Plastics: you know about them, you may not love them, but chances are you use them every single day.
塑料：你们了解塑料，你们也许不喜欢塑料，但事实是你们每天都要用到它。
By 2050, researchers estimate that there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish.
据研究人员估计，到2050年，海洋中塑料的数量将超过鱼类。
Despite our best efforts, only nine percent of all plastic we use winds up being recycled.
尽管我们非常努力，我们用过的塑料中仅有9%被回收利用。
And even worse, plastic is incredibly tough and durable
更糟糕的是，塑料十分牢固，经久耐用，
and researchers estimate that it can take anywhere from 500 to 5,000 years to fully break down.
据研究人员估计，可能需要500到5000年，这些塑料才会分解。
It leaches harmful chemical contaminants into our oceans, our soil, our food, our water, and into us.
它释放有毒化学成分进入海洋、土壤，进入我们的食物、我们的水源，最终被我们吸收。
So how did we wind up with so much plastic waste? Well, it's simple.
那么我们是如何制造出这么多塑料垃圾的呢？很简单。
Plastic is cheap, durable, adaptable, and it's everywhere.
塑料廉价耐用，用处广，而且到处都是。
But the good news is there's something else that's cheap, durable, adaptable and everywhere.
好消息是，还有一样东西，同样廉价耐用，用处广，而且到处都是。
And my research shows it may even be able to help us with our plastic pollution problem.
我的研究表明，它也许可以帮助我们解决塑料污染问题。
I'm talking about bacteria. Bacteria are microscopic living beings invisible to the naked eye that live everywhere,
我要说的是细菌。细菌是肉眼不可见的微生物，它到处都是，
in all sorts of diverse and extreme environments,
存在于多样和极端的环境中，
from the human gut, to soil, to skin, to vents in the ocean floor, reaching temperatures of 700 degrees Fahrenheit.
存在于人类肠道、土壤和皮肤，存在于温度高达700华氏度的海底火山口。
Bacteria live everywhere, in all sorts of diverse and extreme environments.
细菌无处不在，存在于多样和极端的环境中。
And as such, they have to get pretty creative with their food sources. There's also a lot of them.
正因如此，它们的食物来源同样丰富多彩。它们的种类也很丰富。
Researchers estimate that there are roughly five million trillion trillion
研究人员估计在地球上有5百万兆兆，
that's a five with 30 zeros after it -- bacteria on the planet.
5后面有30个零，的细菌存在。
Now, considering that we humans produce 300 million tons of new plastic each year,
考虑到我们人类每年都会生产3亿吨塑料，
I'd say that our plastic numbers are looking pretty comparable to bacteria's.
我想说我们生产的塑料数量和细菌数量有的一拼。
So, after noticing this and after learning about all of the creative ways that bacteria find food,
所以，意识到这点，以及学习了细菌的所有食物来源后，
I started to think: could bacteria in plastic-polluted environments have figured out how to use plastic for food?
我开始想：生活在塑料污染环境下的细菌，是否进化出了吃塑料的能力呢？
Well, this is the question that I decided to pursue a couple of years ago.
几年前我决定仔细研究这个问题。
Now, fortunately for me, I'm from one of the most polluted cities in America, Houston, Texas.
幸运的是，我出身于美国污染最严重的城市之一，德州休斯顿。
In my hometown alone, there are seven EPA-designated Superfund sites.
仅仅在我家乡，就有7所环境保护局指定的超级基金污染场址。
These are sites that are so polluted, that the government has deemed their cleanup a national priority.
这些场所的污染之严重，政府甚至将对它们的清洁工作列为全国优先项目。
So I decided to trek around to these sites and collect soil samples teeming with bacteria.
我决定到这些场所去，收集一些富含细菌的土壤样本。
I started toying with a protocol, which is fancy science talk for a recipe.
我开始摆弄一个原型机，它就等同于科学界的食谱。
And what I was trying to cook up was a carbon-free media, or a food-free environment.
我想“烹饪”出的是无碳媒介，或是没有食物的环境。
An environment without the usual carbons, or food, that bacteria, like us humans, need to live.
一个没有常见的碳，也没有食物的环境，而细菌，像人类一样，也需要生存下去。
Now, in this environment, I would provide my bacteria with a sole carbon, or food, source.
在这个环境中，我将为细菌提供唯一的碳，或者可以说食物、资源。
I would feed my bacteria polyethylene terephthalate, or PET plastic.
我将为它们提供聚对苯二甲酸乙二酯，也就是俗称的PET塑料。
PET plastic is the most widely produced plastic in the world.
PET塑料是世界上产量最大的塑料。
It's used in all sorts of food and drink containers, with the most notorious example being plastic water bottles,
它被用于制作所有的食物和液体容器，最著名的例子莫过于塑料水瓶，
of which we humans currently go through at a rate of one million per minute.
人类每分钟都要使用一百万的塑料水瓶。
So, what I would be doing, is essentially putting my bacteria on a forced diet of PET plastic
我要做的事情，是迫使细菌以PET塑料为食，
and seeing which, if any, might survive or, hopefully, thrive.
并且观察是否有细菌能活下来，或者更进一步，繁荣生长。

See, this type of experiment would act as a screen for bacteria that had adapted to their plastic-polluted environment
这种实验能给已经适应塑料污染场所环境的细菌提供庇护所，
and evolved the incredibly cool ability to eat PET plastic.
并且让它们发展消耗PET塑料的能力。
And using this screen, I was able to find some bacteria that had done just that.
利用这个场所，我发现了一些已经具备这种能力的细菌。
These bacteria had figured out how to eat PET plastic.
这些细菌进化出了以PET塑料为食的能力。
So how do these bacteria do this? Well, it's actually pretty simple.
那么它们具体是怎么做的呢？这其实很简单。
Just as we humans digest carbon or food into chunks of sugar that we then use for energy, so too do my bacteria.
如同人类消化碳或食物，转化为能量来源葡萄糖那样，我的细菌也是这么做的。
My bacteria, however, have figured out how to do this digestion process to big, tough, durable PET plastic.
不同的是，我的细菌进化出了消化大型、牢固耐用的PET塑料的方法。
Now, to do this, my bacteria use a special version of what's called an enzyme.
为了达成这点，我的细菌会利用一个特殊的物品，叫作酶。
Now, enzymes are simply compounds that exist in all living things.
酶是一种简单的化合物，存在于所有生命体中。
There are many different types of enzymes,
酶有很多种类，
but basically, they make processes go forward, such as the digestion of food into energy.
但基本上，它们的功能是促进过程，例如将食物转化为能量的过程。
For instance, we humans have an enzyme called an amylase that helps us digest complex starches,
举个例子，人体内有一种叫作淀粉酶的东西，能够帮助我们消化淀粉，
such as bread, into small chunks of sugar that we can then use for energy.
如面包，并转化为小分子葡萄糖，用以提供能量。
Now, my bacteria have a special enzyme called a lipase that binds to big, tough, durable PET plastic
我的细菌有一种特殊的酶，叫作脂肪酶，这种酶能附着在大型牢固耐用的PET塑料上，
and helps break it into small chunks of sugar that my bacteria can then use for energy.
并且将它分解成小分子的葡萄糖，我的细菌就可以将其作为能量来源。
So basically, PET plastic goes from being a big, tough, long-lasting pollutant to a tasty meal for my bacteria.
基本上，PET塑料从大型、牢固而持久的污染，变成了我的细菌口中的美餐。
Sounds pretty cool, right?
听起来很棒，不是吗？
And I think, given the current scope of our plastic pollution problem, I think it sounds pretty useful.
并且我认为，考虑到现在塑料污染的规模问题，我认为这听起来非常实用。
The statistics I shared with you on just how much plastic waste has accumulated on our planet are daunting.
那些我分享给你们的关于我们星球上有多少塑料垃圾的数据骇人听闻。
They're scary. And I think they highlight that while reducing, reusing and recycling are important,
它们让人感到害怕。并且我认为它们还指出，尽管减少使用、再次利用和回收非常重要，
they alone are not going to be enough to solve this problem.
但仅通过这些方法是不足以解决这个问题的。
And this is where I think bacteria might be able to help us out.
我认为细菌也许能够帮助我们。
But I do understand why the concept of bacterial help might make some people a little nervous.
但我能理解为什么有些人听到利用细菌会紧张。
After all, if plastic is everywhere and these bacteria eat plastic,
毕竟，如果塑料到处都是，而这些细菌会吃塑料，
isn't there a risk of these bacteria getting out in the environment and wreaking havoc?
这些细菌会不会流入环境，造成破坏呢？
Well, the short answer is no, and I'll tell you why.
答案是否定的，让我来解释给你听。
These bacteria are already in the environment.
这些细菌本身就存在于环境中。
The bacteria in my research are not genetically modified frankenbugs.
我实验中使用的细菌不是转基因的人造虫。
These are naturally occurring bacteria that have simply adapted to their plastic-polluted environment
它们是自然存在的细菌，只是它们适应了塑料污染的环境，
and evolved the incredibly gnarly ability to eat PET plastic.
并且进化出了极端而不可思议的消化塑料的能力。
So the process of bacteria eating plastic is actually a natural one.
所以细菌消化塑料事实上是自然的过程。
But it's an incredibly slow process.
但这个过程非常缓慢。
And there remains a lot of work to be done to figure out how to speed up this process to a useful pace.
并且还需要投入大量工作，研究如何加快进程速度，让它能够发挥作用。
My research is currently looking at ways of doing this through a series of UV, or ultraviolet, pretreatments,
我的研究现在正通过进行一系列紫外线预处理来寻找这样的方法，
which basically means we blast PET plastic with sunlight.
这基本上意味着我们将PET塑料置于阳光暴晒下。
We do this because sunlight acts a bit like tenderizer on a steak,
我们这么做，就像把肉弄嫩一样，
turning the big, tough, durable bonds in PET plastic a bit softer and a bit easier for my bacteria to chew on.
阳光会使得PET塑料中大块、坚硬耐用的联结软化，方便我的细菌进食。
Ultimately, what my research hopes to do is create an industrial-scale contained carbon-free system,
最终，我研究的目的，是为了创造出产业级别的独立无碳系统，
similar to a compost heap, where these bacteria can thrive in a contained system,
如同肥料堆那样，在那里，细菌可以在独立系统中繁荣发展，
where their sole food source is PET plastic waste.
它们的唯一食物是PET塑料垃圾。
Imagine one day being able to dispose of all of your plastic waste in a bin at the curb
想象有一天，你可以把你所有的塑料垃圾扔进马路边的一个垃圾桶，
that you knew was bound for a dedicated bacteria-powered plastic waste facility.
而你知道这个垃圾桶是专门的细菌消耗塑料垃圾装置。
I think with some hard work this is an achievable reality.
我认为通过努力，我们可以实现这个目标。
Plastic-eating bacteria is not a cure-all.
以塑料为食的细菌并不能解决一切。
But given the current statistics, it's clear that we humans, we could use a little help with this problem.
但考虑到现实状况，很明显我们人类在这个问题上需要一些帮助。
Because people, we possess a pressing problem of plastic pollution.
因为对于我们人类而言，塑料污染问题迫在眉睫。
And bacteria might be a really important part of the solution. Thank you.
细菌也许能为解决问题做出很大贡献。谢谢你们。