评论
打印
The Nobel Prize committee gives awards to those who provide the greatest benefit to mankind
诺贝尔奖委员会将诺贝尔奖只颁发给那些对人类做出最杰出的贡献的人，
and a handful of dedicated scientists make the cut every year.
每年都只有为数不多的几位具有奉献精神的科学家荣膺该奖。
This year’s winners tinkered with evolution in the lab,
今年的获奖者有在实验室里研究进化的科学家，
developed therapeutics that fight cancer and created lasers so powerful that they can peek inside an atom.
也有研发癌症治疗的科学家，还有研制出了原子水平的激光的科学家。
They’re investigating science at the micron level,
他们所从事的都是微米级的科学研究，
and their groundbreaking discoveries are completely changing the way we look at our own world.
而他们那些开创性的发现彻底改变了我们看待身边的世界的方式。
There are three major science categories for the Nobel Prizes; medicine, chemistry, and physics.
诺贝尔奖三大主要设奖领域是医学，化学和物理。
And the Nobel Prize in medicine was awarded for breakthroughs in immunotherapy.
医学奖奖励的是免疫治疗方面做出的突破性贡献。
James Allison and Tasuku Honjo developed research that led to the rise of new immunotherapy drugs.
詹姆斯·艾利森和本庶佑二人的研究推动了一系列新型免疫治疗药物的兴起。
See, our immune system has specialized cells, called t-cells, that attack any foreign invaders, like viruses or bacteria.
要知道，我们的免疫系统有专门攻击任何外来入侵者，如病毒或细菌，的细胞，名为“T细胞”。
Think of them like your system's bodyguard, they're looking out for any enemies in your midst.
你可以把它们当成你身体的保镖，警惕你们中间的任何敌人。
But the thing with cancer is, your own cells are the enemy, so the t-cells don’t know to fight them off.
然而，癌症的问题是，敌人就是你自己的细胞，所以，t细胞不知道要去对付那些细胞。
So Allison and Honjo found a way to tweak the t-cells by blocking two specific receptors; CTLA-4 and PD-1.
而艾利森和本庶佑就找到了一种通过阻断两种特异性受体CTLA-4和PD-1来调整t细胞的方法。
This helped activate the immune system to go after cancer cells.
这样就能激活免疫系统去追踪那些癌细胞。
Human trials started in the 2010’s and they’ve been effective against a whole host of cancers.
这方面的人体试验2010年就开始了，试验表明这种方法对许多癌症都有效。
Next up, Chemistry.
接下来我们来说说化学奖。
Frances Arnold, George Smith, and Sir Gregory Winter split the Nobel Prize for their respective work on directing evolution of enzymes and antibodies.
弗朗西斯·阿诺德、乔治·史密斯、格雷戈里·温特爵士三人因各自在指导酶和抗体演化方面的贡献瓜分了这一奖项。
You see, enzymes are the workhorse of the cell.
要知道，酶是细胞的主力。
They’re biomolecules with distinct jobs that help us live, like synthesizing our nutrients into energy.
它们是承担着帮助维持我们的生命，例如将我们的营养素合成为能量，这一独特使命的生物分子。
Arnold’s research used enzymes’ natural ability to adapt and mutate,
阿诺德的研究利用了酶的自然适应能力和变异能力，
and she mutated them to the point where they would perform even better than nature intended.
她将酶的变异推到了比原先的表现更好的地步。
This was used by other scientists for years and goes beyond medicinal practices.
她的研究成果已经被其他科学家应用多年了，同时也已超越了药物实践领域。
For instance, she converted sugars to alcohol for bio-fuels, which could help pave the path for fewer fuel emissions.
例如，她将糖转化为可用于生物燃料的酒精，而此举能够为减少燃料排放铺平道路。
Smith discovered something called phage display,
史密斯则开创了一种叫做“噬菌体展示”的方法，
a method of hacking bacteriophages, which are viruses that infect bacteria, to create new proteins.
这是一种通过破译噬菌体，一种能感染细菌的病毒，来表达新的蛋白质的手段。
And then Winter used this technique to direct the evolution of antibodies, leading to new therapies to treat diseases like rheumatoid arthritis.
而温特爵士则用这种技术对抗体演化加以指导，开发出了治疗类风湿性关节炎等疾病的新疗法。
And finally, let’s roll in the lasers.
最后，我们来聊聊激光。
The physics prize was split among Arthur Ashkin who developed "optical tweezers"
本届诺贝尔物理奖颁给了研发出了“光学镊子”的亚瑟·阿斯金，
and Gérard Mourou and Donna Strickland who won "for their method of generating high-intensity, ultra-short optical pulses."
和“因为研发出了能够产生高强度、超短光脉冲的方法”而获奖的杰哈·莫罗和唐娜·斯特里克兰三人。
Ashkin’s "optical tweezers" started off with the idea that focused laser beams have concentrated photons in the center
阿斯金的“光学镊子”最初的理念是聚焦的激光束已经将光子汇聚到了中心位置，
and, by placing two beams near each other, they can create a "radiative" pressure on small objects.
当两个光束离得很近时，它们就可以对很小的物体产生“辐射”压力。
This causes objects to be trapped between two lasers like a tractor beam out of movie.
那些物体会因此被困在两束激光之间，就像电影中的牵引光束一样。
This is useful for scientists who want to trap tiny things, like cells and atoms.
这一成果对于那些想要捕获微小物体（如细胞和原子）的科学家来说十分有用。
Now Strickland and Mourou created controllable, ultra-sharp laser beams.
如今，斯特里克兰和莫罗还已经开发出了具有超强穿透力且可控的激光束。
Back in the 1980’s, instruments weren’t equipped to handle super powerful lasers yet,
20世纪80年代的仪器还不具备处理超强激光的能力，
but Strickland and Morou found that if they stretched out the laser pulses, it would reduce its peak power enough.
但斯特里克兰和莫罗发现，如果他们对激光脉冲进行拉伸，就能将其能量峰值降到足够低。
The laser then could be compressed into the ultrashort high-intensity pulses they wanted, allowing us to look inside individual atoms!
这样一来，激光就可以被压缩成他们想要的超短的高强度脉冲从而让我们窥见单个原子的内部结构了！
This laser tool is used for semiconductors, medical stents, and in corrective eye surgeries.
这种激光工具目前已经应用到了半导体，医疗支架和矫正眼科手术等诸多领域。
So there are immeasurable applications to what these Nobel winners have created.
总而言之，这些诺贝尔奖获得者的发明创造具有无法估量的应用价值。
Each one of them has made a technique or tool that’s revised our view of the microscopic world that we’re only still learning about.
他们每个人都制作或发明了一种技术或工具，重塑了我们对我们目前还只了解了个皮毛的微观世界的看法。
They’ve laid important foundations in science that are only extending our frontiers of knowledge about the bigger world around us.
他们为我们继续开拓对我们身边的世界的认识前沿奠定了重要的科学基础。
Like science in your day?
喜欢日常生活背后的科学知识？
Go ahead and subscribe.
那就赶紧订阅我们的频道吧。
And if groundbreaking science to benefit mankind is too vague of a standard for you,
觉得让人类受益的开创性科学对你来说太抽象了？
check out this detailed video about what else you need to win a Nobel Prize.
那你不妨看看这个详细的视频，了解获得诺贝尔奖要满足的条件吧。
Although Nobel Prizes have been awarded for to 923 people,
尽管诺奖已经授予了923人，
only 48 of them have been women and Donna Strickland marks the 3rd woman ever to win a Nobel Prize in Physics.
其中只有48人是女性，而唐娜·斯特里克兰是第三位获得诺贝尔物理学奖的女性。
You go Donna.
唐娜好样儿的！
Thanks for watching!
感谢大家的观看！
