0:00:28.240,0:00:32.569
I've been spending my summers[br]in the marine biological laboratory

0:00:32.593,0:00:34.583
in Woods Hole, Massachusetts.

0:00:35.131,0:00:39.293
And there, what I've been doing[br]is essentially renting a boat.

0:00:39.317,0:00:41.917
What I would like to do is ask you

0:00:41.941,0:00:44.171
to come on a boat ride with me tonight.

0:00:46.036,0:00:50.929
So, we ride off from Eel Pond[br]into Vineyard Sound,

0:00:50.953,0:00:53.464
right off the coast of Martha's Vineyard,

0:00:53.488,0:00:56.825
equipped with a drone[br]to identify potential spots

0:00:56.849,0:00:59.326
from which to peer into the Atlantic.

0:00:59.350,0:01:02.629
Earlier, I was going to say[br]into the depths of the Atlantic,

0:01:02.653,0:01:05.832
but we don't have to go too deep[br]to reach the unknown.

0:01:06.511,0:01:09.082
Here, barely two miles away

0:01:09.106,0:01:13.652
from what is arguably the greatest[br]marine biology lab in the world,

0:01:13.676,0:01:16.897
we lower a simple[br]plankton net into the water

0:01:16.921,0:01:18.742
and bring up to the surface

0:01:18.766,0:01:22.166
things that humanity rarely[br]pays any attention to,

0:01:22.190,0:01:24.722
and oftentimes has never seen before.

0:01:25.460,0:01:28.404
Here's one of the organisms[br]that we caught in our net.

0:01:28.428,0:01:29.687
This is a jellyfish.

0:01:30.081,0:01:31.393
But look closely,

0:01:31.417,0:01:34.408
and living inside of this animal[br]is another organism

0:01:34.432,0:01:37.137
that is very likely[br]entirely new to science.

0:01:37.161,0:01:38.839
A complete new species.

0:01:39.317,0:01:42.020
Or how about this other transparent beauty

0:01:42.044,0:01:43.584
with a beating heart,

0:01:43.608,0:01:47.036
asexually growing on top of its head,

0:01:47.060,0:01:50.246
progeny that will move on[br]to reproduce sexually.

0:01:50.747,0:01:52.234
Let me say that again:

0:01:52.258,0:01:55.944
this animal is growing asexually[br]on top of its head,

0:01:55.968,0:02:00.455
progeny that is going to reproduce[br]sexually in the next generation.

0:02:01.160,0:02:02.478
A weird jellyfish?

0:02:02.996,0:02:04.306
Not quite.

0:02:04.330,0:02:05.612
This is an ascidian.

0:02:05.972,0:02:07.256
This is a group of animals

0:02:07.280,0:02:11.027
that now we know we share[br]extensive genomic ancestry with,

0:02:11.051,0:02:15.774
and it is perhaps the closest[br]invertebrate species to our own.

0:02:16.576,0:02:17.945
Meet your cousin,

0:02:17.969,0:02:19.399
Thalia democratica.

0:02:19.423,0:02:21.381
(Laughter)

0:02:21.405,0:02:25.395
I'm pretty sure you didn't save a spot[br]at your last family reunion

0:02:25.419,0:02:26.851
for Thalia,

0:02:26.875,0:02:28.527
but let me tell you,

0:02:28.551,0:02:31.879
these animals are profoundly related to us

0:02:31.903,0:02:34.935
in ways that we're just[br]beginning to understand.

0:02:36.364,0:02:40.489
So, next time you hear anybody[br]derisively telling you

0:02:40.513,0:02:44.410
that this type of research[br]is a simple fishing expedition,

0:02:44.434,0:02:47.434
I hope that you'll remember[br]the trip that we just took.

0:02:47.875,0:02:51.715
Today, many of the biological[br]sciences only see value

0:02:51.739,0:02:54.288
in studying deeper what we already know --

0:02:54.312,0:02:56.822
in mapping already-discovered continents.

0:02:57.299,0:03:00.637
But some of us are much more[br]interested in the unknown.

0:03:01.049,0:03:04.993
We want to discover[br]completely new continents,

0:03:05.017,0:03:08.418
and gaze at magnificent[br]vistas of ignorance.

0:03:08.874,0:03:12.970
We crave the experience[br]of being completely baffled

0:03:12.994,0:03:15.168
by something we've never seen before.

0:03:15.192,0:03:16.462
And yes, I agree

0:03:16.486,0:03:20.286
there's a lot of little ego satisfaction[br]in being able to say,

0:03:20.310,0:03:22.785
"Hey, I was the first one[br]to discover that."

0:03:23.302,0:03:26.207
But this is not[br]a self-aggrandizing enterprise,

0:03:26.231,0:03:28.931
because in this type[br]of discovery research,

0:03:28.955,0:03:32.573
if you don't feel like a complete[br]idiot most of the time,

0:03:32.597,0:03:34.878
you're just not sciencing hard enough.

0:03:34.902,0:03:36.936
(Laughter)

0:03:38.214,0:03:44.197
So every summer I bring onto the deck[br]of this little boat of ours

0:03:44.221,0:03:49.895
more and more things[br]that we know very little about.

0:03:51.816,0:03:56.004
I would like tonight[br]to tell you a story about life

0:03:56.028,0:03:59.368
that rarely gets told[br]in an environment like this.

0:04:00.615,0:04:07.511
From the vantage point of our 21st-century[br]biological laboratories,

0:04:08.774,0:04:12.691
we have begun to illuminate[br]many mysteries of life with knowledge.

0:04:13.369,0:04:17.006
We sense that after centuries[br]of scientific research,

0:04:17.030,0:04:19.137
we're beginning to make[br]significant inroads

0:04:19.161,0:04:23.027
into understanding some of the most[br]fundamental principles of life.

0:04:23.723,0:04:28.724
Our collective optimism is reflected[br]by the growth of biotechnology

0:04:28.748,0:04:30.022
across the globe,

0:04:30.826,0:04:35.474
striving to utilize scientific knowledge[br]to cure human diseases.

0:04:37.085,0:04:41.923
Things like cancer, aging,[br]degenerative diseases;

0:04:41.947,0:04:46.279
these are but some[br]of the undesirables we wish to tame.

0:04:47.217,0:04:48.661
I often wonder:

0:04:48.685,0:04:51.846
Why is it that we are having[br]so much trouble

0:04:51.870,0:04:54.032
trying to solve the problem of cancer?

0:04:54.496,0:04:57.750
Is it that we're trying to solve[br]the problem of cancer,

0:04:57.774,0:05:00.068
and not trying to understand life?

0:05:01.057,0:05:04.245
Life on this planet[br]shares a common origin,

0:05:04.269,0:05:09.322
and I can summarize 3.5 billion years[br]of the history of life on this planet

0:05:09.346,0:05:10.826
in a single slide.

0:05:10.850,0:05:16.857
What you see here are representatives[br]of all known species in our planet.

0:05:17.421,0:05:20.832
In this immensity of life[br]and biodiversity,

0:05:20.856,0:05:24.023
we occupy a rather unremarkable position.

0:05:24.047,0:05:25.063
(Laughter)

0:05:25.087,0:05:26.310
Homo sapiens.

0:05:27.116,0:05:28.721
The last of our kind.

0:05:29.670,0:05:32.781
And though I don't really want[br]to disparage at all

0:05:32.805,0:05:34.776
the accomplishments of our species,

0:05:34.800,0:05:39.786
as much as we wish it to be so[br]and often pretend that it is,

0:05:39.810,0:05:42.686
we are not the measure of all things.

0:05:43.411,0:05:46.898
We are, however,[br]the measurers of many things.

0:05:47.411,0:05:51.157
We relentlessly quantify,[br]analyze and compare,

0:05:51.181,0:05:54.961
and some of this is absolutely invaluable[br]and indeed necessary.

0:05:55.761,0:06:02.148
But this emphasis today on forcing[br]biological research to specialize

0:06:02.172,0:06:04.720
and to produce practical outcomes

0:06:04.744,0:06:08.298
is actually restricting our ability[br]to interrogate life

0:06:08.322,0:06:12.405
to unacceptably narrow confines[br]and unsatisfying depths.

0:06:13.107,0:06:18.148
We are measuring an astonishingly[br]narrow sliver of life,

0:06:18.172,0:06:21.948
and hoping that those numbers[br]will save all of our lives.

0:06:22.525,0:06:23.918
How narrow do you ask?

0:06:23.942,0:06:25.546
Well, let me give you a number.

0:06:25.570,0:06:30.089
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric[br]Administration recently estimated

0:06:30.113,0:06:34.040
that about 95 percent of our oceans[br]remain unexplored.

0:06:34.774,0:06:36.486
Now let that sink in for a second.

0:06:37.130,0:06:40.977
95 percent of our oceans[br]remain unexplored.

0:06:41.812,0:06:43.977
I think it's very safe to say

0:06:44.001,0:06:48.830
that we don't even know[br]how much about life we do not know.

0:06:49.910,0:06:52.835
So, it's not surprising[br]that every week in my field

0:06:52.859,0:06:56.070
we begin to see the addition[br]of more and more new species

0:06:56.094,0:06:58.353
to this amazing tree of life.

0:06:58.377,0:06:59.774
This one for example --

0:06:59.798,0:07:01.704
discovered earlier this summer,

0:07:01.728,0:07:02.941
new to science,

0:07:02.965,0:07:06.257
and now occupying its lonely branch[br]in our family tree.

0:07:07.073,0:07:08.224
What is even more tragic

0:07:08.248,0:07:11.883
is that we know about a bunch[br]of other species of animals out there,

0:07:11.907,0:07:15.468
but their biology remains[br]sorely under-studied.

0:07:15.492,0:07:17.826
I'm sure some of you[br]have heard about the fact

0:07:17.850,0:07:22.046
that a starfish can actually[br]regenerate its arm after it's lost.

0:07:22.070,0:07:23.512
But some of you might not know

0:07:23.536,0:07:27.885
that the arm itself can actually[br]regenerate a complete starfish.

0:07:28.859,0:07:32.907
And there are animals out there[br]that do truly astounding things.

0:07:33.561,0:07:35.271
I'm almost willing to bet

0:07:35.295,0:07:40.009
that many of you have never heard[br]of the flatworm, Schmidtea mediterranea.

0:07:41.023,0:07:43.122
This little guy right here

0:07:43.146,0:07:46.220
does things that essentially[br]just blow my mind.

0:07:46.731,0:07:50.735
You can grab one of these animals[br]and cut it into 18 different fragments,

0:07:50.759,0:07:54.521
and each and every one of those fragments[br]will go on to regenerate

0:07:54.545,0:07:55.863
a complete animal

0:07:55.887,0:07:57.521
in under two weeks.

0:07:58.294,0:08:02.531
18 heads, 18 bodies, 18 mysteries.

0:08:02.948,0:08:05.344
For the past decade and a half or so,

0:08:05.368,0:08:09.078
I've been trying to figure out[br]how these little dudes do what they do,

0:08:09.102,0:08:11.301
and how they pull this magic trick off.

0:08:11.325,0:08:13.039
But like all good magicians,

0:08:13.063,0:08:15.918
they're not really releasing[br]their secrets readily to me.

0:08:15.942,0:08:17.148
(Laughter)

0:08:17.172,0:08:18.330
So here we are,

0:08:18.354,0:08:22.809
after 20 years of essentially[br]studying these animals,

0:08:22.833,0:08:25.140
genome mapping, chin scratching,

0:08:25.164,0:08:28.383
and thousands of amputations[br]and thousands of regenerations,

0:08:28.407,0:08:32.202
we still don't fully understand[br]how these animals do what they do.

0:08:32.628,0:08:36.224
Each planarian an ocean unto itself,

0:08:36.248,0:08:37.854
full of unknowns.

0:08:39.076,0:08:40.760
One of the common characteristics

0:08:40.784,0:08:43.396
of all of these animals[br]I've been talking to you about

0:08:43.420,0:08:46.183
is that they did not appear[br]to have received the memo

0:08:46.207,0:08:48.874
that they need to behave[br]according to the rules

0:08:48.898,0:08:53.067
that we have derived from a handful[br]of randomly selected animals

0:08:53.091,0:08:55.813
that currently populate the vast majority

0:08:55.837,0:08:58.354
of biomedical laboratories[br]across the world.

0:08:58.717,0:09:00.947
Meet our Nobel Prize winners.

0:09:00.971,0:09:02.973
Seven species, essentially,

0:09:02.997,0:09:06.599
that have produced for us the brunt[br]of our understanding

0:09:06.623,0:09:09.090
of biological behavior today.

0:09:09.772,0:09:11.564
This little guy right here --

0:09:11.588,0:09:14.058
three Nobel Prizes in 12 years.

0:09:14.804,0:09:17.560
And yet, after all the attention[br]they have garnered,

0:09:17.584,0:09:19.644
and all the knowledge they have generated,

0:09:19.668,0:09:21.693
as well as the lion's share[br]of the funding,

0:09:21.717,0:09:25.590
here we are standing [before] the same[br]litany of intractable problems

0:09:25.614,0:09:27.238
and many new challenges.

0:09:27.820,0:09:29.635
And that's because, unfortunately,

0:09:29.659,0:09:32.273
these seven animals essentially correspond

0:09:32.297,0:09:39.073
to 0.0009 percent of all of the species[br]that inhabit the planet.

0:09:40.562,0:09:42.948
So I'm beginning to suspect

0:09:42.972,0:09:47.733
that our specialization is beginning[br]to impede our progress at best,

0:09:47.757,0:09:50.184
and at worst, is leading us astray.

0:09:50.835,0:09:53.909
That's because life[br]on this planet and its history

0:09:53.933,0:09:55.650
is the history of rule breakers.

0:09:56.033,0:09:59.380
Life started on the face of this planet[br]as single-cell organisms,

0:09:59.404,0:10:01.726
swimming for millions[br]of years in the ocean,

0:10:01.750,0:10:04.036
until one of those creatures decided,

0:10:04.060,0:10:06.119
"I'm going to do things differently today;

0:10:06.143,0:10:09.151
today I would like to invent[br]something called multicellularity,

0:10:09.175,0:10:10.448
and I'm going to do this."

0:10:10.472,0:10:13.124
And I'm sure it wasn't a popular[br]decision at the time --

0:10:13.148,0:10:14.175
(Laughter)

0:10:14.199,0:10:15.805
but somehow, it managed to do it.

0:10:15.829,0:10:18.395
And then, multicellular[br]organisms began to populate

0:10:18.419,0:10:19.795
all these ancestral oceans,

0:10:19.819,0:10:21.007
and they thrived.

0:10:21.031,0:10:22.564
And we have them here today.

0:10:23.389,0:10:26.386
Land masses began to emerge[br]from the surface of the oceans,

0:10:26.410,0:10:27.864
and another creature thought,

0:10:27.888,0:10:30.677
"Hey, that looks like a really nice[br]piece of real estate.

0:10:30.701,0:10:31.952
I'd like to move there."

0:10:31.976,0:10:33.135
"Are you crazy?

0:10:33.159,0:10:36.443
You're going to desiccate out there.[br]Nothing can live out of water."

0:10:36.467,0:10:37.624
But life found a way,

0:10:37.648,0:10:39.971
and there are organisms[br]now that live on land.

0:10:39.995,0:10:42.393
Once on land, they may have[br]looked up into the sky

0:10:42.417,0:10:44.676
and said, "It would be nice[br]to go to the clouds,

0:10:44.700,0:10:45.851
I'm going to fly."

0:10:45.875,0:10:48.950
"You can't break the law of gravity,[br]there's no way you can fly."

0:10:48.974,0:10:51.259
And yet, nature has invented --

0:10:51.283,0:10:53.290
multiple and independent times --

0:10:53.314,0:10:54.521
ways to fly.

0:10:54.968,0:10:57.485
I love to study these animals[br]that break the rules,

0:10:57.509,0:11:01.138
because every time they break a rule,[br]they invent something new

0:11:01.162,0:11:04.921
that made it possible for us[br]to be able to be here today.

0:11:05.224,0:11:07.494
These animals did not get the memo.

0:11:07.518,0:11:09.218
They break the rules.

0:11:09.242,0:11:12.037
So if we're going to study animals[br]that break the rules,

0:11:12.061,0:11:15.056
shouldn't how we study them[br]also break the rules?

0:11:16.266,0:11:19.654
I think we need to renew[br]our spirit of exploration.

0:11:20.040,0:11:22.524
Rather than bring nature[br]into our laboratories

0:11:22.548,0:11:23.863
and interrogate it there,

0:11:23.887,0:11:25.593
we need to bring our science

0:11:25.617,0:11:28.522
into the majestic laboratory[br]that is nature,

0:11:28.546,0:11:32.457
and there, with our modern[br]technological armamentarium,

0:11:32.481,0:11:35.307
interrogate every new form[br]of life we find,

0:11:35.331,0:11:38.324
and any new biological attribute[br]that we may find.

0:11:39.086,0:11:43.240
We actually need to bring[br]all of our intelligence

0:11:43.264,0:11:45.356
to becoming stupid again --

0:11:45.380,0:11:49.239
clueless [before] the immensity[br]of the unknown.

0:11:49.716,0:11:51.077
Because after all,

0:11:51.101,0:11:53.260
science is not really about knowledge.

0:11:53.284,0:11:56.025
Science is about ignorance.

0:11:56.049,0:11:57.414
That's what we do.

0:11:57.622,0:11:59.109
So if we're serious about this,

0:11:59.133,0:12:01.485
we are going to have to start[br]seriously supporting

0:12:01.509,0:12:05.689
those institutions that make it possible[br]for discovery research to take place.

0:12:05.713,0:12:06.959
Institutions like our own,

0:12:06.983,0:12:10.232
the Stowers Institute for Medical Research[br]in Kansas City, Missouri,

0:12:10.256,0:12:14.329
or the National Institute of General[br]Medical Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland,

0:12:14.353,0:12:16.579
and of course,[br]our gateway to biodiversity,

0:12:16.603,0:12:19.845
the Marine Biological Laboratory[br]in Woods Hole, Massachusetts.

0:12:20.611,0:12:25.431
I have been very fortunate to be able[br]to do some of this training myself,

0:12:25.455,0:12:27.286
and it is a pleasure for me

0:12:27.310,0:12:30.630
to actually grab students[br]out of the confines of their laboratories

0:12:30.654,0:12:32.850
away from their computers[br]and their catalogs,

0:12:32.874,0:12:36.474
and throw them into the world[br]of discovery and exploration.

0:12:37.440,0:12:42.736
It is an immense pleasure,[br]a real pleasure to actually see

0:12:42.760,0:12:48.308
to see how these bright, young minds'[br]curiosity spreads its wings

0:12:48.332,0:12:51.486
and flies away when faced[br]with the unknown.

0:12:51.899,0:12:54.316
This is how we become real scientists.

0:12:55.363,0:12:58.738
So we need these people[br]to actually go out there

0:12:58.762,0:13:01.955
and ask the better questions[br]that will bring us closer

0:13:01.979,0:13:03.357
to the answers that we seek.

0:13:04.438,0:13:07.569
Once, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry wrote,

0:13:07.593,0:13:09.394
"If you want to build a ship,

0:13:09.418,0:13:11.362
don't drum up people to collect wood

0:13:11.386,0:13:13.688
and don't assign them tasks and work,

0:13:13.712,0:13:17.806
but rather teach them to long[br]for the endless immensity of the sea ..."

0:13:18.246,0:13:19.950
As a scientist and a teacher,

0:13:19.974,0:13:21.935
I like to paraphrase this to read

0:13:21.959,0:13:25.117
that we scientists need[br]to teach our students

0:13:25.141,0:13:27.592
to long for the endless[br]immensity of the sea

0:13:27.616,0:13:29.053
that is our ignorance.

0:13:30.468,0:13:34.333
We Homo sapiens are the only[br]species we know of

0:13:34.357,0:13:36.793
that is driven to scientific inquiry.

0:13:37.345,0:13:39.479
We, like all other species on this planet,

0:13:39.503,0:13:43.994
are inextricably woven[br]into the history of life on this planet.

0:13:44.689,0:13:47.856
And I think I'm a little wrong[br]when I say that life is a mystery,

0:13:47.880,0:13:50.591
because I think that life[br]is actually an open secret

0:13:50.615,0:13:54.599
that has been beckoning our species[br]for millennia to understand it.

0:13:55.044,0:13:56.645
So I ask you:

0:13:56.669,0:14:00.442
Aren't we the best chance[br]that life has to know itself?

0:14:00.753,0:14:01.904
And if so,

0:14:01.928,0:14:03.658
what the heck are we waiting for?

0:14:04.393,0:14:07.863
We need to do things differently.

0:14:07.887,0:14:11.380
Tonight, I'm going to ask you[br]to please help us build

0:14:11.404,0:14:15.840
the greatest discovery research vessel[br]in the history of humankind.

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Call your legislators,

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ask them to fund basic discovery research,

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support and give what you can[br]to institutions such as these

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that are dedicated to discovery research,

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and hop on board with us[br]on a grand expedition

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to radically transform[br]our understanding of life.

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And along the way,

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change the way we do[br]biomedical research, forever.

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Thank you.

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(Applause)