TED演讲:疯狂的科学家用苹果做出了耳朵(2)

 So one day I was hacking¹ something, I was taking it apart, and I had this sudden idea: 有一天我正在拆解东西，我突然产生了这样的想法：

You know, could I treat biology like hardware?  我能不能把生物体当作硬件？

Could I dismantle² a biological system, mix and match the parts 我能不能拆分一个生物系统，混合并配对拆分出来的部分，

and then put it back together in some new and creative way?  然后用全新的创造性的方式把它重新拼装？

So my lab started working on this, and I want to show you the result. 于是我的实验室开始了相关的研究，我想给你们展示一下成果。

Can any of you guys tell me what fruit this is? Apple! 你们有谁能够告诉我这是什么水果吗？苹果！

That's right -- it's an apple.  没错——这是个苹果。

Now, I actually want you to notice as well that this is a lot redder than most apples. 我现在也需要你们注意，它比其他苹果要红得多。

And that's because we grew human cells into it.  原因是我们在其中植入了人类细胞。

We took a totally innocent Macintosh apple,  我们拿了一个纯正的麦金塔苹果

removed all the apple cells and DNA³ and then implanted human cells. 移除所有的苹果细胞和DNA，再植入人类细胞。

And what we're left with after removing all the apple cells is this cellulose scaffold. 移除全部苹果细胞后，剩下的是纤维素骨架。

This is the stuff that gives plants their shape and texture⁵.  正是纤维素保证了植物的形状和质感。

And these little holes that you can see, this is where all the apple cells used to be. 还有你们看到的这些小孔，就是苹果细胞原来所在的地方。

So then we come along, we implant⁴ some mammalian cells that you can see in blue. 然后我们继续试验，植入了一些哺乳动物细胞，你们可以看到是蓝色的。

And what happens is, these guys start multiplying and they fill up this entire scaffold. 接下来，它们开始繁殖，并充满了整个骨架空隙。

Now as weird⁶ as this is, it's actually really reminiscent of how our own tissues are organized. 听起来有些不可思议，这的确能使我们联想到人体的组织排列方式。

And we found in our pre-clinical work that you can implant these scaffolds into the body, 我们在临床前试验时发现，你可以把这些纤维素骨架植入体内，

and the body will send in cells and a blood supply and actually keep these things alive. 而身体会提供细胞和血液供应来维持其生命活动。

This is the point when people started asking me, "Andrew, can you make body parts out of apples?" 就在这个时候人们开始问我，“安德鲁，你能从苹果中制造出人体部位吗？”

And I'm like, "You've come to the right place."  我答道：“你来对地方了。”

1 hacking   

n.非法访问计算机系统和数据库的活动

参考例句：

• The patient with emphysema is hacking all day. 这个肺气肿病人整天不断地干咳。
• We undertook the task of hacking our way through the jungle. 我们负责在丛林中开路。

2 dismantle   

vt.拆开，拆卸；废除，取消

参考例句：

• He asked for immediate help from the United States to dismantle the warheads.他请求美国立即提供援助，拆除这批弹头。
• The mower firmly refused to mow,so I decided to dismantle it.修完后割草机还是纹丝不动，于是，我决定把它拆开。

3 DNA   

(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸

参考例句：

• DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。

4 implant   

vt.注入，植入，灌输

参考例句：

• A good teacher should implant high ideals in children.好教师应该把高尚理想灌输给孩子们。
• The operation to implant the artificial heart took two hours.人工心脏植入手术花费了两小时。

5 texture   

n.(织物)质地；(材料)构造；结构；肌理

参考例句：

• We could feel the smooth texture of silk.我们能感觉出丝绸的光滑质地。
• Her skin has a fine texture.她的皮肤细腻。

6 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。