Eva Vertes: My dream about the future of medicine

Prevoditelj: Senzos Osijek Recezent: Romana Perković

Thank you. It's really an honor and a privilege to be here

Hvala vam! Stvarno je čast i privilegija biti ovdje

spending my last day as a teenager.

i provesti zadnji dan kao teenager.

Today I want to talk to you about the future, but

Danas želim govoriti o budućnosti, ali

first I'm going to tell you a bit about the past.

prvo ću vam pričati malo o prošlosti.

My story starts way before I was born.

Moja priča počinje još prije nego što sam se rodila.

My grandmother was on a train to Auschwitz, the death camp.

Moja je baka bila na vlaku za Auschwitz, kamp smrti.

And she was going along the tracks, and the tracks split.

Putovala je tračnicama i one su se razdvajale.

And somehow -- we don't really know exactly the whole story -- but

I nekako – ne znamo zapravo cijelu priču – ali

the train took the wrong track and went to a work camp rather than the death camp.

vlak je otišao pogrešnim tračnicama i završio u radnom kampu, a ne kampu smrti.

My grandmother survived and married my grandfather.

Moja je baka preživjela i udala se za mog djeda.

They were living in Hungary, and my mother was born.

Živjeli su u Mađarskoj kada se moja majka rodila.

And when my mother was two years old,

Kada je mama imala 2 godine,

the Hungarian revolution was raging, and they decided to escape Hungary.

bjesnjela je Mađarska revolucija pa su odlučili pobjeći iz Mađarske.

They got on a boat, and yet another divergence --

Popeli su se na brod, i tu je bio još jedan rascjep –

the boat was either going to Canada or to Australia.

brod je išao ili u Kanadu ili u Australiju.

They got on and didn't know where they were going, and ended up in Canada.

Popeli su se i nisu znali gdje idu; i završili su u Kanadi.

So, to make a long story short, they came to Canada.

Da skratim dugačku priču, došli su u Kanadu.

My grandmother was a chemist. She worked at the Banting Institute in Toronto,

Moja je baka bila kemičarka. Radila je u Banting Institutu u Torontu

and at 44 she died of stomach cancer. I never met my grandmother,

i u 44. umrla od raka želuca. Nikada nisam upoznala svoju baku,

but I carry on her name -- her exact name, Eva Vertes --

ali nosim njezino ime – njezino točno ime, Eva Vertes –

and I like to think I carry on her scientific passion, too.

i volim misliti da nosim njezinu strast za znanost također.

I found this passion not far from here, actually, when I was nine years old.

Tu sam strast otkrila nedaleko odavde kada sam imala devet godina.

My family was on a road trip and we were in the Grand Canyon.

Moja je obitelj bila na putovanju i bili smo u Grand Canyonu.

And I had never been a reader when I was young --

Nisam voljela čitati kada sam bila mlada –

my dad had tried me with the Hardy Boys; I tried Nancy Drew;

moj otac je pokušao sa The Hardy Boys, i pokušala sam čitati Nancy Drew,

I tried all that -- and I just didn't like reading books.

pokušala sam sve to i nije mi se svidjelo čitati knjige.

And my mother bought this book when we were at the Grand Canyon

Moja je majka kupila knjigu kada smo bili u Grand Canyonu,

called "The Hot Zone." It was all about the outbreak of the Ebola virus.

zvala se „Vruća zona“. Radilo se o izbijanju virusa ebole.

And something about it just kind of drew me towards it.

Nešto u toj knjizi privlačilo me da ju pročitam.

There was this big sort of bumpy-looking virus on the cover,

Na naslovnoj stranici bio je nekakav veliki virus s kvrgama

and I just wanted to read it. I picked up that book,

i jednostavno sam htjela to čitati. Uzela sam knjigu

and as we drove from the edge of the Grand Canyon

i kako smo odlazili iz Grand Canyona

to Big Sur, and to, actually, here where we are today, in Monterey,

prema Big Suru, i upravo ovdje gdje smo danas, u Montereyu,

I read that book, and from when I was reading that book,

čitala sam tu knjigu. I od kada sam čitala tu knjigu

I knew that I wanted to have a life in medicine.

znam da se želim baviti medicinom.

I wanted to be like the explorers I'd read about in the book,

Htjela sam biti kao istraživači o kojima sam čitala u knjizi,

who went into the jungles of Africa,

koji su putovali u afričku džunglu,

went into the research labs and just tried to figure out

u istraživačkim laboratorijima i pokušavali otkriti

what this deadly virus was. So from that moment on, I read every medical book

što je taj smrtonosni virus. Od tog trenutka čitala sam svaku knjigu o medicini

I could get my hands on, and I just loved it so much.

do koje sam mogla doći, jednostavno sam ih obožavala.

I was a passive observer of the medical world.

Pasivno sam promatrala svijet medicine.

It wasn't until I entered high school that I thought,

Sve do srednje škole nisam pomislila

"Maybe now, you know -- being a big high school kid --

„Možda sada kada sam srednjoškolka,

I can maybe become an active part of this big medical world."

možda mogu postati aktivni dio tog velikog medicinskog svijeta.

I was 14, and I emailed professors at the local university

Imala sam 14 godina i poslala sam poruke profesorima na mjesnom sveučilištu

to see if maybe I could go work in their lab. And hardly anyone responded.

da vidim mogu li raditi u njihovom laboratoriju. I gotovo nitko nije odgovorio.

But I mean, why would they respond to a 14-year-old, anyway?

Zašto bi netko odgovorio 14-godišnjakinji?

And I got to go talk to one professor, Dr. Jacobs,

Uspjela sam razgovarati s jednim profesorom, doktorom Jacobsom,

who accepted me into the lab.

koji me primio u svoj laboratorij.

At that time, I was really interested in neuroscience

Tada sam bila zainteresirana za neuroznanost

and wanted to do a research project in neurology --

i htjela sam raditi istraživački projekt iz neurologije –

specifically looking at the effects of heavy metals on the developing nervous system.

tj. istraživati učinak teških metala na razvoj živčanog sustava.

So I started that, and worked in his lab for a year,

S time sam počela, radila sam u njegovom laboratoriju godinu dana

and found the results that I guess you'd expect to find

i dobila rezultate koji se mogu očekivati

when you feed fruit flies heavy metals -- that it really, really impaired the nervous system.

kada vinsku mušicu hranite teškim metalima – poprilično oštete živčani sustav.

The spinal cord had breaks. The neurons were crossing in every which way.

Kralježnična moždina imala je lomove. Neuroni su se povezivali na razne načine.

And from then I wanted to look not at impairment, but at prevention of impairment.

Otada nisam htjela promatrati oštećenja, već prevenciju oštećenja.

So that's what led me to Alzheimer's. I started reading about Alzheimer's

To me dovelo do Alzheimera. Počela sam čitati o Alzheimeru

and tried to familiarize myself with the research,

i pokušala se upoznati sa istraživanjima,

and at the same time when I was in the --

i u isto vrijeme kada sam –

I was reading in the medical library one day, and I read this article

u medicinskoj sam knjižnici čitala jedan članak

about something called "purine derivatives."

o nečemu što se naziva derivati purina.

And they seemed to have cell growth-promoting properties.

Imaju svojstvo da potiču stvaranje novih stanica.

And being naive about the whole field, I kind of thought,

I kako sam bila naivna što se tog područja tiče pomislila sam

"Oh, you have cell death in Alzheimer's

„ Imamo odumiranje stanica kod Alzheimera

which is causing the memory deficit, and then you have this compound --

što uzrokuje gubitak memorije, i onda imamo ove spojeve –

purine derivatives -- that are promoting cell growth."

derivate purina – koji potiču nastanak novih stanica“.

And so I thought, "Maybe if it can promote cell growth,

Pomislila sam „ Možda ako mogu potaknuti nastanak stanica,

it can inhibit cell death, too."

mogu i zaustaviti odumiranje stanica također."

And so that's the project that I pursued for that year,

Na tom sam projektu radila te godine,

and it's continuing now as well,

i sada traje također,

and found that a specific purine derivative called "guanidine"

otkrila sam da je određeni derivat purina zvan gvanidin

had inhibited the cell growth by approximately 60 percent.

potaknuo rast nastanka stanica za otprilike 60%.

So I presented those results at the International Science Fair,

Prikazala sam te rezultate na Međunarodnom znanstvenom sajmu,

which was just one of the most amazing experiences of my life.

što je bilo jedno od najboljih doživljaja u mom životu.

And there I was awarded "Best in the World in Medicine,"

Tamo sam nagrađena kao „Najbolja u svijetu medicine“

which allowed me to get in, or at least get a foot in the door of the big medical world.

što mi je omogućilo da zakoračim bar jednom nogom u veliki svijet medicine.

And from then on, since I was now in this huge exciting world,

Od tog trena bila sam u tom velikom i zanimljivom svijetu,

I wanted to explore it all. I wanted it all at once, but knew I couldn't really get that.

htjela sam ga cijelog istražiti. Htjela sam sve odjednom, ali znala sam da je to nemoguće.

And I stumbled across something called "cancer stem cells."

Naišla sam na nešto nazvano tumorske matične stanice.

And this is really what I want to talk to you about today -- about cancer.

O tome vam zapravo želim govoriti danas – o raku.

At first when I heard of cancer stem cells,

Kada sam prvi put čula za tumorske matične stanice

I didn't really know how to put the two together. I'd heard of stem cells,

nisam znala kako da to dvoje spojim. Čula sam za matične stanice,

and I'd heard of them as the panacea of the future --

da su univerzalni lijek budućnosti –

the therapy of many diseases to come in the future, perhaps.

terapija za mnoge bolesti iz budućnosti.

But I'd heard of cancer as the most feared disease of our time,

A čula sam za tumore da su najstrašnija bolest našeg doba,

so how did the good and bad go together?

pa kako to dvoje spojiti?

Last summer I worked at Stanford University, doing some research on cancer stem cells.

Prošlo ljeto radila sam u Stanford sveučilištu istraživanja o tumorskim matičnim stanicama.

And while I was doing this, I was reading the cancer literature,

Dok sam to radila čitala sam literaturu vezanu za tumore,

trying to -- again -- familiarize myself with this new medical field.

ponovno sam se pokušavala bolje upoznati sa tim novim medicinskim područjem.

And it seemed that tumors actually begin from a stem cell.

Ispostavilo se da tumori zapravo počinju od matične stanice.

This fascinated me. The more I read, the more I looked at cancer differently

To me fasciniralo. Što sam više čitala, sve više sam na tumor gledala drugačije

and almost became less fearful of it.

i gotovo mi više nije bio strašan.

It seems that cancer is a direct result to injury.

Čini se da je tumor izravna posljedica ozljede.

If you smoke, you damage your lung tissue, and then lung cancer arises.

Ako pušiš, oštećuješ plućno tkivo i pojavi se tumor pluća.

If you drink, you damage your liver, and then liver cancer occurs.

Ako piješ, ošteti se jetra i pojavi se tumor jetre.

And it was really interesting -- there were articles correlating

Ovo je bilo zanimljivo – pronašla sam članke koji je povezuju

if you have a bone fracture, and then bone cancer arises.

lomljenje kostiju sa tumorom kostiju.

Because what stem cells are -- they're these

Matične stanice – one su

phenomenal cells that really have the ability to differentiate

fenomenalne stanice koje imaju mogućnost da diferenciraju

into any type of tissue.

u bilo koju vrstu tkiva.

So, if the body is sensing that you have damage to an organ

Ako tijelo osjeti da ste oštetili neki organ

and then it's initiating cancer, it's almost as if this is a repair response.

ono započinje stvarati tumor kao popravak.

And the cancer, the body is saying the lung tissue is damaged,

I tako tumor, tijelo, kaže da je plućno tkivo oštećeno

we need to repair the lung. And cancer is originating in the lung

i da trebamo popraviti pluća. I tumor se pojavljuje u plućima

trying to repair -- because you have this excessive proliferation

pokušavajući ih popraviti – postoji to neumjereno umnožavanje

of these remarkable cells that really have the potential to become lung tissue.

tih neobičnih stanica koje imaju potencijal da postanu plućno tkivo.

But it's almost as if the body has originated this ingenious response,

Tijelo je započelo jedan genijalan odgovor,

but can't quite control it.

ali ga baš ne može kontrolirati.

It hasn't yet become fine-tuned enough to finish what has been initiated.

Nije još dovoljno usklađeno da završi ono što je započelo.

So this really, really fascinated me.

To me jako jako fascinira.

And I really think that we can't think about cancer --

Mislim da ne možemo razmišljati o tumoru –

let alone any disease -- in such black-and-white terms.

a kamoli o bilo kojoj bolesti - ne možemo ga sagledavati u krajnostima.

If we eliminate cancer the way we're trying to do now, with chemotherapy and radiation,

Ako uklanjamo rak na način na koji sada to radimo, s kemoterapijom i radijacijom,

we're bombarding the body or the cancer with toxins, or with radiation, trying to kill it.

bombardiramo tijelo i tumor toksinima, ili radijacijom, i pokušavamo ga ubiti.

It's almost as if we're getting back to this starting point.

Zapravo se skoro vraćamo na početak.

We're removing the cancer cells, but we're revealing the previous damage

Uklonimo tumorske stanice ali otkrivamo prijašnju štetu

that the body has tried to fix.

koju je tijelo pokušalo popraviti.

Shouldn't we think about manipulation, rather than elimination?

Zar ne bismo trebalo razmišljati o manipulaciji, a ne uklanjanju?

If somehow we can cause these cells to differentiate --

Ako nekako možemo natjerati te stanice da diferenciraju –

to become bone tissue, lung tissue, liver tissue,

da postanu koštano, plućno ili tkivo jetre,

whatever that cancer has been put there to do --

u što god se taj tumor trebao razviti –

it would be a repair process. We'd end up better than we were before cancer.

to bi zapravo bio proces popravka. Završili bismo bolje nego što smo bili prije tumora.

So, this really changed my view of looking at cancer.

To je promijenilo moj pogled na tumor.

And while I was reading all these articles about cancer,

Dok sam čitala sve te članke o tumoru,

it seemed that the articles -- a lot of them -- focused on, you know,

ispalo je da se mnogo njih fokusira

the genetics of breast cancer, and the genesis

na genetiku tumora dojke. Početak tumora,

and the progression of breast cancer --

njegov napredak –

tracking the cancer through the body, tracing where it is, where it goes.

praćenje tumora kroz tijelo, gdje se nalazi, gdje ide.

But it struck me that I'd never heard of cancer of the heart,

Začudilo me to što nikad nisam čula o tumoru srca

or cancer of any skeletal muscle for that matter.

ili tumoru skeletnih mišića.

And skeletal muscle constitutes 50 percent of our body,

A skeletni mišići su 50% ili čak

or over 50 percent of our body. And so at first I kind of thought,

i više od 50% našeg tijela. Pomislila sam

"Well, maybe there's some obvious explanation

„Možda postoji neko očigledno rješenje

why skeletal muscle doesn't get cancer -- at least not that I know of."

zašto skeletni mišići ne obolijevaju od raka – bar ja ne znam za njega.“

So, I looked further into it, found as many articles as I could,

Tražila sam dalje, pronašla sam što sam više članaka mogla

and it was amazing -- because it turned out that it was very rare.

i bilo je nevjerojatno jer je ispalo da je jako rijedak.

Some articles even went as far as to say that skeletal muscle tissue

Neki članci su išli toliko daleko da su rekli da su skeletni mišići

is resistant to cancer, and furthermore, not only to cancer,

otporni na tumor. Nadalje, ne samo na tumor nego

but of metastases going to skeletal muscle.

i na metastaze koje putuju u skeletne mišiće.

And what metastases are is when the tumor --

Metastaze su kada se tumor,

when a piece -- breaks off and travels through the blood stream

dio tumora, odvoji, putuje kroz krvne žile

and goes to a different organ. That's what a metastasis is.

i ode u drugi organ. To je metastaza.

It's the part of cancer that is the most dangerous.

Najopasniji dio tumora.

If cancer was localized, we could likely remove it,

Ako je tumor lokaliziran, može se lagano izvaditi ili

or somehow -- you know, it's contained. It's very contained.

izolirati. Poprilično je odvojen.

But once it starts moving throughout the body, that's when it becomes deadly.

Ali kada se jednom počne kretati po tijelu, onda postaje smrtonosan.

So the fact that not only did cancer not seem to originate in skeletal muscles,

Činjenica je da tumor ne samo da ne započinje u skeletnim mišićima

but cancer didn't seem to go to skeletal muscle --

nego ni ne odlazi u njih –

there seemed to be something here.

izgleda da postoji nešto u tome.

So these articles were saying, you know, "Skeletal --

Članak je rekao „Skeletni –

metastasis to skeletal muscle -- is very rare."

metastaze u skeletnim mišićima su – jako rijetke.“

But it was left at that. No one seemed to be asking why.

I na tome je ostalo. Nitko se nije pitao zašto.

So I decided to ask why. At first -- the first thing I did

Odlučila sam pitati zašto. Prva stvar koju sam učinila,

was I emailed some professors who

poslala sam poruke nekim profesorima koji

specialized in skeletal muscle physiology, and pretty much said,

su specijalizirani u fiziologiji skeletnih mišića, a zvučalo je ovako

"Hey, it seems like cancer doesn't really go to skeletal muscle.

„ Hej, izgleda da tumor ne odlazi u skeletne mišiće,

Is there a reason for this?" And a lot of the replies I got were that

postoji li razlog za to?“ I mnogo odgovora je govorilo da su

muscle is terminally differentiated tissue.

mišići krajnje diferencirano tkivo.

Meaning that you have muscle cells, but they're not dividing,

To znači da se mišićne stanice ne dijele,

so it doesn't seem like a good target for cancer to hijack.

pa one ne izgledaju kao dobra meta za tumore.

But then again, this fact that the metastases

Ali činjenicu da metastaze

didn't go to skeletal muscle made that seem unlikely.

ne odlaze u skeletne mišiće nije objašnjavala ta teorija.

And furthermore, that nervous tissue -- brain -- gets cancer,

Nadalje, živčano tkivo – mozak – dobije tumor,

and brain cells are also terminally differentiated.

a stanice mozga su krajnje diferencirane.

So I decided to ask why. And here's some of, I guess, my hypotheses

Pa sam odlučila pitati zašto. I ovo je moja hipoteza

that I'll be starting to investigate this May at the Sylvester Cancer Institute in Miami.

koju ću početi istraživati ovog svibnja na Sylvester institutu za tumor u Miamiju

And I guess I'll keep investigating until I get the answers.

I pretpostavljam da ću istraživati dok ne dobijem odgovor.

But I know that in science, once you get the answers,

Ali znam da u znanosti jednom kada se dobije odgovor

inevitably you're going to have more questions.

neizbježno se dobije još pitanja.

So I guess you could say that I'll probably be doing this for the rest of my life.

Pa se može reći da ću to raditi cijelog svog života.

Some of my hypotheses are that

Dio je moje hipoteze taj da

when you first think about skeletal muscle,

kada se razmisli o skeletnom mišiću,

there's a lot of blood vessels going to skeletal muscle.

u skeletne mišiće dolazi puno krvnih žila.

And the first thing that makes me think is that

Prvo na što sam pomislila je to da su

blood vessels are like highways for the tumor cells.

krvne žile putovi za tumorske stanice.

Tumor cells can travel through the blood vessels.

Tumorske stanice mogu putovati kroz krvne žile.

And you think, the more highways there are in a tissue,

I pomisliš, ako postoji puno putova u tkivu,

the more likely it is to get cancer or to get metastases.

veća je šansa da se dobije tumor ili metastaza.

So first of all I thought, you know, "Wouldn't it be favorable

Prvo sam pomislila „ Ne bi li tumor želio

to cancer getting to skeletal muscle?" And as well,

dospjeti u skeletni mišić?“ Također,

cancer tumors require a process called angiogenesis,

tumori zahtijevaju proces koji se zove angiogeneza,

which is really, the tumor recruits the blood vessels to itself

što je zapravo kada tumor preuzima krvne žile za sebe,

to supply itself with nutrients so it can grow.

kako bi se snabdijevao tvarima za rast.

Without angiogenesis, the tumor remains the size of a pinpoint and it's not harmful.

Bez angiogeneze tumor ostaje veličine točkice i nije štetan.

So angiogenesis is really a central process to the pathogenesis of cancer.

Znači angiogeneza je zapravo glavni proces koji vodi ka patološkom nastanku tumora.

And one article that really stood out to me

Jedan od članaka koji se isticao

when I was just reading about this, trying to figure out why cancer doesn't go to skeletal

kada sam čitala o tome, pokušavajući otkriti zašto tumor ne ide u skeletne

muscle, was that it had reported 16 percent of micro-metastases

mišiće, govorio je da se 16% mikrometastaza

to skeletal muscle upon autopsy.

otkrije u skeletnim mišićima tijekom obdukcije.

16 percent! Meaning that there were these pinpoint tumors in skeletal muscle,

16%! To znači da postoje te točkice tumora u skeletnim mišićima,

but only .16 percent of actual metastases --

ali samo 16% veličine prave metastaze –

suggesting that maybe skeletal muscle is able to control the angiogenesis,

to sugerira da možda skeletni mišići mogu kontrolirati angiogenezu,

is able to control the tumors recruiting these blood vessels.

mogu kontrolirati tumor koji preuzima te krvne žile.

We use skeletal muscles so much. It's the one portion of our body --

Puno koristimo skeletne mišiće. To je jedan udio našeg tijela –

our heart's always beating. We're always moving our muscles.

naše srce uvijek kuca, naši su mišići uvijek u pokretu.

Is it possible that muscle somehow intuitively knows

Je li moguće da mišić intuitivno zna

that it needs this blood supply? It needs to be constantly contracting,

da treba te dotoke krvi? Treba se stalno kontrahirati

so therefore it's almost selfish. It's grabbing its blood vessels for itself.

pa je zato škrt. Uzima krvne žile za sebe.

Therefore, when a tumor comes into skeletal muscle tissue,

Zato kada tumor dođe u skeletni mišić

it can't get a blood supply, and can't grow.

ne može dobiti dotok krvi i ne može rasti.

So this suggests that maybe if there is an anti-angiogenic factor

To sugerira da možda postoji anti-angiogenski faktor

in skeletal muscle -- or perhaps even more,

u skeletnim mišićima – ili čak faktor

an angiogenic routing factor, so it can actually direct where the blood vessels grow --

koji usmjerava angiogenezu, tako da može usmjeriti gdje krvne žile trebaju rasti.

this could be a potential future therapy for cancer.

Ovo bi mogla biti potencijalna terapija za rak u budućnosti.

And another thing that's really interesting is that

Još jedna zanimljiva stvar je ta da

there's this whole -- the way tumors move throughout the body,

postoje svi ti putovi kojima tumor putuje,

it's a very complex system -- and there's something called the chemokine network.

i to je jako složen sustav – i postoji nešto što se zove mreža kemokina.

And chemokines are essentially chemical attractants,

Kemokini privlače tvari,

and they're the stop and go signals for cancer.

oni su stop i start signali za tumor.

So a tumor expresses chemokine receptors,

Tumor ispušta svoje receptore za kemokine,

and another organ -- a distant organ somewhere in the body --

a drugi organ, daleki organ negdje u tijelu,

will have the corresponding chemokines,

ima kemokine koji se podudaraju;

and the tumor will see these chemokines and migrate towards it.

tumor će vidjeti te kemokine i otputovati prema njima.

Is it possible that skeletal muscle doesn't express this type of molecules?

Je li moguće da skeletni mišići ne ispuštaju te vrste molekula?

And the other really interesting thing is that

Još jedna poprilično zanimljiva stvar je ta

when skeletal muscle -- there's been several reports that when skeletal

da kada skeletni mišić – postoji nekoliko izvještaja da kada je skeletni

muscle is injured, that's what correlates with metastases going to skeletal muscle.

mišić ozlijeđen, to je povezano sa odlaženjem metastaza u skeletni mišić.

And, furthermore, when skeletal muscle is injured,

Nadalje, kada je skeletni mišić ozlijeđen

that's what causes chemokines -- these signals saying,

to uzrokuje kemokine – signale koji govore

"Cancer, you can come to me," the "go signs" for the tumors --

„Tumore, dođi do mene“, znak start za tumor –

it causes them to highly express these chemokines.

uzrokuje visoko ispuštanje tih kemokina.

So, there's so much interplay here.

Postoji puno uzajamnog utjecaja.

I mean, there are so many possibilities

Mislim, postoji puno mogućnosti

for why tumors don't go to skeletal muscle.

zašto tumor ne odlazi u skeletne mišiće.

But it seems like by investigating, by attacking cancer,

Čini se da istraživanjem, napadanjem tumora,

by searching where cancer is not, there has got to be something --

traženja tumora tamo gdje ga nema može se pronaći nešto –

there's got to be something -- that's making this tissue resistant to tumors.

mora postojati nešto što čini to tkivo otpornim na tumore.

And can we utilize -- can we take this property,

Možemo li iskoristiti – možemo li uzeti to svojstvo,

this compound, this receptor, whatever it is that's controlling these

taj sastojak, receptor, što god to bilo što kontrolira

anti-tumor properties and apply it to cancer therapy in general?

antitumorska svojstva i primijeniti ga kao opću tumorsku terapiju?

Now, one thing that kind of ties the resistance of skeletal muscle to cancer --

Jedna stvar koja povezuje otpornost skeletnih mišića sa tumorom,

to the cancer as a repair response gone out of control in the body --

sa tumorom kao odgovorom za popravak koji je otišao izvan kontrole u tijelu,

is that skeletal muscle has a factor in it called "MyoD."

je ta da skeletni mišić ima faktor koji je zove MyoD.

And what MyoD essentially does is, it causes cells to differentiate

Ono što MyoD radi jest da uzrokuje diferencijaciju

into muscle cells. So this compound, MyoD,

stanica u mišićne stanice. Ta tvar, MyoD

has been tested on a lot of different cell types and been shown to

je testirana na mnogo različitih tipova stanica i pokazalo se da

actually convert this variety of cell types into skeletal muscle cells.

mijenja stanice različitih tipova u mišićne stanice.

So, is it possible that the tumor cells are going to the skeletal muscle tissue,

Je li moguće da tumorske stanice odlaze u tkivo skeletnih mišića,

but once in contact inside the skeletal muscle tissue,

ali jednom kada su unutar tkiva skeletnog mišića

MyoD acts upon these tumor cells and causes them

MyoD djeluje na tumorske stanice i uzrokuje njihovu

to become skeletal muscle cells?

promjenu u tkivo skeletnog mišića?

Maybe tumor cells are being disguised as skeletal muscle cells,

Možda su tumorske stanice prerušene u stanice skeletnog mišića

and this is why it seems as if it is so rare.

i zato nam se čine tako rijetke.

It's not harmful; it has just repaired the muscle.

Nije štetno, samo je mišić popravljen.

Muscle is constantly being used -- constantly being damaged.

Mišići se stalno koriste, stalno se i oštećuju.

If every time we tore a muscle

Ako svaki put kada razderemo mišić

or every time we stretched a muscle or moved in a wrong way,

ili kada ga rastegnemo ili pokrenemo u pogrešnom smjeru

cancer occurred -- I mean, everybody would have cancer almost.

pojavi se tumor, skoro svi bi imali tumore.

And I hate to say that. But it seems as though muscle cell,

Ne volim ovo govoriti; izgleda da se mišićna stanica

possibly because of all its use, has adapted

vjerojatno zbog korištenja prilagodila

faster than other body tissues to respond to injury,

brže nego druga tkiva da odgovara na povrijedu,

to fine-tune this repair response and actually be able to finish the process

da pravilno odradi takav odgovor popravkom i zapravo je sposobna završiti taj proces

which the body wants to finish. I really believe that the human body is very,

koji tijelo želi završiti. Vjerujem da je ljudsko tijelo jako jako

very smart, and we can't counteract something the body is saying to do.

pametno i da ne možemo činiti nasuprot nečemu što tijelo govori da se učini.

It's different when a bacteria comes into the body --

Drugačije je kada bakerija uđe u tijelo,

that's a foreign object -- we want that out.

ona je strano tijelo, to želimo izbaciti.

But when the body is actually initiating a process

Ali kada samo tijelo započne proces,

and we're calling it a disease, it doesn't seem as though elimination is

a mi ga na zovemo bolešću, mislim da eliminacija

the right solution. So even to go from there, it's possible, although far-fetched,

nije pravo rješenje. Polazeći od toga moguće je, iako pomalo nategnuto,

that in the future we could almost think of cancer being used as a therapy.

daleko u budućnosti mogli bismo koristiti tumor kao terapiju.

If those diseases where tissues are deteriorating --

Ako bismo mogli bolesti gdje se tkiva troše-

for example Alzheimer's, where the brain, the brain cells, die

na primjer Alzheimer, gdje mozak, stanice mozga odumiru,

and we need to restore new brain cells, new functional brain cells --

i trebaju se zamijeniti novim stanicama mozga, novim funkcionalnim stanicama mozga -

what if we could, in the future, use cancer? A tumor --

što ako bismo mogli u budućnosti koristiti tumore? Tumor,

put it in the brain and cause it to differentiate into brain cells?

umetnut u mozak i natjeran da diferencira u stanice mozga?

That's a very far-fetched idea, but I really believe that it may be possible.

To je poprilično nepojmljiva ideja, ali vjerujem da je moguća.

These cells are so versatile, these cancer cells are so versatile --

Ove stanice su jako promjenjive, te tumorske stanice su jako promjenjive,

we just have to manipulate them in the right way.

samo moramo na pravi način manipulirati njima.

And again, some of these may be far-fetched, but

Ponovno, neke od ovih ideja su možda malo vjerojatne,

I figured if there's anywhere to present far-fetched ideas, it's here at TED, so

ali pomislila sam, ako ću negdje prezentirati „nategnute“ ideje, to je ovdje na TED-u,

thank you very much.

pa vam svima puno zahvaljujem.

(Applause)

(Pljesak)