Could We Cure HIV with Lasers? | Patience Mthunzi | TED Talks

Translator: Nika Kotnik Reviewer: Tatiana Rozanec

What do you do when you have a headache?

Kaj naredite, ko imate glavobol?

You swallow an aspirin.

Pojeste aspirin.

But for this pill to get to your head, where the pain is,

A da ta tableta pride do vaše glave, kjer je bolečina,

it goes through your stomach, intestines and various other organs first.

gre najprej skozi vaš želodec, črevesje in druge organe.

Swallowing pills is the most effective and painless way of delivering

Jemanje tablet je najbolj učinkovit in neboleč način dostave

any medication in the body.

kateregakoli zdravila v telo.

The downside, though, is that swallowing any medication leads to its dilution.

Slaba plat je, da požiranje kateregakoli zdravila vodi v njegovo razredčitev.

And this is a big problem, particularly in HIV patients.

In to je velik problem, še posebej pri pacientih s HIV-om.

When they take their anti-HIV drugs,

Ko vzamejo zdravila za HIV,

these drugs are good for lowering the virus in the blood,

so ta zdravila dobra za nižanje virusa v krvi

and increasing the CD4 cell counts.

in višanje števila celic CD4.

But they are also notorious for their adverse side effects,

A so tudi zloglasna zaradi svojih neželenih stranskih učinkov,

but mostly bad, because they get diluted by the time they get to the blood,

v glavnem zato, ker se razredčijo, ko pridejo v kri

and worse, by the time they get to the sites

in še slabše, do takrat, ko pridejo tja,

where it matters most: within the HIV viral reservoirs.

kjer so najbolj pomebna: v rezervoarje virusa HIV-a.

These areas in the body -- such as the lymph nodes,

Ti predeli v telesu, kot so limfne žleze,

the nervous system, as well as the lungs --

živčevje, kot tudi pljuča,

where the virus is sleeping,

kjer virus spi,

and will not readily get delivered in the blood

in ne bo dostavljen v kri

of patients that are under consistent anti-HIV drugs therapy.

pacientov, ki so na redni anti-HIV terapiji.

However, upon discontinuation of therapy,

Ko s terapijo prenehamo,

the virus can awake and infect new cells in the blood.

se virus lahko zbudi in okuži nove celice v telesu.

Now, all this is a big problem in treating HIV with the current drug treatment,

To je velik problem pri zdravljenju HIV-a s trenutno terapijo,

which is a life-long treatment that must be swallowed by patients.

ki je doživljenska in pacienti jo morajo pojesti.

One day, I sat and thought,

Nekega dne sem se usedla in pomislila:

"Can we deliver anti-HIV directly within its reservoir sites,

"Ali lahko dostavimo anti-HIV naravnost v mesto rezervoarja,

without the risk of drug dilution?"

brez tveganja razredčitve?"

As a laser scientist, the answer was just before my eyes:

Kot laserska znanstvenica sem imela odgovor pred očmi:

Lasers, of course.

laserji, seveda.

If they can be used for dentistry,

Če jih lahko uporabljamo v zobozdravstvu,

for diabetic wound-healing and surgery,

za zdravljenje diabetičnih ran in pri operacijah,

they can be used for anything imaginable,

jih lahko uporabljamo za karkoli,

including transporting drugs into cells.

vključno za dostavljanje zdravil v celice.

As a matter of fact, we are currently using laser pulses

Pravzaprav, trenutno uporabljamo laserske pulze,

to poke or drill extremely tiny holes,

da zbodemo ali zvrtamo ekstremno majhne luknjice,

which open and close almost immediately in HIV-infected cells,

ki se odprejo in skoraj nemudoma zaprejo v celicah okuženih s HIV-om,

in order to deliver drugs within them.

da bi vanje dostavili zdravilo.

"How is that possible?" you may ask.

Morda boste vprašali: "Kako je to mogoče?"

Well, we shine a very powerful but super-tiny laser beam

No, posijemo z zelo močnim, a zelo majhnim laserskim žarkom

onto the membrane of HIV-infected cells

na membrano s HIV-om okuženih celic,

while these cells are immersed in liquid containing the drug.

medtem ko so te celice obdane s tekočino, ki vsebuje zdravilo.

The laser pierces the cell, while the cell swallows the drug

Laser prebode celico, medtem ko celica požre zdravilo

in a matter of microseconds.

v nekaj mikrosekundah.

Before you even know it,

Preden se zaveš,

the induced hole becomes immediately repaired.

se ta luknjica v trenutku popravi.

Now, we are currently testing this technology in test tubes

Trenutno preizkušamo to tehnologijo v epruvetah

or in Petri dishes,

ali v petrijevkah,

but the goal is to get this technology in the human body,

a cilj je dobiti to tehnologijo v človeško telo,

apply it in the human body.

jo uporabiti v človeškem telesu.

"How is that possible?" you may ask.

Vprašali boste: "Kako je to mogoče?"

Well, the answer is: through a three-headed device.

Odgovor je: skozi tro-glavo napravo.

Using the first head, which is our laser,

Z uporabo prve glave, ki je naš laser,

we will make an incision in the site of infection.

bomo naredili zarezo na mestu infekcije.

Using the second head, which is a camera,

Z uporabo druge glave, ki je kamera,

we meander to the site of infection.

gremo na mesto infekcije.

Finally, using a third head, which is a drug-spreading sprinkler,

Končno, z uporabo tretje glave, ki je škropilec zdravil,

we deliver the drugs directly at the site of infection,

dostavimo zdravilo naravnost na mesto infekcije,

while the laser is again used to poke those cells open.

medtem ko laser uporabimo, da spet odpremo te celice.

Well, this might not seem like much right now.

To se za zdaj morda ne zdi veliko.

But one day, if successful, this technology can lead

A nekega dne, če bo uspešna, ta tehnologija lahko vodi

to complete eradication of HIV in the body.

v popoln izbris virusa HIV iz telesa.

Yes. A cure for HIV.

Da. Zdravilo za HIV.

This is every HIV researcher's dream --

To so sanje vsakega raziskovalca virusa HIV -

in our case, a cure led by lasers.

v našem primeru, zdravilo, ki ga vodijo laserji.

Thank you.

Hvala.

(Applause)

(Aplavz)