A secret weapon against Zika and other mosquito-borne diseases | Nina Fedoroff

Translator: Susana Arrizado Gago Reviewer: Serv. de Norm. Lingüística U. de Santiago de Compostela

Zika fever:

A febre de Zika:

our newest dread disease.

a última enfermidade temíbel.

What is it? Where'd it come from?

Que é? De onde veu?

What do we do about it?

Como loitar contra ela?

Well for most adults, it's a relatively mild disease --

Para a maioría dos adultos, trátase dunha doenza leve:

a little fever, a little headache, joint pain, maybe a rash.

un pouco de febre, unha lixeira xaqueca, dor nas articulacións, quizais un eccema.

In fact, most people who get it don't even know they've had it.

De feito, moita xente que o pasa non sabe sequera que o tivo.

But the more we find out about the Zika virus

Pero canto máis sabemos sobre o Zika

the more terrifying it becomes.

máis arrepiante parece.

For example, doctors have noticed an uptick

Por exemplo, os médicos detectaron un incremento nos últimos andazos

of something called Guillain-Barré syndrome in recent outbreaks.

de algo chamado síndrome de Guillain-Barré.

In Guillain-Barré, your immune system attacks your nerve cells

Na Guillain-Barré, o sistema inmune ataca as células nerviosas,

it can partially or even totally paralyze you.

pode paralizarte, parcial ou totalmente.

Fortunately, that's quite rare, and most people recover.

Por sorte, é pouco frecuente e a maioría recupérase.

But if you're pregnant when you're infected

Mais se estás embarazada no momento da infección

you're at risk of something terrible.

arríscaste a algo terrible.

Indeed, a child with a deformed head.

Un neno coa cabeza deforme.

Here's a normal baby.

Aquí temos un bebé normal.

Here's that infant with what's called microcephaly.

E aquí, con microcefalia,

a brain in a head that's too small.

un cerebro nunha cabeza demasiado pequena.

And there's no known cure.

E non se coñece a cura.

It was actually doctors in northeastern Brazil

No nordeste do Brasil, hai apenas un ano,

who first noticed, just a year ago, after a Zika outbreak,

os médicos detectaron tras un andazo de febre de Zika,

that there was a peak in the incidence of microcephaly.

que había un pico de microcefalia.

It took medical doctors another year

Levoulles outro ano asegurarse

to be sure that it was caused by the Zika virus,

de que a causa era o virus de Zika

but they're now sure.

mais xa están certos.

And if you're a "bring on the evidence" type,

Se vostedes son do tipo "Santo Tomás"

check out this publication.

consulten esta publicación.

So where did it come from, and how did it get here?

E de onde vén e como chegou?

And it is here.

Porque xa está aquí.

Like many of our viruses, it came out of Africa,

Coma moitos dos virus

specifically the Zika forest in Uganda.

chegou dende África, en concreto do bosque de Zika en Uganda.

Researchers at the nearby Yellow Fever Research Institute

Investigadores do Instituto para a Investigación en Febre Amarela

identified an unknown virus in a monkey in the Zika forest

identificaron un virus descoñecido nun mono da selva de Zika

which is how it got its name.

e de aí lle vén o nome.

The first human cases of Zika fever

Os primeiros casos de Zika en humanos

surfaced a few years later in Uganda-Tanzania.

xurdiron uns poucos anos despois en Uganda e Tanzania

The virus then spread through West Africa

Estendeuse logo por África occidental

and east through equatorial Asia -- Pakistan, India, Malaysia, Indonesia.

e polo leste cara a Asia: Paquistán, India, Malaisia, Indonesia.

But it was still mostly in monkeys and, of course, mosquitoes.

Mais aparecía sobre todo en monos e, por suposto, mosquitos.

In fact in the 60 years between the time it was first identified in 1947 and 2007

Nos 60 anos que pasaron entre a primeira aparición de 1947 e 2007

there were only 13 reported cases of human Zika fever.

déronse só 13 casos de Zika en humanos.

And then something extraordinary happened on the tiny Micronesian Yap islands.

Entón sucedeu algo fóra do común nas minúsculas illas Yap da Micronesia.

There was an outbreak that affected fully 75 percent of the population.

Produciuse un andazo que afectou ata ao 75 % da poboación.

How did it get there? By air.

Como chegou ata alí? Polo ar.

Today we have two billion commercial airline passengers.

Hoxe en día, hai dous mil millóns de pasaxeiros de avión.

An infected passenger can board a plane, fly halfway around the world

Unha persoa infectada pode ir en avión, e voar por medio mundo

before developing symptoms -- if they develop symptoms at all.

denantes de presentar síntomas (se é que presenta algún).

Then when they land, the local mosquitoes begin to bite them and spread the fever.

Cando aterra, os mosquitos locais vano picar e espallar a febre.

Zika fever then next surfaced in 2013 in French Polynesia.

A febre de Zika volveu aparecer en 2013 na Polinesia francesa.

By December of that year, it was being transmitted locally by the mosquitoes.

Os mosquitos locais transmitíana en decembro dese ano.

That led to an explosive outbreak in which almost 30,000 people were affected.

Iso levou a un estalido explosivo no que case 30 000 persoas foron infectadas.

From there it radiated around the Pacific.

Dende aí estendeuse cara ao Pacífico.

There were outbreaks in the Cook Islands, in New Caledonia,

Houbo andazos nas Illas Cook, en Nova Caledonia,

in Vanuatu, in the Solomon Islands

en Vanuatu, nas Illas Salomón

and almost all the way around to the coast of South America and Easter Island.

e en case toda a costa de América do Sur e Illa de Pascua.

And then, in early 2015,

Entón, a inicios do 2015,

there was an upsurge of cases of a dengue-like syndrome

houbo un rexurdimento de casos dunha síndrome similar ao dengue

in the city of Natal in northeastern Brazil.

na cidade de Natal, no nordeste de Brasil.

The virus wasn't dengue, it was Zika, and it spread rapidly --

O virus non era dengue, era Zika, e estendeuse rapidamente.

Recife down the coast, a big metropolitan center, soon became the epicenter.

A gran metrópole de Recife máis ao sur axiña se converteu no epicentro.

Well people have speculated that it was 2014 World Cup soccer fans

A xente especulou que foran os seareiros do Mundial de fútbol de 2014

that brought the virus into the country.

os que trouxeran o virus ao país.

But others have speculated that perhaps it was Pacific Islanders

Outros especularon se viñera do Pacífico,

participating in championship canoe races

cos insulares que participaban no campionato de canoas

that were held in Rio that year that brought it in.

celebrado en Río aquel mesmo ano.

Well today, this is only a year later.

Hoxe xa pasou un ano.

The virus is being locally transmitted by mosquitoes

Os mosquitos transmiten o virus localmente

virtually throughout South America, Central America, Mexico

practicamente por toda América do Sur, América Central, México

and the Caribbean Islands

e as illas do Caribe.

Until this year, the many thousands of cases

Ata este ano, os milleiros de casos

that have been diagnosed in the US were contracted elsewhere.

diagnosticados nos EUA contraéronse noutra parte.

But as of this summer, it's being transmitted locally in Miami.

Pero dende este verán, xa se transmite localmente en Miami.

It's here.

Está aquí.

So what do we do about it?

Que imos facer contra el?

Well, preventing infection

Previr a infección

is either about protecting people or about eliminating the mosquitoes.

consiste tanto en protexer a xente como en eliminar os mosquitos.

Let's focus on people first.

Imos falar primeiro da poboación.

You can get vaccinated.

Podes vacinarte.

You can not travel to Zika areas.

Non viaxar a zonas con Zika.

Or you can cover up and apply insect repellent.

Ou podes cubrirte ata os ollos e botar repelente.

Getting vaccinated is not an option, because there isn't a vaccine yet

Vacinarse non é unha opción porque aínda non hai vacina

and there probably won't be for a couple of years.

e seica non a haberá ata dentro dun par de anos.

Staying home isn't a foolproof protection either

Ficar na casa tampouco é infalíbel

because we now know that it can be sexually transmitted.

porque agora sabemos que se transmite por vía sexual.

Covering up and applying insect repellent does work ...

Taparse e aplicar repelente para mosquitos funciona...

until you forget.

...ata que che esquece.

(Laughter)

(Risos)

So that leaves the mosquitoes, and here's how we control them now:

Iso deixa só os mosquitos e así é como os controlamos ata hoxe:

spraying insecticides.

botando insecticidas.

The protective gear is necessary because these are toxic chemicals

Fai falla unha roupa especial por tratarse de substancias tóxicas

that kill people as well as bugs.

que matan tanto á xente coma ós bechos.

Although it does take quite a lot more to kill a person than to kill a bug.

Aínda que fai falta maior dose para matar a alguén.

These are pictures from Brazil and Nicaragua.

Estas son fotografías de Brasil e Nicaragua.

But it looks the same in Miami, Florida.

Pero pasa o mesmo en Miami (Florida).

And we of course can spray insecticides from planes.

Por suposto, podemos espallar insecticida dende avións.

Last summer, mosquito control officials in Dorchester County, South Carolina,

No verán, oficiais do control de mosquitos

authorized spraying of Naled, an insecticide,

autorizaron o uso do insecticida Naled en Dorchester County (Carolina do Sur),

early one morning, as recommended by the manufacturer.

pola mañanciña como recomenda o fabricante.

Later that day, a beekeeper told reporters

Nese mesmo día, unha apicultora contoulles aos xornalistas

that her bee yard looked like it had been nuked.

que a súa colmea parecía arrasada pola bomba atómica.

Oops.

Arre demo!

Bees are the good guys.

As abellas son os bos.

The citizens of Florida protested, but spraying continued.

Malia as protestas cidadás

Unfortunately, so did the increase in the number of Zika fever cases.

a fumigación continuou. Tamén os casos de Zika.

That's because insecticides aren't very effective.

Isto é porque os insecticidas non son moi efectivos.

So are there any approaches that are perhaps more effective than spraying

Haberá logo outros enfoques máis eficaces cá fumigación

but with less downsides than toxic chemicals?

con menos efectos secundarios ca as substancias tóxicas?

I'm a huge fan of biological controls,

Son unha gran defensora do control biolóxico,

and I share that view with Rachel Carson, author of "Silent Spring,"

e comparto a visión de Rachel Carson, autora de Primavera silenciosa,

the book that is credited with starting the environmental movement.

o libro considerado coma o inicio do movemento medioambiental.

In this book she tells the story, as an example,

Nese libro conta, como exemplo, a historia

of how a very nasty insect pest of livestock

de como unha molesta praga do gando

was eliminated in the last century.

foi eliminada no século pasado.

No one knows that extraordinary story today.

Ninguén coñece xa esa historia.

So Jack Block and I, when we were writing an editorial

Jack Block e mais eu recuperámola

about the mosquito problem today, retold that story.

cando escribimos un artigo sobre a problemática actual do mosquito.

And in capsule form, it's that pupae -- that's the immature form of the insect --

Na fase capsular, as pupas (é dicir, a forma inmatura do insecto)

were irradiated until they were sterile, grown to adulthood

foron radiadas ata volvelas estériles, creceron ata a adultez

and then released from planes all over the Southwest,

e logo foron liberadas dende avións por todo o Suroeste, o Sueste,

the Southeast and down into Mexico and into Central America

ata México e América Central,

literally by the hundreds of millions from little airplanes,

centos de millóns dende avionetas,

eventually eliminating that terrible insect pest

eliminando ao fin esta terrible praga

for most of the Western Hemisphere.

en practicamente todo o hemisferio norte.

Our real purpose in writing this editorial

O noso auténtico propósito co artigo

was to introduce readers to how we can do that today --

era amosarlles aos lectores o que podiamos facer hoxe:

not with radiation but with our knowledge of genetics.

non con radiación senón con xenética.

Let me explain.

Déixenme que llelo explique

This is the bad guy: Aedes aegypti.

Velaquí o malo: Aedes aegypti.

It's the most common insect vector of diseases,

É o vector da maioría de enfermidades,

not just Zika but dengue, Chikungunya, West Nile virus

non só o Zika, tamén o dengue,

o chikungunya, o virus do Nilo occidental e a antiga praga, a febre amarela.

and that ancient plague, yellow fever.

It's an urban mosquito,

Trátase dun mosquito urbano

and it's the female that does the dirty work.

e a femia fai todo o traballo sucio.

She bites to get a blood meal to feed her offspring.

Pica para obter unha comida sanguenta para a súa prole.

Males don't bite; they don't even have the mouth parts to bite.

Os machos non pican, nin sequera teñen elementos trabadores na boca.

A little British company called Oxitec genetically modified that mosquito

A pequena compañía británica Oxitec modificou xeneticamente o mosquito

so that when it mates with a wild female, its eggs don't develop to adulthood.

para que cando copulase coa femia salvaxe os ovos non chegaran á idade adulta.

Let me show you.

Deixen que llelo amose.

This is the normal reproductive cycle.

Aquí temos o ciclo normal.

Oxitec designed the mosquito so that when the male mates with the wild female

O deseño de Oxitec fai que ao copularen entre eles

the eggs don't develop.

os ovos non crezan.

Sounds impossible?

Parece imposible?

Well let me show you just diagrammatically how they do it.

Vóullelo amosar cun diagrama.

Now this represents the nucleus of a mosquito cell,

Aquí está o núcleo da célula dun mosquito,

and that tangle in the middle represents its genome,

e esta lea no medio é o xenoma,

the sum total of its genes.

a suma total do seus xenes.

Scientists added a single gene

Os científicos engadiron tan só un xene

that codes for a protein represented by this orange ball

que codifica esa bola laranxa, a proteína,

that feeds back on itself to keep cranking out more of that protein.

que se retroalimenta cuspindo máis proteína.

The extra copies, however, go and gum up the mosquitoes' genes,

As copias extra, pola contra, afectan aos xenes do mosquito

killing the organism.

matando o organismo.

To keep it alive in the laboratory they use a compound called tetracycline.

Para mantelo con vida no laboratorio, usaron o composto tetraciclina.

Tetracycline shuts off that gene and allows normal development.

A tetraciclina anula ese xene e permite o desenvolvemento normal.

They added another little wrinkle so that they could study what happens.

Engadiron outra pequena engurra para poder estudar o que pasaba.

And that is they added a gene that makes the insect glow under UV light

O que fixeron foi engadir un xene que brilla baixo luz ultravioleta

so that when they released it they could follow exactly how far it went

de modo que cando o soltaran podían seguilo por moi lonxe que fora

how long it lived and all of the kinds of data

por moito que vivise e todos eses datos necesarios

for a good scientific study.

para un bo estudo científico.

Now this is the pupal stage, and at this stage

Aquí temos a fase de pupa. Nesta etapa

the females are larger than the males.

as femias son máis grandes ca os machos.

That allows them to sort them into the males and the females

Isto permítelles distinguir entre machos e femias,

and they allow only the males to grow to adulthood.

só permiten aos machos chegar á madurez.

And let me remind you that males don't bite.

Permítanme recordarlles que os machos non pican.

From there it's pretty simple.

A partir de aí é moi simple.

They take beakers full of male mosquitoes,

Colleron vasos cheos de mosquitos macho

load them into milk cartons, and drive around the city,

vertéronos en cartóns de leite e conduciron pola cidade

releasing them guided by GPS.

liberándoos guiados por un GPS.

Here's the mayor of a city releasing the first batch

Velaí o alcalde da cidade liberando o primeiro lote

of what they call the "friendly Aedes."

do que deron en chamar o "Aedes amigábel".

Now I wish I could tell you this is an American city, but it's not.

Oxalá fose nos EE. UU., pero non foi.

It's Piracicaba, Brazil.

Foi en Piracicaba (Brasil).

The amazing thing is that in just a year

O máis incríbel é que nun só ano

it brought down the cases of dengue by 91 percent.

os casos de dengue baixaron nun 91 %.

That's better than any insecticide spraying can do.

Iso é mellor que calquera insecticida.

So why aren't we using this remarkable biological control in the US?

Daquela, por que non usar nos EUA este extraordinario control biolóxico?

That's because it's a GMO: a genetically modified organism.

Porque é un OMX: un organismo modificado xeneticamente.

Notice the subtitle here says if the FDA would let them

Fíxense que o subtítulo di que se a FDA lles deixase

they could do the same thing here, when Zika arrives.

poderían facer o mesmo aquí, cando chegue o Zika.

And of course it has arrived.

Abofé que xa chegou.

So now I have to tell you the short form

Debo contarlles a versión curta

of the long, torturous story of GM regulation in the US

da longa e tortuosa historia da lexislación sobre OMX nos EUA.

In the US, there are three agencies that regulate genetically modified organisms:

Nos EUA, hai tres axencias que regulan os organismos modificados xeneticamente:

the FDA, the Food and Drug Administration,

a FDA (Departamento da Alimentación e Medicamentos),

the EPA, the Environmental Protection Agency,

a EPA (Axencia de Protección do Medioambiente)

and the USDA, US Department of Agriculture.

e a USDA, o Departamento Estadounidense de Agricultura.

Took these folks two years to decide that it would be the FDA

A esta xente levoulle dous anos decidir que debería ser a FDA

that would regulate the genetically modified mosquito.

quen lexislase sobre o mosquito modificado xeneticamente.

And they would do it as a new animal drug, if that makes any sense.

E que o tratarían como un novo animal medicamento, se iso ten sentido.

Took them another five years going back and forth and back and forth

Levoulles outros cinco anos indo de aquí para alá

to convince the FDA that this would not harm people,

convencer á FDA da súa inocuidade para a xente

and it would not harm the environment.

e para o medio ambiente.

They finally gave them, this summer, permission to run a little test

Finalmente, déronlles permiso para facer un pequeno test este verán

in the Florida Keys,

nas Florida Keys,

where they had been invited years earlier when they Keys had an outbreak of dengue.

onde os invitaran uns anos antes cando o brote do dengue.

Would that it were that easy.

Non ía ser tan doado.

When the local residents heard

Cando os residentes oíron

that there would be genetically modified mosquitoes tested in their community

que ían probar na súa comunidade mosquitos modificados xeneticamente

some of them began to organize protests.

algúns comezaron a convocar protestas.

They even organized a petition on the internet with this cuddly logo,

Incluso organizaron unha petición en internet con ese logo tan curriño

which eventually accumulated some 160,000 signatures

chegando a conseguir unhas 160 000 firmas.

And they demanded a referendum

Pediron un referendo

which will be conducted in just a couple of weeks

que vai ter lugar nun par de semanas

about whether the trials would be permitted at all.

sobre se permitir ou non as probas.

Well it's Miami that really needs these better ways of controlling insects.

De certo é Miami onde se precisan mellores modos de controlar os insectos.

And there the attitudes are changing.

E aí si están cambiando as actitudes.

In fact, very recently a bipartisan group of more than 60 legislators

De feito, hai pouco un grupo bipartidista composto por máis de 60 lexisladores

wrote to HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell

escribiulle a Sylvia Burwell, Secretaria de Saúde,

asking that she, at the Federal level, expedite access for Florida

pedíndolle que, como autoridade federal, lle facilite a Florida o acceso

to this new technology.

a esta nova tecnoloxía.

So the bottom line is this:

O punto crucial é este:

biological control of harmful insects

o control biolóxico dos insectos daniños

can be both more effective and very much more environmentally friendly

pode ser á vez efectivo e moito máis amigábel co medio ambiente

than using insecticides, which are toxic chemicals.

que usar insecticidas, que son substancias tóxicas.

That was true in Rachel Carson's time; it's true today.

Era así no tempo de Rachel Carson e segue a ser así hoxe.

What's different is that we have enormously more information

O que cambiou é que temos infinitamente máis información

about genetics than we had then,

sobre xenética da que tiñan daquela,

and therefore more ability to use that information

e polo tanto maior capacidade para usar esa información

to affect these biological controls.

para preferir estes controis biolóxicos.

And I hope that what I've done is aroused your curiosity enough

E espero que conseguise espertar a súa curiosidade o suficiente

to start your own inquiry -- not into just GM mosquitoes

para comezar a indagar pola súa conta, non só sobre os mosquitos MX

but to the other genetically modified organisms that are so controversial today.

senón sobre outros organismos modificados tan controvertidos agora.

I think if you do that, and you dig down through all of the misinformation,

Penso que se o fan e rebuscan máis alá da desinformación,

and the marketing

e da publicidade

on the part of the organic food industry and the Greenpeaces

da industria da comida orgánica ou dos Greenpeaces

and find the science, the accurate science,

e atopan a ciencia, a verdadeira ciencia,

you'll be surprised and pleased.

ficarán sorprendidos e encantados.

Thank you.

Moitas grazas.

(Applause)

(Aplausos)