Transcript · English → Chinese
The Role of Melanin in Sensory Biology
为什么我们的耳蜗里 会有黑色素？
事实上，不仅是耳蜗里 有黑色素。
我们的每一种感官，也就是五感， 在与环境之间都有黑色素。
这实际上应该 引发一个问题，
为什么我们的五感 旁边都有黑色素？
目的是什么？大自然 想告诉我们什么？
它基本上是在告诉我们， 动物是能够进行光合作用的，
利用光产生自由电子， 供我们作为能量来源。
这就是关键所在。
当你真正深入研究 黑色素生物学时，
特别是现在凝聚态物理学家们 正以完全不同的视角来看待黑色素，
它可能是目前 最有效率的光伏材料。
讽刺的是，甚至直到今天， 他们也并不真正清楚其化学式是什 么。
即使利用X射线晶体学，
由于其中存在着密集的芳香族氨基 酸排列， 他们也无法确定。
但他们确实知道的一点是，地球上几 乎每一个生命 在某种程度上都含有黑色素。
它的用途各不相同，但它始终是 生物光子信号传导和电子产生的必 要条件。
让它如此特别的原因，而且我认为 这也是它存在于耳蜗中的原因，
是因为它的能量效率极高，能吸收所 有电磁辐射 并将其转化为系统可用的信息。
End of transcript · 223 words · machine translated
Original transcript (English)
Why do we have melanin in the cochlea of our ear? Actually, it's not just melanin in the cochlea of the ear. Every single sense, the five senses, has melanin between it and the environment. That should actually stimulate the question, why is it that our five senses have melanin adjacent to it?
What is the purpose? What is nature trying to tell us? And it's basically trying to tell us that animals are capable of photosynthesis, utilizing light to create free electrons for us to use as energy sources. And that's the key. And when you actually look deep into melanin biology,
especially now that condensed matter physicists guys are looking at melanin in a totally different light, it's probably the most efficient photovoltaic that's out there. And the irony is, they don't even know truly what the chemical formula is even today. Even with x-ray crystallography, they can't tell because of the dense arrangement of aromatic amino acids that are present in it.
But the one thing that they do know is that almost every single thing alive on the planet has melanin at some level in it. It's used in different ways, but it always is a sine qua non of bio-photon signaling and creation of electrons. The thing that makes it special, and I think the reason why it's in the cochlea, is that it is extremely energy efficient and it turns and absorbs all electromagnetic radiation into usable information for the system.
