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  • Stated Clearly presents:

    Stated Clearly 為您呈現:

  • Can science explain the origin of life?

    科學可以解釋生命的起源嗎?

  • A full scientific explanation for the origin of life does not currently exist,

    目前我們對於生命的起源沒有一個完整的科學解釋,

  • but research groups around the globe are tackling the

    但是世界各地的研究員都在嘗試解開這個

  • mystery.

    謎團。

  • Here we'll take a look at a few of their discoveries.

    現在就讓我們來看看他們的發現。

  • Darwin's theory of biological evolution

    達爾文的進化論

  • tells us that all life on Earth may have originated from a single,

    告訴我們或許地球上所有的生命都源自於

  • relatively simple reproducing creature, living in the distant past.

    一個久遠的簡單生物。

  • This idea is based on many observations one of which is that when living things reproduce

    這個理論是根據許多的觀察,其中一個是當生物繁衍時,

  • children are often born with random new traits. Those with negative new traits are

    後代通常都會有隨機的新特徵。擁有不好的新特徵的後代

  • less likely to survive and reproduce,

    較不易生存和繁衍,

  • those with positive new traits are more likely to survive

    而擁有有利的新特徵的後代則比較容易生存

  • and pass those traits on to their children. Over multiple generations

    並將這些特徵傳給下一代。經過好幾代後,

  • positive traits build up allowing relatively simple life forms to evolve

    有利的特徵會不斷的累積,促使相對簡單的生物演變成

  • into complex life forms

    複雜的生物體,

  • and even split into multiple different species.

    甚至可以形成許多不同的物種。

  • a careful look at the fossil record overwhelmingly confirms Darwin's theory,

    化石紀錄的詳細研究驗證了達爾文的理論,

  • life forms get simpler and simpler as we go back in time.

    越久遠的生物越簡單。

  • The record suggests that all life on Earth emerged from primitive cellular colonies

    這些紀錄顯示地球上的所有生命都源自於

  • which first appeared roughly three and a half billion years ago.

    約三十五億年前的原始細胞菌落。

  • But how did those first reproducing creatures come about?

    但是這些原始的生物又是如何出現的呢?

  • Even the simplest bacteria alive today

    即使是現今最簡單的細菌

  • are far too complex to have popped into existence in a single step.

    也都過於複雜,不可能突然出現。

  • Furthermore, the first reproducing creature could not have developed through

    此外,第一個出現的生物不可能是經由

  • biological evolution,

    生物演化而來,

  • because biological evolution requires reproduction in order to work.

    因為生物需要繁衍才可以演化。

  • The origin of life needs its

    生命的起源需要一套

  • own explanation. The most promising idea right now,

    自己的解釋。目前最肯定

  • the one which is consistently leading scientist to new discoveries,

    且持續讓科學家找出新發現的想法

  • is the idea that life emerged from chemistry!

    是生命源自於化學!

  • Chemistry is the study of matter.

    化學是對於物質的研究。

  • Particularly, how atoms interact and combine to form molecules,

    主要是探討原子如何形成分子

  • and how those molecules interact and combined to form larger systems and structures.

    和分子又如何透過交互作用形成更大的系統和結構。

  • Everything is made of chemicals,

    萬物皆是由化學物質所組成的,

  • the air we breathe, the ground we walk on,

    從我們呼吸的空氣、我們行走的大地、

  • the shoes on our feet, even

    我們所穿的鞋子,

  • the feet inside our shoes.

    甚至是鞋子裡面的腳。

  • That said the chemistry of life is special in two very important ways.

    但是生命的化學在兩個層面上非常重要。

  • First, the chemistry of life is organized

    首先,生命所需的化學反應被稱之為

  • into metabolic pathways. If you look at the cells of any living thing,

    代謝途徑。如果你看看生物的任何一個細胞,

  • even a plant which you wouldn't normally think of as being very lively,

    甚至是那些你不會覺得很有生命力的植物,

  • you discover a world activity! Chemical reactions occur in continuous orderly

    你會發現一個充滿活力的世界!這些化學反應都是連續的且遵循一條有條理的

  • paths,

    路徑,

  • each reaction sparking the next. Scientists call these strange reactions

    每個化學反應都會引導下一個反應。科學家把這些奇怪的化學反應稱之為

  • metabolic pathways.

    代謝途徑。

  • the second oddity of life's chemistry, is that living cells are made of special molecules

    生命的化學的第二個奇妙之處是細胞是由特殊的分子所組成的。

  • building blocks like amino acids and sugars

    例如氨基酸和醣類等基本成分。

  • which we once thought could not be found outside of life. These building blocks

    這些成分曾被認為無法在生物體外找到。它們會

  • combine

    結合

  • to form highly complex and orderly structures like genes,

    並形成高度複雜但有規律的結構像是基因、

  • proteins, and cell membranes.

    蛋白質和細胞膜。

  • In the past, scientist had no idea what powered the strange activities of life,

    過去,科學家完全不知道是什麼東西驅動了生命

  • and produced its unique chemicals. They concluded that life must be fueled by a mysterious energy

    並促使獨特化學物質的產生。他們認為生命必定是從一個神秘的來源產生動力。

  • they called it: The Vital Force!

    他們把它稱之為「生命力」!

  • In 1828 a chemist by the name of Friedrichhler

    在 1828 年,一個叫做 Friedrich Wöhler 的科學家

  • accidentally produced urea in his lab. Urea is one of the main components of urine

    意外的在實驗室製造出了尿素。尿素是尿液的主要成分。

  • One of many chemicals that the scientists of his time thought could only

    這是其中一個過去科學家認為

  • be produced by the Vital Force, acting inside a living creature.

    只能由生物身體裡的「生命力」所製造出來的化學物質。

  • The artificial production and urea suggested

    人工尿素的製成表示

  • that life might not be powered by a mysterious force,

    生命也許不是由一個神秘力量所驅動,

  • but instead is powered by normal chemical reactions,

    而是經由普通的化學反應。

  • which could be studied and understood.

    而這些化學反應可以被研究和理解。

  • Since that time, numerous molecules and cellular activities have been recreated in the lab,

    自從那時,科學家在實驗室裡再現了無數的分子和細胞活動

  • clearly demonstrating a life is powered by normal chemical reactions,

    這明確地表示生命是被許多普通的化學反應所驅動,

  • and suggesting that life may have emerged from non-living chemistry.

    並暗示生命也許是源自於無生命的化學反應。

  • Researchers have recently discovered that many of the building blocks of life,

    研究人員近期從外太空墜落的隕星上發現

  • amino acids and sugars, exist inside of meteorites, rocks which have fallen to the earth from outer space.

    許多像是氨基酸和糖類的生命組成成分。

  • This tells us that these

    這也告訴我們這些

  • special molecules are being produced spontaneously

    特殊的分子是

  • all throughout our solar system and may have been common on the ancient Earth.

    會在我們的太陽系中自然的生成,而且或許它們在原始的地球是十分普遍的。

  • We've also discovered a process now referred to

    科學家也發現一個被稱之為

  • as Chemical Evolution. When simple molecules are left alone with an energy source,

    「科學演化」的過程。當簡單的分子與能量來源共存時

  • they interact with one another often forming larger more complex molecules as time goes on.

    它們會相互影響,隨著時間形成更大且更複雜的分子。

  • Experiments in the lab have shown that chains of chemical

    實驗結果也顯示連鎖的化學

  • reactions can develop,

    反應可以在實驗室形成,

  • some of which resemble the metabolic pathways of life!

    而其中一些化學反應類似於新陳代謝的過程!

  • Surprisingly we've also found that certain molecules have the remarkable ability

    我們也意外的發現一些特定的分子有非凡的能力,

  • to self-assemble into complex orderly structures.

    它們可以自己組裝成複雜但有序的結構。

  • Some self-assemble into hollow spheres

    有些可以組裝成空心的球體,

  • almost identical to the membranes of modern living cells.

    幾乎跟現代的細胞模一模一樣。

  • Others self-assemble into long columns

    其他的可以組裝成長型的圓柱體,

  • remarkably similar to the strains of DNA found in life.

    這些和生命中的 DNA 十分相似。

  • Scientists still have many questions to answer about life's origins:

    對於生命的起源,可學家還有很多問題需要回答:

  • How did different types the molecules first start working together,

    不同種類的分子是如何開始合作

  • eventually producing the genetic code?

    並最終形成遺傳密碼?

  • What were the original reproducing creatures actually like? Were they similar

    最初能進行繁殖的生命是什麼樣子的呢?它們跟

  • to the cells we have today?

    現今的細胞很像嗎?

  • Or were they something much simpler? And finally,

    還是它們是更簡單的生物呢?最後,

  • possibly the most interesting question of all, how likely is it the life

    最有趣的問題是,在銀河系裡的其他地方發現

  • has formed

    已經形成或是

  • or is forming, in other regions of our galaxy?

    正在形成的生命的機率有多高呢?

  • So...

    所以

  • back to the original question, can science explain the origin of life?

    回到最初的問題,科學能解釋生命的起源嗎?

  • Science has not explained the origin of life

    科學尚未完整的解釋生命的起源,

  • in full detail, but researchers are building a theory intended to one day

    但研究人員正在建立一套理論,期盼未來能

  • describe, start to finish,

    從頭到尾解釋

  • how basic chemistry can give rise to living cells!

    基礎的化學究竟是如何引發出活生生的細胞!

  • I'm Jon Perry

    我是 Jon Perry

  • and that's the origin of life, as we understand it so far,

    而這是我們目前對於生命起源的了解,

  • Stated Clearly.

    Stated Clearly.

Stated Clearly presents:

Stated Clearly 為您呈現:

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