Could we treat spinal cord injuries with asparagus? | Andrew Pelling

Prevoditelj: Antonija Tomaš Recezent: Sanda Liker

So I'm here today surrounded by all these fruits and vegetables,

Danas stojim ovdje okružen svim ovim voćem i povrćem,

because these are the subjects of my experiments.

zato što su predmet mog istraživanja.

Now, bear with me for just a second,

Ostanite sa mnom još malo,

but about a decade ago

otprilike prije deset godina

my team started to rethink how we make materials

moj tim je počeo preispitivati kako proizvodimo materijale

for reconstructing damaged or diseased human tissues,

za rekonstrukciju oštećenih ili oboljelih ljudskih tkiva,

and we made the totally unexpected discovery

i došli smo do u potpunosti neočekivanog otkrića

that plants could be used for this purpose.

kako bi se biljke mogle upotrebljavati u tu svrhu.

In fact, we invented a way to take these plants

U biti smo izumili način kako uzeti te biljke,

and strip them of all their DNA and their cells,

ukloniti s njih DNA i stanice,

leaving behind natural fibers.

ostavljajući samo prirodna vlakna.

And these fibers could then be used as a scaffold

A ta vlakna bi se tad mogla upotrijebiti kao kalup

for reconstructing living tissue.

za rekonstrukciju živog tkiva.

Now I know this is a little weird,

Znam da to zvuči čudno,

but in our very first proof-of-concept experiment,

ali u našem prvom pokusu dokazivanja koncepta

we took an apple,

uzeli smo jabuku,

carved it into the shape of a human ear,

izrezbarili je u obliku ljudskog uha

and then we took that ear-shaped scaffold,

i taj kalup u obliku uha

sterilizirali, obradili

sterilized it, processed it

and coaxed human cells to grow inside of it.

i dodali ljudske stanice da rastu unutar istoga.

We then took the next step and implanted it,

Nakon toga smo išli korak dalje i usadili ga

and we were able to demonstrate

i mogli smo vidjeti

that the scaffolds stimulated the formation of blood vessels,

kako je kalup stimulirao oblikovanje krvnih žila

allowing the heart to keep them alive.

i omogućio srcu da ih održava na životu.

So not too long after these discoveries were taking place,

Ne tako dugo nakon ovih otkrića

I was at home cooking asparagus for dinner,

kod kuće sam pripremao šparoge za večeru

and after cutting the ends off,

i nakon što sam otkinuo krajeve,

I was noticing that the stalks were full of these microchanneled vascular bundles.

primjetio sam da su stabljike pune mikrokanalnih vaskularnih snopova.

And it really reminded me

U biti me to podsjetilo

of a whole body of bioengineering effort aimed at treating spinal cord injury.

na sav rad i napor bioinžinjera u liječenju ozljeda leđne moždine.

Up to half a million people per year suffer from this type of injury,

Skoro pola milijuna ljudi godišnje doživi ovu vrstu ozljede,

and the symptoms can range from pain and numbness

a simptomi mogu varirati od boli i utrnulosti

to devastating traumas

do užasnih ozljeda

that lead to a complete loss of motor function and independence.

koje vode do potpunog gubitka motorne funkcije i neovisnosti.

And in these forms of paralysis,

A za ove oblike paralize

there's no accepted treatment strategy,

nema prihvaćenih strategija liječenja,

but one possible solution

ali jedino moguće rješenje

might be the use of a scaffold that has microchannels

bi mogla biti upotreba kalupa s mikrokanalima

which may guide regenerating neurons.

koji bi mogao navoditi regenerirajuće neurone.

So, could we use the asparagus and its vascular bundles

Pa sad, bismo li mogli upotrijebiti šparogu i njene vaskularne snopove

to repair a spinal cord?

kako bismo popravili leđnu moždinu?

This is a really dumb idea.

Ovo je stvarno glupa ideja.

First of all, humans aren't plants.

Kao prvo, ljudi nisu biljke.

Our cells have not evolved to grow on plant polymers,

Naše stanice nisu evoluirale za rast na biljnim polimerima,

and plant tissues have no business being found in your spinal cord.

a biljna tkiva nemaju što raditi u vašoj leđnoj moždini.

And secondly,

Kao drugo,

ideally these types of scaffolds should disappear over time,

idealno bi bilo da ti kalupi s vremenom nestanu,

leaving behind natural, healthy tissue.

ostavljajući iza sebe prirodno, zdravo tkivo.

But plant-based scaffolds don't do that,

Ali kalupi na biljnoj bazi ne nestaju,

because we lack the enzymes to break them down.

jer mi nemamo enzime kojima bismo ih razgradili.

Funnily enough,

Iznenađujuće smiješno je to

these properties were exactly why we were having so much success.

što smo upravo zbog tih svojstava imali toliko uspjeha.

Over the course of many experiments,

Tijekom mnogih pokusa

we were able to demonstrate

mogli smo prikazati

that the inertness of plant tissue is exactly why it's so biocompatible.

da je upravo inertnost biljnog tkiva to što ga čini biokompatibilnim.

In a way, the body almost doesn't even see it,

Na neki način tijelo ih skoro pa i ne vidi,

but regenerating cells benefit from its shape and stability.

ali stanice za regeneraciju imaju korist od oblika i stabilnosti.

Now this is all well and good,

To je sve lijepo i krasno,

but I constantly felt this weight of doubt

ali stalno sam osjećao tešku sumnju

when it came to thinking about spinal cords.

kad se radilo o leđnoj moždini.

So many scientists were using materials from traditional sources,

Mnogo znanstvenika je upotrebljavalo materijale iz tradicionalnih izvora,

like synthetic polymers and animal products --

kao što su sintetički polimeri i životinjski proizvodi –

even human cadavers.

čak i ljudska trupla.

I felt like a complete outsider

Osjećao sam se kao potpuni outsajder

with no real right to work on such a hard problem.

bez legitimnog prava da radim na ovakvom teškom problemu.

But because of this doubt,

Ali upravo zbog te sumnje,

I surrounded myself with neurosurgeons and clinicians,

okružio sam se s neurokirurzima i liječnicima,

biochemists and bioengineers,

biokemičarima i bioinženjerima

and we started to plan experiments.

i počeli smo planirati pokuse.

The basic idea is that we would take an animal,

Osnovna ideja je uzeti životinju,

anesthetize it,

dati joj anesteziju,

expose its spinal cord

izložiti leđnu moždinu

and sever it in the thoracic region,

i razdvojiti je u torakalnom području,

rendering the animal a paraplegic.

čineći životinju paraplegičarom.

We would then implant an asparagus scaffold

Tada usađujemo kalup od šparoge

between the severed ends of the spinal cord

između odvojenih krajeva leđne moždine

to act as a bridge.

kao most.

Now this is crucially important.

Ovo je sad iznimno važno.

We're only using asparagus.

Upotrebljavamo samo šparogu.

We're not adding stem cells or electrical stimulation

Ne dodajemo matične stanice ili električnu stimulaciju

or exoskeletons

ili egzoskelete

or physical therapy

ili fizikalnu terapiju

or pharmaceuticals.

ili lijekove.

We're simply investigating

Jednostavno istražujemo

if the microchannels in the scaffold alone

jesu li mikrokanali u kalupu sami po sebi dovoljni

are enough to guide the regeneration of neurons.

za navođenje neurona na regeneraciju.

I evo glavnih rezultata.

And here are the main results.

In this video, you can see an animal about eight weeks after being paralyzed.

U ovom videu gledate životinju osam tjedana nakon paralize.

Vidite da ne može pomicati stražnje noge

You can see she can't move her back legs,

and she can't lift herself up.

i da se ne može podići.

Now I know how difficult this video is to watch.

Znam da je teško gledati ovaj video.

My team struggled every day with these types of experiments,

Moj tim se svaki dan borio s ovom vrstom pokusa,

and we constantly asked ourselves why we were doing this ...

i stalno smo se pitali zašto ovo radimo...

until we started to observe something extraordinary.

dok nismo počeli uočavati nešto neobično.

Ovo je životinja koja je dobila usadak.

This is an animal that received an implant.

Now she's not walking perfectly,

Ne hoda savršeno,

but she's moving those back legs

ali pomiče stražnje noge

and she's even starting to lift herself up.

i čak se počinje podizati.

And on a treadmill,

I na traci možete vidjeti

you can see those legs moving in a coordinated fashion.

da se noge koordinirano pomiču.

These are crucial signs of recovery.

Ovo je ključni znak oporavka.

Imamo još puno posla

Now we still have a lot of work to do,

and there are a lot of questions to answer,

i puno pitanja za odgovoriti,

but this is the first time anyone has shown

ali ovo je prvi put da je itko pokazao

that plant tissues can be used to repair such a complex injury.

da se biljno tkivo može upotrijebiti za popravak ovako složene ozljede.

Even so, we've been sitting on this data for over five years.

Ipak, ostali smo na ovim podacima već preko pet godina.

Sumnja nas je navela da stalno ponavljamo pokus,

Doubt drove us to repeat these experiments again and again,

to the point of almost bankrupting my lab.

do skorog bankrota mog laboratorija.

But I kept pushing,

Ali nastavio sam gurati,

because I knew these results could be the start of something extraordinary.

jer sam znao da bi ti rezultati mogli biti početak nečeg izvanrednog.

And what's just as exciting

I što je jednako uzbudljivo je to,

is that my company is now translating these discoveries into the clinic --

da moja tvrtka sada prebacuje ova otkrića u kliniku –

into the real world.

u pravi svijet.

This technology has just been designated a breakthrough medical device by the FDA.

Ova tehnologija je upravo označena medicinskim otkrićem od agencije FDA.

And this designation means

To imenovanje znači

that right now we're in the midst of planning human clinical trials

da smo upravo usred planiranja kliničkih pokusa na ljudima

set to begin in about two years.

koji bi trebali početi za dvije godine.

So I'd like to show you a prototype

Htio bih vam pokazati prototip

of one of our state-of-the-art spinal cord implants.

jednog od naših najmodernijih usadaka za leđnu moždinu.

It's still made from asparagus

Još uvijek je izrađen od šparoge

and contains all of those microchannels.

i sadrži sve mikrokanale.

And you can see that it moves and bends

Možete vidjeti kako se pomiče i savija

and has the same feel as human tissue.

i na dodir je isti kao ljudsko tkivo.

Znate,

And you know,

I think the real innovation is that we're now able to design

smatram da je prava inovacija to što sad možemo dizajnirati

or program the architecture and structure of plant tissues in such a way

ili programirati arhitekturu i strukturu biljnog tkiva na način

da bi mogli usmjeriti rast stanica tamo gdje je to medicinski potrebno.

that they could direct cell growth to address an unmet medical need.

As scientists,

Kao znanstvenici

provodimo svoje živote na rubu noža.

we spend our lives living on a knife's edge.

On the one hand,

S jedne strane je naš posao

it's our job to fundamentally broaden the horizons

da iz temelja širimo horizonte

ljudskoga znanja,

of human knowledge,

but at the same time, we're trained to doubt --

no u isto vrijeme, uvježbani smo sumnjati –

to doubt our data, to doubt our experiments,

sumnjati u svoje podatke, sumnjati u svoje pokuse,

to doubt our own conclusions.

sumnjati u vlastite zaključke.

We spend our lives crushed under the weight

Provodimo svoje živote pod težinom

of constant, unrelenting, never-ending anxiety, uncertainty and self-doubt.

stalne, nepopustljive, beskrajne brige, nesigurnosti i sumnje u sebe.

And this is something I really struggle with.

I to je nešto s čime se ja uistinu borim.

But I think almost every scientist can tell you

Ali mislim da bi vam gotovo svaki znanstvenik mogao

about the time they ignored those doubts

ispričati o tome kad je ignorirao te sumnje

and did the experiment that would never work.

i napravio pokus koji nikad ne bi uspio.

And the thing is, every now and then,

A stvar je u tome da tu i tamo

one of those experiments works out.

jedan od tih pokusa i uspije.

The challenge we face is that while doubt can be destructive

Izazov s kojim se suočavamo je taj da sumnja može biti destruktivna

to your mental health,

za vaše mentalno zdravlje,

it's also the reason why scientific rigor is such a potent tool for discovery.

a ujedno čini znanstvenu neumoljivost moćnim oružjem za otkrića.

It forces us to ask the difficult questions

Tjera nas da postavljamo teška pitanja

and repeat experiments.

i ponavljamo pokuse.

Nothing about that is easy.

Ništa u vezi toga nije jednostavno.

And often it becomes our responsibility

I često postaje naša odgovornost

to bear the burden of the hard and sometimes heart-wrenching experiment.

nositi teret teškog i ponekad prebolnog pokusa.

This ultimately leads to the creation of new knowledge,

Ovo konačno vodi do stvaranja novih znanja

i u nekim stvarno rijetkim slučajevima,

and in some really rare cases,

the type of innovation that just might change a person's life.

do inovacije koja može promijeniti nečiji život.

Hvala.

Thank you.