You live on a small farm in the Philippines.

想像一下你是一個養豬人，

Your animals are your family's sole source of income --

你住在菲律賓的一個小農場。

as long as they're healthy.

你的動物是你家庭的主要收入來源，

You know that any day,

只要它們保持健康。

one of your pigs can catch the flu,

你知道總會有一天，

the swine flu.

其中一隻豬會得禽流感，

Living in tight quarters, one pig coughing and sneezing

豬流感。

may soon lead to the next pig coughing and sneezing,

它們住在狹小的住所裡， 一隻豬咳嗽和打噴嚏，

until an outbreak of swine flu has taken over your farm.

遲早會造成下一隻豬咳嗽和打噴嚏，

If it's a bad enough virus,

直達豬流感爆發，佔領農場。

the health of your herd may be gone in the blink of an eye.

如果是一個很嚴重的病毒，

If you called in a veterinarian,

你豬群的健康可能就在眨眼間灰飛煙滅。

he or she would visit your farm and take samples

如果你聯繫一個獸醫，

from your pigs' noses and mouths.

他或她可能會造訪你的農場，

But then they would have to drive back into the city

並從豬的鼻子和口腔中採集樣本，

to test those samples in their central lab.

但是接下來，他們需要開車回城市，

Two weeks later, you'd hear back the results.

在他們的大型實驗室中測試樣本，

Two weeks may be just enough time for infection to spread

兩週後，你會得到結果，

and take away your way of life.

兩周時間可能足夠疾病傳染，

But it doesn't have to be that way.

並奪走你賴以為生的東西。

Today, farmers can take those samples themselves.

但是事情並不一定會發展成那樣，

They can jump right into the pen and swab their pigs' noses and mouths

現在，農場主們可以自己採集樣本，

with a little filter paper,

他們可以直接用筆和一張小濾紙， 擦豬的鼻子和口腔，

place that little filter paper in a tiny tube,

把濾紙放在一個試管內，

and mix it with some chemicals that will extract genetic material

並加入一些能夠提取他們豬的鼻子 和口腔基因的化學材料，

from their pigs' noses and mouths.

並且不需要離開農場，

And without leaving their farms,

取一滴基因材料，

they take a drop of that genetic material

放入一個比鞋盒還小的分析器內，

and put it into a little analyzer smaller than a shoebox,

設置並探測豬流感病毒內的 DNA和RNA，

program it to detect DNA or RNA from the swine flu virus,

一小時之內就可取得結果， 可視化的結果。

and within one hour get back the results, visualize the results.

這一切是可能的，

This reality is possible

因為我們活在一個 個人DNA技術的時代。

because today we're living in the era of personal DNA technology.

每一個人都可以檢測自己的DNA。

Every one of us can actually test DNA ourselves.

DNA是攜帶遺傳信息結構 的基本分子，

DNA is the fundamental molecule the carries genetic instructions

它幫助我們建造這個生機勃勃的世界。

that help build the living world.

人類有DNA。

Humans have DNA.

豬有DNA。

Pigs have DNA.

甚至細菌和一些病毒都有DNA。

Even bacteria and some viruses have DNA too.

DNA攜帶的遺傳信息結構告訴我們 我們會怎樣進化，成長，運作。

The genetic instructions encoded in DNA inform how our bodies develop,

在很多情況下， 一樣的遺傳信息會造廠疾病。

grow, function.

你的基因信息

And in many cases, that same information can trigger disease.

被串在一個長條的旋轉的分子中， DNA雙螺旋結構。

Your genetic information

從頭到尾，

is strung into a long and twisted molecule, the DNA double helix,

有超過30億個字母。

that has over three billion letters,

但是攜帶有意義信息的片段

beginning to end.

通常其實很短——

But the lines that carry meaningful information

幾十到幾千個字母那麼長。

are usually very short --

所以當我們需要根據DNA 來解決一個問題的時候，

a few dozen to several thousand letters long.

我們並不需要閱讀

So when we're looking to answer a question based on DNA,

所有30億個字母。

we actually don't need to read

這就像是在晚上感覺到飢餓，

all those three billion letters, typically.

要翻遍整本電話簿，

That would be like getting hungry at night

從頭到尾，

and having to flip through the whole phone book

查看每一行，

from cover to cover,

只為了找到最近的披薩店。

pausing at every line,

（笑聲）

just to find the nearest pizza joint.

幸運的是，三十年前，

(Laughter)

人類開始研究能夠追蹤 特定遺傳信息片段的工具，

Luckily, three decades ago,

這些DNA機器棒極了。

humans started to invent tools

它們可以找到任何DNA的片段。

that can find any specific line of genetic information.

但是一旦找到了片段，

These DNA machines are wonderful.

微小的DNA依舊被無數其他 DNA環繞著，

They can find any line in DNA.

及其接下來做的， 就是複製目標基因片段，

But once they find it,

一段複製基因堆在另一段複製基因上，

that DNA is still tiny, and surrounded by so much other DNA,

它會複製上百萬份基因，

that what these machines then do is copy the target gene,

直到目標基因從中脫穎而出，

and one copy piles on top of another,

直到我們能夠把它可視化，

millions and millions and millions of copies,

能夠翻譯它，讀取它，理解它，

until that gene stands out against the rest;

直到我們能夠回答，

until we can visualize it,

我的豬得流感了嗎？

interpret it, read it, understand it,

或則其他埋藏在我們基因裡的問題，

until we can answer:

我有患癌風險嗎？

Does my pig have the flu?

我有愛爾蘭血統嗎?

Or other questions buried in our own DNA:

那是我的兒子嗎？

Am I at risk of cancer?

（笑聲）

Am I of Irish descent?

這種複製基因能力就和它 聽起來一樣簡單，

Is that child my son?

這已經改變了我們的世界。

(Laughter)

科學家每天都在使用這個技術， 發現並解決疾病，

This ability to make copies of DNA, as simple as it sounds,

研發創新藥物，

has transformed our world.

改變食物，

Scientists use it every day to detect and address disease,

評估我們的食物是否安全，

to create innovative medicines,

或者是否被致命細菌污染，

to modify foods,

甚至法官都會在法庭上使用 這些機器的測驗結果，

to assess whether our food is safe to eat

根據DNA證物， 來判斷誰是清白或有罪的。

or whether it's contaminated with deadly bacteria.

基因複製技術的發明者

Even judges use the output of these machines in court

1993年獲得了化學諾貝爾獎。

to decide whether someone is innocent or guilty based on DNA evidence.

但是30年裡，

The inventor of this DNA-copying technique

基因分析的能力一直被限制，

was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1993.

被有能力的博士科學家限制。

But for 30 years,

但是，世界上的一些公司，

the power of genetic analysis has been confined to the ivory tower,

正在研究如何讓這些技術

or bigwig PhD scientist work.

普及到像養豬人一樣的普通民眾中，

Well, several companies around the world

比如說你們。

are working on making this same technology accessible

我和別人成立了其中一家公司，

to everyday people like the pig farmer,

三年前，

like you.

我和一個生物學家也是我的朋友，

I cofounded one of these companies.

齐克·阿尔瓦雷斯·萨维德拉，

Three years ago,

我們決定研究每個人都可以 使用的個人基因機器，

together with a fellow biologist and friend of mine,

我們的目標是把個人基因技術 帶給更多人和地方。

Zeke Alvarez Saavedra,

我們在地下室裡開始工作。

we decided to make personal DNA machines

我們有一個很簡單的問題：

that anyone could use.

如果每個人都能夠分析基因，

Our goal was to bring DNA science to more people in new places.

這個世界會變成什麼樣？

We started working in our basements.

我們很好奇，

We had a simple question:

就跟我在1980給你們展示這張照片一樣，

What could the world look like

（笑聲）

if everyone could analyze DNA?

你會想 “哇，

We were curious,

我現在可以從車上給格蘭達姑姑 打電話了，

as curious as you would have been if I had shown you this picture in 1980.

並祝她生日快樂。

(Laughter)

我可以隨時給任何人打電話，

You would have thought, "Wow!

這就是未來！“

I can now call my Aunt Glenda from the car

你們不知道的是，

and wish her a happy birthday.

你可以點擊手機預定晚餐位置，

I can call anyone, anytime.

讓你和格蘭達姑姑能夠一起慶祝。

This is the future!"

再點擊一下，你就能夠給祂訂購禮物。

Little did you know,

再點擊一下，

you would tap on that phone to make dinner reservations

你就能在格蘭達姑姑的臉書上點讚。

for you and Aunt Glenda to celebrate together.

這一切，都可以坐在馬桶上完成。

With another tap, you'd be ordering her gift.

（笑聲）

And yet one more tap,

預測未來科技的發展方向是 出了名的難，

and you'd be "liking" Auntie Glenda on Facebook.

現在的個人基因技術也是一樣。

And all of this, while sitting on the toilet.

比如說，我從來不會想到

(Laughter)

一個普普通通的松露養殖者，

It is notoriously hard to predict where new technology might take us.

能夠使用個人基因機器。

And the same is true for personal DNA technology today.

保羅托馬斯博士以種植松露衛生。

For example, I could never have imagined

我們看他的照片，

that a truffle farmer, of all people,

手上抓著他農場之一種植的 第一個英國產的松露，

would use personal DNA machines.

松露是這麼美味，

Dr. Paul Thomas grows truffles for a living.

因為它是生長在樹上的真菌的莖，

We see him pictured here,

而且還是稀有真菌。

holding the first UK-cultivated truffle in his hands, on one of his farms.

一些品種能夠到每千克3000， 7000，甚至更多美金，

Truffles are this delicacy

我從保羅那裡學到，

that stems from a fungus growing on the roots of living trees.

當一個松露養殖者的賭注是很高的，

And it's a rare fungus.

當他在農場中種植新的松露的時候，

Some species may fetch 3,000, 7,000, or more dollars per kilogram.

他有可能會面臨山寨貨——

I learned from Paul

看起來和摸起來像是松露.

that the stakes for a truffle farmer can be really high.

但是它們質量都很低，

When he sources new truffles to grow on his farms,

但是像保羅這樣訓練過的眼睛，

he's exposed to the threat of knockoffs --

即使把它放在顯微鏡下觀察，

truffles that look and feel like the real thing,

它們也有可能矇混過關，

but they're of lower quality.

所以為了種植最高質量的松露，

But even to a trained eye like Paul's,

那種世界上的廚師會為之爭奪的。

even when looked at under a microscope,

保羅需要用基因分析技術，

these truffles can pass for authentic.

這不令人興奮嗎？

So in order to grow the highest quality truffles,

我打賭下一次你看著一盤黑松露焗飯 的時候，

the ones that chefs all over the world will fight over,

一定會思考它的基因。

Paul has to use DNA analysis.

（笑聲）

Isn't that mind-blowing?

但是個人基因技術還可以拯救 人類生命。

I bet you will never look at that black truffle risotto again

伊恩·古德費洛教授是劍橋大學的 一個病毒學家，

without thinking of its genes.

去年，他去了塞拉利昂，

(Laughter)

去年當埃博拉病毒在非洲西部 爆發的時候，

But personal DNA machines can also save human lives.

他迅速的意識到那裡的醫生缺少 基礎探測和抵禦病毒的工具。

Professor Ian Goodfellow is a virologist at the University of Cambridge.

探測結果可能要花一周時間才會反饋——

Last year he traveled to Sierra Leone.

這對於經受痛苦的病人和家人 來說太久了，

When the Ebola outbreak broke out in Western Africa,

伊恩決定把他的實驗室搬到 塞拉利昂的馬克尼，

he quickly realized that doctors there lacked the basic tools

我們可以看到伊恩·古德費洛

to detect and combat disease.

搬運超過十噸重的設備到一個帳篷裡，

Results could take up to a week to come back --

他能夠在24小時內組裝並開始 探測和診斷病毒

that's way too long for the patients and the families who are suffering.

及其基因序列。

Ian decided to move his lab into Makeni, Sierra Leone.

但是，令人驚訝的是，

Here we see Ian Goodfellow

伊恩在他英國實驗室能夠使用的 一樣的設備，

moving over 10 tons of equipment into a pop-up tent

用來排序和診斷埃博拉基因的機器，

that he would equip to detect and diagnose the virus

在這個條件下卻無法工作，

and sequence it within 24 hours.

我說的可是35度的高溫和91%的濕度。

But here's a surprise:

但是，伊恩可以使用個人基因機器，

the same equipment that Ian could use at his lab in the UK

小到能夠放置在空調前面，

to sequence and diagnose Ebola,

繼續排列病毒基因，

just wouldn't work under these conditions.

繼續拯救生命。

We're talking 35 Celsius heat and over 90 percent humidity here.

這可能看起來對於分析基因是 一個很極端的環境，

But instead, Ian could use personal DNA machines

但是讓我們想想更極端的環境：

small enough to be placed in front of the air-conditioning unit

外太空。

to keep sequencing the virus

讓我們來談談在外太空的基因分析。

and keep saving lives.

當宇航員們住在國際空間站的時候，

This may seem like an extreme place for DNA analysis,

他們正在26500千米的高空，

but let's move on to an even more extreme environment:

以27400千米每小時的速度環繞地球。

outer space.

想像一下，

Let's talk about DNA analysis in space.

每天，你還看見15次日出和日落，

When astronauts live aboard the International Space Station,

而且你住在微重力下，

they're orbiting the planet 250 miles high.

漂浮著。

They're traveling at 17,000 miles per hour.

在這些情況下， 我們的身體會做一些奇怪的反應，

Picture that --

其中的一件就是我們的免疫系統 會被抑制，

you're seeing 15 sunsets and sunrises every day.

讓宇航員們更容易被感染。

You're also living in microgravity,

一個16歲的女孩，

floating.

一個來自紐約的高中生， 安娜索菲亞 博古拉，

And under these conditions, our bodies can do funky things.

她想知道宇航員基因的變化

One of these things is that our immune systems get suppressed,

是否和免疫系統的抑制有關，

making astronauts more prone to infection.

通過一個叫做“太空基因”的比賽，

A 16-year-old girl,

安娜索菲亞設計了一個實驗 來檢驗這一個假說，

a high school student from New York, Anna-Sophia Boguraev,

使用一個登上國際空間站的 個人基因機器。

wondered whether changes to the DNA of astronauts

我們看到2016年8月8號， 安娜索菲亞在斗篷狂歡節上，

could be related to this immune suppression,

看著她的實驗被送上國際空間站，

and through a science competition called "Genes In Space,"

那朵雲是火箭產生的煙霧，

Anna-Sophia designed an experiment to test this hypothesis

那個火箭帶著安娜索菲亞的 實驗飛往國際空間站，

using a personal DNA machine aboard the International Space Station.

在那裡，三天後，

Here we see Anna-Sophia on April 8, 2016, in Cape Canaveral,

宇航員蒂姆·皮克在微重力下 進行了實驗，

watching her experiment launch to the International Space Station.

國際空間站現在有了個人基因機器，

That cloud of smoke is the rocket

它能幫助監控生活環境，

that brought Anna-Sophia's experiment to the International Space Station,

並保護宇航員生命。

where, three days later,

一個16歲的女孩設計了 一個基因試驗，

astronaut Tim Peake carried out her experiment --

並能夠保護宇航員生命，

in microgravity.

這似乎很少見， 但也表現了孩子的才智。

Personal DNA machines are now aboard the International Space Station,

然而對於我來說，這代表著更重要的東西，

where they can help monitor living conditions

基因技術終於普及到每個人了。

and protect the lives of astronauts.

幾年前，

A 16-year-old designing a DNA experiment

一個擁有個人電腦的大學生，

to protect the lives of astronauts

他編寫了一個程序，

may seem like a rarity, the mark of a child genius.

一個現在擁有超過十億用戶的 社交網絡。

Well, to me, it signals something bigger:

我們能夠進入一個

that DNA technology is finally within the reach of every one of you.

每個家體都有一台個人基因機器 的世界嗎？

A few years ago,

我知道一些已經實現這個的家庭，

a college student armed with a personal computer

比如說，丹尼爾的家庭，

could code an app,

在他們芝加哥城郊家裡的地下室裡 建立了一個基因實驗室，

an app that is now a social network with more than one billion users.

這不是一個擁有博士學位科學家 的家庭，

Could we be moving into a world

這是一個普通的家庭。

of one personal DNA machine in every home?

他們只是喜歡花時間一起做一些 有趣和有創造力的事情。

I know families who are already living in this reality.

白天， 布萊恩是一個私人企業的執行官，

The Daniels family, for example,

晚上和週末， 他和他七歲和九歲的孩子，

set up a DNA lab in the basement of their suburban Chicago home.

進行基因實驗，

This is not a family made of PhD scientists.

當成一個探索世界的方式。

This is a family like any other.

上一次我給他們打電話的時候，

They just like to spend time together doing fun, creative things.

他們正在檢驗家裡後院種植的產品。

By day, Brian is an executive at a private equity firm.

他們正在檢測他們挑選的番茄，

At night and on weekends, he experiments with DNA

挑出番茄的外表皮和肉， 放在檢測管裡，

alongside his kids, ages seven and nine,

和化學材料混合抽取基因，

as a way to explore the living world.

然後用他們家裡的基因複製器，

Last time I called them,

檢測那些蕃茄的基因工程特徵。

they were checking out homegrown produce from the backyard garden.

對於丹尼爾的家庭來說，

They were testing tomatoes that they had picked,

個人基因機器就像是 21世紀的化學套裝，

taking the flesh of their skin, putting it in a test tube,

我們中的大多數人都沒有 檢測過廚房水槽內的基因條件。

mixing it with chemicals to extract DNA

或者在家裡做親子鑑定。

and then using their home DNA copier

（笑聲）

to test those tomatoes for genetically engineered traits.

但是我們一定已經到達了歷史 的轉折點，

For the Daniels family,

你們的每一個人都可以在廚房裡 接觸基因。

the personal DNA machine is like the chemistry set

你們可以複製，合成和分析基因

for the 21st century.

並從中取出有用的信息，

Most of us may not yet be diagnosing genetic conditions

這些重大的改變

in our kitchen sinks

是時候要發生了。

or doing at-home paternity testing.

這個顛覆性的技術

(Laughter)

之前被選擇性的禁錮，