and, just like getting over a cold,

如果你可以吃藥或是打疫苗

you could heal your wounds faster?

很快地治療你的傷口會如何呢？

Today, if we have an operation or an accident,

今天如果我們動手術或是出意外

we're in the hospital for weeks,

我們躺在醫院好幾個星期

and often left with scars and painful side effects

然後常常會留下了疤痕和我們無法復原成

of our inability to regenerate or regrow healthy, uninjured organs.

原本健康器官的痛苦的副作用

I work to create materials

我致力於製造物質

that instruct our immune system to give us the signals to grow new tissues.

可以引導我們的免疫系統給予身體訊號去生長新的組織

Just like vaccines instruct our body to fight disease,

就像疫苗引導我們的身體去對抗疾病

we could instead instruct our immune system

我們可以改成引導我們的免疫系統

to build tissues and more quickly heal wounds.

去生長組織，使得可以較快速地治癒傷口

Now, regrowing body parts out of nowhere might seem like magic,

現今，想讓身體各個部位再生看似魔術一般

but there are several organisms that can achieve this feat.

但是有一些生物是可以達到這樣的壯舉

Some lizards can regrow their tails,

有些蜥蜴可以讓牠們的尾巴再生

the humble salamander can completely regenerate their arm,

不起眼的蠑螈可以讓牠們的手臂完全再生

and even us mere humans can regrow our liver

甚至少數的人類，在失去原始質量的一半以上之後

after losing more than half of its original mass.

就可以重新生長肝臟

To make this magic a bit closer to reality,

為了讓這樣的魔術變得更切實際

I'm investigating how our body can heal wounds and build tissue

我在調查要如何透過免疫系統的引導

through instructions from the immune system.

使得我們的身體可以治療傷口和生長組織

From a scrape on your knee to that annoying sinus infection,

從你的膝蓋刮傷到惱人的鼻竇感染

our immune system defends our body from danger.

我們的免疫系統保護我們身體免受危險

I'm an immunologist,

我是一位免疫學家

and by using what I know about our body's defense system,

利用據我所知的身體防禦系統

I was able to identify key players

我能找到關鍵細胞

in our fight to build back our cuts and bruises.

幫助我們復原傷痕

When looking at materials that are currently being tested

當我們查看這些物質被測試在

for their abilities to help regrow muscle,

幫助肌肉再生的能力時

our team noticed that after treating an injured muscle with these materials,

我們的團隊發現用這些物質去治療受傷的肌肉時

there was a large number of immune cells

有大量的免疫細胞

in that material and the surrounding muscle.

在物質和肌肉周圍

So in this case,

所以在這個情況下

instead of the immune cells rushing off towards infection to fight bacteria,

免疫細胞直接作用於傷口，而不是

they're rushing toward an injury.

作用於感染去抵抗細菌

I discovered a specific type of immune cell,

我發現一個特別型態的免疫細胞

the helper T cell,

輔助 T 細胞

was present inside that material that I implanted

存在於我植入的物質中

and absolutely critical for wound healing.

是治療傷口很重要的關鍵

Now, just like when you were a kid and you'd break your pencil

就像你小時候把鉛筆弄斷時

and try and tape it back together again,

你試著再次把它接起來

we can heal,

我們可以治療

but it might not be in the most functional way,

但那可能不是最有效的方法

and we'll get a scar.

然後我們將會留下疤痕

So if we don't have these helper T cells,

所以如果我們沒有這些輔助 T 細胞

instead of healthy muscle,

我們的肌肉內會長出脂肪細胞

our muscle develops fat cells inside of it,

而不是健康的肌肉

and if there's fat in our muscle, it isn't as strong.

然後如果有脂肪在我們的肌肉裡，那會很不強壯

Now, using our immune system,

現在，利用我們的免疫系統

our body could grow back without these scars

我們的身體可以復原且沒有疤痕

and look like what it was before we were even injured.

然後看起來像是沒有受傷過一樣

I'm working to create materials

我在致力於製造物質

that give us the signals to build new tissue

藉由改變免疫回應

by changing the immune response.

給予我們信號去生長新的組織

We know that any time a material is implanted in our body,

我們知道不論何時將物質植入我們的體內

the immune system will respond to it.

免疫系統將會有所回應

This ranges from pacemakers to insulin pumps

範圍從心臟節律器到胰島素幫浦

to the materials that engineers are using to try and build new tissue.

工程師用來試圖建造新組織的物質

So when I place that material, or scaffold, in the body,

所以當我把物質或是支架放入體內

the immune system creates a small environment of cells and proteins

免疫系統會建立一個細胞的環境和蛋白質

that can change the way that our stem cells behave.

這些可以改變幹細胞的行為方式

Now, just like the weather affects our daily activities,

就像是天氣影響著我們的日常活動

like going for a run

例如去跑步

or staying inside and binge-watching an entire TV show on Netflix,

或是待在室內然後在 Netflix 上觀看所有電視節目

the immune environment of a scaffold

支架的免疫環境

affects the way that our stem cells grow and develop.

影響著我們幹細胞的生長

If we have the wrong signals,

如果我們給錯信號

say the Netflix signals,

像是 Netflix 信號

we get fat cells instead of muscle.

我們會長脂肪細胞，而不是肌肉

These scaffolds are made of a variety of different things,

這些支架是用多種不同的材料組成

from plastics to naturally derived materials,

從塑料到天然衍生材料

nanofibers of varying thicknesses,

和不同厚度的奈米纖維

sponges that are more or less porous,

和多洞或少洞的海綿

gels of different stiffnesses.

還有不同硬度的凝膠

And researchers can even make the materials

然後研究者甚至可以使物質

release different signals over time.

隨時間推移釋放出不同信號

So in other words, we can orchestrate this Broadway show of cells

所以換句話說，我們可以安排細胞作用時機，就像百老匯的表演那樣

by giving them the correct stage, cues and props

藉由給予他們正確的舞台、線索和道具

that can be changed for different tissues,

他們可以改變成不同的組織

just like a producer would change the set

就像作家可以改變組合

for "Les Mis" versus "Little Shop of Horrors."

《悲慘世界》和《恐怖小店》的對比

I'm combining specific types of signals

我將結合特定型態的信號

that mimic how our body responds to injury to help us regenerate.

模仿我們的身體如何對傷口作出反應來幫助我們再生

In the future, we could see a scar-proof band-aid,

未來我們可以發明防疤痕的創可貼、

a moldable muscle filler or even a wound-healing vaccine.

可塑的肌肉填充物或甚至是傷口癒合的疫苗

Now, we aren't going to wake up tomorrow and be able to heal like Wolverine.

然而現在，我們將不會明天早上起來就能像金剛狼那樣復原

Probably not next Tuesday, either.

可能也不是下周二

But with these advances,

但這些進步

and working with our immune system to help build tissue and heal wounds,

將會讓我們的免疫系統幫助生長組織和癒合傷口

we could begin seeing products on the market

我們可以開始期待在市場上看到這些產品

that work with our body's defense system to help us regenerate,

這些作用於身體的防禦系統使幫助我們傷口再生

and maybe one day be able to keep pace with a salamander.

也許有一天我們可以跟上蠑螈的腳步

Thank you.

謝謝大家

(Applause)

(掌聲)