演講MP3+雙語文稿:成為“女人/男人”的要素究竟是什么？

聽力課堂TED音頻欄目主要包括TED演講的音頻MP3及中英雙語文稿，供各位英語愛好者學習使用。本文主要內容為演講MP3+雙語文稿:成為“女人/男人”的要素究竟是什么？，希望你會喜歡！

【演講主題】Karissa Sanbonmatsu《成為“女人/男人”的要素究竟是什么？》

【演講文稿-中英文】

翻譯者 Psjmz Mz 校對 Yolanda Zhang

So what does it mean to bea woman?We all have XX chromosomes, right?Actually, that's nottrue.Some women are mosaics.They have a mix of chromosome typeswith X, with XY or with XXX.If it's not just about ourchromosomes,then what is being a woman about?Beingfeminine?Getting married?Having kids?You don't have to lookfar to find fantastic exceptionsto these rules,but we all sharesomething that makes us women.Maybe that something is in ourbrains.

 

 

那么成為女人意味著什么呢？我們都有XX條染色體，對不對？實際上，這是不正確的。有些女人是馬賽克。它們具有X，XY或XXX混合的染色體類型。如果不只是關于我們的染色體，那么作為一個女人呢？女人味？要結婚了嗎有孩子嗎您不必花很多時間就可以找到這些規(guī)則的絕妙例外，但是我們都有共同點，使我們成為女性。也許有些東西在我們的大腦中。

 

 

You might have heardtheories from last centuryabout how men are better at math thanwomenbecause they have bigger brains.These theories have beendebunked.The average man has a brain about three times smallerthanthe average elephant,but that doesn't meanthe average man is threetimes dumber than an elephant ...or does it?

 

 

您可能已經聽過上世紀的理論，關于男人在數學方面比女人更好，因為他們的大腦更大。這些理論被揭穿了。普通人的大腦比普通大象小三倍，但這并不意味著普通人比大象笨三倍……還是嗎？

 

 

(Laughter)

 

 

（笑聲）

 

 

There's a new wave offemale neuroscientiststhat are finding important differences betweenfemale and male brainsin neuron connectivity,in brain structure, inbrain activity.They're finding that the brain is like a patchwork mosaic--a mixture.Women have mostly female patches and a few malepatches.

 

 

女性神經科學家的新浪潮正在發(fā)現男女大腦之間在神經元連通性，大腦結構和大腦活動方面的重要差異。他們發(fā)現大腦就像一個拼湊而成的馬賽克-混合在一起。婦女大部分為女性斑塊，少數為男性斑塊。

 

 

With all this new data,what does it mean to be a woman?This is something that I've been thinkingabout almost my entire life.When people learn that I'm a woman whohappens to be transgender,they always ask,"How do you knowyou're a woman?"As a scientist, I'm searching for a biological basisof gender.I want to understand what makes me me.New discoveries atthe front edge of scienceare shedding light on the biomarkers that definegender.My colleagues and I in genetics, neuroscience, physiology andpsychology,we're trying to figure out exactly how genderworks.These vastly different fields share a common connection--epigenetics.In epigenetics, we're studying how DNA activitycanactually radically and permanently change,even though the sequence staysthe same.

 

 

有了所有這些新數據，成為女人意味著什么？這是我?guī)缀跻簧荚谒伎嫉氖虑?。當人們得知我是一個正要變性的女人時，他們總是問：“你怎么知道你是女人？”作為科學家，我正在尋找性別的生物學基礎。我想了解是什么使我成為我?？茖W前沿的新發(fā)現正在闡明定義性別的生物標志物。我和我的遺傳學，神經科學，生理學和心理學的同事們正在努力弄清楚性別是如何工作的。這些截然不同的領域有著共同的聯系-表觀遺傳學。在表觀遺傳學中，我們正在研究DNA活性實際上如何從根本上永久改變，即使序列保持不變。

 

 

DNA is the long,string-like molecule that winds up inside our cells.There's so muchDNAthat it actually gets tangled into these knot-like things--we'll just call them knots.So external factors change how thoseDNA knots are formed.You can think of it like this:inside ourcells, there's different contraptions building things,connectingcircuits,doing all the things they need to make life happen.Here'sone that's sort of reading the DNA and making RNA.And then this one iscarrying a huge sac of neurotransmittersfrom one end of the braincellto the other.Don't they get hazard pay for this kind ofwork?

 

 

DNA是纏繞在我們細胞內部的長串狀分子。實際上，有太多的DNA被纏結到這些類似結的事物中，我們稱它們?yōu)榻Y。因此，外部因素改變了這些DNA結的形成方式。您可以這樣想：在我們的單元中，有各種不同的裝置在構建事物，連接電路，完成使生命得以實現所需的所有事情。這是一種讀取DNA并制造RNA的方式。然后這個從腦細胞的一端到另一端攜帶著巨大的神經遞質囊。他們不為這種工作獲得危險報酬嗎？

 

 

(Laughter)

 

 

（笑聲）

 

 

This one is an entiremolecular factory --some say it's the secret to life.It's call theribosome.I've been studying this since 2001.

 

 

這是整個分子工廠，有人說這是生命的秘密。叫做核糖體。自2001年以來，我一直在研究。

 

 

One of the stunning thingsabout our cellsis that the components inside them are actuallybiodegradable.They dissolve,and then they're rebuilt eachday,kind of like a traveling carnivalwhere the rides are taken downand then rebuilt every single day.A big difference between our cells andthe traveling carnivalis that in the carnival,there are skilledcraftsmen that rebuild the rides each day.In our cells, there are no suchskilled craftsmen,only dumb builder machinesthat build whatever'swritten in the plans,no matter what those plans say.Those plans arethe DNA.The instructions for every nook and cranny inside ourcells.

 

 

關于我們的細胞的令人驚奇的事情之一是它們內部的成分實際上是可生物降解的。它們溶解后，每天都進行重建，就像旅行的狂歡節(jié)一樣，放下游樂設施，然后每天重建。我們的牢房和旅行狂歡節(jié)之間的一個很大區(qū)別是，在狂歡節(jié)中，每天都有熟練的工匠來重建游樂設施。在我們的牢房中，沒有這樣熟練的工匠，只有笨拙的建造者機器才能構建計劃中寫的內容，無論這些計劃怎么說。這些計劃是DNA。細胞內每個角落的指示。

 

 

If everything in, say, ourbrain cellsdissolves almost every day,then how can the brainremember anything past one day?That's where DNA comes in.DNA is oneof the those things that does not dissolve.But for DNA to remember thatsomething happened,it has to change somehow.We know the changecan't be in the sequence;if it changed sequence all the time,thenwe might be growing like, a new ear or a new eyeball every single day.

 

 

例如，如果幾乎所有東西都進入我們的腦細胞，那么大腦如何記憶一天之后的一切？那就是DNA進入的地方。DNA是不溶解的東西之一。但是要讓DNA記住發(fā)生的事情，就必須以某種方式進行更改。我們知道，變化不能按順序進行。如果它一直在改變順序，那么我們可能每天都會像新耳朵或新眼球一樣成長。

 

 

(Laughter)

 

 

（笑聲）

 

 

So, instead it changesshape,and that's where those DNA knots come in.You can think ofthem like DNA memory.When something big in our life happens,like atraumatic childhood event,stress hormones flood our brain.Thestress hormones don't affect the sequence of DNA,but they do change theshape.They affect that part of DNAwith the instructions formolecular machines that reduce stress.That piece of DNA gets wound upinto a knot,and now the dumb builder machines can't read the plans theyneedto build the machines that reduce stress.That's a mouthful, butit's what's happening on the microscale.On the macroscale, youpractically lose the ability to deal with stress,and that's bad.Andthat's how DNA can remember what happens in the past.

 

 

因此，它改變了形狀，這就是那些DNA結出現的地方。您可以將它們視為DNA記憶。當我們生活中一件大事發(fā)生時，例如童年創(chuàng)傷事件，壓力荷爾蒙充斥我們的大腦。應激激素不會影響DNA的序列，但會改變形狀。它們通過減少應力的分子機器的說明影響DNA的這一部分。那段DNA被纏繞成一個結，如今，笨拙的建造者機器無法讀取他們建造減輕壓力的機器所需的計劃。那是一個大嘴巴，但這是微觀上正在發(fā)生的事情。在宏觀上，您實際上失去了應對壓力的能力，這很糟糕。這就是DNA可以記住過去發(fā)生的事情的方式。

 

 

This is what I think washappening to mewhen I first started my gender transition.I knew Iwas a woman on the inside,and I wore women's clothes on theoutside,but everyone saw me as a man in a dress.I felt like nomatter how many things I try,no one would ever really see me as awoman.In science, your credibility is everything,and people weresnickering in the hallways,giving me stares,looks of disgust--afraid to be near me.I remember my first big talk aftertransition.It was in Italy.I'd given prestigious talksbefore,but this one, I was terrified.I looked out into theaudience,and the whispers started --the stares,the smirks,the chuckles.To this day, I still have social anxiety around myexperience eight years ago.I lost hope.Don't worry, I've had therapyso I'm OK --I'm OK now.

 

 

這就是我剛開始性別過渡時發(fā)生的事情。我知道我內心是個女人，外面是女人的衣服，但是每個人都把我看成是男人。我覺得無論我嘗試多少嘗試，都沒有人真正將我視為女人。在科學中，您的信譽就是一切，人們在走廊里竊笑，給我凝視，令人厭惡-害怕靠近我。我記得過渡后的第一個大話題。那是在意大利。我之前曾進行過有聲望的演講，但這一演講讓我感到恐懼。我望著觀眾，耳語開始-凝視，傻笑，輕笑。直到今天，八年前，我仍然對社交充滿焦慮。我失去了希望。不用擔心，我已經接受治療了，所以我很好-現在我很好。

 

 

(Laughter)

 

 

（笑聲）

 

 

(Cheers)

 

 

（干杯）

 

 

(Applause)

 

 

（掌聲）

 

 

But I felt enough isenough:I'm a scientist,I have a doctorate inastrophysics,I've published in the top journals,in wave-particleinteractions, space physics,nucleic acid biochemistry.I've actuallybeen trained to get to the bottom of things, so --

 

 

但是我感到足夠了：我是一名科學家，擁有天體物理學博士學位，并已在頂級期刊上發(fā)表，涉及波粒子相互作用，空間物理學和核酸生物化學。我實際上已經受過訓練，可以深入研究事物，所以-

 

 

(Laughter)

 

 

（笑聲）

 

 

I went online --

 

 

我上網了-

 

 

(Applause)

 

 

（掌聲）

 

 

So I went online, and Ifound fascinating research papers.I learned that these DNA knot thingsare not always bad.Actually, the knotting and unknotting --it'slike a complicated computer language.It programs our bodies withexquisite precision.

 

 

于是我上網，發(fā)現了引人入勝的研究論文。我了解到，這些DNA結并不總是壞事。實際上，打結和不打結-就像是復雜的計算機語言。它可以對我們的身體進行精確的編程。

 

 

So when we getpregnant,our fertilized eggs grow into newborn babies.This processrequires thousands of DNA decisions to happen.Should an embryo cellbecome a blood cell?A heart cell? A brain cell?And the decisionshappen at different times during pregnancy.Some in the first trimester,some in the second trimesterand some in the third trimester.Totruly understand DNA decision-making,we need to see the process of knotformation in atomic detail.Even the most powerful microscopes can't seethis.What if we tried to simulate these on a computer?For that we'dneed a million computers to do that.That's exactly what we have at LosAlamos Labs --a million computers connected in a giant warehouse.

 

 

因此，當我們懷孕時，受精卵就會長成新生嬰兒。這個過程需要數以千計的DNA決定才能發(fā)生。胚胎細胞應該變成血細胞嗎？心臟細胞？腦細胞？而且這些決定在懷孕期間的不同時間發(fā)生。有些在孕早期，有些在孕中期，有些在孕晚期。要真正理解DNA決策，我們需要了解原子結的形成過程。即使是最強大的顯微鏡也看不到這一點。如果我們嘗試在計算機上模擬這些怎么辦？為此，我們需要一百萬臺計算機才能做到這一點。這正是我們在Los Alamos Labs擁有的-一百萬臺計算機連接在一個巨大的倉庫中。

 

 

So here we're showing theDNA making up an entire genefolded into very specific shapes ofknots.For the first time,my team has simulated an entire gene ofDNA --the largest biomolecular simulation performed to date.For thefirst time, we're beginning to understand the unsolved problemof howhormones trigger the formation of these knots.

 

 

因此，這里我們展示的是將整個基因折疊成非常特殊的結狀結構的DNA。我的團隊第一次模擬了整個DNA基因，這是迄今為止進行的最大的生物分子模擬。第一次，我們開始了解尚未解決的問題，即激素如何觸發(fā)這些結的形成。

 

 

DNA knot formation can beseen beautifully in calico cats.The decision between orange andblackhappens early on in the womb,so that orange-and-black patchypattern,it's an exact readout of what happenedwhen that cat wasjust a tiny little kitten embryoinside her mom's womb.And the patchypattern actually happens in our brains and in cancer.It's directlyrelated to intellectual disability and breast cancer.

 

 

在印花貓中可以清楚地看到DNA結的形成。橙色和黑色之間的決定是在子宮中早期做出的，因此橙色和黑色的斑塊狀圖案是對那只貓只是媽媽子宮內的一個很小的小貓胚胎發(fā)生的事情的精確讀出。斑紋模式實際上發(fā)生在我們的大腦和癌癥中。它與智障和乳腺癌直接相關。

 

 

These DNA decisions alsohappen in other parts of the body.It turns out that the precursorgenitals transform into either female or maleduring the first trimesterof pregnancy.The precursor brains, on the other hand,transform intofemale or male during the second trimester of pregnancy.So the currentworking modelis that a unique mix in my mom's wombcaused theprecursor genitals to transform one way,but the precursor brain totransform the other way.

 

 

這些DNA決定也發(fā)生在身體的其他部位。事實證明，在懷孕的前三個月中，前體生殖器會轉變?yōu)榕曰蚰行?。另一方面，在懷孕中期，前腦會轉變?yōu)榕曰蚰行?。因此，目前的工作模式是，媽媽子宮中的獨特混合物導致前體生殖器改變一種方式，而前體大腦改變另一種方式。

 

 

Most of epigeneticresearchhas really focused on stress, anxiety, depression --kind ofa downer,kind of bad things.

 

 

大多數表觀遺傳學研究實際上都集中在壓力，焦慮，抑郁上，這是一種壓倒性的，壞事。

 

 

(Laughter)

 

 

（笑聲）

 

 

But nowadays --thelatest stuff --people are looking at relaxation.Can that have apositive effect on your DNA?Right now we're missing key data from micemodels.We know that mice relax,but could they meditate like the DalaiLama?Achieve enlightenment?Could they move stones with their mindlike Jedi Master Yoda?

 

 

但是如今-最新的東西-人們正在尋找放松。這會對您的DNA產生積極影響嗎？目前，我們缺少小鼠模型的關鍵數據。我們知道老鼠會放松，但是他們會像達賴喇嘛一樣冥想嗎？獲得啟示？他們可以像絕地大師尤達一樣用自己的思想移動石頭嗎？

 

 

(Yoda voice): Hm, a Jedi mouse must feelthe force flow, hm.

 

 

（Yoda的聲音）：嗯，絕地老鼠必須感覺到力量的流動，嗯。

 

 

(Laughter)

 

 

（笑聲）

 

 

(Applause)

 

 

（掌聲）

 

 

I wonder if the supportI've had since that talk back in Italyhas tried to unwind myDNA.Having a great circle of friends, supportive parentsand beingin a loving relationshiphas actually given me strength and hope to helpothers.At work I wear a rainbow bracelet.Sometimes it raiseseyebrows, but it also raises awareness.There's so many transgender people--especially women of color --that are just one demeaning commentaway from taking their own lives.Forty percent of us attemptsuicide.If you're listening and you feel like you have no otheroption,try to call a friend,go online or try to get in a supportgroup.If you're a woman who's not transgender but you know pain of isolation,ofsexual assault --reach out.

 

 

我想知道自從那次在意大利的談話以來我所獲得的支持是否試圖消除我的基因。擁有一大群朋友，支持父母的父母以及彼此相愛的關系實際上給了我力量，并希望能幫助別人。在工作中，我戴著彩虹手鐲。有時會引起人們的注意，但也會引起人們的注意。有這么多變性人-尤其是有色女人-只是貶低了他們的性命而已。我們中有40％的人企圖自殺。如果您在聽，并且感覺別無選擇，請嘗試打電話給朋友，上網或嘗試加入支持小組。如果您是不變性的女性，但您知道孤獨，性侵犯的痛苦，請伸出援手。

 

 

So what does it mean to bea woman?The latest research is showingthat female and male brainsdo develop differently in the womb,possibly giving us females this innatesense of being a woman.On the other hand,maybe it's our sharedsense of commonality that makes us women.We come in so many differentshapes and sizesthat asking what it means to be a woman may not be theright question.It's like asking a calico cat what it means to be a calicocat.Maybe becoming a woman means accepting ourselvesfor who wereally areand acknowledging the same in each other.

 

 

那么成為女人意味著什么呢？最新研究表明，子宮中雌性和雄性大腦的發(fā)育確實有所不同，這可能使我們擁有女性固有的女性意識。另一方面，也許正是我們共同的共同意識使我們成為女性。我們有許多不同的形狀和大小，以至于問成為女人意味著什么可能不是正確的問題。這就像問印花布貓變成印花布貓意味著什么。也許成為一個女人意味著接受我們自己的真實面目，并互相承認對方。

 

 

I see you.And you'vejust seen me.

 

 

我看見你。而且你剛剛看到我。

 

 

(Applause and cheers)

 

 

（掌聲和歡呼聲）