文/伯納德?馬爾 譯/肖偉

By Bernard Marr

Steve Jobs once said that the biggest innovations in the 21st century would be at the intersection of biology and technology. As with all areas of technology, the global pandemic has accelerated both the development and adoption of biotech, with the hope that it will lead to new solutions for major global challenges, including illness, food shortages,and damage to the environment.

Here’s a look at some of the key trends that will be driving breakthroughs and innovation in this exciting field:

Personalized medicine

史蒂夫·喬布斯曾指出21世紀(jì)最大的創(chuàng)新將是生物學(xué)與技術(shù)的融合。如同對(duì)所有技術(shù)領(lǐng)域的影響一樣，全球疫情加速了生物技術(shù)的發(fā)展與應(yīng)用，人們希望這能夠?yàn)榘膊?、糧食短缺以及環(huán)境破壞在內(nèi)的重大全球挑戰(zhàn)提供新的解決方案。

以下是推動(dòng)這一令人振奮的領(lǐng)域?qū)崿F(xiàn)突破與創(chuàng)新的主要趨勢(shì)：

個(gè)體化醫(yī)療

2 傳統(tǒng)上，制藥建立在“一方萬(wàn)用”的基礎(chǔ)上，通過(guò)試驗(yàn)來(lái)確定哪種配方能夠讓最廣泛的社會(huì)群體最大限度地受益。當(dāng)今，現(xiàn)代基因組學(xué)意味著根據(jù)個(gè)體DNA構(gòu)成定制藥品配方成為可能。部分原因歸結(jié)于2003年人類第一個(gè)基因組測(cè)序花費(fèi)約為30億美元，而現(xiàn)在卻只需600美元左右。了解DNA在人們保持健康和身體抗病能力中所扮演的角色，便可以更簡(jiǎn)單地預(yù)測(cè)會(huì)發(fā)病的人群，更精準(zhǔn)地作出診斷，并根據(jù)個(gè)體遺傳因素進(jìn)行針對(duì)性治療。

2 Traditionally drugs and medicine have been created on a “one-size-fitsall” basis, and trials are used to establish which formulations are most beneficial to the widest segment of society. Today,modern genomics means it’s possible to tailor the formulation of medicines for individuals, depending on the makeup of their DNA. Partly this is due to the fact that while sequencing the first human genome cost around $3 billion back in 2003, it can now be done for around$600. Understanding the role DNA plays in our health and our body’s ability to fight disease makes it simpler to predict segments of the population where illness is likely to occur, make better diagnoses,and create targeted treatments dependent on individual genetic factors.

3 Currently, personalized medicine can be used for understanding factors such as how a person’s genetic makeup affects the way that cancerous cells are likely to grow and spread in their body,meaning better decisions can be made about what treatment should be given.Another common use is in preventative medicine, whereby patients with a particular genetic makeup that’s shown to leave them susceptible to a particular illness can be given pre-emptive treatment. Personalized medicine will be a strong focus throughout 2022, and researchers are confident it will lead to more effective and efficient treatments for many diseases.

Agricultural biotech

3 目前，個(gè)體化醫(yī)療可以用于了解一些影響因素，比如個(gè)體基因構(gòu)成如何影響癌細(xì)胞在其體內(nèi)生長(zhǎng)與擴(kuò)散方式，這意味著可以更好地確定應(yīng)當(dāng)給予患者何種治療。另一種常見(jiàn)的用途是在預(yù)防醫(yī)學(xué)中，對(duì)一些因特定基因構(gòu)成更易患上某種疾病的患者可進(jìn)行預(yù)防性治療。個(gè)體化醫(yī)療將成為貫穿2022全年的焦點(diǎn)，而且研究人員相信這將有助于更有效、更高效地治療很多疾病。

農(nóng)業(yè)生物技術(shù)

4 在農(nóng)業(yè)領(lǐng)域，生物技術(shù)應(yīng)用于開(kāi)發(fā)產(chǎn)量更高、抗病蟲(chóng)害能力更強(qiáng)的農(nóng)作物。世界面臨全球糧食危機(jī)、數(shù)百萬(wàn)人面臨饑餓風(fēng)險(xiǎn)，此類技術(shù)具有潛在的巨大價(jià)值。這意味著種植出的食物營(yíng)養(yǎng)更豐富，危害健康的毒素含量更低。生物技術(shù)也將降低農(nóng)耕對(duì)環(huán)境的破壞程度，這是由于農(nóng)作物適應(yīng)力強(qiáng)，農(nóng)藥更有效、更具針對(duì)性因而使用劑量下降，也就減少了徑流對(duì)土壤和水道的污染。它也被用于培育農(nóng)作物來(lái)清除工業(yè)活動(dòng)對(duì)土地造成的污染，使土地重新得以耕種——這一過(guò)程被稱為植物修復(fù)。

4 In farming, biotechnology is used to develop crops that provide better yields and are more resistant to pests and diseases. This has the potential to be hugely valuable in a world facing a global food crisis where millions of people are at risk of starvation. It means food can be grown that is richer in nutrients and lower in toxic content that can be damaging to our health. Biotech will also lead to agricultural practices that are less damaging to environments, as resilient crops as well as more efficient and targeted pesticides will be used in lower volumes meaning less pollution of the earth and waterways from runoff. It’s also being used to create crops that can be used to remove pollution caused by industrial activity from land, enabling that land to be revegetated—a process known as phytoremediation.

5 New types of crops can also be created—one example being the caffeinefree coffee beans created by UK start-up Tropic Biosciences, which removes the need for an expensive, polluting, and waste-creating decaffeination process.2022 will undoubtedly also see further debate around the ethics of biotechnology, with society facing up toquestions around the importance of providing enough food while maintaining standards of food safety and the potential for ecological damage that genetically modified crops themselves might cause to natural environments.

Faster pharmaceutical testing and approval of medicines

5此外，還可以培育新型作物——例如，英國(guó)初創(chuàng)企業(yè)熱帶生物科技公司研制出不含咖啡因的咖啡豆，從而免去了高成本、高污染且多廢料的脫因流程。社會(huì)要正視以下兩方面問(wèn)題：在提供充足食物的同時(shí)堅(jiān)守食品安全標(biāo)準(zhǔn)有多重要，以及轉(zhuǎn)基因作物本身是否可能對(duì)自然環(huán)境造成生態(tài)破壞——由此，2022年圍繞生物技術(shù)倫理的辯論將更深入。

藥物試驗(yàn)與獲批加速

6在緊急研發(fā)和獲準(zhǔn)制造新冠疫苗后，人們?cè)诩涌煨滤幵囼?yàn)獲批的進(jìn)程中付出了巨大努力。這在很大程度上依賴于生物技術(shù)領(lǐng)域的研究成果和數(shù)據(jù)資料。傳統(tǒng)上，新藥上市要經(jīng)歷長(zhǎng)達(dá)十年的審批和認(rèn)證過(guò)程。生物技術(shù)數(shù)據(jù)正加速這一進(jìn)程，它可以模擬藥物和人體的相互作用，不必每個(gè)階段都依賴昂貴且耗時(shí)的人體試驗(yàn)。美國(guó)食品和藥物管理局的實(shí)時(shí)腫瘤學(xué)評(píng)審項(xiàng)目就是一個(gè)納入生物技術(shù)數(shù)據(jù)、大大加快藥物試驗(yàn)和審評(píng)過(guò)程的實(shí)例，特別是因?yàn)槠溆锌赡軠?zhǔn)確預(yù)測(cè)新型癌癥治療試驗(yàn)的測(cè)試結(jié)果。另一個(gè)例子是制藥公司渤健推出的首款阿爾茨海默癥藥物阿杜卡奴單抗，由于2 0 2 1年生物技術(shù)的進(jìn)步而進(jìn)展迅速。我們有望看到更多關(guān)于這一領(lǐng)域的研究，希望更快地研發(fā)出更有效的藥物和治療方法。

6 Following the emergency development and approval of Covid-19 vaccinations, huge efforts have been made to speed up the process of testing and approving new drugs. Much of this is reliant on research and data originating in the field of biotechnology. Traditionally,new drugs have taken up to 10 years to make it through the lengthy process of approval and certification. Biotech data is being used to speed up this process by allowing simulations of interactions between medicines and the human body,rather than having to rely on costly and time-consuming human trials for every stage of the process. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s Real-Time Oncology Review program is an example of a drug testing and review process that has been greatly accelerated by the inclusion of biotech data,specifically due to its potential to accurately predict testing outcomes of trials of novel cancer treatments. Another example is pharmaceutical developer Biogen, whose first-of-its-kind treatment for Alzheimer’s disease, aducanumab,was rapidly accelerated thanks to advances made in biotech in 2021. We can expect to see more research in this field,hopefully leading to quicker development of more effective drugs and treatments.

Environmental biotechnology

環(huán)境生物技術(shù)

7 我們已提到農(nóng)業(yè)生物技術(shù)如何更高效地培育作物，從而減少能源的消耗以及農(nóng)藥對(duì)生態(tài)的破壞。然而，為了提高生態(tài)可持續(xù)性并減少對(duì)環(huán)境的影響，生物技術(shù)還有許多其他的應(yīng)用途徑。這包括創(chuàng)造專門用于分解塑料的生物有機(jī)體，使其更有效地回收。2021年，法國(guó)卡比奧斯公司設(shè)立第一家利用轉(zhuǎn)基因酶分解聚對(duì)苯二甲酸乙二醇酯（PET）的工廠，PET是塑料瓶常用塑料。其他生物技術(shù)衍生的酶用來(lái)生產(chǎn)新型洗滌劑，此類洗滌劑效能足夠強(qiáng)，可用于工業(yè)清洗過(guò)程，可完全生物降解，而不像其他工業(yè)洗滌劑那樣產(chǎn)生有毒廢物。

7 We already mentioned how biotechnology in agriculture means more efficient crop production, and therefore less energy use and ecological damage caused by pesticides. However, there are a number of other ways in which biotechnology is being harnessed in order to improve sustainability and reduce environmental impact. This includes the creation of biological organisms specifically designed to break down plastics, enabling them to be more efficiently recycled. In 2021, French company Carbios opened its first plant dedicated to breaking down polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic,commonly used in plastic bottles, using genetically modified enzymes. Other biotech-derived enzymes are being used to create new types of detergent that are powerful enough to be used in industrial cleaning processes while also being completely biodegradable, rather than generating toxic waste as with other industrial detergents.

8 Another hugely important field where we can expect to see ongoing innovation during 2022 is in biofuels.New processes involving creating clean energy from agricultural and industrial waste—and even algae—are appearing thanks to advances in biotechnology.

Artificial meat

8 2022年，另一個(gè)有望持續(xù)創(chuàng)新、極其重要的領(lǐng)域是生物燃料。得益于生物技術(shù)的進(jìn)步，利用農(nóng)業(yè)和工業(yè)廢料甚至藻類生產(chǎn)清潔能源的新工藝正在興起。

人造肉

9 我們因喜食肉類而對(duì)地球產(chǎn)生影響，大量關(guān)于減少這種影響的研究正在開(kāi)展。這導(dǎo)致實(shí)驗(yàn)室培育的人造肉越來(lái)越被吹捧為一種潛在的解決方案——至少對(duì)于我們當(dāng)中那些不打算或不愿意改吃素食的人來(lái)說(shuō)是這樣！

9 A great deal of research is ongoing into reducing the impact that our love of meat eating is having on the planet.This has led to artificial and lab-grown meat increasingly being touted as a potential solution—at least for those of us who aren’t ready or willing to switch to a vegan diet!

10 Lab-grown meat involves cultivating tissue artificially from muscle and fat cells and has the potential to hugely reduce the amount of energy, land, and water utilized by the livestock industry—as well as the methane emissions,which are recognized as a leading cause of climate change!

11 The biotech processes for growing meat evolved from techniques originally designed to help repair injuries by regrowing damaged cells in humans or animals—for example growing skin cells to be grafted onto burn victims.A number of companies, including delivery giant Just Eat, are now planning on launching their own artificial meat onto the market, and 2022 could be the year that it starts to become widely available. ■

10 實(shí)驗(yàn)室培育肉類需要用肌肉和脂肪細(xì)胞人工培植組織，有可能大大減少畜牧業(yè)所消耗的能量、土地和水，以及被認(rèn)定為氣候變化主因的甲烷排放！

11 培育肉類的生物技術(shù)工藝起源于原本旨在讓人或動(dòng)物受損細(xì)胞再生以幫助修復(fù)創(chuàng)傷的技術(shù)——例如培育皮膚細(xì)胞移植到燒傷患者身上。包括外賣巨頭Just Eat在內(nèi)的很多公司正計(jì)劃向市場(chǎng)推出自家的人造肉，而2022年可能成為其開(kāi)始廣泛普及的一年。 □