From the time we are born, through our teens and until we are around 20 years old, the human body is steadily growing. 從我們出生開始，經過青少年時期，一直到二十歲左右，人體一直都在穩定成長。
By the age of 20, hormones have triggered the growth plates to fuse shut, stopping our bones from growing. 到了二十歲，荷爾蒙會促使生長板接合關閉，造成骨骼不再成長。
That keeps us from getting taller, keeps our feet and our hands from getting bigger. 這種機制讓我們不會持續長高，讓我們的雙腳與雙手不會繼續長大。
Even the brain is fully developed well into our twenties. 就連大腦也會在我們二十幾歲的時候發展完全。
We stop growing because certain cells stop growing. 我們停止成長是因為有些細胞停止了成長。
So, what if you applied that same idea to the fight against cancer? 那麼，如果把這樣的概念用來對抗癌症呢？
And, what if you were only 14 years old? 而且如果你才十四歲，那會怎麼樣呢？
My name is Joshua Meier. I'm 18 years old, and my research shows how we can harness the aging process to treat diseases. 我的名字叫喬許亞．邁爾，我今年十八歲。我的研究顯示我們能夠藉著駕馭老化進程而治療疾病。
Josh has accomplished more in the last four years than many people will in a lifetime. 喬許在過去四年間的成就，比許多人一輩子達到的還多。
It began his freshman year with an assignment from one of his teachers. 這個成就始於他高一時一位老師所出的作業。
One of the wonderful things about working with young people, with regard to science, is that they aren't programmed. 在科學方面和年輕人合作很棒的一點是，他們沒有被定型。
So, when they come up with ideas, they're really, you know, sometimes completely idiotic and sometimes comically so. But, often they are profound. 所以，他們提出點子時，有時候聽起來很愚蠢，有時候還愚蠢得妙，不過，卻也常發人深省。
And they are profound because you talk about thinking outside the box; they don't know there's a box. 他們的點子會發人深省是因為我們常說跳脫框架思考，但他們卻根本不曉得有框架。
They not only don't see it; they have no idea that it's there. 他們不只沒看到框架，而是根本不知道框架的存在。
Josh had an idea. It was outside the box, but he didn't know that. 喬許有個點子。這個點子跳脫了框架，但他不曉得這一點。
Josh only saw possibility. He was just 14 years old. 喬許只是看見了一項可能性。當時他才十四歲。
My father and sister are ob-gyns, and they're always talking about their work. 我的爸爸和姐姐都是婦產科醫師，他們總是在談論他們的工作。
What they tried to get me excited with was cord blood stem cells, how you can take a cell and turn it into any other kind of cell. 他們試圖讓我感興趣的是臍帶血幹細胞，也就是如何把一個細胞變成各種其他種類的細胞。
I thought that was fascinating. So, I went home and I said, "I'm going to do stem cell research." 我覺得那很吸引人。所以，我回家之後說：「我要做幹細胞研究。」
So, I start googling them and I see, oh, [there're] problems. 於是我開始用 Google 搜尋引擎找幹細胞的資料，結果發現。喔，有一些問題。
One of the problems was that they have rapid aging. 其中一個問題是幹細胞的老化速度很快。
And I started to say, "Hey, why do they age? Why don't we just turn off the molecular properties that cause them to age?" 於是我開始問：「嘿，幹細胞為什麼會老化？我們何不關閉導致它們老化的分子特性就好了？」
Well, it turns out nobody knows why they are aging. 結果原來沒有人知道幹細胞為什麼會老化。
So, I'm like, "OK, let's try and understand. Let's try and look at different theories." 於是我心想：「好，我們來試著瞭解，試著看看各種不同理論。」
He came up with the idea and Dr. P. said, "That's not gonna work." 他想出了這個點子，結果佩戈利基博士說：「那是行不通的。」
And he did it anyway and he wrote out his hypothesis. 但他還是做了研究，寫了他的假設。
And he did not get a good grade on the first trial but he pursued, because Josh is very adamant in pursuing everything that he wants to do. 他的第一次嘗試沒有得到好成績，但他還是繼續努力，因為喬許對於自己想做的事情是非常堅持的。
At school, Josh was able to work in the lab on his research. 在學校，喬許得以在實驗室裡從事他的研究。
His hypothesis about aging and stem cells was correct. 他對於老化與幹細胞所提出的假設是正確的。
When an adult stem cell's created, it loses a third of its mitochondria. 成體幹細胞形成的時候，會喪失三分之一的粒線體，
That's the part of a cell that converts food to energy. It also contains DNA. 細胞的這個部分能夠將食物轉化為能量，而且也含有 DNA。
Losing the DNA weakens the stem cell and causes it to age rapidly. 喪失這種 DNA 會削弱幹細胞，導致幹細胞迅速老化。
Josh focused on controlling the amount of DNA deletions in the cell and was able to slow or even stop the cells from aging. 喬許把焦點集中在控制細胞內 DNA 斷損的數量，結果得以減緩或甚至阻止細胞老化。
And with it he had another idea -- if you could stop the aging of stem cells, could you force other types of cells to age, like cancer cells? 由此，他又想出另一個點子——如果能夠阻止幹細胞老化，那麼是不是也能夠強迫其他種類的細胞老化，例如癌細胞？
While some people don't like aging, I started thinking about how we could use it for good reasons. 雖然有些人不喜歡老化，我卻開始思考我們如何能夠善用老化。
So, for instance, cancer is a disease where cells keep growing and growing and growing. 所以，舉例來說，癌症是一種細胞不斷成長、增生、擴大的疾病。
But, if we could age cancer and stop its growth, then that's a potential treatment. 可是我們如果能夠讓癌細胞老化，阻止其生長，那麼這就有可能是一種治療癌症的方法。
Josh has successfully aged cancer cells in a petri dish. The next step will be testing his process in animals. 喬許成功在培養皿上促使癌細胞老化，下一步將是在動物身上試驗這種程序。
His work has won him awards and accolades from around the world. 他的研究得了獎，也獲得來自世界各地的讚譽。
It's hard work with long hours in the lab, not your typical high school experience. 這是長時間待在實驗室裡辛苦工作的成果，並不是一般典型的高中校園經驗。
He's very involved in all these things and he's very happy in what he's doing. He's working very hard. 他非常投入這些事情，對於自己做的事也非常樂在其中。他很努力。
He sleeps, like, two hours a night, but he never complains. And he's doing all these things, and that's what he enjoys. 他一晚差不多只睡兩個小時，也從不埋怨。他做著這一切，而且樂在其中。
Science and medicine are both fun and useful. 科學與醫學都很有趣而且有用。
It's really great just to go in and learn new things and to ask your own questions, and to learn things that nobody else knew about. 能夠進入這些領域學習新事物、提出你自己的問題實在是很棒，還有學習別人不知道的東西。
But I always come home at night and [say] that it's not just that I had a good time with my friends, but that I also have produced something that can help people. 不過，我晚上回家之後總是說，我不只和朋友玩得很開心，而且還做出對人有益的東西。