Could We Cure HIV with Lasers? | Patience Mthunzi | TED Talks

Translator: Christian K. Vinther Reviewer: Anders Finn Jørgensen

What do you do when you have a headache?

Hvad gør du, når du har hovedpine?

You swallow an aspirin.

Du tager en hovedpinepille.

But for this pill to get to your head, where the pain is,

Men før pillen kan nå op, hvor smerten er, -

it goes through your stomach, intestines and various other organs first.

- må den igennem din mave, tarme og adskillelige andre organer.

Swallowing pills is the most effective and painless way of delivering

Piller er den mest effektive og smertefri måde, at sørge for, -

any medication in the body.

- at enhver type medicin når ud i kroppen.

The downside, though, is that swallowing any medication leads to its dilution.

Bagsiden ved at sluge medicin er dog, at det fører til fortynding.

And this is a big problem, particularly in HIV patients.

Og dette er et stort problem, særligt for HIV-patienter.

When they take their anti-HIV drugs,

Når de tager deres anti-HIV medicin, -

these drugs are good for lowering the virus in the blood,

- reduceres virusset i blodet -

and increasing the CD4 cell counts.

- og CD4 celletallene stiger.

But they are also notorious for their adverse side effects,

Men den er også berygtet for uheldige bivirkninger -

but mostly bad, because they get diluted by the time they get to the blood,

- og det er problematisk, at den fortyndes, før den når blodet -

and worse, by the time they get to the sites

- og, hvad værre er, før den når ud til områderne, -

where it matters most: within the HIV viral reservoirs.

- hvor det betyder mest: de virale reservoirer.

These areas in the body -- such as the lymph nodes,

Dette er områder i kroppen, såsom lymfeknuderne, -

the nervous system, as well as the lungs --

- nervesystemet og lungerne -

where the virus is sleeping,

- hvor virusset ligger i dvale,

and will not readily get delivered in the blood

- og ikke uden videre når frem til blodet -

of patients that are under consistent anti-HIV drugs therapy.

- i patienterne under anti-HIV medicinsk behandling.

However, upon discontinuation of therapy,

Men, ved afbrydelse af behandlingen, -

the virus can awake and infect new cells in the blood.

- kan virus vågne op og påvirke nye celler i blodet.

Now, all this is a big problem in treating HIV with the current drug treatment,

Dette er et stort problem i behandlingen af HIV-patienter med nutidens medicin, -

which is a life-long treatment that must be swallowed by patients.

- hvilket er en livslang behandling, der skal sluges af patienterne.

One day, I sat and thought,

En dag sad jeg og tænkte: -

"Can we deliver anti-HIV directly within its reservoir sites,

- "Kan vi få anti-HIV direkte ind i reservoir-områderne -

without the risk of drug dilution?"

- uden at løbe risikoen for fortynding?"

As a laser scientist, the answer was just before my eyes:

Som forsker i laserteknologi var svaret lige foran mine øjne.

Lasers, of course.

Lasere, selvfølgelig.

If they can be used for dentistry,

Hvis de kan bruges til tandbehandling, -

for diabetic wound-healing and surgery,

- heling af diabetessår og operationer, -

they can be used for anything imaginable,

- kan de bruges til alt tænkeligt, -

including transporting drugs into cells.

- også transport af medicin til celler.

As a matter of fact, we are currently using laser pulses

Og faktisk bruger vi nu laserpulser -

to poke or drill extremely tiny holes,

- til at stikke eller bore ekstremt små huller -

which open and close almost immediately in HIV-infected cells,

- som åbner og lukker sig øjeblikkeligt i HIV-inficerede celler -

in order to deliver drugs within them.

- for at lade medicinen komme ind.

"How is that possible?" you may ask.

"Hvordan er det muligt?" spørger du.

Well, we shine a very powerful but super-tiny laser beam

Vi belyser med en meget kraftfuld, men lillebitte laserstråle, -

onto the membrane of HIV-infected cells

- på de HIV-inficerede cellemembraner -

while these cells are immersed in liquid containing the drug.

- imens disse celler ligger i væske, der indeholder medicinen.

The laser pierces the cell, while the cell swallows the drug

Laseren gennemborer cellen, mens cellen indtager medicinen.

in a matter of microseconds.

Det tager kun mikrosekunder.

Before you even know it,

Før, du ved af det, -

the induced hole becomes immediately repaired.

- bliver hullet fuldstændigt repareret.

Now, we are currently testing this technology in test tubes

Vi er nu i gang med at teste denne teknologi i reagensglas -

or in Petri dishes,

- eller i petriskåle.

but the goal is to get this technology in the human body,

Men målet er, at få denne teknologi ud i menneskekroppen -

apply it in the human body.

- anvende den i kroppen.

"How is that possible?" you may ask.

"Hvordan er det muligt?" spørger du måske.

Well, the answer is: through a three-headed device.

Svaret er: Gennem en trehovedet maskine.

Using the first head, which is our laser,

Ved at bruge det første hoved, som er vores laser, -

we will make an incision in the site of infection.

- laver vi et indsnit, hvor infektionen findes.

Using the second head, which is a camera,

Med det andet hoved, som er et kamera, -

we meander to the site of infection.

- bugter vi os frem til infektionen.

Finally, using a third head, which is a drug-spreading sprinkler,

Endelig, med det tredje hoved, som sørger for at indsprøjte medicinen, -

we deliver the drugs directly at the site of infection,

- sender vi medicinen direkte ind, hvor infektionen er, -

while the laser is again used to poke those cells open.

- mens laseren igen bruges, til at åbne cellerne.

Well, this might not seem like much right now.

Dette virker måske ikke af meget.

But one day, if successful, this technology can lead

Men en skønne dag, hvis alt går vel, kan teknologien føre til -

to complete eradication of HIV in the body.

- en fuldstændig udryddelse af HIV i kroppen.

Yes. A cure for HIV.

Ja. En kur mod HIV.

This is every HIV researcher's dream --

Dette er enhver HIV-forskers drøm...

in our case, a cure led by lasers.

I vores tilfælde, en kur skabt af lasere.

Thank you.

Tak.

(Applause)

(Bifald)