生物 dark黑暗 matter,
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有很多生物暗物质,
04:39
if we looked看着 at your gut肠道,
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那当我们看你内脏的时候,
04:40
up to 40 or 50 percent百分 of that information信息 is biological生物 dark黑暗 matter.
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那有将近40%到50%的生物暗物质。
04:44
And even in the relatively相对 sterile无菌 blood血液,
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即使在相对无菌的血液里,
04:46
around one to two percent百分 of this information信息 is dark黑暗 matter --
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也有1%到2%的信息是暗物质--
04:49
can't be classified分类, can't be typed类型 or matched匹配 with anything we've我们已经 seen看到 before.
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无法被归类,无法被判别类别,跟我们所见过的东西都不同。
04:54
At first we thought that perhaps也许 this was artifact神器.
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开始我们以为这是人为的东西。
04:57
These deep sequencing测序 tools工具 are relatively相对 new.
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这些基因深度测序工具相当比较新。
05:00
But as they become成为 more and more accurate准确,
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但当它们变得越来越来精确,
05:02
we've我们已经 determined决心 that this information信息 is a form形成 of life,
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我们认为这些信息是一种新的生命,
05:06
or at least最小 some of it is a form形成 of life.
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或者至少某一部分是种生命。
05:08
And while the hypotheses假设 for explaining说明 the existence存在 of biological生物 dark黑暗 matter
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即使这些关于解释生物暗物质的存在的假设
05:13
are really only in their infancy婴儿期,
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还处于婴儿期,
05:15
there's a very, very exciting扣人心弦 possibility可能性 that exists存在:
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一个让人非常非常激动的可能性存在着:
05:18
that buried隐藏 in this life, in this genetic遗传 information信息,
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那就是藏在这个生命里面,在这些遗传信息里,
05:22
are signatures签名 of as of yet然而 unidentified未确认的 life.
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有一种没有被识别的生命的标识。
05:26
That as we explore探索 these strings字符串 of A's, T'sT的, C'sC'S and G'sG公司,
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当我们探索这些一串串A/T/C/G嘌呤的时候,
05:30
we may可能 uncover揭露 a completely全然 new class of life
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我们也许会发现全新的生命,
05:33
that, like Beijerinck贝杰林克, will fundamentally从根本上 change更改
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就像拜耶林克,从根本上改变
05:36
the way that we think about the nature性质 of biology生物学.
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我们对生物学特性的理解。
05:38
That perhaps也许 will allow允许 us to identify鉴定 the cause原因 of a cancer癌症 that afflicts折磨 us
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这也许会让我识别出困扰我们的某种癌症的原因,
05:42
or identify鉴定 the source资源 of an outbreak暴发 that we aren't familiar with
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或者识别出我们不熟悉的疾病暴发的根源,
05:46
or perhaps也许 create创建 a new tool工具 in molecular分子 biology生物学.
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或者创造出一种分子生物学的新工具。
05:49
I'm pleased满意 to announce宣布 that,
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我很高兴的宣布,
05:51
along沿 with colleagues同事 at Stanford斯坦福 and Caltech加州理工学院 and UCSFUCSF,
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和我的斯坦福、加州理工和旧金山加利福尼亚大学的同事们一起,
05:56
we're currently目前 starting开始 an initiative倡议
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我们正在开始开始一个新的行动
05:57
to explore探索 biological生物 dark黑暗 matter for the existence存在 of new forms形式 of life.
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去探索生物暗物质来寻找新生命的存在。
06:01
A little over a hundred years年份 ago,
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100多年前,
06:03
people were unaware不知道 of viruses病毒,
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人们还不知道病毒的存在,
06:06
the forms形式 of life that make up most of the genetic遗传 information信息 on our planet行星.
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这些包含我们星球上大部分遗传信息的生命形态。
06:10
A hundred years年份 from now, people may可能 marvel奇迹
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一百年以后,人类可能为
06:13
that we were perhaps也许 completely全然 unaware不知道 of a new class of life
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我们以前完全不了解的新的生命形态而感到惊讶
06:16
that literally按照字面 was right under our noses鼻子.
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而它们就在我们眼皮底下。
06:20
It's true真正, we may可能 have charted绘制 all the continents大陆 on the planet行星
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没错,我们或许已经绘制这个星球上所有大陆板块的地图,
06:23
and we may可能 have discovered发现 all the mammals哺乳动物 that are out there,
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我们或许已经发现了当前所有的哺乳动物,
06:26
but that doesn't mean that there's nothing left to explore探索 on Earth地球.
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但这并不代表地球上没什么好探索的了。
06:30
Beijerinck贝杰林克 and his kind
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拜耶林克和像他一样的人们
06:32
provide提供 an important重要 lesson for the next下一个 generation of explorers探险 --
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给下一代探索者上了重要的一课----
06:35
people like that young年轻 girl女孩 from Beloit伯洛伊特, Wisconsin威斯康星.
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给那些像那个在伯洛伊特市的女孩一样的人们。
06:39
And I think if we phrase短语 that lesson, it's something like this:
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我想如果总结一下他给我们上的这一课,大概是:
06:42
Don't assume承担 that what we currently目前 think is out there is the full充分 story故事.
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不要假设我们现在想到的东西是一个完整的故事。
06:47
Go after the dark黑暗 matter in whatever随你 field领域 you choose选择 to explore探索.
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在不管你选择的任何领域里去探索那些暗物质吧。
06:52
There are unknowns未知数 all around us
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未知的事物在我们身边无处不在
06:54
and they're just waiting等候 to be discovered发现.
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它们只是在等待人类的探索。
06:56
Thank you.
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谢谢
06:58
(Applause掌声)
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(鼓掌声)
Translated by Hom Liu
Reviewed by Aili Huang

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Nathan Wolfe - Virus hunter
Armed with blood samples, high-tech tools and a small army of fieldworkers, Nathan Wolfe hopes to re-invent pandemic control -- and reveal hidden secrets of the planet's dominant lifeform: the virus.

Why you should listen

Using genetic sequencing, needle-haystack research, and dogged persistence (crucial to getting spoilage-susceptible samples through the jungle and to the lab), Nathan Wolfe has proven what was science-fiction conjecture only a few decades ago -- not only do viruses jump from animals to humans, but they do so all the time. Along the way Wolfe has discovered several new viruses, and is poised to discover many more.

Wolfe's research has turned the field of epidemiology on its head, and attracted interest from philanthropists at Google.org and the Skoll foundation. Better still, the research opens the door to preventing epidemics before they happen, sidelining them via early-warning systems and alleviating the poverty from which easy transmission emerges.

More profile about the speaker
Nathan Wolfe | Speaker | TED.com