Two hundred years of modern science.
现代科技已经有两百年的历史了
We have to admit that our performance is not great.
我们必须承认我们的表现并不是很好
The machines we build continue to suffer from mechanical failures.
我们制造的机器不断地出现故障
The houses we build do not survive severe earthquakes.
我们建造的房间经受不住强烈的地震
But we shouldn't be so critical of our scientists for a simple reason: they didn't have much time.
但我们不应苛责科学家们 原因很简单他们并没有太多时间

Two hundred years is not a lot of time, while nature had three billion years to perfect some of the most amazing materials, that we wish we had in our possession.
200年太短 毕竟大自然已用了30亿年的时间来完善那些我们一直期望着能够拥有的神奇材料
Remember, these materials carry a quality assurance of three billion years.
记住了 这些材料有着30亿年的品质保证
Take, for example, sequoia trees.
举个例子 红杉树
They carry hundreds of tons for hundreds of years in cold weather, in warm climates, UV light.
几百年来 无论严寒酷暑它们都不断吸收着大量紫外线
Yet, if you look at the structure by high-resolution electron microscopy,
然而 如果用高倍电子显微镜观察其内部结构
and you ask yourself, what is it made of, surprisingly, it's made of sugar.
去看看 它到底是由什么构成的 让人惊讶的是 只是糖而已
Well, not exactly as we drink in our tea.
然而并不是我们在茶里喝到的那种糖
It's actually a nanofiber called nanocrystalline cellulose.
这实际上是一种叫做纳米晶体纤维素的纳米纤维
And this nanocrystalline cellulose is so strong, on a weight basis, it's about 10 times stronger than steel.
这种纳米晶体纤维素相当坚硬 它比与其质量相同的钢铁都要强壮十倍多
Yet it's made of sugar.
但是它的组成成分是糖
So scientists all over the world believe that nanocellulose is going to be one of the most important materials for the entire industry.
因此全世界的科学家都相信这种纳米纤维素将会成为最重要的工业原材料之一
But here's the problem: say you want to buy a half a ton of nanocellulose to build a boat or an airplane.
那么问题来了 假如说你想买半吨的纳米纤维素来建造船只或是飞机
Well, you can Google, you can eBay, you can even Alibaba. You won't find it.
但是你到谷歌 易趣网 甚至到阿里巴巴网站上都找不到
Of course, you're going to find thousands of scientific papers
当然你能找到很多科技论文
great papers, where scientists are going to say this is a great material, there are lots of things we can do with it.
论文里说 这是一种神奇的材料我们可以用它来做很多东西
But no commercial source.
但就是尚未实现商用
So we at the Hebrew University, together with our partners in Sweden, decided to focus on the development of an industrial-scale process to produce this nanocellulose.
因此我们在希伯来大学 与瑞典伙伴一起致力于将这种纳米纤维素投入到工业化量产阶段
And, of course, we didn't want to cut trees.
当然我们并不想砍树
So we were looking for another source of raw material,
所以我们在找另外一种原材料
and we found one -- in fact, the sludge of the paper industry.
当然我们找到了 那就是纸浆废渣
The reason: there is a lot of it.
原因是它们很多容易得到
Europe alone produces 11 million tons of that material annually.
单是欧洲纸浆废渣的年产量就能达到1100万吨
It's the equivalent of a mountain three kilometers high, sitting on a soccer field.
这些废渣能在足球场上堆起一座3000米的山
And we produce this mountain every year.
每年都能产生这样一山的纸浆废渣
So for everybody, it's an environmental problem, and for us, it's a gold mine.
对一般人来说 这是一个环境问题但对于我们来说 这就是一座金矿
So now, we are actually producing, on an industrial scale in Israel, nanocellulose, and very soon, in Sweden.
事实上我们正在以色列进行纳米晶体纤维素的量产很快 瑞典也能实现量产
We can do a lot of things with the material.
利用这种材料我们可以做很多东西
For example, we have shown that by adding only a small percent of nanocellulose
举个例子经证实 只需将少量纳米纤维素
into cotton fibers, the same as my shirt is made of, it increases its strength dramatically.
加入我这件衣服这样的普通棉纤维中衣料的强度就能显著提升
So this can be used for making amazing things, like super-fabrics for industrial and medical applications.
这就可以用于制造一些神奇的东西 比如工业及医疗用的超级纤维
But this is not the only thing.
不仅如此
For example, self-standing, self-supporting structures, like the shelters that you can see now,
再比如 独立自承重结构 如图所示的这种结构
actually are now showcasing in the Venice Biennale for Architecture.
目前正在威尼斯双年展上展出
Nature actually didn't stop its wonders in the plant kingdom. Think about insects.
自然不仅在植物界里创造奇迹 还有昆虫世界
Cat fleas, for example, have the ability to jump about a hundred times their height. That's amazing.
比方说 猫蚤 跳跃高度能达到自身身高的100倍 厉害吧
It's the equivalent of a person standing in the middle of Liberty Island in New York, and in a single jump, going to the top of the Statue of Liberty.
就相当于一个人站在纽约自由岛上蹦一下就能跳上自由女神像的顶端
I'm sure everybody would like to do that.
我想大家都想拥有这样的能力吧
So the question is: How do cat fleas do it?
然而问题是 猫蚤是怎么做到的
It turns out, they make this wonderful material, which is called resilin.
实验证明 它们靠的是一种叫节肢弹性蛋白神奇物质
In simple words, resilin, which is a protein, is the most elastic rubber on Earth.
简单地说就是一种蛋白质 但是这种蛋白质是世界上最有弹性的物质
You can actually stretch it, you can squish it, and it doesn't lose almost any energy to the environment.
可以拉伸 可以收缩 过程中几乎不损失能量
Now when you release it -- snap! It brings back all the energy.
你一松开手 啪 能量全都回来了
So I'm sure everybody would like to have that material.
所以我相信每个人都希望拥有这种物质
But here's the problem: to catch cat fleas is difficult.
然而有个问题 猫蚤太难抓了
Why? Because they are jumpy.
为什么呢 因为它们总是蹦来蹦去啊
But now, it's actually enough to catch one.
但其实 只需抓住一只就够了
Now we can extract its DNA and read how cat fleas make the resilin,
我们提取它的DNA 研究清楚它是如何产生节肢弹性蛋白的
and clone it into a less-jumpy organism like a plant.
再将其复制到不那么有弹性的有机体中 比如植物
So that's exactly what we did.
我们就是这么做到
So now we have the ability to produce lots of resilin.
现在我们能成功地制造大量节肢弹性蛋白
Well, my team decided to do something really cool at the university.
我们团队决定做点更酷的事
They decided to combine the strongest material produced by the plant kingdom
我们决定要把植物界硬度最强的物质 纳米纤维素
with the most elastic material produced by the insect kingdom nanocellulose with resilin.
和动物界弹性最高的物质 节肢弹性蛋白结合在一起
And the result is amazing.
结果很惊人
This material, in fact, is tough, elastic and transparent.
这种合成物 坚韧 富有弹性 还是透明的
So there are lots of things that can be done with this material.
有着极高的利用价值
For example, next-generation sport shoes, so we can jump higher, run faster.
比如 制作新型运动鞋可以让我们跳得更高 跑得更快
And even touch screens for computers and smartphones, that won't break.
甚至可以制作电脑和智能手机的触屏这样就不怕摔碎了
Well, the problem is, we continue to implant synthetic implants in our body, which we glue and screw into our body.
新的问题是 我们一直在尝试通过粘连 栓接等方式将人工合成物植入人体内
And I'm going to say that this is not a good idea.
而我要说 这不是个好主意
Why? Because they fail.
因为失败了
This synthetic material fails, just like this plastic fork, that is not strong enough for its performance.
这些合成材料无法正常工作 就像这个塑料叉子 用的时候不够结实就断了
But sometimes they are too strong, and therefore their mechanical properties do not really fit their surrounding tissues.
有时候呢 人工材料强度又过高与周围结构组织的机械性能不符合
But in fact, the reason is much more fundamental.
实际上 原因很简单
The reason is that in nature, there is no one there
因为 根本就没有螺丝
that actually takes my head and screws it onto my neck,
把我的头拧在脖子上
or takes my skin and glues it onto my body.
也没有胶水把皮肤粘在我身上
In nature, everything is self-assembled.
自然界中 万物都是自我合成的
So every living cell, whether coming from a plant, insect or human being,
每一个鲜活的细胞无论是植物的 昆虫的 还是人类细胞
has a DNA that encodes for nanobio building blocks.
都有纳米生物的基石 DNA编码
Many times they are proteins.
多数时候 都是蛋白质
Other times, they are enzymes that make other materials, like polysaccharides, fatty acids.
有时候 是合成其他物质所需的酶比如多糖 脂肪酸
And the common feature about all these materials is that they need no one.
而这些物质所共有的特性就是不需要外界帮助
They recognize each other and self-assemble into structures -- scaffolds on which cells are proliferating to give tissues.
它们能相互辨识 自我合成行程特定结构 以便细胞大量增殖形成组织
They develop into organs, and together bring life.
然后再长成器官 最后新生命诞生
So we at the Hebrew University, about 10 years ago, decided to focus on probably the most important biomaterial for humans, which is collagen.
大约10年前 我们在希伯来大学 就决定专注研究也许是对人类而言最重要的生物材料胶原蛋白
Why collagen? Because collagen accounts for about 25 percent of our dry weight.
为什么呢 因为胶原蛋白占了我们身体干重的25%
We have nothing more than collagen, other than water, in our body.
我们体内除了水 第二多的就是胶原蛋白了
So I always like to say, anyone who is in the replacement parts of human beings would like to have collagen.
我一直都说 任何人一旦需要修复身体就会首选胶原蛋白
Admittedly, before we started our project, there were already more than 1,000 medical implants made of collagen.
诚然 在我们开始项目之前已经有超过1000种医用植入物是用胶原蛋白合成的
You know, simple things like dermal fillers to reduce wrinkles, augment lips,
从很简单的东西 比如真皮填充物 用来淡化皱纹 增厚嘴唇
and other, more sophisticated medical implants, like heart valves.
到更加复杂的医用植入物 比如心脏瓣膜
So where is the problem? Well, the problem is the source.
那么 问题在哪里 麻烦在来源上
The source of all that collagen is actually coming from dead bodies: dead pigs, dead cows and even human cadavers.
这些胶原蛋白 其实来自死尸 死猪 死牛甚至是死人
So safety is a big issue. But it's not the only one. Also, the quality.
所以安全性是个很大的问题 不仅如此 质量也是个问题
Now here, I have a personal interest.
我讲一个亲身经历的事
This is my father, Zvi, in our winery in Israel.
这是我的父亲 兹维 我们在以色列的酒厂
A heart valve, very similar to the one that I showed you before, seven years ago, was implanted in his body.
七年前 我父亲做了心脏瓣膜替换的手术跟我之前给你们看的很像
Now, the scientific literature says that these heart valves start to fail 10 years after the operation.
现在的科学文献说这些心脏瓣膜在手术十年后就会开始衰竭
No wonder: they are made from old, used tissues, just like this wall made of bricks that is falling apart.
很正常 因为他们来自衰老的已经用过的组织 就像这面用破砖烂瓦砌成的墙
Yeah, of course, I can take those bricks and build a new wall.
当然我可以拿这些砖再其砌一面新墙
But it's not going to be the same.
但是那不可能跟原来一样了
So the US Food and Drug Administration made a notice already in 2007,
美国食品和药物管理局在2007年发了一则通告
asking the companies to start to look for better alternatives.
要求各公司寻找更优的替代品
So that's exactly what we did.
我们也正是这样做的
We decided to clone all the five human genes responsible for making type I collagen in humans into a transgenic tobacco plant.
我们将控制人类一型胶原蛋白的5种基因复制到转基因烟草上
So now, the plant has the ability to make human collagen brand new, untouched.
这样一来烟草就能产生全新的完整的人类胶原蛋白
This is amazing. Actually, it's happening now.
这很厉害 而我们实际上也一直在这么做
Today in Israel, we grow it in 25,000 square meters of greenhouses all over the country.
如今 以色列在温室中栽培这种烟草种植面积达25000平米
The farmers receive small plantlets of tobacco.
农户拿到烟草幼苗
It looks exactly like regular tobacco, except that they have five human genes.
看起来和普通幼苗一样 但其实带有五种人类基因
They're responsible for making type I collagen.
能合成一型胶原蛋白
We grow them for about 50 to 70 days, we harvest the leaves,
我们将幼苗培育50至70天后 采集它们的叶子
and then the leaves are transported by cooling trucks to the factory.
然后用冷藏车将它们运送到工厂
There, the process of extracting the collagen starts.
在工厂里开始提取胶原蛋白
Now, if you ever made a pesto -- essentially, the same thing.
如果你做过青酱 这其实跟它是一样的过程
You crush the leaves, you get the juice that contains the collagen.
把叶子捣碎 能得到含有胶原蛋白的汁液
We concentrate the protein, transfer the protein to clean rooms for the final purification,
浓缩提取蛋白质 将蛋白质转移到无菌房内做最后的提纯
and the end result is a collagen identical to what we have in our body untouched, brand new
最终得到的胶原蛋白与我们体内产生的完全相同 而且是一手的 全新的
and from which we make different medical implants: bone void fillers, for example, for severe bone fractures, spinal fusion.
由此我们可以制作各种医用植入物 比如 骨空隙填料 用来治愈多段骨折 进行脊柱融合术
And more recently, even, we've been able to launch into the market here in Europe
最近 发展更甚我们已经能在欧洲市场售卖
a flowable gel that is used for diabetic foot ulcers, that is now approved for use in the clinic.
一种用来治疗糖尿病足溃疡的凝胶 现在已经允许在诊所使用了
So this is not science fiction. This is happening now.
这不是科幻小说 而是真实存在的事
We are using plants to make medical implants for replacement parts for human beings.
我们用植物来制作医用植入物 来修复人体
In fact, more recently, we've been able to make collagen fibers which are six times stronger than the Achilles tendon.
最近 我们已经能成功制作胶原蛋白纤维了它的强度是跟腱的6倍
That's amazing. Together with our partners from Ireland, we thought about the next thing: adding resilin to those fibers.
太不可思议了 我们正与来自爱尔兰的同事一起 计划着下一步将节肢弹性蛋白加进这些纤维中
So by doing that, we've been able to make a superfiber which is about 380 percent tougher, and 300 percent more elastic.
如果成功 我们将得到一种超级纤维强度提高3.8倍弹性增强3倍
So oddly enough, in the future,
未来就会出现这么个怪事儿
when a patient is transplanted with artificial tendons or ligaments
病人在做完了跟腱或韧带移植手术后
made from these fibers, we'll have better performance after the surgery than we had before the injury.
只要用的是这种超级纤维那他术后会比术前更强健
So what's for the future?
那么未来会如何呢
In the future, we believe we'll be able to make many nanobio building blocks that nature provided for us
我相信我们能成功制造更多由自然界提供给我们的纳米生物基石
You know collagen, nanocellulose, resilin and many more.
胶原蛋白 纳米纤维素?节肢弹性蛋白等等
And that will enable us to make better machines perform better, even the heart.
来完善各种机械甚至是心脏
Now, this heart is not going to be the same as we can get from a donor. It will be better.
人造的心脏将不会再与捐献的心脏一样脆弱 它会变得更强壮
It actually will perform better and will last longer.
更有活力 使用时间更长
My friend Zion Suliman once told me a smart sentence.
我的朋友锡安 苏利曼曾经说过一句非常智慧的话
He said, "If you want a new idea, you should open an old book."
他说 你如果想创新就应该翻开旧书看看
And I'm going to say that the book was written.
我要说这本书早已写就
It was written over three billion years of evolution.
记载着30亿年的进化史
And the text is the DNA of life.
文本内容就是生命的DNA
All we have to do is read this text, embrace nature's gift to us and start our progress from here.Thank you.
我们需要做的就是仔细读这本书 感谢自然的馈赠然后开始我们新的篇章 谢谢