is tell you about an idea

我想在接下來的15分鍾左右的時間

of how we're going to make matter come alive.

和大家談談

Now this may seem a bit ambitious,

我們怎樣賦予物質生命

but when you look at yourself, you look at your hands,

這在目前似乎有點好高騖遠

you realize that you're alive.

但是如果你看你自己，看你的手

So this is a start.

你會意識到自己是活着的

Now this quest started four billion years ago on planet Earth.

所以這是一個開始

There's been four billion years

這種探索始於40億年前的地球

of organic, biological life.

在地球上已經有

And as an inorganic chemist,

四十億年的有機的生命體

my friends and colleagues make this distinction

我是無機化學家

between the organic, living world

我的朋友和同事們

and the inorganic, dead world.

在有機、有生命的世界

And what I'm going to try and do is plant some ideas

和無機、無生命的世界之間劃出區分

about how we can transform inorganic, dead matter

我想要告訴大家

into living matter, into inorganic biology.

我們怎樣可以把無機、無生命的物質

Before we do that,

轉化為生命體和無機生物

I want to kind of put biology in its place.

在開始之前

And I'm absolutely enthralled by biology.

我想先談談生物學

I love to do synthetic biology.

我對生物學非常着迷

I love things that are alive.

我喜歡做合成生物學

I love manipulating the infrastructure of biology.

我喜歡有生命的東西

But within that infrastructure,

也喜歡操控生物學的基礎結構

we have to remember

但是在那個結搆內

that the driving force of biology

我們必須記得

is really coming from evolution.

生物學的驅動力

And evolution,

實際上是來自進化

although it was established well over 100 years ago by Charles Darwin

進化理論

and a vast number of other people,

雖然早在100年前就由達爾文所創立了

evolution still is a little bit intangible.

大多數的人

And when I talk about Darwinian evolution,

還是覺得進化論有些難以理解

I mean one thing and one thing only,

當我提到達爾文的進化論時

and that is survival of the fittest.

只是想說明一件事，唯一的一件事

And so forget about evolution

就是適者生存

in a kind of metaphysical way.

因此不要用

Think about evolution

形而上學（純哲學）的方法去思考進化論

in terms of offspring competing,

讓我們從後代子孫彼此競爭

and some winning.

有輸有贏的角度

So bearing that in mind,

來思考進化論吧

as a chemist, I wanted to ask myself

請記得

the question frustrated by biology:

我作為化學家，想問自己一些

What is the minimal unit of matter

讓生物學家痛苦的問題：

that can undergo Darwinian evolution?

什麼是達爾文進化論中進化的

And this seems quite a profound question.

最小物質單位？

And as a chemist,

這看來是一個很有深度的問題

we're not used to profound questions every day.

但是作為化學家

So when I thought about it,

我們不習慣每天問有深度的問題

then suddenly I realized

因此當我思考這個問題的時候

that biology gave us the answer.

我忽然意識到

And in fact, the smallest unit of matter

生物學已經給了我們答案

that can evolve independently

實際上，物質可以獨立進化

is, in fact, a single cell --

的最小的單位

a bacteria.

是單細胞－－

So this raises three really important questions:

一個細菌

What is life?

因此這導出三個真正重要的問題：

Is biology special?

什麼是生命？

Biologists seem to think so.

生物學有什麼特別的嗎？

Is matter evolvable?

生物學家似乎認為它是特別的

Now if we answer those questions in reverse order,

物質可以進化嗎？

the third question -- is matter evolvable? --

現在我們逆序回答這些問題

if we can answer that,

從第三個問題問起：物質可以進化嗎？

then we're going to know how special biology is,

如果我們可以回答這個問題

and maybe, just maybe,

我們就會知道生物學有多特殊

we'll have some idea of what life really is.

然後，可能，但僅是可能

So here's some inorganic life.

我們會暸解生命究竟是什麼

This is a dead crystal,

這裡有一些無機生命

and I'm going to do something to it,

這是死水晶

and it's going to become alive.

我想要對它做些事

And you can see,

讓它活過來

it's kind of pollinating, germinating, growing.

然後你會看到

This is an inorganic tube.

它會授粉，萌芽，成長

And all these crystals here under the microscope

這是一個無機管

were dead a few minutes ago, and they look alive.

所有在這個顯微鏡下的水晶

Of course, they're not alive.

都是在幾分鍾前死去的，它們看起來就像還是活的

It's a chemistry experiment where I've made a crystal garden.

當然，它們已經死了

But when I saw this, I was really fascinated,

這是我做的一個化學試驗，在其中我做了一個水晶園

because it seemed lifelike.

當我看到這個，我被深深吸引

And as I pause for a few seconds, have a look at the screen.

因為它看起來栩栩如生

You can see there's architecture growing, filling the void.

我現在停幾秒鍾，我們來看看螢幕

And this is dead.

妳可以看到建築物在生長，填補了空虛

So I was positive that,

而這是死的

if somehow we can make things mimic life,

所以我很肯定

let's go one step further.

我們可以做出模仿生命的物質

Let's see if we can actually make life.

讓我們再進一步

But there's a problem,

看看我們是否可以製造生命

because up until maybe a decade ago,

但是有一個問題

we were told that life was impossible

因為大約在十年前

and that we were the most incredible miracle in the universe.

我們只知道生命是不可能製造的

In fact, we were the only people

我們是宇宙中最不可思議的奇蹟

in the universe.

實際上，我們是宇宙中

Now, that's a bit boring.

唯一的人類

So as a chemist,

現在看來，這麼說有點無聊

I wanted to say, "Hang on. What is going on here?

作為化學家

Is life that improbable?"

我想說：「等等，怎麼回事？

And this is really the question.

難道生命的出現真的那麼不可思議嗎？」

I think that perhaps the emergence of the first cells

這才是真正的問題

was as probable as the emergence of the stars.

我想第一個細胞的出現

And in fact, let's take that one step further.

可能和第一個星球的出現一樣不可思議吧

Let's say

實際上，如果我們再進一步看

that if the physics of fusion

比如說

is encoded into the universe,

如果宇宙是由

maybe the physics of life is as well.

聚變物理（融合物理）構成的

And so the problem with chemists --

可能生命物理學也是一樣

and this is a massive advantage as well --

那麼化學家的問題也是一樣的

is we like to focus on our elements.

但是這也是我們巨大的優勢所在－－

In biology, carbon takes center stage.

也就是我們專注於元素

And in a universe where carbon exists

在生物學中，碳非常重要

and organic biology,

一個有碳存在的宇宙中

then we have all this wonderful diversity of life.

就有有機生物學

In fact, we have such amazing lifeforms that we can manipulate.

我們就有了這樣豐富多采的生物多樣性

We're awfully careful in the lab

實際上，我們可以製造這樣奇妙的生命形式

to try and avoid various biohazards.

在實驗室裏，我們非常小心地

Well what about matter?

嘗試和避免各種生物危害

If we can make matter alive, would we have a matterhazard?

那麼物質呢？

So think, this is a serious question.

如果我們可以使物質變活，那麼我們會不會製造物質危害呢？

If your pen could replicate,

想想看，這是一個很嚴肅的問題

that would be a bit of a problem.

如果你的鋼筆可以複製的話

So we have to think differently

恐怕會是個問題吧

if we're going to make stuff come alive.

所以我們必須從不同角度思考

And we also have to be aware of the issues.

如果我們想要讓物質有生命

But before we can make life,

我們必須意識到這些問題

let's think for a second

但是在我們可以製造生命之前

what life really is characterized by.

讓我們思考幾秒鍾

And forgive the complicated diagram.

生命是以什麼為特徴呢？

This is just a collection of pathways in the cell.

請原諒這複雜的圖表

And the cell is obviously for us

其實這就是細胞裡的一組通路組合

a fascinating thing.

細胞對我們來說

Synthetic biologists are manipulating it.

顯然是引人入勝的

Chemists are trying to study the molecules to look at disease.

合成生物學可以操控細胞

And you have all these pathways going on at the same time.

化學家正嘗試着透過研究分子來治療疾病

You have regulation;

現在你有所有的這些同時發生的通路

information is transcribed;

你有規則

catalysts are made; stuff is happening.

訊息已經抄錄了

But what does a cell do?

水晶已經做好，一切就緒

Well it divides, it competes,

細胞會怎樣呢？

it survives.

細胞會分裂、競爭

And I think that is where we have to start

然後存活

in terms of thinking about

我想這就是我們必須開始的地方

building from our ideas in life.

以建立我們

But what else is life characterized by?

思想中的生命

Well, I like think of it

那麼，還有什麼是生命的特徴呢？

as a flame in a bottle.

我喜歡把生命想成

And so what we have here

是瓶子裏的一把火

is a description of single cells

我們這裡有

replicating, metabolizing,

一個對於單細胞

burning through chemistries.

複製、新陳代謝、

And so we have to understand

以及在化學過程中燃燒的描述

that if we're going to make artificial life or understand the origin of life,

所以我們必須理解

we need to power it somehow.

如果我們想人工製造生命或者理解生命的來源

So before we can really start to make life,

我們需要給予其一定力量

we have to really think about where it came from.

因此在真的開始製造生命之前

And Darwin himself mused in a letter to a colleague

我們必須想一想它是從哪裡來的

that he thought that life probably emerged

達爾文在給一位同事的信中說到

in some warm little pond somewhere --

他覺得生命可能是起源於

maybe not in Scotland, maybe in Africa,

某地一個溫暖的小湖泊中－－

maybe somewhere else.

可能不在蘇格蘭，可能是在非洲

But the real honest answer is, we just don't know,

也可能在其它地方

because there is a problem with the origin.

但是真實的答案是：我們不知道

Imagine way back, four and a half billion years ago,

原因是生命起源有些問題

there is a vast chemical soup of stuff.

想像我們回到四十五億年前

And from this stuff we came.

有一大碗的化學湯

So when you think about the improbable nature

而我們就從這湯而來

of what I'm going to tell you in the next few minutes,

所以當你想到我將在接下來的幾分鐘內

just remember,

告訴你關於不可思議的大自然時

we came from stuff on planet Earth.

切記

And we went through a variety of worlds.

我們來自於地球上的某樣東西

The RNA people would talk about the RNA world.

我們都經歷了各種不同的世界

We somehow got to proteins and DNA.

RNA（核糖核酸）專家們會談到RNA世界

We then got to the last ancestor.

而我們則會提到蛋白質和DNA（脫氧核糖核酸）

Evolution kicked in -- and that's the cool bit.

然後再回到最早的祖先

And here we are.

進化開始發生－－這是最棒的部分

But there's a roadblock that you can't get past.

就是這個

You can decode the genome, you can look back,

但是有一個無法踰越的路障

you can link us all together by a mitochondrial DNA,

你可以解碼基因組合，你可以回顧歷史

but we can't get further than the last ancestor,

你可以靠一個線粒體DNA把我們聯繫在一起

the last visible cell

但是我們不可能比上一輩祖先走得更遠

that we could sequence or think back in history.

最後的可見的細胞

So we don't know how we got here.

我們可以將之排列，或者從歷史的角度回顧

So there are two options:

所以我們不知道我們是怎樣來到世界上的

intelligent design, direct and indirect --

這裡有兩個選擇：

so God,

智慧的設計，直接或非直接的－－

or my friend.

神

Now talking about E.T. putting us there, or some other life,

或是我的朋友

just pushes the problem further on.

有人說是外星人（E.T.）或者其它的生命體把我們放到這裡的

I'm not a politician, I'm a scientist.

這就把問題更加複雜化了

The other thing we need to think about

我不是政治家，我是科學家

is the emergence of chemical complexity.

另外一件值得思考的事

This seems most likely.

就是化學複雜性的出現

So we have some kind of primordial soup.

看來這是最有可能的

And this one happens to be

我們有一些原始湯

a good source of all 20 amino acids.

而這正好

And somehow

是所有的20種氨基酸的一個良好來源

these amino acids are combined,

而且，不知怎麼地

and life begins.

這些氨基酸混在一起

But life begins, what does that mean?

生命便開始了

What is life? What is this stuff of life?

但是"生命開始"意味著什麼呢？

So in the 1950s,

什麼是生命？這個是生命的什麼東西呢？

Miller-Urey did their fantastic chemical Frankenstein experiment,

所以在1950年

where they did the equivalent in the chemical world.

米勒和尤列做了一個很棒的弗蘭肯斯坦化學試驗

They took the basic ingredients, put them in a single jar

他們的試驗是模仿化學世界

and ignited them

他們把基本的原料放到一個罐子裡

and put a lot of voltage through.

然後將其點燃

And they had a look at what was in the soup,

接著讓很多電壓通過

and they found amino acids,

然後再看看湯裡有什麼東西

but nothing came out, there was no cell.

他們發現了氨基酸

So the whole area's been stuck for a while,

但是什麼都沒有產生、沒有細胞

and it got reignited in the '80s

所以整個試驗就此暫停了一段時間

when analytical technologies and computer technologies were coming on.

直到80年代才重新開始

In my own laboratory,

因為當時分析技術和電腦科技開始興盛

the way we're trying to create inorganic life

在我自己的實驗室裡

is by using many different reaction formats.

我們創造無機生命的方式

So what we're trying to do is do reactions --

是使用許多不同的反應格式

not in one flask, but in tens of flasks,

所以我們想要尋求的是反應－－

and connect them together,

不是一個燒瓶，而是在幾十個燒瓶裡

as you can see with this flow system, all these pipes.

把它們連結在一起

We can do it microfluidically, we can do it lithographically,

你可以看到這個流動系統，和所有的管子

we can do it in a 3D printer,

我們可用微流體方法操作，可用光刻誘導的方式進行

we can do it in droplets for colleagues.

也可在3D列表機上進行

And the key thing is to have lots of complex chemistry

我們可以讓同事在滴液中操作

just bubbling away.

關鍵在於有許多複雜的化學反應

But that's probably going to end in failure,

開始發生

so we need to be a bit more focused.

但這可能以失敗告終

And the answer, of course, lies with mice.

因此我們必需更加努力些

This is how I remember what I need as a chemist.

而答案，當然就在實驗鼠身上

I say, "Well I want molecules."

這讓我想起我作為化學家所需要的東西

But I need a metabolism, I need some energy.

我說：「好，我要分子。」

I need some information, and I need a container.

可實際上我需要的是新陳代謝，需要一些能量

Because if I want evolution,

我需要一些訊息，還需要一個容器

I need containers to compete.

因為我想要進化

So if you have a container,

我需要容器來幫助它們競爭

it's like getting in your car.

所以如果你有容器

"This is my car,

就好像你進入你的車，說：

and I'm going to drive around and show off my car."

「這是我的車，

And I imagine you have a similar thing

我要到處開，炫耀一下我的車。」

in cellular biology

我想在生命形成的

with the emergence of life.

細胞生物學上

So these things together give us evolution, perhaps.

也是一樣的情況

And the way to test it in the laboratory

也許這些事情加在一起給我們進化

is to make it minimal.

而在實驗室裏進行試驗

So what we're going to try and do

就是使其最小化

is come up with an inorganic Lego kit of molecules.

因此，我們打算嘗試做的是

And so forgive the molecules on the screen,

得出一種無機分子的樂高積木組件

but these are a very simple kit.

抱歉，螢幕上的分子看起來很複雜

There's only maybe three or four different types of building blocks present.

但這是一些非常簡單的積木

And we can aggregate them together

目前大概只有三、四種不同類型的積木

and make literally thousands and thousands

我們可以將它們組合在一起

of really big nano-molecular molecules

製造出成千上萬種

the same size of DNA and proteins,

巨大的奈米分子

but there's no carbon in sight.

大小相當於DNA及蛋白質

Carbon is banned.

但其中不含碳