I mean, it's a snail, so it's slow,

我的意思是，它是一隻蝸牛，所以它很慢。

and the fish is not.

而魚則不然。

But yet, this happens.

但是，卻發生了這樣的事情。

Hidden under the sand is a cone snail.

沙子下面藏著一隻錐螺。

And that orange thing you see is kind of like a tongue.

而你看到的那個橙色的東西有點像舌頭。

We call it a proboscis.

我們稱它為 "長鼻"。

It uses that to track and subdue this unsuspecting fish.

它利用這一點來追蹤並制服這條不懷好意的魚。

In this predator-prey interaction,

在這種捕食者與獵物的互動中。

these are clearly not your garden variety escargots.

這些顯然不是你的花園品種蝸牛。

These are assassins of the sea.

這些都是海上的刺客。

And their weapon of choice is venom.

而他們選擇的武器是毒液。

Venom, like the venom you find in venomous snakes and scorpions,

毒液，就像你在毒蛇和蠍子身上找到的毒液。

these sea snails, they use their venom to subdue fish, worms

這些海蝸牛用它們的毒液來制服魚和蟲子

and other snails.

和其他蝸牛。

And the venom of these snails,

還有這些蝸牛的毒液。

it's not just one thing,

這不僅僅是一件事。

it's actually a cocktail of toxic molecules

其實是有毒分子的混合體

that are packaged and delivered through a false tooth called a radula.

通過稱為 "根管 "的假牙進行包裝和輸送。

You can think of the radulas as hypodermic needles.

你可以把放射線看作是皮下注射針。

Now, no need to worry,

現在，不用擔心了。

these snails are practicing good needle habits,

這些蝸牛都是在練習良好的用針習慣。

because each radula is only used once.

因為每個radula只用一次。

Now from your own knowledge about venomous organisms,

現在從自己對毒物生物的瞭解。

and the keep-you-up-at-night fish-killing video that I just showed you,

還有我剛剛給你看的那個讓你徹夜不眠的殺魚視頻。

you might think that venom is dangerous and all bad.

你可能會認為毒液是危險的，所有的壞事。

Well, yes and no.

嗯，是的，也不是。

A more accurate way of thinking of venom

對毒液更準確的思考方式

is to think of it as both a supervillain and a superhero.

就是把它既當做一個超級大壞蛋，又當做一個超級英雄。

In my lab, we study the evolution of venom in these sea snails

在我的實驗室裡，我們研究這些海蝸牛毒液的進化

as a force for good.

作為一種善的力量。

Sounds like a stretch,

聽起來好像很誇張。

or maybe even snake oil,

甚至可能是蛇油。

but actually,

但實際上。

while there are snakes involved, the product is legit.

雖然有蛇的參與，產品是合法的。

One reason the venom product is so successful

毒液產品如此成功的原因之一

is that it transforms a physical warfare into a biochemical one.

是它將物理戰轉化為生化戰。

Where usually the predator-prey interaction is one of brute force,

通常捕食者與獵物之間的互動是一種蠻力。

venom takes it to a molecular scale.

毒液把它帶到了分子尺度。

And it's not size that matters,

而重要的不是尺寸。

but the mixture of your venom arsenal.

但你的毒液武器庫的混合物。

The chemistry of the toxins in your arsenal

你的武器庫中的毒素的化學成分。

is what's going to enable David to conquer Goliath.

是讓大衛能夠征服歌利亞的原因。

And in our scenario, David is clearly the snail.

而在我們的方案中，大衛顯然就是那隻蝸牛。

Another feature of venom that makes it so successful

毒液的另一個特點使它如此成功

is that the toxins work with the precision of a Swiss Army knife.

是毒素的作用就像瑞士軍刀一樣精準。

And so these toxins,

所以這些毒素。

they come for strongholds that help an organism to function.

它們是為了幫助生物體運作的據點而來。

So they target blood, brain and membranes.

所以他們的目標是血液、大腦和膜。

Whether it's snail venom or snake venom,

不管是蝸牛毒還是蛇毒。

they each have components that can do things

它們都有可以做的事情的組件

like cause your blood to clot,

就像導致你的血液凝固。

what we call "hemotoxic."

我們稱之為 "血毒"。

Or they cause neurons in your brains to not function normally,

或者導致你大腦中的神經元不能正常工作。

what we call "neurotoxic."

我們稱之為 "神經毒物"。

Or they have toxins that will poke holes into the membranes of your cells,

或者它們有毒素，會在你的細胞膜上嫖妓。

causing them to rupture and, basically, explode,

導致它們破裂，基本上，爆炸。

what we call "cytotoxic."

我們稱之為 "細胞毒"。

Cellular explosion, people.

手機爆炸，人。

Now, if that is not all powerful and all present,

現在，如果不是全能、全現。

nothing is.

沒有什麼是。

Now a little about me,

現在說說我吧

and why I'm so obsessed with venom.

以及為什麼我對毒液如此著迷。

I grew up in New York City

我是在紐約長大的

with forced access to the Natural History Museum.

強行進入自然歷史博物館；

I say "forced access,"

我說 "強行進入"

because I'm one of five kids,

因為我是五個孩子中的一個

and my parents used museums as a form of childcare.

而我的父母把博物館作為一種育兒方式。

There were two rules:

有兩個規則。

Don't lose anybody

不要失去任何人

and meet Mom and Dad at the African elephants

並在非洲大象那裡見到爸爸媽媽。

at 5:30, when the museum closes.

5點半，博物館閉館的時候。

Those totally unsupervised days running through the halls of the museum

那些完全沒有人看管的日子，在博物館的大廳裡奔跑著

were full of adventure and exploration.

充滿了冒險和探索。

And that's how I feel when I'm studying venom.

這就是我研究毒液時的感覺。

It's a scientific adventure.

這是一場科學的冒險。

We're boldly exploring this entity that connects nature and humanity.

我們正在大膽地探索這個連接自然和人類的實體。

Another reason that I'm obsessed with venom

我迷戀毒液的另一個原因是

is because of its duality.

是由於它的雙重性。

When you inject the components of a venom arsenal into an organism,

當你把毒液武庫的成分注射到生物體內。

it can kill or it can cure.

它可以殺人，也可以治病。

At a molecular level, several things can happen.

在分子水準上，有幾種情況會發生。

You saw one thing, paralysis in the fish.

你看到了一件事，魚的麻痺。

Now that was happening because the toxins in the venom

現在發生這種情況是因為毒液中的毒素。

were attacking how the fish's cells communicate with each other,

攻擊魚的細胞之間的交流方式。

preventing it from swimming away.

防止它遊走。

Are there other things that I would like to use venom to attack?

還有其他的東西，我想用毒液來攻擊嗎？

For sure.

當然了

And one of those is cancer.

而其中之一就是癌症。

Cancer tumors are cells.

癌症腫瘤是細胞。

And like all cells,

和所有細胞一樣。

they communicate with themselves and their environment around them.

他們與自己和周圍的環境溝通。

So we would like to find venom components

所以我們想找到毒液的成分

that are very good at disrupting how the tumor cells communicate.

擅長破壞腫瘤細胞的交流方式。

Similar to how the venom disrupted how the fish cells communicated

類似於毒液如何擾亂了魚細胞的交流方式

and the fish couldn't swim away.

而魚兒卻遊不走。

In my lab, we study cancer as a channelopathy.

在我的實驗室裡，我們把癌症作為一種通道病來研究。

What this means is, basically, we're looking for venom components

這意味著，基本上，我們要找的是毒液的成分。

that will target channels that are overexpressed in tumor cells

將針對腫瘤細胞中過度表達的通道。

versus normal cells.

與正常細胞。

The cancer that we're most focused on right now

我們現在最關注的癌症。

is liver cancer.

是肝癌。

And that's because since the 1980s,

而這是因為自上世紀80年代以來。

the death rate of liver cancer has doubled,

肝癌的死亡率增加了一倍。

and it's an emerging threat in the US.

而且是美國的一個新興威脅。

In a screen in which we had cervical,

在一個螢幕中，我們有宮頸。

neuroblastoma, prostate and liver cancer cells,

神經母細胞瘤、前列腺和肝癌細胞。

we found a compound from a terebrid snail

我們發現了一種蒺藜的化合物

that seems to attack liver cancer cells,

似乎可以攻擊肝癌細胞。

and only liver cancer cells, and none of the others that were tested.

且只有肝癌細胞，其他被檢測的細胞都沒有。

And then, when we took this compound and we injected it into mouse models

然後，當我們把這種化合物和我們注射它 小鼠模型

that were expressing liver cancer cells,

是表達肝癌細胞的。

it significantly inhibited the growth of the tumors.

它能顯著抑制腫瘤的生長。

We're not quite sure how this works yet,

我們還不太清楚這怎麼用。

we're still investigating the mechanism

我們還在研究其中的奧祕

and how we can make this compound more effective,

以及我們如何讓這種化合物更加有效。

so you can't rush out to the pharmacy

這樣你就不能急著去藥房了

and order up a killer snail liver-cancer therapy treatment.

並訂購了殺手鐗蝸牛肝癌治療方法。

Not yet.

還沒有

Basically, what we think is happening

基本上，我們認為正在發生的事情

is that the compound is blocking a specific channel,

是該化合物阻斷了一個特定的通道。

prohibiting the transmission of a specific chemical

禁止傳播特定化學品

that leads to downstream signaling

導致下游的信號傳導

that enables the tumor to multiply and draw blood to itself.

使得腫瘤能夠繁殖，併為自己吸血。

What we're doing in studying the components of venom

我們在研究毒液的成分時做了什麼？

to find treatments for human diseases and disorders,

尋找人類疾病和失調的治療方法；

is not new,

不是新的。

it's what we call natural products drug discovery,

這就是我們所說的天然產品藥物發現。

and it's been happening for centuries,

而且這種情況已經發生了好幾個世紀了。

and in cultures all over the world.

和世界各地的文化中。

Venoms are not only giving us cool new compounds,

毒液不僅給我們帶來了很酷的新化合物。

but they're also giving us new ways of thinking

但它們也給我們提供了新的思考方式。

about how we treat human diseases and disorders.

關於我們如何治療人類疾病和失調。

And I'll give you three examples.

我給你舉三個例子。

The first is from killer snails, of course.

當然，第一種是殺手蝸牛的。

And so the first drug from these snails that is on the market

所以這些蝸牛的第一種藥物，已經上市了

is called ziconotide, or Prialt,

被稱為齊科諾肽，或Prialt。

and it's used to treat chronic pain in HIV and cancer patients.

並用於治療艾滋病毒和癌症患者的慢性疼痛。

Prialt is a nonaddictive pain therapy.

Prialt是一種非成癮性疼痛療法。

Three magic words when you think about how we're treating pain currently.

當你想到我們目前如何治療疼痛時，三個神奇的詞。

We're using things that have a huge cost of addiction.

我們使用的東西，有巨大的成癮成本。

So think of morphine

所以想想嗎啡

or think of any of your favorite opioid out there.

或者想出你最喜歡的阿片類藥物來

What the snails have done

蝸牛做了什麼

is they've shown us a way to treat pain without the addiction,

是他們給我們展示了一種治療疼痛而不上癮的方法。

which is huge.

這是巨大的。

The next example comes from the Brazilian pit viper.

接下來的例子來自巴西的蝮蛇。

From these snakes, we've derived a compound called captopril.

從這些蛇身上，我們衍生出一種叫卡託普利的化合物。

Captopril is used to treat high blood pressure,

卡託普利用於治療高血壓。

and captopril is a breakthrough drug.

而卡託普利是一種突破性的藥物。

But not only in and of itself,

但不僅是本身。

but because it advanced a whole class of drugs,

但因為它推進了一整類藥物。

what we know as ACE inhibitors,

我們知道的ACE抑制劑。

which are the most commonly [prescribed] for treating hypertension

哪些是治療高血壓最常用的[處方]？

and heart failure.

和心力衰竭。

The last example is from the Gila monster.

最後一個例子是來自吉拉怪獸。

And this is a really exciting example of understanding the ecology

而這是一個非常令人興奮的例子 瞭解生態學

of these organisms,

這些生物的。

and pairing it with efficient drug discovery.

並與高效的藥物發現相配合。

And Gila monsters are binge eaters.

而吉拉怪獸是暴飲暴食的。

So when they bite into a large meal,

所以當他們咬著大餐。

they release things in their venom that lower blood sugar.

它們在毒液中釋放的東西會降低血糖。

So what's the drug that you think we found from the Gila monster?

你覺得我們從吉拉怪獸身上找到的是什麼藥？

A compound that is used to lower the blood sugar in diabetic patients.

一種用於降低糖尿病患者血糖的化合物。

Now these are three marvelous examples,

現在這是三個了不起的例子。

but we've just scratched the surface.

但我們只是表面上的。

There's so much more venom out there for us to study.

外面還有很多毒液供我們研究。

In fact, we think that 15 percent of all the animals on the planet

事實上，我們認為地球上有15%的動物

are venomous.

是有毒的。

And I think this is a low estimate,

而且我覺得這個估計很低。

given the fact that we haven't surveyed all the animals on the planet.

鑑於我們還沒有調查過地球上所有的動物。

But nature seems to have found something that she likes,

但大自然似乎找到了她喜歡的東西。

and she's repeated it over and over and over again,

她一遍又一遍地重複著。

leading to the vast array of animals that we see around us

導致我們身邊的動物層出不窮。

and all throughout the tree of life.

以及整個生命之樹的所有。

So whether we're talking about my fave, killer snails,

所以不管是說我最喜歡的，殺人蝸牛。

or jellyfish,

或水母。

or the larvae of butterflies and moths,

或蝴蝶和蛾子的幼蟲。

or platypus or slow lorises,

或鴨嘴獸或慢悠悠的駱駝。

whether by sea, land or air,

無論是海、陸、空。

you're sure to encounter a venomous creature.

你一定會遇到有毒的生物。

Remember when I told you

記得我跟你說過

that venom can be both a superhero and a supervillain,

毒液既可以是超級英雄也可以是超級惡棍。

and you doubted me?

你還懷疑我？

Mhm.

嗯

We're in a race to harness all of this venom goodness

我們在比賽中利用這些毒液的好處

before we lose the vast majority of animals on our planet.

在我們失去地球上絕大多數的動物之前。

It's a holistic process.

這是一個整體的過程。

You can't have the therapeutic treatments without having the animals.

沒有動物就不能進行治療。

And you can't have the animals

而且你不能讓動物

without having their ecosystems.

而不具備其生態系統。

So for me and the snails,

所以對於我和蝸牛來說。

what it means is we have to save the oceans.

這意味著我們必須拯救海洋。

And because venomous animals are found everywhere,

而且因為到處都有有毒的動物。

we basically have to save the planet.

我們基本上必須拯救地球。

So do it for the venomous animals,

所以對毒物也要這樣做。

if you don't want to do it for yourself.

如果你不想為自己做。

And who knows,

誰知道呢？

some day, snail venom might just save your life.

有一天，蝸牛毒液可能會救你一命。

Thank you.

謝謝你了