[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:00.17,0:00:03.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Recently I visited Beloit, Wisconsin.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:03.18,0:00:06.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I was there to honor a great 20th century explorer,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:06.83,0:00:08.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Roy Chapman Andrews.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:08.87,0:00:11.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,During his time at the American Museum of Natural History,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:11.72,0:00:15.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Andrews led a range of expeditions to uncharted regions,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:15.82,0:00:17.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,like here in the Gobi Desert.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:17.55,0:00:18.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He was quite a figure.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:18.96,0:00:22.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He was later, it's said, the basis of the Indiana Jones character.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:22.63,0:00:24.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And when I was in Beloit, Wisconsin,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:24.83,0:00:28.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I gave a public lecture to a group of middle school students.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:28.96,0:00:30.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I'm here to tell you,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:30.53,0:00:33.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,if there's anything more intimidating than talking here at TED,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:33.24,0:00:35.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it'll be trying to hold the attention
Dialogue: 0,0:00:35.07,0:00:38.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of a group of a thousand 12-year-olds for a 45-minute lecture.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:38.96,0:00:40.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Don't try that one.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:40.84,0:00:44.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,At the end of the lecture they asked a number of questions,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:44.38,0:00:47.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but there was one that's really stuck with me since then.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:47.68,0:00:49.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There was a young girl who stood up,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:49.60,0:00:50.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and she asked the question:
Dialogue: 0,0:00:50.93,0:00:52.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Where should we explore?"
Dialogue: 0,0:00:52.98,0:00:55.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I think there's a sense that many of us have
Dialogue: 0,0:00:55.11,0:00:57.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that the great age of exploration on Earth is over,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:57.93,0:00:59.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that for the next generation
Dialogue: 0,0:00:59.46,0:01:02.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they're going to have to go to outer space or the deepest oceans
Dialogue: 0,0:01:02.88,0:01:05.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in order to find something significant to explore.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:05.43,0:01:07.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But is that really the case?
Dialogue: 0,0:01:07.93,0:01:10.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Is there really nowhere significant for us to explore
Dialogue: 0,0:01:10.92,0:01:12.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,left here on Earth?
Dialogue: 0,0:01:12.65,0:01:13.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It sort of made me think back
Dialogue: 0,0:01:13.83,0:01:16.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to one of my favorite explorers in the history of biology.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:16.58,0:01:19.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is an explorer of the unseen world, Martinus Beijerinck.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:19.92,0:01:22.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So Beijerinck set out to discover the cause
Dialogue: 0,0:01:22.38,0:01:24.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of tobacco mosaic disease.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:24.74,0:01:28.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What he did is he took the infected juice from tobacco plants
Dialogue: 0,0:01:28.29,0:01:31.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and he would filter it through smaller and smaller filters.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:31.23,0:01:32.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And he reached the point
Dialogue: 0,0:01:32.80,0:01:35.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where he felt that there must be something out there
Dialogue: 0,0:01:35.81,0:01:39.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that was smaller than the smallest forms of life that were ever known --
Dialogue: 0,0:01:39.25,0:01:41.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,bacteria, at the time.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:41.29,0:01:44.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He came up with a name for his mystery agent.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:44.68,0:01:46.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He called it the virus --
Dialogue: 0,0:01:46.71,0:01:48.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Latin for "poison."
Dialogue: 0,0:01:48.98,0:01:51.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And in uncovering viruses,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:51.76,0:01:55.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Beijerinck really opened this entirely new world for us.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:55.38,0:01:57.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We now know that viruses make up the majority
Dialogue: 0,0:01:57.38,0:01:59.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of the genetic information on our planet,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:59.67,0:02:01.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,more than the genetic information
Dialogue: 0,0:02:01.33,0:02:03.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of all other forms of life combined.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:03.08,0:02:06.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And obviously there's been tremendous practical applications
Dialogue: 0,0:02:06.18,0:02:07.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,associated with this world --
Dialogue: 0,0:02:07.43,0:02:09.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,things like the eradication of smallpox,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:09.83,0:02:13.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the advent of a vaccine against cervical cancer,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:13.49,0:02:17.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which we now know is mostly caused by human papillomavirus.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:17.09,0:02:18.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And Beijerinck's discovery,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:18.76,0:02:21.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,this was not something that occurred 500 years ago.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:21.48,0:02:24.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It was a little over 100 years ago
Dialogue: 0,0:02:24.16,0:02:26.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that Beijerinck discovered viruses.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:26.58,0:02:28.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So basically we had automobiles,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:28.47,0:02:30.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but we were unaware of the forms of life
Dialogue: 0,0:02:30.71,0:02:33.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that make up most of the genetic information on our planet.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:33.72,0:02:35.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We now have these amazing tools
Dialogue: 0,0:02:35.90,0:02:38.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to allow us to explore the unseen world --
Dialogue: 0,0:02:38.21,0:02:40.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,things like deep sequencing,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:40.22,0:02:43.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which allow us to do much more than just skim the surface
Dialogue: 0,0:02:43.78,0:02:46.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and look at individual genomes from a particular species,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:46.88,0:02:49.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but to look at entire metagenomes,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:49.37,0:02:53.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the communities of teeming microorganisms in, on and around us
Dialogue: 0,0:02:53.55,0:02:57.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and to document all of the genetic information in these species.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:57.07,0:02:58.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We can apply these techniques
Dialogue: 0,0:02:58.54,0:03:03.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to things from soil to skin and everything in between.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:03.05,0:03:06.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In my organization we now do this on a regular basis
Dialogue: 0,0:03:06.04,0:03:08.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to identify the causes of outbreaks
Dialogue: 0,0:03:08.42,0:03:11.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that are unclear exactly what causes them.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:11.71,0:03:14.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And just to give you a sense of how this works,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:14.04,0:03:17.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,imagine that we took a nasal swab from every single one of you.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:17.04,0:03:18.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And this is something we commonly do
Dialogue: 0,0:03:18.40,0:03:21.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to look for respiratory viruses like influenza.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:21.40,0:03:23.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The first thing we would see
Dialogue: 0,0:03:23.25,0:03:26.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is a tremendous amount of genetic information.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:26.30,0:03:28.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And if we started looking into that genetic information,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:28.71,0:03:31.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we'd see a number of usual suspects out there --
Dialogue: 0,0:03:31.04,0:03:32.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of course, a lot of human genetic information,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:32.84,0:03:35.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but also bacterial and viral information,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:35.71,0:03:38.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,mostly from things that are completely harmless within your nose.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:38.88,0:03:41.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But we'd also see something very, very surprising.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:41.79,0:03:43.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,As we started to look at this information,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:43.86,0:03:48.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we would see that about 20 percent of the genetic information in your nose
Dialogue: 0,0:03:48.21,0:03:51.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,doesn't match anything that we've ever seen before --
Dialogue: 0,0:03:51.12,0:03:54.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,no plant, animal, fungus, virus or bacteria.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:54.30,0:03:57.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Basically we have no clue what this is.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:57.80,0:04:01.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And for the small group of us who actually study this kind of data,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:01.92,0:04:05.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a few of us have actually begun to call this information
Dialogue: 0,0:04:05.64,0:04:08.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,biological dark matter.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:08.04,0:04:10.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We know it's not anything that we've seen before;
Dialogue: 0,0:04:10.98,0:04:14.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it's sort of the equivalent of an uncharted continent
Dialogue: 0,0:04:14.09,0:04:16.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,right within our own genetic information.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:16.81,0:04:18.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And there's a lot of it.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:18.19,0:04:21.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If you think 20 percent of genetic information in your nose is a lot
Dialogue: 0,0:04:21.67,0:04:23.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of biological dark matter,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:23.29,0:04:25.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,if we looked at your gut,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:25.04,0:04:28.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,up to 40 or 50 percent of that information is biological dark matter.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:28.74,0:04:30.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And even in the relatively sterile blood,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:30.98,0:04:33.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,around one to two percent of this information is dark matter --
Dialogue: 0,0:04:33.96,0:04:38.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,can't be classified, can't be typed or matched with anything we've seen before.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:38.71,0:04:41.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,At first we thought that perhaps this was artifact.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:41.33,0:04:44.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,These deep sequencing tools are relatively new.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:44.58,0:04:46.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But as they become more and more accurate,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:46.66,0:04:50.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we've determined that this information is a form of life,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:50.25,0:04:52.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or at least some of it is a form of life.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:52.83,0:04:57.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And while the hypotheses for explaining the existence of biological dark matter
Dialogue: 0,0:04:57.20,0:04:59.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,are really only in their infancy,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:59.14,0:05:02.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,there's a very, very exciting possibility that exists:
Dialogue: 0,0:05:02.81,0:05:06.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that buried in this life, in this genetic information,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:06.29,0:05:10.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,are signatures of as of yet unidentified life.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:10.78,0:05:14.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That as we explore these strings of A's, T's, C's and G's,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:14.72,0:05:18.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we may uncover a completely new class of life
Dialogue: 0,0:05:18.05,0:05:20.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that, like Beijerinck, will fundamentally change
Dialogue: 0,0:05:20.46,0:05:22.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the way that we think about the nature of biology.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:22.66,0:05:27.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That perhaps will allow us to identify the cause of a cancer that afflicts us
Dialogue: 0,0:05:27.09,0:05:30.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or identify the source of an outbreak that we aren't familiar with
Dialogue: 0,0:05:30.62,0:05:33.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or perhaps create a new tool in molecular biology.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:33.51,0:05:35.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'm pleased to announce that,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:35.20,0:05:40.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,along with colleagues at Stanford and Caltech and UCSF,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:40.14,0:05:41.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we're currently starting an initiative
Dialogue: 0,0:05:41.78,0:05:45.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to explore biological dark matter for the existence of new forms of life.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:45.75,0:05:47.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A little over a hundred years ago,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:47.90,0:05:50.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,people were unaware of viruses,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:50.60,0:05:54.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the forms of life that make up most of the genetic information on our planet.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:54.84,0:05:57.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A hundred years from now, people may marvel
Dialogue: 0,0:05:57.42,0:06:00.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that we were perhaps completely unaware of a new class of life
Dialogue: 0,0:06:00.88,0:06:04.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that literally was right under our noses.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:04.18,0:06:07.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's true, we may have charted all the continents on the planet
Dialogue: 0,0:06:07.50,0:06:10.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and we may have discovered all the mammals that are out there,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:10.58,0:06:14.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but that doesn't mean that there's nothing left to explore on Earth.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:14.14,0:06:16.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Beijerinck and his kind
Dialogue: 0,0:06:16.14,0:06:19.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,provide an important lesson for the next generation of explorers --
Dialogue: 0,0:06:19.83,0:06:23.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,people like that young girl from Beloit, Wisconsin.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:23.16,0:06:26.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I think if we phrase that lesson, it's something like this:
Dialogue: 0,0:06:26.96,0:06:31.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Don't assume that what we currently think is out there is the full story.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:31.19,0:06:36.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Go after the dark matter in whatever field you choose to explore.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:36.25,0:06:38.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There are unknowns all around us
Dialogue: 0,0:06:38.37,0:06:40.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and they're just waiting to be discovered.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:40.75,0:06:42.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Thank you.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:42.42,0:06:47.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Applause)