Geraldine Hamilton: Body parts on a chip

Translator: Ana Gómez Reviewer: Serv. de Norm. Lingüística U. de Santiago de Compostela

We have a global health challenge

Temos un reto global para a saúde

in our hands today,

nas nosas mans,

and that is that the way we currently

e trátase de que o xeito no que

discover and develop new drugs

descubrimos e desenvolvemos novos fármacos

is too costly, takes far too long,

é demasiado caro, leva moito tempo,

and it fails more often than it succeeds.

e falla a miúdo.

It really just isn't working, and that means

Simplemente non funciona, o que significa

that patients that badly need new therapies

que os doentes que precisan novas terapias de forma urxente

are not getting them,

non as están a recibir

and diseases are going untreated.

e as enfermidades non se están tratando.

We seem to be spending more and more money.

Estamos a gastar cada vez máis e máis diñeiro.

So for every billion dollars we spend in R&D,

Así, por cada mil millóns de dólares que gastamos en I+D

we're getting less drugs approved into the market.

hai menos fármacos aprobados no mercado.

More money, less drugs. Hmm.

Máis diñeiro, menos fármacos. Hum.

So what's going on here?

Así que, que está pasando aquí?

Well, there's a multitude of factors at play,

Ben, hai múltiples factores en xogo

but I think one of the key factors

pero penso que un dos factores clave

is that the tools that we currently have

é que as ferramentas que temos

available to test whether a drug is going to work,

para ensaiar se un fármaco vai funcionar,

whether it has efficacy,

se é efectivo,

or whether it's going to be safe

ou se vai ser seguro

before we get it into human clinical trials,

antes de facer ensaios clínicos en persoas,

are failing us. They're not predicting

estannos a fallar. Non están a prever

what's going to happen in humans.

o que vai acontecer en humanos.

And we have two main tools available

E temos dúas ferramentas principais

at our disposal.

á nosa disposición.

They are cells in dishes and animal testing.

Células en placas de cultivo e ensaios con animais.

Now let's talk about the first one, cells in dishes.

Falemos da primeira ferramenta, os cultivos celulares.

So, cells are happily functioning in our bodies.

As células funcionan felices dentro do noso corpo

We take them and rip them out

E nós collémolas e sacámolas

of their native environment, throw them in one of these dishes,

do seu ambiente natural, poñémolas nunha desas placas,

and expect them to work.

e esperamos que funcionen.

Guess what. They don't.

Adiviñade que. Non o fan.

They don't like that environment

Non lles gusta ese ambiente

because it's nothing like

porque non ten nada que ver

what they have in the body.

co que teñen no corpo.

What about animal testing?

Que pasa cos ensaios en animais?

Well, animals do and can provide

Ben, os animais poden proporcionar

extremely useful information.

información moi útil.

They teach us about what happens

Móstrannos o que acontece

in the complex organism.

nun organismo complexo.

We learn more about the biology itself.

Aprendemos máis sobre a bioloxía.

However, more often than not,

Con todo, na maioría dos casos,

animal models fail to predict what will happen in humans

os modelos animais non permiten prever o que pasará en persoas

when they're treated with a particular drug.

cando se lles subministre un fármaco concreto.

So we need better tools.

Así que precisamos mellores instrumentos.

We need human cells,

Precisamos células humanas,

but we need to find a way to keep them happy

pero temos que descubrir como mantelas felices

outside the body.

fóra do corpo.

Our bodies are dynamic environments.

Os nosos corpos son ambientes dinámicos.

We're in constant motion.

Estamos en movemento constante.

Our cells experience that.

As nosas células experiméntano.

They're in dynamic environments in our body.

Atópanse en ambientes dinámicos no corpo.

They're under constant mechanical forces.

Están baixo forzas mecánicas constantes.

So if we want to make cells happy

Así que se queremos facer felices as células

outside our bodies,

fóra do noso corpo

we need to become cell architects.

necesitamos transformarnos en arquitectos.

We need to design, build and engineer

Temos que deseñar e construír

a home away from home for the cells.

un novo fogar para as células.

And at the Wyss Institute,

E no Wyss Institute

we've done just that.

é o que acabamos de facer.

We call it an organ-on-a-chip.

Chamámoslle órgano nun chip.

And I have one right here.

E teño un aquí mesmo.

It's beautiful, isn't it? But it's pretty incredible.

É fermoso, verdade? Pero é realmente incríbel.

Right here in my hand is a breathing, living

Aquí na miña man teño un pulmón humano nun chip

human lung on a chip.

que respira, vivo.

And it's not just beautiful.

E non é soamente fermoso

It can do a tremendous amount of things.

Pode facer moitas cousas.

We have living cells in that little chip,

Temos células vivas neste pequeno chip,

cells that are in a dynamic environment

células que se atopan nun ambiente dinámico

interacting with different cell types.

interactuando con outras células diferentes.

There's been many people

Moita xente intentou

trying to grow cells in the lab.

cultivar células no laboratorio.

They've tried many different approaches.

Probaron moitas estratexias diferentes.

They've even tried to grow little mini-organs in the lab.

Incluso intentaron cultivar pequenos miniórganos.

We're not trying to do that here.

Nós non intentamos facer iso.

We're simply trying to recreate

Simplemente estamos a tentar recrear

in this tiny chip

neste pequeno chip

the smallest functional unit

a unidade funcional máis pequena

that represents the biochemistry,

que representa a bioquímica,

the function and the mechanical strain

a función e a tensión mecánica

that the cells experience in our bodies.

que as células experimentan nos nosos corpos.

So how does it work? Let me show you.

E como funciona? Deixádeme amosarvos.

We use techniques from the computer chip

Empregamos técnicas dos fabricantes

manufacturing industry

de chips informáticos

to make these structures at a scale

para facer estas estruturas a unha escala

relevant to both the cells and their environment.

relevante tanto para as células como para o seu ambiente.

We have three fluidic channels.

Temos tres canais fluídicos.

In the center, we have a porous, flexible membrane

No medio temos unha membrana porosa, flexible,

on which we can add human cells

onde podemos incorporar as células humanas

from, say, our lungs,

de, por exemplo, pulmóns,

and then underneath, they had capillary cells,

e, por debaixo, están as células capilares,

the cells in our blood vessels.

as células dos vasos sanguíneos.

And we can then apply mechanical forces to the chip

Podemos agora aplicarlle ao chip forzas mecánicas

that stretch and contract the membrane,

que estenden e contraen a membrana

so the cells experience the same mechanical forces

de forma que as células sofren as mesmas forzas mecánicas

that they did when we breathe.

que cando respiramos.

And they experience them how they did in the body.

E experiméntanas igual ca no corpo.

There's air flowing through the top channel,

Hai aire que flúe polo canal superior

and then we flow a liquid that contains nutrients

e entón circulamos un líquido que contén nutrientes

through the blood channel.

a través do canal sanguíneo.

Now the chip is really beautiful,

O chip é moi fermoso,

but what can we do with it?

pero que podemos facer con el?

We can get incredible functionality

Podemos obter un incrible nivel de funcionalidade

inside these little chips.

dentro destes pequenos chips.

Let me show you.

Deixádeme amosarvos.

We could, for example, mimic infection,

Poderiamos, por exemplo, imitar unha infección,

where we add bacterial cells into the lung.

engadíndolle células bacterianas ao pulmón.

then we can add human white blood cells.

e a continuación podemos agregar glóbulos brancos humanos.

White blood cells are our body's defense

Os glóbulos brancos son a defensa do noso corpo

against bacterial invaders,

contra bacterias invasoras,

and when they sense this inflammation due to infection,

e cando notan esta inflamación por mor da infección,

they will enter from the blood into the lung

entrarán dende o sangue ao pulmón

and engulf the bacteria.

e fagocitarán a bacteria.

Well now you're going to see this happening

Agora imos ver como acontece isto

live in an actual human lung on a chip.

nun pulmón humano nun chip.

We've labeled the white blood cells so you can see them flowing through,

Marcamos os glóbulos brancos para poder velos fluír,

and when they detect that infection,

e cando detectan a infección,

they begin to stick.

comezan a adherirse.

They stick, and then they try to go into the lung

Adhírense e entón intentan penetrar no lado do pulmón

side from blood channel.

dende o vaso sanguíneo.

And you can see here, we can actually visualize

Como podedes ver aquí, podemos visualizar

a single white blood cell.

un único glóbulo branco.

It sticks, it wiggles its way through

Adhírese, móvese entre as capas celulares,

between the cell layers, through the pore,

a través do poro,

comes out on the other side of the membrane,

sae no outro lado da membrana

and right there, it's going to engulf the bacteria

e aí vai fagocitar a bacteria

labeled in green.

marcada en verde.

In that tiny chip, you just witnessed

Acabas de presenciar nese chip diminuto

one of the most fundamental responses

unha das respostas máis fundamentais

our body has to an infection.

do noso corpo fronte a unha infección.

It's the way we respond to -- an immune response.

Así respondemos a... unha resposta inmunitaria.

It's pretty exciting.

É moi emocionante.

Now I want to share this picture with you,

Agora quero compartir esta imaxe con vós

not just because it's so beautiful,

non só porque é moi fermosa,

but because it tells us an enormous amount of information

senón tamén porque nos dá unha gran cantidade de información

about what the cells are doing within the chips.

sobre o que fan as células dentro dos chips.

It tells us that these cells

Dinos que estas células

from the small airways in our lungs,

das pequenas vías aéreas nos nosos pulmóns

actually have these hairlike structures

teñen estruturas parecidas a cabelos

that you would expect to see in the lung.

que esperariades ver no pulmón.

These structures are called cilia,

Son estruturas chamadas cilios,

and they actually move the mucus out of the lung.

e moven a mucosidade fóra do pulmón

Yeah. Mucus. Yuck.

Si. Mucosidade. Que noxo!

But mucus is actually very important.

Mais realmente a mucosidade é moi importante.

Mucus traps particulates, viruses,

A mucosidade atrapa partículas, virus,

potential allergens,

alérxenos potenciais,

and these little cilia move

e estes pequenos cilios moven

and clear the mucus out.

e expulsan a mucosidade.

When they get damaged, say,

Cando son danados,

by cigarette smoke for example,

por exemplo polo fume do tabaco,

they don't work properly, and they can't clear that mucus out.

non funcionan correctamente e non poder botar o moco.

And that can lead to diseases such as bronchitis.

Isto pode derivar en enfermidades coma a bronquite.

Cilia and the clearance of mucus

Os cilios e a limpeza da mucosidade

are also involved in awful diseases like cystic fibrosis.

tamén están relacionados con enfermidades tan terribles coma a fibrose quística.

But now, with the functionality that we get in these chips,

Mais coa funcionalidade que conseguimos nestes chips

we can begin to look

podemos comezar a buscar

for potential new treatments.

novos posibles tratamentos.

We didn't stop with the lung on a chip.

Non paramos co pulmón nun chip.

We have a gut on a chip.

Temos un intestino nun chip.

You can see one right here.

Aquí podedes ver un.

And we've put intestinal human cells

Puxemos células intestinais humanas

in a gut on a chip,

nun intestino nun chip,

and they're under constant peristaltic motion,

baixo un movemento peristáltico continuo

this trickling flow through the cells,

con este fluxo goteando a través das células

and we can mimic many of the functions

podemos imitar moitas das funcións

that you actually would expect to see

que un esperaría ver

in the human intestine.

no intestino humano.

Now we can begin to create models of diseases

Agora podemos comezar a crear modelos de enfermidades

such as irritable bowel syndrome.

coma a síndrome de colon irritable.

This is a disease that affects

Esta enfermidade afecta

a large number of individuals.

a moitas persoas.

It's really debilitating,

É moi debilitante

and there aren't really many good treatments for it.

e con poucos tratamentos efectivos.

Now we have a whole pipeline

Agora temos toda unha gama

of different organ chips

de órganos en chips diferentes

that we are currently working on in our labs.

nos que estamos a traballar nos nosos laboratorios.

Now, the true power of this technology, however,

Non obstante, o potencial real desta tecnoloxía

really comes from the fact

atópase no feito

that we can fluidically link them.

de que podemos conectalos a través de fluídos.

There's fluid flowing across these cells,

Hai fluídos circulando sobre as células,

so we can begin to interconnect

de xeito que podemos comezar a conectar

multiple different chips together

diferentes chips xuntos

to form what we call a virtual human on a chip.

para formar o que denominamos un humano virtual nun chip.

Now we're really getting excited.

Isto é realmente emocionante.

We're not going to ever recreate a whole human in these chips,

Nunca imos recrear un humano completo nestes chips,

but what our goal is is to be able to recreate

pero o noso obxectivo é poder recrear

sufficient functionality

a suficiente funcionalidade

so that we can make better predictions

e poder facer mellores predicións

of what's going to happen in humans.

do que acontece nos humanos.

For example, now we can begin to explore

Por exemplo, podemos comezar a explorar

what happens when we put a drug like an aerosol drug.

o que acontece cando temos un fármaco en aerosol.

Those of you like me who have asthma, when you take your inhaler,

Os que coma min padecedes asma, cando usades o voso inhalador

we can explore how that drug comes into your lungs,

podemos explorar como o fármaco chega aos vosos pulmóns,

how it enters the body,

como entra no corpo,

how it might affect, say, your heart.

como pode afectar o voso corazón

Does it change the beating of your heart?

Cambia o latexo do voso corazón?

Does it have a toxicity?

É tóxico?

Does it get cleared by the liver?

É eliminado polo fígado?

Is it metabolized in the liver?

Metabolízase no fígado?

Is it excreted in your kidneys?

Excrétase nos vosos riles?

We can begin to study the dynamic

Podemos comezar a estudar

response of the body to a drug.

a resposta dinámica do corpo a un fármaco.

This could really revolutionize

Isto podería revolucionar

and be a game changer

e ser un punto de inflexión

for not only the pharmaceutical industry,

non só para a industria farmacéutica,

but a whole host of different industries,

senón tamén para moitas outras,

including the cosmetics industry.

incluíndo a industria cosmética.

We can potentially use the skin on a chip

Poderiamos empregar a pel nun chip

that we're currently developing in the lab

que estamos a desenvolver no laboratorio

to test whether the ingredients in those products

para ensaiar se os compoñentes deses produtos

that you're using are actually safe to put on your skin

que estades a usar son seguros para aplicar na pel

without the need for animal testing.

sen ter que facer ensaios en animais.

We could test the safety

Poderiamos ensaiar a seguridade

of chemicals that we are exposed to

dos produtos químicos aos que estamos expostos

on a daily basis in our environment,

cada día no noso contorno,

such as chemicals in regular household cleaners.

coma os dos produtos comúns de limpeza.

We could also use the organs on chips

Poderiamos tamén empregar os órganos en chips

for applications in bioterrorism

para aplicacións en bioterrorismo

or radiation exposure.

ou exposición á radiación.

We could use them to learn more about

Poderiamos usalos para aprender máis sobre

diseases such as ebola

enfermidades coma o ébola

or other deadly diseases such as SARS.

ou outras enfermidades mortais coma o SARS.

Organs on chips could also change

Os órganos en chips poderían cambiar

the way we do clinical trials in the future.

como facemos os ensaios clínicos no futuro.

Right now, the average participant

Agora mesmo, o participante medio

in a clinical trial is that: average.

nun ensaio clínico é iso mesmo: medio.

Tends to be middle aged, tends to be female.

Tende a ser de media idade, tende a ser muller.

You won't find many clinical trials

Non atoparedes moitos ensaios clínicos

in which children are involved,

nos que participen nenos,

yet every day, we give children medications,

e aínda así, medicamos aos nenos a diario

and the only safety data we have on that drug

e a única información que temos sobre a seguridade dese fármaco

is one that we obtained from adults.

é a que obtivemos con adultos.

Children are not adults.

Os nenos non son adultos.

They may not respond in the same way adults do.

Pode que non respondan do mesmo xeito.

There are other things like genetic differences

Hai outros factores coma as diferenzas xenéticas

in populations

entre poboacións

that may lead to at-risk populations

que poden levar a poboacións de risco

that are at risk of having an adverse drug reaction.

ao perigo de sufriren unha reacción adversa ao fármaco.

Now imagine if we could take cells from all those different populations,

Agora imaxinade que puideramos coller células de todas estas poboacións,

put them on chips,

poñelas en chips

and create populations on a chip.

e crear poboacións nun chip.

This could really change the way

Isto podería cambiar a forma

we do clinical trials.

na que facemos ensaios clínicos.

And this is the team and the people that are doing this.

E este é o equipo e a xente que o está facendo.

We have engineers, we have cell biologists,

Temos enxeñeiros, biólogos celulares,

we have clinicians, all working together.

temos médicos clínicos, todos traballando xuntos.

We're really seeing something quite incredible

Estamos a ver algo realmente incrible

at the Wyss Institute.

no IWyss Institute.

It's really a convergence of disciplines,

É realmente unha converxencia de disciplinas

where biology is influencing the way we design,

onde a bioloxía está a influenciar o xeito no que deseñamos,

the way we engineer, the way we build.

o modo no que proxectamos, a forma na que construímos

It's pretty exciting.

É moi emocionante.

We're establishing important industry collaborations

Estamos establecendo importantes colaboracións con industrias

such as the one we have with a company

coma as que temos cunha empresa

that has expertise in large-scale digital manufacturing.

con experiencia en fabricación dixital a grande escala.

They're going to help us make,

Eles vannos axudar a facer,

instead of one of these,

non un,

millions of these chips,

millóns destes chips,

so that we can get them into the hands

para poñelos nas mans

of as many researchers as possible.

do maior número de investigadores posible.

And this is key to the potential of that technology.

Isto é chave para o potencial desta tecnoloxía.

Now let me show you our instrument.

Deixádeme ensinarvos o noso instrumento.

This is an instrument that our engineers

Este é un aparello que os nosos enxeñeiros

are actually prototyping right now in the lab,

están a desenvolver como prototipo no laboratorio,

and this instrument is going to give us

e este instrumento vainos dar

the engineering controls that we're going to require

os controis técnicos que imos precisar

in order to link 10 or more organ chips together.

para unir 10 ou máis órganos en chips.

It does something else that's very important.

Fai algo máis que é moi importante:

It creates an easy user interface.

crea unha interface de usuario simple.

So a cell biologist like me can come in,

Así, un biólogo coma min pode chegar,

take a chip, put it in a cartridge

coller un chip, poñelo nun cartucho

like the prototype you see there,

coma no prototipo que vedes aí,

put the cartridge into the machine

colocar o cartucho na máquina

just like you would a C.D.,

igual que farías cun CD

and away you go.

e listo.

Plug and play. Easy.

Conectar e xogar. Doado.

Now, let's imagine a little bit

Agora, imaxinemos un pouco

what the future might look like

como podería ser o futuro

if I could take your stem cells

se puidese coller as túas células nai

and put them on a chip,

e poñelas nun chip,

or your stem cells and put them on a chip.

ou as túas, e poñelas nun chip.

It would be a personalized chip just for you.

Sería un chip personalizado unicamente para ti.

Now all of us in here are individuals,

Todos os que estamos aquí somos individuos

and those individual differences mean

e esas diferenzas individuais significan

that we could react very differently

que podemos reaccionar de xeito moi diferente

and sometimes in unpredictable ways to drugs.

e ás veces dunha maneira imprevisible aos fármacos.

I myself, a couple of years back, had a really bad headache,

Eu mesma, un par de anos atrás, tiven unha xaqueca realmente forte,

just couldn't shake it, thought, "Well, I'll try something different."

que non pasaba e pensei: "Probarei algo diferente"

I took some Advil. Fifteen minutes later,

Tomei Advil e 15 minutos despois

I was on my way to the emergency room

estaba de camiño a urxencias

with a full-blown asthma attack.

cun grande ataque de asma.

Now, obviously it wasn't fatal,

É obvio que non foi fatal,

but unfortunately, some of these

pero, desafortunadamente, algunhas destas

adverse drug reactions can be fatal.

reaccións aos fármacos poden ser mortais.

So how do we prevent them?

Como os podemos previr entón?

Well, we could imagine one day

Ben, poderiamos imaxinar que un día

having Geraldine on a chip,

teremos a Geraldine nun chip,

having Danielle on a chip,

teremos a Danielle nun chip,

having you on a chip.

terémosvos a vós nun chip.

Personalized medicine. Thank you.

Medicina personalizada. Grazas.

(Applause)

(Aplausos)