Tal Danino: We can use bacteria to detect cancer (and maybe treat it)

Translator: Jaime Menchen Reviewer: Xosé María Moreno

You may not realize this,

Pode que non sexan conscientes disto,

but there are more bacteria in your body than stars in our entire galaxy.

pero hai máis bacterias no voso corpo ca estrelas en toda a galaxia.

This fascinating universe of bacteria inside of us

Este fascinante universo de bacterias no noso interior

is an integral part of our health,

é unha parte esencial da nosa saúde,

and our technology is evolving so rapidly

e a nosa tecnoloxía evoluciona tan rápido

that today we can program these bacteria like we program computers.

que hoxe podemos programar estas bacterias igual que programamos computadores.

Now, the diagram that you see here,

O diagrama que vemos aquí,

I know it looks like some kind of sports play,

parece a xogada de algún deporte,

but it is actually a blueprint of the first bacterial program I developed.

mais é en realidade una mostra do primeiro programa bacteriano que creei.

And like writing software, we can print and write DNA

E o mesmo que escribir código, podemos imprimir e programar ADN

into different algorithms and programs inside of bacteria.

en forma de diferentes algoritmos e programas dentro das bacterias.

What this program does is produces fluorescent proteins

O que este programa produce son proteínas fluorescentes

in a rhythmic fashion

dun xeito rítmico

and generates a small molecule

e xera unha pequena molécula

that allows bacteria to communicate and synchronize,

que permite ás bacterias comunicarse e sincronizarse,

as you're seeing in this movie.

como poden ver neste filme.

The growing colony of bacteria that you see here

A crecente colonia de bacterias que ven aquí

is about the width of a human hair.

é do ancho aproximado dun pelo humano.

Now, what you can't see is that our genetic program

O que non poden ver é que o noso programa xenético

instructs these bacteria to each produce small molecules,

ensina a estas bacterias a produciren cada unha pequenas moléculas,

and these molecules travel between the thousands of individual bacteria

e estas moléculas viaxan entre as miles de bacterias individuais

telling them when to turn on and off.

dicíndolles cando acenderse e apagarse.

And the bacteria synchronize quite well at this scale,

E as bacterias sincronízanse bastante ben a esta escala,

but because the molecule that synchronizes them together can only travel so fast,

mais debido a que a molécula que as sincroniza só pode viaxar a unha determinada velocidade,

in larger colonies of bacteria, this results in traveling waves

en colonias maiores de bacterias, isto resulta en ondas viaxando

between bacteria that are far away from each other,

entre bacterias que están lonxe unhas de outras,

and you can see these waves going from right to left across the screen.

e poden ver estas ondas viaxando de dereita a esquerda na pantalla.

Now, our genetic program relies on a natural phenomenon

O noso programa xenético depende dun fenómeno natural,

called quorum sensing,

coñecido como a percepción do quórum,

in which bacteria trigger coordinated and sometimes virulent behaviors

no cal as bacterias causan comportamentos cooperativos e virulentos

once they reach a critical density.

ao alcanzaren unha densidade crítica.

You can observe quorum sensing in action in this movie,

Vexan a percepción do quórum en acción nesta película,

where a growing colony of bacteria only begins to glow

onde a crecente colonia de bacteria só brilla

once it reaches a high or critical density.

cando acada unha densidade alta ou crítica.

Our genetic program

O noso programa xenético

continues producing these rhythmic patterns of fluorescent proteins

produce patróns rítmicos de proteínas fluorescentes

as the colony grows outwards.

a medida que a colonia crece.

This particular movie and experiment we call The Supernova,

Esta película e experimento recibe o nome de A Supernova,

because it looks like an exploding star.

porque semella una estrela estoupando.

Now, besides programming these beautiful patterns,

Ademáis de programar estes fermosos patróns,

I wondered, what else can we get these bacteria to do?

Pregúntome, que máis podemos obter destas bacterias?

And I decided to explore how we can program bacteria

E decidín explorar como podemos programar as bacterias

to detect and treat diseases in our bodies like cancer.

para detectarmos e tratarmos doenzas coma o cancro.

One of the surprising facts about bacteria

Un dos feitos máis sorprendentes das bacterias

is that they can naturally grow inside of tumors.

é que poden crecer de maneira natural dentro de tumores.

This happens because typically tumors

Isto ocorre porque os tumores

are areas where the immune system has no access,

son áreas onde o sistema inmunitario non ten acceso

and so bacteria find these tumors

e así as bacterias atopan estes tumores

and use them as a safe haven to grow and thrive.

e os usan como lugar protexido para crecer e multiplicarse.

We started using probiotic bacteria

Comezamos usando bacterias probióticas

which are safe bacteria that have a health benefit,

que son bacterias inócuas con beneficios saudables,

and found that when orally delivered to mice,

e descubrín que, ao seren inxeridas oralmente por ratos,

these probiotics would selectively grow inside of liver tumors.

estas probióticas crecían selectivamente dentro de tumores de fígado.

We realized that the most convenient way

Decatámonos de que o xeito máis conveniente

to highlight the presence of the probiotics,

de salientar a presenza das probióticas,

and hence, the presence of the tumors,

e, por tanto, a presenza dos tumores,

was to get these bacteria to produce a signal

era facermos que as bacterias emitisen un sinal

that would be detectable in the urine,

que sería detectable na urina,

and so we specifically programmed these probiotics

e así programamos específicamente estas probióticas

to make a molecule that would change the color of your urine

para facermos unha molécula que cambiase a cor da urina

to indicate the presence of cancer.

para indicar a presenza de cancro.

We went on to show that this technology

Demostramos que esta tecnoloxía

could sensitively and specifically detect liver cancer,

podería detectar o cancro de fígado de forma sensible e específica,

one that is challenging to detect otherwise.

un cancro que é difícil de atopar doutro xeito.

Now, since these bacteria specifically localize to tumors,

Pois ben, xa que estas bacterias se adhiren a tumores,

we've been programming them to not only detect cancer

estamos a programalas non só para detectarmos o cancro

but also to treat cancer

senón tamén para tratarmos o cancro

by producing therapeutic molecules from within the tumor environment

producindo moléculas terapéuticas dende o interior do tumor

that shrink the existing tumors,

que reducen os tumores existentes,

and we've been doing this using quorum sensing programs

e fixémolo con programas que usan a percepción do quórum

like you saw in the previous movies.

como viron en anteriores filmes.

Altogether, imagine in the future taking a programmed probiotic

Imaxinen inserirmos no futuro unha probiótica programada

that could detect and treat cancer,

que poida detectar e tratar o cancro,

or even other diseases.

e incluso outras enfermedades.

Our ability to program bacteria

A habilidade de programarmos bacterias

and program life

e programar vida

opens up new horizons in cancer research,

abre novos horizontes na investigación do cancro,

and to share this vision, I worked with artist Vik Muniz

para compartir esta visión, traballei co artista Vik Muniz

to create the symbol of the universe,

para crearmos o símbolo do universo,

made entirely out of bacteria or cancer cells.

feito enteiramente de bacterias ou células canceríxenas.

Ultimately, my hope is that the beauty and purpose of this microscopic universe

A Miña esperanza é que a beleza e propósito deste universo microscópico

can inspire new and creative approaches for the future of cancer research.

poida inspirar enfoques novos e creativos na investigación do cancro.

Thank you.

Grazas.

(Applause)

(Aplausos)