There's an ancient and universal concept that words have power, that spells exist, and that if we could only pronounce the right words, then -- whoosh! -- you know, an avalanche would come and wipe out the hobbits, right? So this is a very attractive idea, because we're very lazy, like the Sorcerer's Apprentice, or the world's greatest computer programmer. This idea has a lot of traction with us.
Exista un concept antic si universal ca toate cuvintele au putere, ca vrajile exista, si daca am putea doar sa pronuntam cuvintele potrivite, atunci, puuuf! Ar veni o avalansa si ar omori hobbitii, nu-i asa? Deci asta e o idee foarte atractiva pentru ca suntem foarte lenesi, ca ucenicul vrajitorului, sau ca cel mai bun programator din lume. Asa ca, ideea asta ne atrage foarte tare.
We love the idea that words, when pronounced, are little more than pure information, but they evoke physical action in the real world that helps us do work. So, of course, with lots of programmable computers and robots around, this is an easy thing to picture.
Ne place ideea ca atunci cand pronuntam cuvintele -- ele sunt un pic mai mult decat informatie pura, dar evoca o anumita actiune fizica in lumea reala, care ne ajuta sa lucram. Desigur, cu atatea computere programabile si roboti prin jurul nostru, asta e usor de imaginat. Deci cati dintre voi stiu despre ce vorbesc?
How many of you know what I'm talking about? Raise your right hand. How many don't know what I'm talking about? Raise your left hand. So that's great. So that was too easy. You guys have very insecure computers, OK? So now the thing is, this is a different kind of spell. This is a computer program made of zeros and ones. It can be pronounced on a computer, does something like this. The important thing is we can write it in a high-level language.
Ridicati mana dreapta. OK. Cati dintre voi nu stiu despre ce vorbesc? Ridicati mana stanga. OK Bine. Asta e grozav. Deci asta a fost prea usor. Voi aveti computere foarte nesigure, asa-i? Dar asta e un alt tip de vraja. Asta este un program de calculator format din zero si unu. Poate fi pronuntat pe un calculator. Face ceva de genul asta. Important e ca il putem scrie intr-un limbaj de nivel inalt.
A computer magician can write this thing. It can be compiled into zeros and ones and pronounced by a computer. And that's what makes computers powerful, these high-level languages that can be compiled. And so, I'm here to tell you, you don't need a computer to actually have a spell. In fact, what you can do at the molecular level is that if you encode information -- you encode a spell or program as molecules -- then physics can actually directly interpret that information and run a program.
Un magician de calculatoare poate scrie asta. Poate fi compilat in asta -- zero si unu -- si pronuntat de un calculator. Si asta e ce le face pe calculatoare puternice: aceste limbaje de nivel inalt care pot fi compilate. Asadar, sunt aici sa va spun ca nu ai nevoie de un calculator pentru a avea o vraja. De fapt, ce poti face la nivel molecular este ca daca vei codifica informatia -- vei codifica o vraja sau un program ca molecule -- atunci fizica poate interpreta direct aceasta informatie si sa deruleze un program. Asta se intampla in proteine.
It's what happens in proteins. When this amino-acid sequence gets pronounced as atoms, these little letters are sticky for each other. It collapses into a three-dimensional shape that turns it into a nanomachine that actually cuts DNA. The interesting thing is that if you change the sequence, you change the three-dimensional folding. You get, now, a DNA stapler, instead. These are the kind of molecular programs we want to be able to write. The problem is, we don't know the machine language of proteins or have a compiler for proteins.
Cand aceasta secventa de amino acizi e pronuntata ca atomi, aceste litere mici sunt lipicioase una pentru cealalta. Se strange intr-o forma tridimensionala care se transforma intr-o nanomasina care practic taie ADN. Si lucrul interesant este ca daca schimbi secventa, schimbi si impaturirea tridimensionala. Obtii acum un capsator ADN in loc. Acestea sunt tipurile de programe moleculare pe care vrem sa fim in stare sa le scriem, dar problema este ca nu stim limbajul proteinelor; nu avem un compilator pentru proteine.
So I've joined a growing band of people that try to make molecular spells using DNA. We use DNA because it's cheaper, it's easier to handle, it's something we understand really well -- so well, in fact, that we think we can actually write programming languages for DNA and have molecular compilers.
Deci m-am alaturat unui grup de oameni care incearca sa faca vraji moleculare utilizand ADN. Folosim ADN pentru ca e mai ieftin. E mai usor de manipulat. E ceva ce intelegem foarte bine. Il intelegem atat de bine incat credem ca putem chiar sa scriem limbaje de programare pentru ADN si sa avem compilatoare moleculare. Asadar, putem face asta. Si prima mea intrebare in legatura cu asta --
So then, we think we can do that. One of my first questions doing this was: How can you make an arbitrary shape or pattern out of DNA? I decided to use a type of DNA origami, where you take a long strand of DNA and fold it into whatever shape or pattern you might want. So here's a shape. I actually spent about a year in my home in my underwear, coding, like Linus [Torvalds], in that picture before. This program takes a shape and spits out 250 DNA sequences. These short DNA sequences are what are going to fold the long strand into this shape that we want to make. So you send an e-mail with these sequences in it to a company, and the company pronounces them on a DNA synthesizer, a machine about the size of a photocopier. And they take your e-mail, and every letter in your e-mail, they replace with a 30-atom cluster -- one for each letter, A, T, C and G in DNA.
sau una din intrebarile mele in legatura cu asta -- era: Cum poti face o forma oarecare sau un model din ADN? Si am decis sa folosesc un fel de ADN origami, unde iei o fasie lunga de ADN si o impaturesti in orice forma sau model vrei. Deci asta e o forma. Am petrecut de fapt aproximativ un an acasa, codand, ca Linus [Torvalds], in imaginea de mai inainte. Si programul asta ia o forma, da nastere la 250 de secvente ADN. Aceste scurte secvente de ADN sunt fasia pe care o sa o impaturim in aceasta forma pe care vrem sa o creem. Asa ca trimiti un email cu aceste secvente in el la o companie, si ce face -- compania le pronunta cu un sintetizator ADN. E o masina cam de marimea unui fotocopiator. Si ce se intampla e ca, ei iau email-ul tau si fiecare litera din el, il inlocuiesc cu o grupare de 30 de atomi, unul pentru fiecare litera, A, T, C si G in ADN. Le leaga in secventele corecte,
They string them up in the right sequence, and then they send them back to you via FedEx. So you get 250 of these in the mail in little tubes. I mix them together, add a little bit of salt water, and then add this long strand I was telling you about, that I've stolen from a virus. And then what happens is, you heat this whole thing up to about boiling. You cool it down to room temperature, and as you do, those short strands do the following thing: each one of them binds that long strand in one place, and then has a second half that binds that long strand in a distant place, and brings those two parts of the long strand close together so they stick together.
si apoi ti le trimit inapoi prin FexEx. Asa ca primesti 250 din astea in posta in tuburi mici. Eu le-am amestecat, am adaugat un pic de apa sarata, si am adaugat aceasta fasie lunga de care va spuneam, pe care am furat-o de la un virus. Si ceea ce se intampla este ca, incalzesti toata asta pana aproape de fierbere. O racesti la temperatura camerei, si pe masura ce faci asta, ce se intampla e ca fasiile alea scurte, fac urmatorul lucru: fiecare din ele leaga fasia aia lunga in cate un loc, si apoi mai are o jumatate care leaga fasia mare intr-un loc mai indepartat, si aduce acele doua parti din fasia mare aproape una de alta, astfel incat se lipesc.
So the net effect of all 250 of these strands is to fold the long strand into the shape you're looking for. It'll approximate that shape. We do this for real, in the test tube. In each little drop of water, you get 50 billion of these guys. With a microscope, you can see them on a surface. The neat thing is if you change the sequence and change the spell, just change the sequence of the staples, you can make a molecule that looks like this. And, you know, he likes to hang out with his buddies. A lot of them are actually pretty good.
Asadar efectul net al tuturor celor 250 de fasii este sa impatureasca fasia mare in forma pe care o vrei; o sa aproximeze forma respectiva. Facem asta in realitate in tub de testare. In fiecare picatura de apa obtii 50 de miliarde din acestea. Poti sa te uiti cu un microscop si sa le vezi pe o suprafata. Si lucrul frumos este ca daca schimbi secventa si modifici vraja, schimbi pur si simplu secventa capselor. Poti face o molecula care sa arate asa, si careia de fapt, ii place sa stea cu prietenii ei. Si multe dintre ele sunt chiar reusite.
If you change the spell again, you change the sequence again, you get really nice, 130-nanometer triangles. If you do it again, you can get arbitrary patterns. So on a rectangle, you can paint patterns of North and South America, or the words, "DNA."
Daca schimbi iar vraja, modifici din nou secventa. Obtii triunghiuri foarte dragute de 130 de nanometri. Daca faci asta din nou, poti obtine modele intamplatoare. Asadar pe un dreptunghi poti desena modele ale Americii de Nord si de Sud, sau literele "ADN". Asadar asta este ADN origami. Asta e o modalitate. Sunt mai multe modalitati,
So that's DNA origami. That's one way. There are many ways of casting molecular spells using DNA. What we really want to do in the end is learn how to program self-assembly so we can build anything, right? We want to be able to build technological artifacts that are maybe good for the world. We want to learn how to build biological artifacts, like people and whales and trees. And if it's the case that we can reach that level of complexity, if our ability to program molecules gets to be that good, then that will truly be magic.
de a face vraji moleculare folosind ADN. Ceea ce vrem sa facem in final este sa invatam cum sa programam auto-asamblarea, asa incat sa putem construi orice. Vrem sa putem construi artefacte tehnologice care poate ar fi folositoare pentru omenire. Vrem sa invatam cum sa construim artefacte biologice, ca oameni si balene si copaci. Si daca vom atinge gradul acela de complexitate, daca abilitatea noastra de a programa molecule ajunge sa fie atat de buna, atunci asta va fi cu adevarat magic. Multumesc foarte mult.
Thank you very much.
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