哈佛首名中國畢業典禮演講人　何江「蜘蛛咬傷軼事」講辭全文

哈佛大學每年會挑選3名優秀畢業生作畢業演講，先由兩名本科生分別用拉丁文與英文演講，再由1名研究生作英文演講。今年的研究生代表為來自湖南農村的哈佛大學生物學博士何江，他是哈佛大學創校380年，畢業講台第一名中國人。

在我讀初中的時候，有一次，一隻毒蜘蛛咬傷了我的右手。我問我媽媽該怎麼處理，我媽媽並沒有帶我去看醫生，她而是決定用火療的方法治療我的傷口。

她在我的手上包了好幾層棉花，棉花上噴撒了白酒，在我的嘴裏放了一雙筷子，然後打火點燃了棉花。熱量逐漸滲透過棉花，開始炙烤我的右手。灼燒的疼痛讓我忍不住想喊叫，可嘴裏的筷子卻讓我發不出聲來。我只能看着我的手被火燒着，一分鐘，兩分鐘，直到媽媽熄滅了火苗。

你看，我在中國的農村長大，在那個時候，我的村莊還是一個類似前工業時代的傳統村落。在我出生的時候，我的村子裏面沒有汽車，沒有電話，沒有電，甚至也沒有自來水。我們自然不能輕易的獲得先進的現代醫療資源。那個時候也沒有一個合適的醫生可以來幫我處理蜘蛛咬傷的傷口。

在座的如果有生物背景的人，你們或許已經理解到了我媽媽使用的這個簡單的治療手段的基本原理：高熱可以讓蛋白質變性，而蜘蛛的毒液也是一種蛋白質。這樣一種傳統的土方法實際上有它一定的理論依據，想來也是挺有意思的。但是，作為哈佛大學生物化學的博士，我現在知道在我初中那個時候，已經有更好的，沒有那麼痛苦的，也沒有那麼有風險的治療方法了。於是我便忍不住問自己，為什麼我在當時沒有享用到這些更為先進的治療方法呢？

蜘蛛咬傷的事故已經過去大概十五年了。我非常高興的向在座的各位報告一下，我的手還是完好的。但是，我剛剛提到的這個問題這些年來一直停在我的腦海中，而我也時不時會因為先進科技知識在世界上不同地區的不平等分佈而困擾。現如今，我們人類已經學會怎麼進行人類基因編輯了，也研究清楚了很多個癌症發生發展的原因。我們甚至可以利用一束光來控制我們大腦內神經元的活動。每年生物醫學的研究都會給我們帶來不一樣突破和進步---其中有不少令人振奮，也極具革命顛覆性的成果。然而，儘管我們人類已經在科研上有了無數的建樹，在怎樣把這些最前沿的科學研究帶到世界最需要該技術的地區這件事情上，我們有時做的差強人意。世界銀行的資料顯示，世界上大約有12%的人口每天的生活水準仍然低於2美元。營養不良每年導致300萬兒童死亡。將近3億人口仍然受到瘧疾的干擾。在世界各地，我們經常看到類似的由貧窮，疾病和自然匱乏導致的科學知識傳播的受阻。現代社會裏習以為常的那些救生常識經常在這些欠發達或不發達地區未能普及。於是，在世界上仍有很多地區，人們只能依賴於用火療這一簡單粗暴的方式來治理蜘蛛咬傷事故。

在哈佛讀書期間，我有切身體會到先進的科技知識能夠既簡單又深遠的幫助到社會上很多的人。本世紀初的時候，禽流感在亞洲多個國家肆虐。那個時候，村莊裏的農民聽到禽流感就像聽到惡魔施咒一樣，對其特別的恐懼。鄉村的土醫療方法對這樣一個疾病也是束手無策。農民對於普通感冒和流感的區別並不是很清楚，他們並不懂得流感比普通感冒可能更加致命。而且，大部分人對於科學家所發現的流感病毒能夠跨不同物種傳播這一事實並不清楚。

於是，在我意識到這些知識背景，及簡單的將受感染的不同物種隔離開來以減緩疾病傳播，並決定將這些知識傳遞到我的村莊時，我的心裏第一次有了一種作為未來科學家的使命感。但這種使命感不只停在知識層面，它也是我個人道德發展的重要轉捩點，我自我理解的作為國際社會一員的責任感。

哈佛的教育教會我們學生敢於擁有自己的夢想，勇於立志改變世界。在畢業典禮這樣一個特別的日子，我們在座的畢業生都會暢想我們未來的偉大征程和冒險。對我而言，我在此刻不可避免的還會想到我的家鄉。我成長的經歷教會了我作為一個科學家，積極的將我們所會的知識傳遞給那些急需這些知識的人是多麼的重要。因為利用那些我們已經擁有的科技知識，我們能夠輕而易舉的幫助我的家鄉，還有千千萬萬類似的村莊，讓他們生活的世界變成一個我們現代社會看起來習以為常的場所，而這樣一件事，是我們每一個畢業生都能夠做的，也力所能及能夠做到的。

但問題是，我們願意來做這樣的努力嗎？

比以往任何時候都多，我們的社會強調科學和創新。但我們社會同樣需要注意的一個重心是分配知識到那些真正需要的地方。改變世界並不意味着每個人都要做一個大突破。改變世界可以非常簡單。它可以簡單得變成作為世界不同地區的溝通者，並找出更多創造性的方法將知識傳遞給像我母親或農民這樣的群體。同時，改變世界也意味着我們的社會，作為一個整體，能夠更清醒的認識到科技知識的更加均衡的分佈，是人類社會發展的一個關鍵環節，而我們也能夠一起奮鬥將此目標變成現實。

如果我們能夠做到這些，或許，將來有一天，一個在農村被毒蜘蛛咬傷的少年或許不用火療這樣粗暴的方法來治療傷口，而是去看醫生得到更為先進的醫療護理。

When I was in middle school, a poisonous spider bit my right hand. I ran to my mom for help, but instead of taking me to a doctor, my mom set my hand on fire.

After wrapping my hand with several layers of cotton, then soaking it in wine, she put a chopstick into my mouth, and ignited the cotton. Heat quickly penetrated the cotton and began to roast my hand. The searing pain made me want to scream, but the chopstick prevented it. All I could do was watch my hand burn - one minute, then two minutes - until mom put out the fire.

You see, the part of China I grew up in was a rural village, and at that time pre-industrial. When I was born, my village had no cars, no telephones, no electricity, not even running water. And we certainly didn’t have access to modern medical resources. There was no doctor my mother could bring me to see about my spider bite.

For those who study biology, you may have grasped the science behind my mom’s cure: heat deactivates proteins, and a spider’s venom is simply a form of protein. It’s cool how that folk remedy actually incorporates basic biochemistry, isn’t it? But I am a PhD student in biochemistry at Harvard, I now know that better, less painful and less risky treatments existed. So I can’t help but ask myself, why I didn’t receive one at the time?

Fifteen years have passed since that incident. I am happy to report that my hand is fine. But this question lingers, and I continue to be troubled by the unequal distribution of scientific knowledge throughout the world. We have learned to edit the human genome and unlock many secrets of how cancer progresses. We can manipulate neuronal activity literally with the switch of alight. Each year brings more advances in biomedical research-exciting,transformative accomplishments. Yet, despite the knowledge we have amassed, we haven’t been so successful in deploying it to where it’s needed most. According to the World Bank, twelve percent of the world’s population lives on less than$2 a day. Malnutrition kills more than 3 million children annually. Three hundred million people are afflicted by malaria globally. All over the world, we constantly see these problems of poverty, illness, and lack of resources impeding the flow of scientific information. Lifesaving knowledge we take for granted in the modern world is often unavailable in these underdeveloped regions. And in far too many places, people are still essentially trying to cure a spider bite with fire.

While studying at Harvard, I saw how scientific knowledge can help others in simple, yet profound ways. The bird flu pandemic in the 2000s looked to my village like a spell cast by demons. Our folk medicine didn’t even have half-measures to offer. What’s more, farmers didn’t know the difference between common cold and flu; they didn’t understand that the flu was much more lethal than the common cold. Most people were also unaware that the virus could transmit across different species.

So when I realised that simple hygiene practices like separating different animal species could contain the spread of the disease, and that I could help make this knowledge available to my village, that was my first “Aha”moment as a budding scientist. But it was more than that: it was also a vital inflection point in my own ethical development, my own self-understanding as a member of the global community.

Harvard dares us to dream big, to aspire to change the world. Here on this Commencement Day, we are probably thinking of grand destinations and big adventures that await us. As for me, I am also thinking of the farmers in my village. My experience here reminds me how important it is for researchers to communicate our knowledge to those who need it. Because by using the science we already have, we could probably bring my village and thousands like it into the world you and I take for granted every day. And that’s an impact every one of us can make!

But the question is, will we make the effort or not?

More than ever before, our society emphasizes science and innovation. But an equally important emphasis should be on distributing the knowledge we have to where it’s needed. Changing the world doesn’t mean that everyone has to find the next big thing. It can be as simple as becoming better communicators, and finding more creative ways to pass on the knowledge we have to people like my mom and the farmers in their local community. Our society also needs to recognize that the equal distribution of knowledge is a pivotal step of human development, and work to bring this into reality.

And if we do that, then perhaps a teenager in rural China who is bitten by a spider will not have to burn his hand, but will know to seek a doctor instead.