精子生命大赛跑（2009）

Every day around 350,000 babies are born.
每天大约有35000个婴儿出生
Each one – utterly unique.
每一个都是独一无二的
A few months ago this baby didn’t even exist,
几个月前这个婴儿甚至不存在
and the story of how it came to be against impossible odds
他是如何克服重重困难的故事
is extraordinary.
是很了不起的
This is the moment of conception.
这是受孕的那一刻
When one single sperm fused with the mother’s egg.
当一个精♥子♥与母亲的卵子融合
If another sperm had got there first this baby would be someone else.
如果另一个精♥子♥首先到达，这个婴儿就会是另一个人了
So what made that winning sperm so special?
那么赢了的精♥子♥有什么特别呢
Why did it succeed over billions of others?
为什么它成功的超过其他几十亿的精♥子♥
To find out, we are going to take you on the epic journey sperm undertake
为了找到答案，我们将带你进入精♥子♥史诗般的旅程
through the human body.
通过人的身体
And we’re going to do it by scaling the whole thing up to human size.
我们其整个事情大小扩大到人的尺寸来做到这点
For the first time we will be able to appreciate
我们将第一次体会到
just what an extraordinary journey sperm face
精♥子♥面对的不平凡的历程
as they try to reach the egg.
当它们试图到达卵子
It’s one of nature’s most spectacular stories,
这是自然界最壮观的故事
and it’s the reason you are alive.
这就是你活着的原因
The sperm will face death that every turn.
在每次转折精♥子♥都将面临死亡
There is no going back.
没有回头路
No surrender.
没有投降
And only one winner.
只有一个赢家
精♥子♥生命大赛跑
Meet Glen.
Meet Glen
Like most average men, Glen has no idea about the miracle of engineering
和大多数人一样，不知道自己的裤兜里
tucked away in his pants.
藏有一个工程奇迹
Glen’s testicles, hanging freely to be three degrees cooler than the rest
Glen的睾丸，随时保持比身体的其他部分低3℃
of his body, are producing 1,000 sperm with every heartbeat.
每一次心跳会产生1000个精♥子♥
And it’s this tiny world of frenetic activity that fascinates the world
这是这个小世界的疯狂活动，魅力无穷的
of reproductive science.
生殖科学世界
Sperm are quite unique because
精♥子♥是非常特别的
they are free-living cells.
它们是能自♥由♥运♥动♥的细胞
They almost have a life of their own.
它们有各自的生活
They have but one aim, which is to deliver
有共同的目标
the genetic payload from the male
把男性有效的遗传物质提供给女性
to the female through a really quite complex
通过一系列非常复杂的过程
series of environments, both in the male and female reproductive tract.
在男性和女性的生殖道里
Sperm move all over the place
精♥子♥无所不去
and they like certain things,
它们有自己喜欢的
they don’t like certain things.
有自己的不喜欢的
They are very smart little creatures in a way and they are a lot of fun
它们很聪明，发现它们很有趣
to watch in a Petri dish because they are constantly in motion.
通过培养皿，它们在不停的游动
And the fact that it’s occurring at the microscopic level means that,
事实上，这是发生在微观层面上的
as scientists, we have a great deal of difficulty
意味着科学家会有很大的困难
studying it and observing it.
来研究和观察它们（运动）
A sperm is just 1/500th of a millimetre long.
一个精♥子♥有1/500mm长
So to make things easier,Dr Allan Pacey and a team of experts
为了方便，Allan Pacey博士和专家团队
have agreed to help us scale up them and their world 34,000 times.
已经同意帮助我们将精♥子♥和它们的世界放大34000倍
Along the way they’ll give us practical advice on how to give sperm
一路上，它们将给我们实用的建议，如何给精♥子♥
the best chance of reaching the egg
最好的机会以到达卵细胞
or what kind of sex to have and when to have it
或者哪种交♥配♥方式可以
to maximise the chances of conception.
最大限度的提高受孕机会
The first thing we asked our experts was quite simple.
首先我们问专家一些简单的问题
In our people-sized sperm world what would a testicle be like?
人♥大♥小的精♥子♥其睾丸会是怎么样的
The testicle is a…
睾丸是…
roundish, oblong structure.
圆形，椭圆形的结构
If we cut it in half, cut thin layers through it and looked at it
如果我们把它切成两半，切成薄片，然后观察它
down a microscope we would see a series of tubules that you might
通过显微镜，我们可以看到一系列的管子，你可以
liken to floors of a building.
比喻为建筑物的楼层
If we were to take a sperm and
如果我们采集一个精♥子♥
scale it up to man-size
放大到人的尺寸大小
you would have to find a building that was about 1000 metres cubed.
你可能必须在约1000立方米的空间里找到建筑物
1,000 metres by 1,000 metres by 1,000 metres.
1000米乘上1000米，再乘上1000米
That done, we can go inside.
做完这些，我们可以走进去
Waiting in our giant testicle,an army of freshly-created sperm.
刚创建的精♥子♥大军在我们巨大的睾丸里已经整装待发
Just like the real thing,our sperm are split by gender.
就像真实的东西，我们的精♥子♥分♥裂♥决定性别
Half produce boys and half produce girls.
一半生男，一半生女
The information needed to determine the sex of a baby
决定婴儿性别所需的信息
is stored in a sperm’s head.
储存在精♥子♥的头部
Here,we find their genetic package.
这里，我们找到了它们的遗传包
23 chromosomes of DNA,including the key gender chromosome.
2♥3♥条♥染色体DNA，包括关键的性别染色体
Either X for a girl or Y for a boy.
X是女孩，Y是男孩
Situated just below the head,
头下面是
an engine of energy producing mitochondria
精♥子♥能量的来源——线粒体
that propels the sperms mighty tail through the female body.
强大的尾部（摆动）推动精♥子♥通过女性的身体
There’s many millions of sperm.
这里还有数以百万计的精♥子♥
You could think of it as a very large office building where there’s
你可以想象成它们是在一栋非常大的办公楼里
lots and lots of elevators and
有很多很多的电梯
tons of people, maybe at rush-hour, all moving in different directions.
许多的人，也许在高峰时期，朝向不同的方向
X and Y sperm are produced in almost equal numbers.
产生的X和Y精♥子♥数量几乎相等
Boys are thought to be faster but the girls live longer.
男孩被认为更快，女孩被认为寿命更长
Once created, each sperm ends up
一旦创造出来，每个精♥子♥最终在
in a structure on top of the testicle called the epididymis.
睾丸顶部被称为附睾的结构中
A tightly coiled six metre-long tube which can hold over a billion sperm.
一个6m长紧密卷曲的管子，可容纳超过10亿的精♥子♥
Imagine being crammed into a dark, winding, 200 mile pipeline with no
想象一下被塞进一个黑暗，蜿蜒200英里长的管道里
idea when or if you’ll ever get out?
不知道什么时候，是否想过离开呢？
It’s here, with no inkling of the horrors to come, our sperm must wait.
在这里对恐怖的来临一无所知，精♥子♥们必须等待
Their fate now will depend on events unfolding in the outside world.
现在它们的命运将由外面发生的事情决定
In contrast to the billions of sperm produced continuously in
相比之下，10亿精♥子♥连续不断的生产
Glen’s body…
在Glen的体内
A woman, like Emily,will produce just one egg a month.
一个女人，像Emily一样，一个月会产生一个卵细胞
Reaching it won’t be easy.
要达到它是不容易的
The battle that sperm have
精♥子♥为了
in order to find and fertilise an egg is just immense.
找到一个卵子受精的代价是巨大的
Everything is working against sperm.They are not really given
一切都在阻止精♥子♥，当通过女性生殖道时
a helping hand by the female reproductive tract.
它们不会得到帮助
You’ve got hundreds of millions of cells
被数以百万计的细胞
that are swimming wildly about.
疯狂的围绕着
You’ve got a lot of death, you’ve got a lot of obstacles to overcome.
到处都是死神，有很多的困难需要克服
They’ve got to make their way through a complex series of
它们竭尽全力通过一系列复杂的
environments in a kind of warfare.It is warfare.
战争环境，这就是战争
So if conception is a war,this is the theatre of operations.
所以如果受孕是战争，这就是战争区域
From a sperm’s point of view,landing in Emily’s vagina
从一个精♥子♥的角度来看，进入Emily的阴♥道♥
is like D-Day.
就像是登陆日
Their first objective,whilst under non-stop
它们的第一个目标
attack from the female immune system, is to reach a tiny opening high above
在被女性的免疫系统不停攻击的时候
them at the back of the vagina.
到达位于阴♥道♥后面的一个很小的开口处
From here, they can enter the cervix.
从这里，它们可以进入子♥宫♥颈
The terrain in the cervi is completely different.
子♥宫♥颈的地形是完全不同的
This is a dark, treacherous maze of uncharted tunnels.
这是一个黑暗，危险未知的隧♥道♥迷宫
The sperm will need to find a way through to the uterus.
精♥子♥需要找到一条路穿过子♥宫♥
One wrong turn and it’s a slow, lonely death.
一个错误的转向就意味着缓慢、孤独的死亡
In the uterus,Glen’s sperm will be looking for
在子♥宫♥里，Glen的精♥子♥将要寻找
a doorway just a few sperm head wide
仅有几个精♥子♥头部宽的一个入口
in a vast, sterile area where, once
在这个巨大区域不断寻找
again, Emily’s elite defence force will be waiting to take them out.
Emily的精良的防御体系将等待消灭它们
Then it’s on to meet the egg.Timing is everything.
然后遇上了卵子，时间就是一切
Get there a moment too early or too late and you are doomed.
你太早或者太迟到达这里都将失败
Come here!
过来！
#ANDY WILLIAMS: Emily
FAINT SINGING
# ..Of silver bells, coral shells,
carousels… #
Glen’s sperm are just seconds away from participating in one of the most
Glen的精♥子♥在几秒钟的路程里内参与了
enjoyable experiences the human body has to offer.
人体所能提供的最愉快的经历之一
But what would it feel like to be propelled along a narrow pipe
但是那感觉就像是沿着一条狭窄的管子被推出去
covering 15 miles in less than two seconds, whether you like it or not?
在不到2秒的时间里移♥动♥了15英里，不管你喜不喜欢
For each individual sperm,this is a wet and wild, high-speed
对于每个单独的精♥子♥，这是一个湿润，野蛮，高速
one-way ticket to oblivion.
被遗忘的单程票
SCREAMS
惨叫
They are not swimming, they are being forced there
它们不会游泳，它们被迫在那里
by muscular contractions and by peristaltic contractions.
通过肌肉的蠕动和收缩
From the point of view of the man it’s a very pleasurable experience.