人体奥妙之细胞的暗战（2012）

人体奥妙之
细胞的暗战
24小时后
组成一个人需要120万亿个细胞
It takes 120 trillion cells to make a human.
这些细胞是生命的基本单位
They are the fundamental units of life,
构成了我们的大脑 肌肉 器官
making up our brain, muscles, organs
和身体每一部位
every part of us.
过去的十年中
In the last decade,
科学家已成功见证了
scientists have been able to witness
一个曾经看似不可企及的世界
what once seemed impossible,
人体细胞内部的世界
the world inside a human cell.
我还是学生的时候
When I was a student,
深入活体细胞内探索的念头
the idea that we could burrow deep inside a living cell
想都不敢想
was unthinkable.
近期科技进展使科学家得以观察细胞内部
Recent advances have made it so scientists can see inside cells
这是前所未有的
like never before.
我们能够看到细胞内的结构
We can see the parts of single cells
以及它们是如何交流运作的
and how they work together.
我们对宇宙了解得越多
The more we learn about the universe,
就觉得它越简单
the simpler it seems.
细胞却不同
But the cell isn’t like that.
我们了解得越多 它反而显得越复杂
The more we find out, the more complicated things get.
在这个美妙的世界里
But these beautiful worlds
却上演着一场
are also on the front line
史上历时最长的战争
of the longest war in history.
这场战争的开端可追溯到远古时代
This is a battle that goes back into the depths of time,
那时 地球还在被单细胞
to a time when the earth was dominated by single cells
和病毒主宰
and viruses.
我们的细胞每天都在与
Every day, our cells confront
病毒这个宿敌较量
these ancient virus enemies,
这些无情的微型机器通过杀害细胞而繁殖
tiny, ruthless machines that kill to reproduce.
在细胞的内部有一整套
There is this whole mechanism inside cells
我们前所未知的机制
that are taking out viruses
在不断消灭病毒
that previously we just didn’t know was there.
正是这场历时四十亿年的斗争
It is a four-billion-year-old struggle
改变了人类的进化历程
that has changed the course of our evolution.
这场病毒对决细胞的战争
This battle of these viruses against your cells,
这部精彩绝伦 史诗级的科幻大♥片♥
this amazing, epic science fiction movie,
无时无刻不在你体内上演
it’s going on inside your body all the time,
而你自己却不知情
and you don’t even know it.
细胞 是活体组织的基石
Cells are the basic building blocks of living tissue,
是构成人体的最小单位
and the smallest units of what makes us human.
然而…
And yet…
每一个细胞表面之下
beneath the surface of every one
都含藏了一个比科幻小说更为离奇的世界
lies a world stranger than any in science fiction.
在这个世界里 数十亿微型机器
A world in which a billion microscopic machines
每时每刻都在
all play their part,
各司其职 相互协作
working in concert through every second of our life.
我们每个人都由120万亿个细胞组成
Every one of us in made of 120 trillion cells,
史蒂夫·琼斯教授
伦敦大学学院
虽然它们每个均各不相同
and every one of those cells is different.
内部所含的指令却一样
But they contain the same instructions.
细胞有点像婴儿
Cells are a bit like babies.
诞生时 看起来都一样
When they’re born, they all look the same
但很快就会变化
but they change very quickly.
在不同国家学会说不同语言
In different countries they learn to speak different languages,
人体也同样如此
and our bodies are like that.
一些细胞说心脏的语言
Some cells speak heart,
一些细胞说肝脏的语言
and some cells speak liver.
蛋白质就是这个奇妙世界里的工人
The workers of this incredible world are proteins,
复杂的化学物质组成链状结构
chains of complex chemicals
再结合 并形成壮观的蛋白质机器
that can lock together to transform into spectacular machines.
有些蛋白质可组成令人惊叹的构造
Others work to create incredible structures,
比如支撑细胞的内部骨架
like the internal skeleton that holds the cell together.
这些宏伟的支架结构
These great trusses
根据受力的改变不断调整
are constantly adjusting to stresses and strains,
通过自建与重建
building and rebuilding
赋予细胞形状和坚韧度
to give the cell its shape and strength.
另外还有当搬运工的马达蛋白
Then there are the motor-proteins, haulage workers
它们利用细胞骨架为公路
that use the cell’s skeleton as highways
将养料 化学物及生命必需物
to deliver food, chemicals and the essential building materials of life
运送到需要的地方
to wherever they are needed.
它们只是维持这个繁忙社区的
They are just one of the astonishing micro machines
微型机器的一种
that keep this bustling community healthy.
科学家常会被问到
Scientists are asked all the time,
细胞内的部件怎么会知道
how do things in a cell know how to get
该去什么地方工作呢
where they’re supposed to go to do their job?
细胞内部肯定是杂乱无章的
And for sure cells are very chaotic,
物质常常相互碰撞
and things are bumping into each other,
这种碰撞大多是随机的
and most of that’s just random.
但只要足够物质
But enough things
能被运抵该去的地方
get where they’re supposed to go
整套系统就能运作了
that the entire system works.
为此供能量的就是细胞的”发电厂”
And powering all this activity are the cell’s “power stations”.
这些被称为线粒体的组件
Inside these free-floating structures
能自♥由♥漂移
called mitochondria,
其内部有个每分钟旋转一千多次的涡轮
turbines spin at over 1,000 times per minute…
化学电池即指ATP
给数十亿”化学电池”充电
recharging billions of tiny “chemical batteries”.
我们做的每件事
Everything we do,
每一次心跳
every heartbeat,
每一个动作
every movement,
每一次思考
every thought,
都是靠这些”发电厂”
is powered by the “batteries”
充电的”电池”来提供能量
charged by these cellular “power stations”.
这世界里的一切都在按照
And everything in this world
一个精妙无比的计划行事
works to a master plan.
而这计划被珍藏在每个细胞的中心深处
And the plan is protected deep in the heart of every cell.
细胞核就像个储藏室
The nucleus is the vault
用来存放指导生命运作的说明书
containing the instruction manual for life-
即DNA
DNA.
DNA是一种链状的化学物质
DNA is a chain of chemicals,
被整理成一个个基因
organised into genes.
每个基因都是一条如何合成
Each gene holds the instructions
特定蛋白质的指令
to build a specific protein.
DNA双螺旋结构有两万多条指令
The double helix contains over 20,000 instructions
指示我们的细胞该在何时制♥造♥何物
that tell our cells what to make and when,
该怎样组建细胞乃至整个人体
how to organise not just our cells, but our entire bodies.
DNA双螺旋结构已经成为
The double helix has become
21世纪的象征
the icon of the 21st century,
它真的非常神奇
and it’s pretty amazing stuff.
人体每个细胞内含有
There’s six feet of DNA
约一米八长的DNA
in every cell of the body.
如果把人体内所有的DNA连成直线
And if all of those bits were set out in a straight line,
可在地球月球之间折上几千个来回
they’d reach to the moon and back thousands of times.
但这个至关重要的链状化合物
But this crucial chain of chemicals
一旦离开了机械大军
would be useless
将毫无价值
without an army of microscopic machines
它们在DNA上来往
that endlessly travel its length,
不断修补DNA 并将其转录
repairing it and transcribing it,
变为细胞能理解的指令
turning the DNA into instructions that the cell can understand.
基因一旦被转录
Once a gene has been copied,
这些指令会被运出细胞核
the instructions are carried outside the nucleus.
“移♥动♥工厂”即细胞内的核糖体
然后经”移♥动♥工厂”解读
Here, “mobile factories” read them
将之转变为蛋白质
and turn them into proteins,
如此形成的蛋白质多达两百万种
up to two million different kinds,
且形状不一 功能迥异
each with its own specific shape and purpose.
细胞里 资源会被反复利用
And little goes to waste in the cell.
用过的或出错的蛋白质
Used and faulty proteins
会被标记 准备被回收
are tagged for recycling…
然后由到处巡视的粉碎机
then chewed apart by powerful roving shredders
即蛋白酶体嚼开