The wonders of the molecular world, animated | Janet Iwasa

Prevoditelj: Neda Vrkic Recezent: Sanda L

I live in Utah,

Živim u Utahu,

a place known for having some of the most awe-inspiring

mjestu poznatom po nekim od najčudesnijih

natural landscapes on this planet.

prirodnih krajolika na ovom planetu.

It's easy to be overwhelmed by these amazing views,

Lako je biti opčinjen ovim nevjerojatnim pogledima,

and to be really fascinated by these sometimes alien-looking formations.

a ovi oblici, koji ponekad izgledaju izvanzemaljski, mogu te stvarno oduševiti.

As a scientist, I love observing the natural world.

Kao znanstvenica, volim promatrati prirodni svijet.

But as a cell biologist,

No, kao stanična biologinja,

I'm much more interested in understanding the natural world

puno me više zanima razumijevanje prirodnog svijeta

at a much, much smaller scale.

u mnogo, mnogo manjem opsegu.

I'm a molecular animator, and I work with other researchers

Molekularna sam animatorica te radim s drugim istraživačima

to create visualizations of molecules that are so small,

kako bi stvorili vizualne prikaze molekula koje su toliko male,

they're essentially invisible.

da su, u biti, nevidljive.

These molecules are smaller than the wavelength of light,

Te su molekule manje nego valna duljina svjetlosti,

which means that we can never see them directly,

što znači da ih nikad ne možemo izravno vidjeti,

even with the best light microscopes.

čak ni pomoću najboljih svjetlosnih mikroskopa.

So how do I create visualizations of things

Pa, kako onda radim vizualne prikaze nečega

that are so small we can't see them?

što je tako malo da to ne možemo vidjeti?

Scientists, like my collaborators,

Znanstvenici, poput mojih suradnika,

can spend their entire professional careers

mogu provesti cijele profesionalne karijere

working to understand one molecular process.

radeći kako bi razumjeli jedan molekularni proces.

To do this, they carry out a series of experiments

Kako bi to učinili, izvode nizove eksperimenata

that each can tell us a small piece of the puzzle.

od kojih nam svaki može otkriti mali dio slagalice.

One kind of experiment can tell us about the protein shape,

Jedan nam eksperiment može reći nešto o obliku proteina,

while another can tell us

dok nam drugi može reći

about what other proteins it might interact with,

s kojim drugim proteinima može uzajamno djelovati,

and another can tell us about where it can be found in a cell.

a treći nam može reći gdje se on u stanici nalazi.

And all of these bits of information can be used to come up with a hypothesis,

I svi ovi djelići informacija mogu se koristiti u stvaranju hipoteze,

a story, essentially, of how a molecule might work.

priče, u osnovi, o tome kako bi molekula mogla funkcionirati.

My job is to take these ideas and turn them into an animation.

Moj je posao pretvoriti te ideje u animaciju.

This can be tricky,

To može biti nezgodno,

because it turns out that molecules can do some pretty crazy things.

jer se ispostavilo da molekule mogu činiti prilično lude stvari.

But these animations can be incredibly useful for researchers

No te animacije mogu biti nevjerojatno korisne istraživačima

to communicate their ideas of how these molecules work.

kako bi prenijeli svoje ideje o tome kako te molekule funkcioniraju.

They can also allow us to see the molecular world

Također nam dopuštaju da vidimo svijet molekula

through their eyes.

kroz njihove oči.

I'd like to show you some animations,

Htjela bih vam pokazati neke animacije,

a brief tour of what I consider to be some of the natural wonders

kratak pregled toga što ja smatram da su prirodna čuda

of the molecular world.

molekularnog svijeta.

First off, this is an immune cell.

Kao prvo, ovo je imunološka stanica.

These kinds of cells need to go crawling around in our bodies

Ove vrste stanica moraju puzati po našim tijelima

in order to find invaders like pathogenic bacteria.

kako bi pronašle napadače kao što su patogene bakterije.

This movement is powered by one of my favorite proteins

Ovo kretanje pokreće jedan od mojih najdražih proteina

called actin,

nazvan aktin,

which is part of what's known as the cytoskeleton.

koji je dio onoga što je poznato kao citoskelet.

Unlike our skeletons,

Za razliku od naših kostura,

actin filaments are constantly being built and taken apart.

filamenti aktina se stalno izgrađuju i rastavljaju.

The actin cytoskeleton plays incredibly important roles in our cells.

Aktinski citoskelet ima nevjerojatno važne uloge u našim stanicama.

They allow them to change shape,

Dopuštaju im da mijenjaju oblik,

to move around, to adhere to surfaces

kreću se uokolo, prianjaju na površine

and also to gobble up bacteria.

i da proždiru bakterije.

Actin is also involved in a different kind of movement.

Aktin je također uključen u drugačiji oblik kretanja.

In our muscle cells, actin structures form these regular filaments

U našim mišićnim stanicama, strukture aktina tvore ove pravilne filamente

that look kind of like fabric.

koji nekako izgledaju kao tkanina.

When our muscles contract, these filaments are pulled together

Kad se naši mišići kontrahiraju, ovi filamenti se skupa povlače

and they go back to their original position

i vraćaju se u prvotni položaj

when our muscles relax.

kad se mišić opusti.

Other parts of the cytoskeleton, in this case microtubules,

Drugi dijelovi citoskeleta, u ovom slučaju mikrotubuli,

are responsible for long-range transportation.

odgovorni su za daljinski prijenos.

They can be thought of as basically cellular highways

Možemo na njih gledati, u osnovi, kao stanične autoceste

that are used to move things from one side of the cell to the other.

koje se koriste za pomicanje tvari s jedne strane stanice na drugu.

Unlike our roads, microtubules grow and shrink,

Za razliku od naših cesta, mikrotubuli rastu i smanjuju se,

appearing when they're needed

pojavljuju se kad su potrebni

and disappearing when their job is done.

i nestaju kad je njihov posao završen.

The molecular version of semitrucks

Molekularnu verziju tegljača

are proteins aptly named motor proteins,

čine proteini koji se pogodno zovu motorički proteini,

that can walk along microtubules,

koji se mogu kretati uzduž mikrotubula,

dragging sometimes huge cargoes,

vukući ponekad ogroman teret,

like organelles, behind them.

poput organela, za sobom.

This particular motor protein is known as dynein,

Ovaj posebni motorički protein poznat je kao dinein

and its known to be able to work together in groups

i poznato je da može raditi zajedno u skupinama

that almost look, at least to me, like a chariot of horses.

koje skoro izgledaju, barem meni, poput kočije konja.

As you see, the cell is this incredibly changing, dynamic place,

Kao što vidite, stanica je nevjerojatno promjenjivo, dinamično mjesto,

where things are constantly being built and disassembled.

gdje se tvari stalno izgrađuju i razgrađuju.

But some of these structures

Ali neke od ovih struktura

are harder to take apart than others, though.

ipak je teže razgraditi nego ostale.

And special forces need to be brought in

I potrebno je dovesti posebne snage

in order to make sure that structures are taken apart in a timely manner.

kako bi se osiguralo da se strukture pravodobno razdvoje.

That job is done in part by proteins like these.

Ovaj posao djelomično odrade proteini poput ovih.

These donut-shaped proteins,

Ovi proteini, oblika krafne,

of which there are many types in the cell,

kojih ima mnogo vrsta u stanici,

all seem to act to rip apart structures

čini se da djeluju na razdvajanje struktura

by basically pulling individual proteins through a central hole.

tako da u osnovi povlače pojedine proteine kroz središnju rupu.

When these kinds of proteins don't work properly,

Kad ove vrste proteina ne rade ispravno,

the types of proteins that are supposed to get taken apart

vrste proteina koje bi trebalo razdvojiti

can sometimes stick together and aggregate

ponekad se mogu držati skupa i nakupljati,

and that can give rise to terrible diseases, such as Alzheimer's.

i mogu dati povod strašnim bolestima, poput Alzheimerove.

And now let's take a look at the nucleus,

I sada pogledajmo jezgru,

which houses our genome in the form of DNA.

koja je dom našem genom u obliku DNA.

In all of our cells,

U svim našim stanicama,

our DNA is cared for and maintained by a diverse set of proteins.

o našem DNA se brinu i održavaju je razni setovi proteina.

DNA is wound around proteins called histones,

DNA se namata oko proteina nazvani histoni,

which enable cells to pack large amounts of DNA into our nucleus.

koji omogućuju stanicama pakiranje velike količine DNA u našoj jezgri.

These machines are called chromatin remodelers,

Ovi mehanizmi se nazivaju kromatinskim remodulatorima

and the way they work is that they basically scoot the DNA

i način na koji rade je taj da u osnovi pomiču DNA

around these histones

oko tih histona

and they allow new pieces of DNA to become exposed.

i dopuštanju novim dijelovima DNA da budu izloženi.

This DNA can then be recognized by other machinery.

Ova DNA može biti prepoznata od strane drugih mehanizama.

In this case, this large molecular machine

U ovom slučaju, ovaj veliki molekularni mehanizam

is looking for a segment of DNA

traži segment DNA

that tells it it's at the beginning of a gene.

koji mu govori da je na početku gena.

Once it finds a segment,

Jednom kad nađe segment,

it basically undergoes a series of shape changes

u osnovi se podvrgava nizu promjena oblika,

which enables it to bring in other machinery

što mu omogućuje da dovede ostale mehanizme

that in turn allows a gene to get turned on or transcribed.

koji za uzvrat dopuste genu da se uključi i transkribira.

This has to be a very tightly regulated process,

Ovo mora biti vrlo usko regulirani proces,

because turning on the wrong gene at the wrong time

jer uključivanje krivog gena u krivo vrijeme

can have disastrous consequences.

može imati katastrofalne posljedice.

Scientists are now able to use protein machines

Znanstvenici sada mogu koristiti mehanizme proteina

to edit genomes.

za uređivanje genoma.

I'm sure all of you have heard of CRISPR.

Sigurna sam da ste svi čuli za CRISPR.

CRISPR takes advantage of a protein known as Cas9,

CRISPR iskorištava protein znan kao Cas9,

which can be engineered to recognize and cut

koji može biti konstruiran da prepozna i reže

a very specific sequence of DNA.

vrlo specifičan slijed DNA.

In this example,

U ovom primjeru,

two Cas9 proteins are being used to excise a problematic piece of DNA.

dva Cas9 proteina se koriste da izrežu problematični dio DNA.

For example, a part of a gene that may give rise to a disease.

Na primjer, dio gena koji može dati povod bolesti.

Cellular machinery is then used

Stanični se mehanizam tada koristi

to basically glue two ends of the DNA back together.

da u osnovi ponovno zalijepi dva kraja DNA.

As a molecular animator,

Kao molekularna animatorica,

one of my biggest challenges is visualizing uncertainty.

jedan od mojih najvećih izazova je vizualizirati neizvjesnost.

All of the animations I've shown to you represent hypotheses,

Sve animacije koje sam vam pokazala predstavljaju hipoteze,

how my collaborators think a process works,

kako moji suradnici misle da proces funkcionira,

based on the best information that they have.

na temelju najboljih informacija koje imaju.

But for a lot of molecular processes,

Ali za mnoge molekularne procese,

we're still really at the early stages of understanding things,

još smo zapravo u ranim fazama razumijevanja stvari

and there's a lot to learn.

i postoji mnogo toga za naučiti.

The truth is

Istina je

that these invisible molecular worlds are vast and largely unexplored.

da su ovi nevidljivi molekularni svjetovi golemi i uglavnom neistraženi.

To me, these molecular landscapes

Za mene, ovi molekularni krajolici

are just as exciting to explore as a natural world

su jednako uzbudljivi za istraživati kao i prirodni svijet

that's visible all around us.

koji je vidljiv svuda oko nas.

Thank you.

Hvala vam.

(Applause)

(Pljesak)