I work with really amazing,

早安各位

little, itty-bitty creatures called cells.

我的工作是關於非常驚人的

And let me tell you what it's like

微小生物，它們叫做細胞

to grow these cells in the lab.

讓我告訴你們如何

I work in a lab where we take cells out of their native environment.

在實驗室裡培養這些細胞

We plate them into dishes

在實驗室中，我們將細胞從它們的原生環境取出

that we sometimes call petri dishes.

我們將它們放置到碟子中

And we feed them -- sterilely of course --

有時我們稱這些碟子為培養皿

with what we call cell culture media -- which is like their food --

我們當然是用無菌的方式餵食這些細胞

and we grow them in incubators.

用的是稱為細胞培養基的東西，這就如同它們的食物

Why do I do this?

然後我們在培養機中培養它們

We observe the cells in a plate,

為什麼我要這麼做?

and they're just on the surface.

我們觀察培養皿中的細胞

But what we're really trying to do in my lab

它們都分佈在培養基的表面

is to engineer tissues out of them.

但我們在實驗室裡想做的是

What does that even mean?

利用它們做出組織

Well it means growing an actual heart,

而這到底是什麼意思呢?

let's say,

意思是培養一顆真的心臟

or grow a piece of bone

又例如

that can be put into the body.

培養一塊骨頭

Not only that, but they can also be used for disease models.

能放到身體裡面的骨頭

And for this purpose, traditional cell culture techniques

不但如此，它們也能用於疾病模型

just really aren't enough.

但如果要這麼做，傳統的細胞培養技術

The cells are kind of homesick;

就略顯不足了

the dish doesn't feel like their home.

這些細胞有點適應不良

And so we need to do better at copying their natural environment

培養皿一點都不像它們生長的地方

to get them to thrive.

因此我們需要在複製它們的自然環境方面加強

We call this the biomimetic paradigm --

才能使它們成長茁壯

copying nature in the lab.

我們稱這個技術為「仿生式樣」

Let's take the example of the heart,

也就是在實驗室中複製自然環境

the topic of a lot of my research.

我們拿心臟來當例子好了

What makes the heart unique?

這是我研究很多的主題

Well, the heart beats,

心臟獨特之處在那裡?

rhythmically, tirelessly, faithfully.

心臟會跳動

We copy this in the lab

很規律、很不倦地、忠誠地跳動

by outfitting cell culture systems with electrodes.

我們在實驗室裡複製心跳

These electrodes act like mini pacemakers

方法是在細胞培養系統加入電極

to get the cells to contract in the lab.

這些電極功能就像迷你心律調整器

What else do we know about the heart?

能夠讓細胞在實驗室裡收縮

Well, heart cells are pretty greedy.

此外，我們對心臟還知道些什麼?

Nature feeds the heart cells in your body

心臟細胞是非常耗能的

with a very, very dense blood supply.

大自然必須用很充沛的血液量

In the lab, we micro-pattern channels

來維持體內的心臟細胞的運作

in the biomaterials

在實驗室裡，我們用生物材料

on which we grow the cells,

製作微小的管道

and this allows us to flow the cell culture media, the cells' food,

然後我們在那上面培養細胞

through the scaffolds where we're growing the cells --

這樣我們才能將細胞培養基，也就是細胞的食物

a lot like what you might expect

注入我們培養細胞的支架

from a capillary bed in the heart.

很像我們印象中的

So this brings me to lesson number one:

心臟微血管床

life can do a lot with very little.

這樣我們就可以開始進入主題了:

Let's take the example of electrical stimulation.

生命即使在匱乏的環境中也能成就非凡

Let's see how powerful just one of these essentials can be.

我們用電刺激來舉個例子好了

On the left, we see a tiny piece of beating heart tissue

我們來看看這個要素本身的功能有多強大

that I engineered from rat cells in the lab.

在左邊，我們可以看見一小塊在跳動的心臟組織

It's about the size of a mini marshmallow.

這是我在實驗室中從老鼠細胞做出來的

And after one week, it's beating.

它跟迷你棉花糖一樣大

You can see it in the upper left-hand corner.

一個禮拜後，它開始跳動了

But don't worry if you can't see it so well.

你可以在左上角的圖中看到

It's amazing that these cells beat at all.

如果你看不清楚也不用擔心(因為跳動非常細微)

But what's really amazing

這些細胞光是會跳動就很令人驚奇了

is that the cells, when we electrically stimulate them,

但是真正令人驚訝的是

like with a pacemaker,

當我們用電刺激這些細胞時

that they beat so much more.

就像用一個心律調整器一樣

But that brings me to lesson number two:

這些細胞跳得更有生命力了

cells do all the work.

再來我要講第二課了:

In a sense, tissue engineers have a bit of an identity crisis here,

所有的工作交給細胞就好了

because structural engineers

就某方面來說，組織工程師有一點身份認同的危機

build bridges and big things,

因為結構工程師

computer engineers, computers,

建造橋樑及巨大的物體

but what we are doing

電腦工程師當然就是電腦了

is actually building enabling technologies for the cells themselves.

但我們所從事的工作

What does this mean for us?

其實是建造一個科技來啟動細胞本身

Let's do something really simple.

這對我們來說代表著什麼呢?

Let's remind ourselves

我們來做一件簡單的事

that cells are not an abstract concept.

我們來提醒自己

Let's remember that our cells sustain our lives

細胞並不是一個抽象的概念

in a very real way.

我們要記得，細胞維持著我們的生命

"We are what we eat," could easily be described

用的是非常真實的方式

as, "We are what our cells eat."

「我們吃什麼就像什麼」可以簡單得說成

And in the case of the flora in our gut,

「細胞吃什麼，我們就像什麼」

these cells may not even be human.

例如我們腸道內的菌群

But it's also worth noting

這些細胞甚至不是人體的

that cells also mediate our experience of life.

還值得注意的是

Behind every sound, sight, touch, taste and smell

細胞還調節著我們對人生的體驗

is a corresponding set of cells

在聽覺、視覺、觸覺、味覺、嗅覺的背後

that receive this information

各有一組對應的細胞

and interpret it for us.

來接受訊息

It begs the question:

並為我們詮釋

shall we expand our sense of environmental stewardship

而這也把我們帶到了這個問題:

to include the ecosystem of our own bodies?

我們是否該擴展對環境管理的概念

I invite you to talk about this with me further,

並納入我們自身的生態環境呢?

and in the meantime, I wish you luck.

我歡迎你們和我更進一步的探討這個話題

May none of your non-cancer cells

而在那之前，我要祝大家好運

become endangered species.

希望大家的非癌細胞都不會

Thank you.

成為瀕臨絕種的生物

(Applause)

謝謝大家