Elizabeth Murchison: Fighting a contagious cancer

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Everyone's familiar with cancer,

Svi smo mi već dobro upoznati s rakom,

but we don't normally think of cancer

ali obično ne mislimo o njemu

as being a contagious disease.

kao o zaraznoj bolesti.

The Tasmanian devil has shown us

Tasmanijska nam je neman, pak, dokazala

that, not only can cancer be a contagious disease,

da rak ne samo da može biti zarazan

but it can also threaten

već može i zaprijetiti

an entire species with extinction.

cijeloj jednoj vrsti izumiranjem.

So first of all, what is a Tasmanian devil?

Prije svega, što je tasmanijska neman?

Many of you might be familiar with Taz, the cartoon character,

Mnogi od vas možda su upoznati s „Tazom“, likom iz crtića,

the one that spins around and around and around.

onim koji se stalno okreće okolo, okolo, okolo.

But not many people know

No vrlo malo ljudi zna

that there actually is a real animal called the Tasmanian devil,

da uistinu postoji prava životinja zvana tasmanijska neman

and it's the world's largest carnivorous marsupial.

i da je to najveći svjetski mesojed tobolčar.

A marsupial is a mammal with a pouch

Tobolčar je sisavac s „džepom“,

like a kangaroo.

kao i klokan.

The Tasmanian devil got its name

Tasmanijska je neman dobila svoje ime

from the terrifying nocturnal scream that it makes.

zbog zastrašujućih noćnih vrisaka koje ispušta.

(Screaming)

(Vrisak)

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

The Tasmanian devil is predominantly a scavenger,

Tasmanijska je neman, na neki način, „smetlar“

and it uses its powerful jaws

koji koristi svoju snažnu čeljust

and its sharp teeth

i oštre zube

to chomp on the bones of rotting dead animals.

za otkidanje s kostiju mrtvih životinja koje već trunu.

[The] Tasmanian devil is found only on the island of Tasmania,

Tasmanijska je neman pronađena samo na otoku Tasmaniji,

which is that small island

malom otoku

just to the south of the mainland of Australia.

južno od Australije.

And despite their ferocious appearance,

I, unatoč svojoj bijesnoj pojavi,

Tasmanian devils are actually

tasmanijske su nemani zapravo

quite adorable little animals.

prilično ljupke male životinjice.

In fact, growing up in Tasmania,

U biti, odrastajući na Tasmaniji,

it always was incredibly exciting

uvijek je bilo jako uzbudljivo

when we got a chance to see

kada smo imali priliku vidjeti

a Tasmanian devil in the wild.

tasmanijsku neman u divljini.

But the Tasmanian devil population

No populacija tasmanijskih nemani

has been undergoing a really extremely fast decline.

bilježi ekstremno smanjenje.

And in fact, there's concern

Zapravo, postoji ozbiljna zabrinutost

that the species could go extinct in the wild

da bi cijela vrsta mogla izumrijeti

within 20 to 30 years.

u roku od 20 do 30 godina.

And the reason for that

A razlog tomu jest

is the emergence of a new disease,

pojava nove bolesti,

a contagious cancer.

zaraznog raka.

The story begins in 1996

Priča započinje 1996. godine,

when a wildlife photographer took this photograph here

kada je jedan fotograf napravio ovu fotografiju

of a Tasmanian devil

tasmanijske nemani

with a large tumor on its face.

s velikim tumorom na licu.

At the time, this was thought to be a one-off.

U to se vrijeme mislilo da je to unikatni primjer.

Animals, just like humans,

Životinje, baš kao i ljudi,

sometimes get strange tumors.

ponekad dobiju neobične tumore.

However, we now believe

Međutim, mi sada vjerujemo

that this is the first sighting of a new disease,

da je ovo prvi prikaz nove bolesti

which is now an epidemic spreading through Tasmania.

koja je sada epidemija koja se širi Tasmanijom.

The disease was first sighted

Bolest je prvi put opažena

in the northeast of Tasmania in 1996

na sjeveroistoku Tasmanije 1996. god.

and has spread across Tasmania like a huge wave.

i otada se proširila otokom kao veliki val.

Now there's only a small part of the population,

Trenutno postoji samo mali dio populacije

which remains unaffected.

koji nije pogođen.

This disease appears first as tumors,

Bolest se pojavljuje kao tumori,

usually on the face or inside the mouth

obično na licu ili u ustima

of affected Tasmanian devils.

zaraženih tasmanijskih nemani.

These tumors inevitably grow into larger tumors,

Tumori neizostavno izrastu u veće tumore,

such as these ones here.

kao što su ovi ovdje.

And the next image I'm going to show

Slika koju ću sada pokazati

is quite gruesome.

prilično je jeziva.

But inevitably, these tumors progress

Ali neizbježno, ovi tumori napreduju

towards being enormous, ulcerating tumors like this one here.

do enormnih veličina, kao što su ovi ovdje.

This one in particular sticks in my mind,

Ovaj mi je posebno ostao u sjećanju

because this is the first case of this disease

jer je to prvi slučaj ove bolesti,

that I saw myself.

koji sam osobno vidjela.

And I remember the horror of seeing this little female devil

I sjećam se horora i užasa kada sam vidjela malu žensku neman

with this huge ulcerating, foul-smelling tumor

s ovim ogromnim čirom

inside her mouth

u ustima,

that had actually cracked off her entire lower jaw.

od kojeg joj je zapravo puknula cijela donja čeljust.

She hadn't eaten for days.

Nije jela danima.

Her guts were swimming with parasitic worms.

U njezinim su crijevima plivali parazitski crvi.

Her body was riddled with secondary tumors.

Tijelo joj je bilo preplavljeno sekundarnim tumorima.

And yet, she was feeding three little baby Tasmanian devils

Unatoč svemu, ona je hranila tri mladunca

in her pouch.

u svom tobolcu.

Of course, they died along with the mother.

Naravno, uginuli su zajedno s majkom.

They were too young to survive without their mother.

Bili su premladi da bi preživjeli bez nje.

In fact, in the area where she comes from,

Ustvari, u području iz kojeg je ona bila,

more than 90 percent of the Tasmanian devil population

više od 90 posto populacije tasmanijskih nemani

has already died of this disease.

već je uginulo od te bolesti.

Scientists around the world

Ovaj je rak

were intrigued by this cancer,

zainteresirao znanstvenike širom svijeta;

this infectious cancer,

zarazni rak

that was spreading through the Tasmanian devil population.

koji se širi populacijom tasmanijskih nemani.

And our minds immediately turned to cervical cancer in women,

I naše su se misli odmah okrenule prema raku grlića maternice u žena,

which is spread by a virus,

koji se dobiva virusom,

and to the AIDS epidemic,

i prema epidemiji AIDS-a

which is associated with a number of different types of cancer.

koja je povezana mnogim, različitim vrstama raka.

All the evidence suggested that this devil cancer

Svi su dokazi upućivali na to da se rak tasmanijskih nemani

was spread by a virus.

širi virusno.

However, we now know -- and I'll tell you right now --

Međutim, mi sada znamo -- i reći ću vam odmah --

that we know that this cancer is not spread by a virus.

da se ovaj rak ne širi preko virusa.

In fact, the infectious agent of disease in this cancer

Ustvari, uzročnik oboljenja od ovog raka

is something altogether more sinister,

nešto je mnogo zloćudnije

and something that we hadn't really thought of before.

i nešto o čemu prije nismo ni razmišljali.

But in order for me to explain what that is,

No s ciljem da vam točno objasnim što je to,

I need to spend just a couple of minutes

moram provesti još nekoliko minuta

talking more about cancer itself.

pričajući o samome raku.

Cancer is a disease

Rak je bolest

that affects millions of people around the world every year.

koja pogađa milijune ljudi diljem svijeta svake godine.

One in three people in this room

Svaka treća osoba u ovoj sobi

will develop cancer at some stage in their lives.

razvit će neki oblik raka u nekom trenutku svoga života.

I myself had a tumor removed from my large intestine

Osobno, imala sam tumor koji je odstranjen s mog debelog crijeva

when I was only 14.

kad mi je bilo 14 godina.

Cancer occurs

Rak se pojavljuje

when a single cell in your body

kada jedna, jedina stanica u vašem tijelu

acquires a set of random mutations in important genes

doživi set različitih mutacija u važnim genima

that cause that cell to start to produce

koji potiču tu stanicu da proizvodi

more and more and more copies of itself.

sve više i više vlastitih kopija.

Paradoxically, once established,

Paradoksalno, kad proces jedanput krene,

natural selection actually favors

prirodna selekcija zapravo potiče

the continued growth of cancer.

nastavak rasta raka.

Natural selection is survival of the fittest.

Prirodna je selekcija opstanak najjačih.

And when you have a population of fast-dividing cancer cells,

Kada imate populaciju brzo rastućih stanica raka,

if one of them acquires new mutations,

ako jedna od njih stekne nove mutacije

which allow them to grow more quickly,

koje će joj omogućiti da još brže raste,

acquire nutrients more successfully,

uspješnije preuzima hranjive tvari,

invade the body,

napada tijelo,

they'll be selected for by evolution.

ona će biti odabrana za daljnu evoluciju.

That's why cancer is such a difficult disease to treat.

Zato je rak tako teška bolest za liječiti.

It evolves.

On se neprestano razvija.

Throw a drug at it,

Bacite lijek na njega

and resistant cells will grow back.

i otporne stanice narast će ponovno.

An amazing fact is that,

Nevjerojatna je činjenica da,

given the right environment and the right nutrients,

u pogodnom okolišu i s odgovarajućim nutrijentima,

a cancer cell has the potential

stanica raka ima potencijal

to go on growing forever.

rasti zauvijek.

However cancer is constrained

Međutim, rak je ograničen

by living inside our bodies,

jer živi u našem tijelu

and its continued growth,

i njegov neprekidan rast,

its spreading through our bodies

njegovo širenje tijelom

and eating away at our tissues,

i uništavanje naših tkiva

leads to the death of the cancer patient

vodi k smrti pacijenata

and also to the death of the cancer itself.

te smrti samog raka.

So cancer could be thought of

Dakle, rak možemo shvatiti kao

as a strange, short-lived, self-destructive life form --

čudan, kratkoživući, samoubilački oblik života --

an evolutionary dead end.

evolucijski slijepu ulicu.

But that is where the Tasmanian devil cancer

Upravo je tu rak tasmanijske nemani

has acquired an absolutely amazing

stekao apsolutno nevjerojatnu

evolutionary adaptation.

evolucijsku prilagodbu.

And the answer came from studying

To smo zaključili proučavajući

the Tasmanian devil cancer's DNA.

DNK raka tasmanijske nemani.

This was work from many people,

Na tome je radilo mnogo ljudi,

but I'm going to explain it through a confirmatory experiment

ali drago mi je što vam mogu to objasniti na temelju potvrdnog istraživanja

that I did a few years ago.

koje sam sama provela prije nekoliko godina.

The next slide is going to be gruesome.

Sljedeći će slajd biti jeziv.

This is Jonas.

To je Jonas.

He's a Tasmanian devil that we found

On je tasmanijska neman koju smo našli

with a large tumor on his face.

s velikim tumorom na licu.

And being a geneticist,

Kao genetičara

I'm always interested to look at DNA and mutations.

uvijek me zanimaju promjene na DNK i mutacije,

So I took this opportunity

tako da sam uzela ovu priliku

to collect some samples from Jonas' tumor

kako bih prikupila neke uzorke s Jonasova tumora,

and also some samples from other parts of his body.

ali i uzorke s drugih dijelova njegova tijela.

I took these back to the lab.

Ponijela sam te uzorke u laboratorij.

I extracted DNA from them.

Izvadila sam DNK iz njih.

And when I looked at the sequence of the DNA,

Kada sam pogledala sekvence DNK

and compared the sequence of Jonas' tumor

i usporedila sekvence Jonasovog tumora

to that of the rest of his body,

s ostatkom tijela,

I discovered that they had a completely different genetic profile.

otkrila sam da imaju sasvim drugačiji genetski profil.

In fact, Jonas and his tumor

Zapravo, Jonas i njegov tumor

were as different from each other

razlikuju se

as you and the person sitting next to you.

onoliko koliko se vi razlikujete od osobe koja sjedi pored vas.

What this told us was that Jonas' tumor

Na temelju toga zaključili smo da Jonasov tumor

did not arise from cells of his own body.

nije proizašao mutacijom njegovih stanica.

In fact, more genetic profiling

Zapravo, daljnje genetsko istraživanje

told us that this tumor in Jonas

pokazalo nam je da je Jonasov tumor

actually probably first arose

nastao mutacijom

from the cells of a female Tasmanian devil --

stanica ženke tasmanijske nemani --

and Jonas was clearly a male.

a Jonas je nedvojbeno mužjak.

So how come

Kako to da se

a tumor that arose from the cells of another individual

tumor koji je nastao od stanica neke druge jedinke

is growing on Jonas' face?

nalazi na Jonasovu licu?

Well the next breakthrough

Idući napredak

came from studying hundreds of Tasmanian devil cancers

potječe iz proučavanja u koje je uključeno stotine tasmanijskih nemani s karcinomom

from all around Tasmania.

iz cijele Tasmanije.

We found that all of these cancers

Otkrili smo da svi ovi rakovi

shared the same DNA.

imaju istu DNK.

Think about that for a minute.

Razmislite o tome na trenutak.

That means that all of these cancers

To znači da su svi ovi karcinomi

actually are the same cancer

zapravo jedan jedini karcinom

that arose once from one individual devil,

koji je nastao mutacijom stanica jedne jedinke tasmanijske nemani

that have broken free of that first devil's body

koja se oslobodila iz tijela prve nemani

and spread through the entire Tasmanian devil population.

te se proširio na cijelu populaciju.

But how can a cancer spread in a population?

No kako to da se proširio na populaciju?

Well the final piece of the puzzle came

Do konačnog smo odgovora došli

when we remember how devils behave when they meet each other in the wild.

proučavajući ponašanje tih životinja, kada se dvije jedinke susretnu u divljini.

They tend to bite each other,

Obično grizu jedne druge,

often quite ferociously and usually on the face.

vrlo okrutno, često u lice.

We think that cancer cells

Mislimo da stanice raka

actually come off the tumor, get into the saliva.

obično proliferiraju i dođu u slinu.

When the devil bites another devil,

Kada jedna tasmanijska neman ugrize drugu,

it actually physically implants living cancer cells into the next devil,

doslovce mu usadi živuće stanice raka

so the tumor continues to grow.

koje onda nastavljaju s diobom u tom organizmu.

So this Tasmanian devil cancer

Dakle, rak tasmanijske nemani je možda

is perhaps the ultimate cancer.

ultimativni rak.

It's not constrained by living within the body that gave rise to it.

Nije ograničen samo na život u tijelu od čijih je stanica nastao.

It spreads through the population,

Širi se po populaciji,

has mutations that allow it to evade the immune system,

ima mutacije koje mu omogućuju da izbjegne imunološki sustav

and it's the only cancer that we know of

i to je jedini rak kojega poznajemo,

that's threatening an entire species with extinction.

a zbog kojega prijeti izumiranje jedne cijele vrste.

But if this can happen in Tasmanian devils,

No, ako se to može dogoditi tasmanijskim nemanima,

why hasn't it happened in other animals

zašto se nije dogodilo drugim životinjama

or even humans?

ili čak nama ljudima?

Well the answer is, it has.

Odgovor na to je -- dogodilo se.

This is Kimbo.

Ovo je Kimbo.

He's a dog that belongs to a family in Mombasa in Kenya.

On je pas koji pripada jednoj obitelji iz Mombase u Keniji.

Last year, his owner noticed some blood

Prošle je godine njegova vlasnica primijetila krv

trickling from his genital region.

koja curi iz njegovih genitalija.

She took him to the vet

Odvela ga je veterinaru

and the vet discovered something quite disgusting.

koji je otkrio nešto odurno.

And if you're squeamish, please look away now.

Ako ste gadljivi, molim vas da odvratite sada pogled.

He discovered this,

Otkrio je ovaj

a huge bleeding tumor

veliki, krvavi tumor

at the base of Kimbo's penis.

na bazi Kimbova penisa.

The vet diagnosed this as transmissible venereal tumor,

Veterinar je dijagnosticirao prenosivi spolni tumor,

a sexually transmitted cancer

spolno prenosivi karcinom

that affects dogs.

koji pogađa pse.

And just as the Tasmanian devil cancer is contagious

I, baš kao što je rak tasmanijske nemani zarazan

through the spread of living cancer cells,

širenjem pogođenih stanica,

so is this dog cancer.

tako je i ovaj pseći rak.

But this dog cancer is quite remarkable,

No ova je vrsta raka prilično neobična

because it spread all around the world.

jer se proširila po cijelome svijetu.

And in fact, these same cells

Zapravo, istu smo DNK tumorskih stanica

that are affecting Kimbo here

našli kod Kimba,

are also found affecting dogs

ali i kod pasa

in New York City,

u New Yorku,

in mountain villages in the Himalayas

planinskim selima u Himalaji

and in Outback Australia.

i u Outbacku u Australiji.

We also believe this cancer might be very old.

Osim toga, vjerujemo da je ovaj rak vjerojatno vrlo star.

In fact, genetic profiling tells

Zapravo, uz pomoć genetskog profiliranja,

that it may be tens of thousands of years old,

zaključili smo da može biti star više desetaka tisuća godina,

which means that this cancer

što znači da je taj rak

may have first arisen

možda nastao

from the cells of a wolf

mutacijom stanica u vuku

that lived alongside the Neanderthals.

i živio je uz Neandertalce.

This cancer is remarkable.

Taj je rak nevjerojatan.

It's the oldest mammalian-derived life form that we know of.

To je najstariji od sisavaca-izvedeni oblik života koji poznajemo.

It's a living relic

To je živi relikt

of the distant past.

iz daleke prošlosti.

So we've seen that this can happen in animals.

Dakle, promotrili smo sada neke slučajeve u životinjskome svijetu.

Could cancers be contagious between people?

Može li se slična zaraza raka širiti i među ljudima?

Well this is a question

Pa, to je pitanje

which fascinated Chester Southam,

koje je zadivilo Chestera Southama,

a cancer doctor in the 1950s.

onkologa u 50-ima.

Ad he decided to put this to the test

Odlučio je testirati zarazu raka među ljudima

by actually deliberately inoculating people

time što je namjerno ljudima ubrizgao

with cancer from somebody else.

tuđe stanice raka.

And this is a photograph of Dr. Southam in 1957

Ovo je fotografija dr. Southama iz 1957.godine

injecting cancer into a volunteer,

koja pokazuje kako ubrizgava stanice raka u volontera

who in this case was an inmate

koji je, u ovom slučaju, bio zatvorenik

in Ohio State Penitentiary.

u Ohio State kaznionici.

Most of the people that Dr. Southam injected

Kod većine se testiranih ljudi

did not go on to develop cancer

nije razvio karcinom

from the injected cells.

od tih stanica.

But a small number of them did,

No kod nekoliko se ljudi rak ipak pojavio,

and they were mostly people who were otherwise ill --

i to većinom kod ljudi koji su na neki drugi način bili bolesni --

whose immune systems were probably compromised.

čiji je imunološki sustav bio vjerojatno već ugrožen.

What this tells us,

To nam govori,

ethical issues aside,

ako zanemarimo etička pitanja,

is that ...

da je ...

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

it's probably extremely rare

da je vjerojatno vrlo rijetka

for cancers to be transferred between people.

zaraza rakom među ljudima.

However, under some circumstances,

Međutim, pod određenim se okolnostima

it can happen.

može dogoditi.

And I think that this is something

I mislim da je to nešto

that oncologists and epidemiologists

čega bi onkolozi i epidemiolozi

should be aware of in the future.

trebali biti svjesni u budućnosti.

So just finally,

Samo za kraj:

cancer is an inevitable outcome

rak je neizbježan ishod

of the ability of our cells

s obzirom na sposobnost

to divide

dijeljenja naših stanica

and to adapt to their environments.

i njihove prilagodbe na dano okruženje.

But that does not mean that we should give up hope

No to ne znači da se trebamo prestati nadati

in the fight against cancer.

i odustati od borbe protiv raka.

In fact, I believe, given more knowledge

Zapravo, vjerujem da ga, s ozbirom na sve veće znanje

of the complex evolutionary processes that drive cancer's growth,

o kompleksnim evolucijskim procesima koji potiču rast stanica raka,

we can defeat cancer.

možemo i pobijediti.

My personal aim

Moj je osobni cilj

is to defeat the Tasmanian devil cancer.

pobijediti rak tasmanijske nemani.

Let's prevent the Tasmanian devil

Spriječimo da tasmanijska neman

from being the first animal

bude prva vrsta

to go extinct from cancer.

koja će izumrijeti zbog raka.

Thank you.

Hvala vam.

(Applause)

(Pljesak)