I study genes that make plants resistant to disease

我研究能使植物抵抗疾病

and tolerant of stress.

和抗壓的基因

In recent years,

近年來

millions of people around the world have come to believe

很多人認為

that there's something sinister about genetic modification.

基因研究出現了大問題

Today, I am going to provide a different perspective.

今天，我將提出一個不同的觀點

First, let me introduce my husband, Raoul.

首先，讓我介紹一下我的丈夫，雷歐

He's an organic farmer.

他是一個有機農民

On his farm, he plants a variety of different crops.

在他的田地里，種植著許多不同的農作物

This is one of the many ecological farming practices

這是他用來保持作物健康的

he uses to keep his farm healthy.

眾多生態農業實踐中的一個

Imagine some of the reactions we get:

想象一下，人們對我們的反應

"Really? An organic farmer and a plant geneticist?

一個有機農名和一個植物基因學家？

Can you agree on anything?"

你們能有任何的共識嗎？

Well, we can, and it's not difficult, because we have the same goal.

嗯，我們可以，這並不困難， 因為我們有共同的目標

We want to help nourish the growing population

我們想要幫助滋養不斷增長的人口

without further destroying the environment.

而不用更進一步的破壞環境

I believe this is the greatest challenge of our time.

我相信這是我們這個時代的最大的挑戰

Now, genetic modification is not new;

如今，基因改造並不是什麼新穎的東西

virtually everything we eat has been genetically modified

事實上，我們吃的所有的食物在一定程度上

in some manner.

都被基因改造過

Let me give you a few examples.

讓我來舉幾個例子

On the left is an image

左邊的圖片是

of the ancient ancestor of modern corn.

現代玉米的原始祖先

You see a single roll of grain that's covered in a hard case.

可以看到，由一排硬殼包著的玉米粒

Unless you have a hammer,

除非你有一把錘子

teosinte isn't good for making tortillas.

不然，蜀黍並不適合用來做玉米餅

Now, take a look at the ancient ancestor of banana.

現在來看香蕉的古老祖先

You can see the large seeds.

你可以看到非常大的籽

And unappetizing brussel sprouts,

一點也引不起食慾的甘藍

and eggplant, so beautiful.

還有茄子，很漂亮

Now, to create these varieties,

為了創造這些品種

breeders have used many different genetic techniques over the years.

多年來培育專家們用了很多種不同的基因技術

Some of them are quite creative,

其中的一些很有創造性

like mixing two different species together

例如，用嫁接的程序

using a process called grafting

將兩種不同的品種結合在一起

to create this variety that's half tomato and half potato.

創造出了這個一半是番茄， 一半是馬鈴薯的品種

Breeders have also used other types of genetic techniques,

培育專家們也使用了其他的基因技術

such as random mutagenesis,

例如隨機突變

which induces uncharacterized mutations

這種隨機突變能讓植物內部變生

into the plants.

非典型的突變基因

The rice in the cereal that many of us fed our babies

我們所用來餵養嬰兒的米糊

was developed using this approach.

就是用這種方法發展來的

Now, today, breeders have even more options to choose from.

如今，培育專家們甚至有更多的選擇

Some of them are extraordinarily precise.

其中的很多是非常精確的

I want to give you a couple examples from my own work.

我想舉幾個我工作中的例子

I work on rice, which is a staple food for more than half the world's people.

我研究大米，這是全世界過半人口的主糧

Each year, 40 percent of the potential harvest

每年，百分之四十的飢餓

is lost to pest and disease.

都由於病蟲害造成的

For this reason, farmers plant rice varieties

為此，農民們種植

that carry genes for resistance.

帶有耐抗性基因的水稻品種

This approach has been used for nearly 100 years.

這種方法已經使用了將近100年

Yet, when I started graduate school,

然而，當我在讀研究生的時候

no one knew what these genes were.

還沒有人知道這些基因是什麼

It wasn't until the 1990s that scientists finally uncovered

科學家們最終於九十年代解開了

the genetic basis of resistance.

耐抗性基因的基礎

In my laboratory, we isolated a gene for immunity to a very serious

在我的實驗室中， 我們將在亞洲和非洲非常嚴重的

bacterial disease in Asia and Africa.

細菌疾病的免疫基因分離了出來

We found we could engineer the gene into a conventional rice variety

我們發現，我們可以將這種基因移植到

that's normally susceptible,

易染病的傳統水稻品種上

and you can see the two leaves on the bottom here

你可以看到底部的兩個葉子

are highly resistant to infection.

很好的抵抗了感染

Now, the same month that my laboratory published

在同一個月裡我們實驗室發佈了

our discovery on the rice immunity gene,

我們對於水稻免疫基因的發現

my friend and colleague Dave Mackill stopped by my office.

我的朋友兼同事Dave Mackill來到我的辦公室

He said, "Seventy million rice farmers are having trouble growing rice."

他說：”七千萬的米農在種植水稻上遇到困難“

That's because their fields are flooded,

因為他們的田地會有洪水侵襲

and these rice farmers are living on less than two dollars a day.

這些稻農每天的收入低於2美元

Although rice grows well in standing water,

雖然水稻需要一定的水才能生長

most rice varieties will die if they're submerged

但是，如果浸入水中超過三天的時間

for more than three days.

水稻也會死亡

Flooding is expected to be increasingly problematic

隨著氣候的改變

as the climate changes.

洪災被認為是越來越嚴重的問題

He told me that his graduate student Kenong Xu and himself

他告訴我他和他的研究生 Kenong Xu

were studying an ancient variety of rice that had an amazing property.

正在研究一種古老的優良性能的水稻品種

It could withstand two weeks of complete submergence.

這種水稻能夠在被淹沒的環境下生存兩周

He asked if I would be willing to help them isolate this gene.

談詢問我是否願意幫他們分離這種基因

I said yes -- I was very excited, because I knew if we were successful,

我說可以，我很激動，因為我知道如果成功了

we could potentially help millions of farmers grow rice

我們就有可能幫助上百萬的農民種植水稻

even when their fields were flooded.

即使當他們的田地被水淹沒

Kenong spent 10 years looking for this gene.

Kenong 花費了十年的時間尋找這種基因

Then one day, he said,

有一天，他說

"Come look at this experiment. You've got to see it."

“過來看一下這個實驗，一定要來看一下”

I went to the greenhouse and I saw

我去了他的溫室看到了

that the conventional variety that was flooded for 18 days had died,

被水浸沒了18天的傳統水稻品種已經死了

but the rice variety that we had genetically engineered

但經過我們基因改造過的品種活了下來

with a new gene we had discovered, called Sub1, was alive.

這一基因是我們剛剛發現的，叫“替代一號”

Kenong and I were amazed and excited

Kenong和我既驚訝又興奮

that a single gene could have this dramatic effect.

僅僅一個基因就有這如此巨大的作用

But this is just a greenhouse experiment.

但這僅僅是在溫室裡的實驗

Would this work in the field?

這一成果在稻田裡能實現么

Now, I'm going to show you a four-month time lapse video

現在，我要向你展示一個由國際水稻研究所

taken at the International Rice Research Institute.

拍攝的長達四個月的視頻

Breeders there developed a rice variety carrying the Sub1 gene

培育專家們用另一種叫做“精密培育”的技術

using another genetic technique called precision breeding.

培育了攜帶“替代一號"基因的水稻品種

On the left, you can see the Sub1 variety,

左邊的是攜帶”替代一號“品種的水稻

and on the right is the conventional variety.

右邊的是傳統的水稻品種

Both varieties do very well at first,

一開始的時候兩個品種表現的相當好

but then the field is flooded for 17 days.

然而，在農田被水浸沒17天之後

You can see the Sub1 variety does great.

你可以看到”替代一號“表現的非常好

In fact, it produces three and a half times more grain

事實上，它的產量

than the conventional variety.

是傳統品種的3.5倍

I love this video

我喜歡這個視頻

because it shows the power of plant genetics to help farmers.

因為它體現出了植物基因技術的強大

Last year, with the help of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation,

去年，在比爾和梅琳達·蓋茨基金會的幫助下

three and a half million farmers grew Sub1 rice.

三百五十萬的農民種植”替代一號“

(Applause)

（掌聲）

Thank you.

謝謝

Now, many people don't mind genetic modification

現在，很多人不介意基因改造

when it comes to moving rice genes around,

當在水稻上轉移基因

rice genes in rice plants,

把水稻的基因改造于水稻上

or even when it comes to mixing species together

或者甚至是通過移植或是隨機突變的方法 把它和其他的水稻品種結合起來

through grafting or random mutagenesis.

都不會遭到反對

But when it comes to taking genes from viruses and bacteria

但是，當我們把病毒或是細菌的基因提取出來

and putting them into plants,

放到其他的植物上

a lot of people say, "Yuck."

很多人就會說：”不行”

Why would you do that?

為何要如此呢？

The reason is that sometimes it's the cheapest, safest,

原因就是有時候這就是提高食品安全 和發展可持續農業的

and most effective technology

最安全，最廉價

for enhancing food security and advancing sustainable agriculture.

同時也是最高效的技術

I'm going to give you three examples.

我來舉三個例子

First, take a look at papaya. It's delicious, right?

首先，看一下這個木瓜，很美味，對嗎？

But now, look at this papaya.

再來看這一個

This papaya is infected with papaya ringspot virus.

被感染了木瓜環斑病毒

In the 1950s, this virus nearly wiped out the entire production

在上世紀50年代，這一病毒幾乎毀壞了

of papaya on the island of Oahu in Hawaii.

夏威夷瓦胡島上的全部木瓜產量

Many people thought that the Hawaiian papaya was doomed,

很多人認為厄運降臨了夏威夷的木瓜

but then, a local Hawaiian,

然而，一個當地的夏威夷人

a plant pathologist named Dennis Gonsalves,

一個叫做丹尼斯·貢薩爾維斯的植物病理學家

decided to try to fight this disease using genetic engineering.

決定嘗試用基因工程技術來對抗這種疾病

He took a snippet of viral DNA and he inserted it

他提取了病毒DNA的一個片段

into the papaya genome.

並將其植入到了木瓜的基因組中

This is kind of like a human getting a vaccination.

這有點像人類接種育苗

Now, take a look at his field trial.

現在，看一下他的試驗田

You can see the genetically engineered papaya in the center.

你能看到中間的是被基因改造過的木瓜

It's immune to infection.

對於病毒的免疫相當好

The conventional papaya around the outside is severely infected with the virus.

外圍的是傳統的木瓜， 被感染的很嚴重

Dennis' pioneering work is credited with rescuing the papaya industry.

丹尼斯先驅性的工作 拯救了木瓜產業，其飽受讚揚

Today, 20 years later, there's still no other method to control this disease.

二十年後的今天， 仍沒有找到控制這種疾病的其它方法

There's no organic method. There's no conventional method.

沒有有機的方法，沒有傳統的方法， 統統沒有

Eighty percent of Hawaiian papaya is genetically engineered.

夏威夷百分之八十的木瓜都被基因改造過

Now, some of you may still feel a little queasy about viral genes in your food,

現在，有些人可能 仍然對你們的食品中的病毒基因感到不安

but consider this:

但是請想一想

The genetically engineered papaya carries just a trace amount of the virus.

這一被基因改造過的木瓜 僅僅是攜帶了病毒的一小部分

If you bite into an organic or conventional papaya

但是如果你咬了一口被病毒感染了的

that is infected with the virus,

有機傳統木瓜的話

you will be chewing on tenfold more viral protein.

你會嚼著多於十倍的病毒蛋白質

Now, take a look at this pest feasting on an eggplant.

現在來看一下這隻正在吃著茄子的害蟲

The brown you see is frass,

你所看到的棕色的東西

what comes out the back end of the insect.

是從蟲體內排出的蟲糞

To control this serious pest,

為了控制這種嚴重的害蟲

which can devastate the entire eggplant crop in Bangladesh,

這種害蟲能夠吃掉整個孟加拉國的茄子

Bangladeshi farmers spray insecticides

孟加拉國的農民每週

two to three times a week,

碰撒兩到三次的農藥

sometimes twice a day, when pest pressure is high.

當蟲災嚴重時，要一天噴灑兩次

But we know that some insecticides are very harmful to human health,

但是我們知道有些殺蟲劑對人體危害很大

especially when farmers and their families

尤其是對於一些難以支付合適的防護措施

cannot afford proper protection, like these children.

的農民及他們的家庭，就像這些孩子

In less developed countries, it's estimated that 300,000 people

在少些發達國家

die every year because of insecticide misuse and exposure.

據估計，每年有三十萬的人口 死於殺蟲劑的濫用和暴露

Cornell and Bangladeshi scientists decided to fight this disease

康奈爾和孟加拉國的科學家決定使用

using a genetic technique that builds on an organic farming approach.

一種建立在有機農業上的基因技術 來對抗這一疾病

Organic farmers like my husband Raoul spray an insecticide called B.T.,

像我丈夫雷歐這樣的有機農民 噴灑一種叫做B.T的殺蟲劑

which is based on a bacteria.

這種殺蟲劑的基礎是細菌

This pesticide is very specific to caterpillar pests,

這種殺蟲劑對於毛蟲來說相當特別

and in fact, it's nontoxic to humans, fish and birds.

而事實上，它對於人類， 魚類及鳥類並無毒性

It's less toxic than table salt.

比平常食用的鹽的毒性還小

But this approach does not work well in Bangladesh.

但是這種方法在孟加拉國並不怎麼奏效

That's because these insecticide sprays

因為這種殺蟲劑的噴灑裝置

are difficult to find, they're expensive,

很難得到且價格昂貴

and they don't prevent the insect from getting inside the plants.

同時，它並不阻止蟲子進入到植物體內

In the genetic approach, scientists cut the gene out of the bacteria

在所用的基因方法里， 科學家們將細菌的一小部分基因切除出來

and insert it directly into the eggplant genome.

並將其植入到茄子的基因組中

Will this work to reduce insecticide sprays in Bangladesh?

這種方法能減少孟加拉國殺蟲劑的噴灑嗎？

Definitely.

答案是顯而易見的

Last season, farmers reported they were able to reduce their insecticide use

上一個季節，農民們反映他們已經可以大幅度減少

by a huge amount, almost down to zero.

殺蟲劑的使用，幾乎無需使用

They're able to harvest and replant for the next season.

他們能夠豐收且下一個季節繼續種植

Now, I've given you a couple examples of how genetic engineering can be used

現在，我給了幾個基因工程技術的例子

to fight pests and disease

關於對抗蟲災和疾病

and to reduce the amount of insecticides.

同時減少殺蟲劑的使用量

My final example is an example

我最後的一個例子

where genetic engineering can be used to reduce malnutrition.

是基因工程在哪些地方 可以用來減少營養不良

In less developed countries,

在未發達國家

500,000 children go blind every year because of lack of Vitamin A.

每年有五十萬兒童由於缺少維他命A而致盲

More than half will die.

他們中過於半數會死亡

For this reason, scientists supported by the Rockefeller Foundation

正因此，科學家門在洛克菲勒基金會的幫助下

genetically engineered a golden rice

基因重組了一種能夠產生β-胡蘿蔔素的黃金大米

to produce beta-carotene, which is the precursor of Vitamin A.

而β-胡蘿蔔素正是維他命A的的前體

This is the same pigment that we find in carrots.

這同我們在蘿蔔里找到的色素相同

Researchers estimate that just one cup of golden rice per day

研究人員估計每天僅需一小杯黃金大米

will save the lives of thousands of children.

就可以拯救數以千計的兒童

But golden rice is virulently opposed

但是黃金大米卻

by activists who are against genetic modification.

被反轉基因人士極力反對

Just last year,

去年

activists invaded and destroyed a field trial in the Philippines.

反基因人士入侵 並摧毀了一個位於菲律賓的試驗田

When I heard about the destruction,

當我聽說這個消息後

I wondered if they knew that they were destroying much more

我在想，他們是否知道

than a scientific research project,

他們摧毀的不僅僅是一個科學研究項目

that they were destroying medicines that children desperately needed

他們所摧毀的是兒童們所急需的

to save their sight and their lives.

能夠拯救他們視力及生命的東西

Some of my friends and family still worry:

我的一些家人及朋友仍然擔心

How do you know genes in the food are safe to eat?

你怎麼知道食品裡的基因是足夠安全的？

I explained the genetic engineering,

我向他們解釋了基因工程

the process of moving genes between species,

這種在物種間移植基因的方法

has been used for more than 40 years

已經在酒中，藥物中，植物中，在奶酪中

in wines, in medicine, in plants, in cheeses.

使用了超過四十年

In all that time, there hasn't been a single case of harm

長時間以來，沒有一個對人體及環境

to human health or the environment.

造成危害的例子

But I say, look, I'm not asking you to believe me.

我說，我並不是要就你去相信我

Science is not a belief system.

科學並不是一個相信的機制

My opinion doesn't matter.

我的觀點無關緊要

Let's look at the evidence.

重要的是證據

After 20 years of careful study and rigorous peer review

經過了二十年數以千計的獨立科學家們

by thousands of independent scientists,

謹慎的研究和嚴格的同業互查

every major scientific organization in the world has concluded

世界上每一個主要的科研機構已經認為

that the crops currently on the market are safe to eat

市場上所有的食物都是安全可食用的

and that the process of genetic engineering

而且這樣的轉基因技術

is no more risky than older methods of genetic modification.

並不比傳統的基因改造方法有更大的危險性

These are precisely the same organizations that most of us trust

這些機構都是我們所在很多科學問題上

when it comes to other important scientific issues

都信任的科學機構

such as global climate change or the safety of vaccines.

例如全球變暖以及疫苗問題

Raoul and I believe that, instead of worrying about the genes in our food,

雷歐和我都相信， 與其關注我們所食用的轉基因食品安全問題

we must focus on how we can help children grow up healthy.

我們更應該關注如何幫助我們的孩子健康成長

We must ask if farmers in rural communities can thrive,

我們必須問一問農村的農民是否能夠營生

and if everyone can afford the food.

每個人是否都能夠買得起食物

We must try to minimize environmental degradation.

我們必須盡力對環境的損害做到最小化

What scares me most about the loud arguments and misinformation

關於轉基因的激烈爭論和錯誤信息中

about plant genetics

最令我害怕的是

is that the poorest people who most need the technology

由於一些足夠吃飽飯的人

may be denied access because of the vague fears and prejudices

他們的不明確的擔心與偏見

of those who have enough to eat.

造成一些急需此技術改善生活的窮苦人們失去食物

We have a huge challenge in front of us.