I've got a confession. I love looking through people's garbage. Now, it's not some creepy thing.
坦白地说，我喜欢翻看别人丢弃的垃圾。这可不是什么怪癖。
I'm usually just looking for old electronics, stuff I can take to my workshop and hack.
我通常只是寻找旧的电子器件，那些我可以带回工作室进行改装的东西。
I do have a fetish for CD-ROM drives. Each one's got three different motors, so now you can build things that move.
我尤其痴迷于光盘驱动器。每一个驱动器都有三个不同的马达，这样你就能组装一些可以动的东西了。
There's switches so you can turn things on and off.
驱动器还有开关，让你能够实现启动和关闭功能。
There's even a freaking laser, so you can make a cool robot into an awesome robot.
它甚至还有一个非同寻常的激光器，让你能把一个看起来还不错的机器人变得炫酷无比。
Now, I've built a lot of stuff out of garbage, and some of these things have even been kind of useful.
我已经用废弃材料造出了许多东西，而且其中一些还是很有用的。
But here's the thing, for me, garbage is just a chance to play, to be creative and build things to amuse myself.
不过事实上，对我来说，废品只是提供了一个玩转的机会，让我富有创造力，打造自娱自乐的东西。
This is what I love doing, so I just made it part of my day job.
这是我的兴趣所在，所以我把它融入了我的一部分日常工作。
I lead a university-based biological research lab, where we value curiosity and exploration above all else.
我带领着一个大学的生物研究实验室，我们把好奇心和探究精神摆在首位。
We aren't focused on any particular problem, and we're not trying to solve any particular disease.
我们不专注于任何特定的问题，也没有尝试去解决任何特定的疾病。
This is just a place where people can come and ask fascinating questions and find answers.
这只是一个人们可以来提出奇妙的问题并找到答案的地方。
And I realized a long time ago that if I challenge people to build the equipment they need out of the garbage I find,
很久以前我就意识到，如果我挑战别人用我找到的废品造出他们需要的设备，
it's a great way to foster creativity.
这是一种很好的培养创造力的方式。
And what happened was that artists and scientists from around the world started coming to my lab.
后来，全世界的艺术家和科学家们开始纷纷来到我的实验室。
And it's not just because we value unconventional ideas, it's because we test and validate them with scientific rigor.
并不只是因为我们重视新奇的想法，更是因为我们用科学的精确性检测并证实那些想法。
So one day I was hacking something, I was taking it apart, and I had this sudden idea: Could I treat biology like hardware?
有一天我正在拆解东西，我突然产生了这样的想法：我能不能把生物体当作硬件？
Could I dismantle a biological system, mix and match the parts and then put it back together in some new and creative way?
我能不能拆分一个生物系统，混合并配对拆分出来的部分，然后用全新的创造性的方式把它重新拼装？
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. Now, I actually want you to notice as well that this is a lot redder than most apples.
没错--这是个苹果。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, removed all the apple cells and DNA and then implanted human cells.
我们拿了一个纯正的麦金塔苹果，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 texture.
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 implant 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。
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。
As weird 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。”
I actually brought this up with my wife.
我也跟我的老婆提起过这件事。
She's a musical instrument maker, and she does a lot of wood carving for a living.
她是一位乐器制造家，也把制作木雕当成一种职业。
So I asked her, "Could you, like, literally carve some ears out of an apple for us?"
所以我问她，“你可以为我们用苹果雕刻出一些耳朵吗？”
And she did. So I took her ears to the lab. We then started preparing them. Yeah, I know.
她真的做到了。后来我带着她雕刻的耳朵去了实验室。我们开始筹备实验。是的，我知道。
It's a good lab, man. And then we grew cells on them. And this is the result.
伙计们，这可是个很棒的实验室。之后我们在上面培植细胞。结果是这样的。
Listen, my lab is not in the ear-manufacturing business. People have actually been working on this for decades.
听我说，我的实验室并不参与制造耳朵的生意。人们已经研究这一项目几十年了。
Here's the issue: commercial scaffolds can be really expensive and problematic,
问题在于：商业化的骨架组织价格极高，而且问题重重，
because they're sourced from proprietary products, animals or cadavers. We used an apple and it cost pennies.
因为它们来源于专利产品，动物或尸体。我们只用了一个几分钱的苹果。
What's also really cool here is it's not that hard to make these things.
更炫酷的是，制造这些东西并不是很难。
The equipment you need can be built from garbage, and the key processing step only requires soap and water.
你所需要的设备可以由废品打造，而且关键的加工步骤只需要肥皂和水。
So what we did was put all the instructions online as open source.
于是，我们把制作教程公开上传到网上。
And then we founded a mission-driven company,
然后我们成立了一家身负使命的公司，
and we're developing kits to make it easier for anyone with a sink and a soldering iron to make these things at home.
旨在开发成套的工具，让任何有水槽和焊铁的人能够很方便的在家完成这些。
What I'm really curious about is if one day, it will be possible to repair, rebuild and augment our own bodies with stuff we make in the kitchen.
我真正好奇的是会不会有一天，人们有可能修复、改造、强化我们自己的身体，用到的只是我们厨房里的材料。
Speaking of kitchens, here's some asparagus. They're tasty, and they make your pee smell funny.
好，说到厨房，这是一些芦笋。它们很可口，不过会让你的尿液有股怪味。
Now, I was in my kitchen, and I was noticing that when you look down the stalks of these asparagus,
有一次，我在我的厨房里发现，当你观察芦笋茎秆那一端（的截面），
what you can see are all these tiny little vessels.
你会看到这些细小的导管。
And when we image them in the lab, you can see how the cellulose forms these structures.
而当我们在实验室里观察它们时，你会发现纤维素是如何形成这些结构的。
This image reminds me of two things: our blood vessels and the structure and organization of our nerves and spinal cord.
这张图让我想到了两样东西：我们的血管，以及我们的神经和脊髓的结构组织。
So here's the question: Can we grow axons and neurons down these channels?
那么问题来了：我们能否沿着这些通道，培植神经轴突或神经元呢?
Because if we can, then maybe we can use asparagus to form new connections between the ends of damaged and severed nerves.
如果我们可以实现，也许我们就能用芦笋来形成全新的节点，连接损伤或切断的神经末梢。
Or maybe even a spinal cord. Don't get me wrong -- this is exceptionally challenging and really hard work to do,
或者甚至可以是脊髓。不要误会--这非常具有挑战性，而且极其难操作，
and we are not the only ones working on this. But we are the only ones using asparagus.
并不是只有我们正在研究这方面内容。但只有我们在使用芦笋。
Right now, we've got really promising pilot data.
如今，我们已经取得了具备可行性的实验数据。
And we're working with tissue engineers and neurosurgeons to find out what's actually possible.
我们正在和人体组织工程师和神经外科医生合作，来找出其中的可能性。
So listen, all of the work I've shown you, the stuff that I've built that's all around me on this stage
听我说，我向你们展示的所有工作，我身边所有这些自己造出来的东西，
and the other projects my lab is involved in are all a direct result of me playing with your garbage.
还有我的实验室参与的其他项目，都是我玩转你们丢的垃圾的直接结果。
Play -- play is a key part of my scientific practice.
玩转--玩转是我科学实践的关键。
It's how I train my mind to be unconventional and to be creative and to decide to make human apple ears.
它能训练我的大脑突破常规、富有创意，让我决定制作人类的苹果耳朵。
So, the next time any of you are looking at some old, broken-down, malfunctioning, piece-of-crap technology,
所以，下一次当你们看到一些老旧的、破损的、不好用的、废铜烂铁一样的科技产品，
I want you to think of me. Because I want it.
我希望你们能想起我。因为我需要它们。
Seriously, please find any way to get in touch with me, and let's see what we can build. Thank you.
说真的，请想尽一切方法联系我，看看我们能造出什么东西。谢谢。