Frederick Balagadde: Bio-lab on a microchip

Prevodilac: Jelena Nedjic Lektor: Mateja Nenadovic

The greatest irony in global health

Najveća ironija globalnog zdravlja

is that the poorest countries

je u tome da su najsiromašnije zemlje

carry the largest disease burden.

najveći kontejneri bolesti.

If we resize the countries of the globe

Ukoliko bismo veličine zemalja na planeti

in proportion to the subject of interest,

promenili proporcionalno problemu o kom pričamo,

we see that Sub-Saharan Africa

videli bismo da je podsahraska Afrika

is the worst hit region by HIV/AIDS.

najteže pogođena HIV/SIDA epidemijom

This is the most devastating epidemic of our time.

To je najstrašnija epidemija našeg vremena.

We also see that this region

Takođe možemo uočiti da je to region

has the least capability in terms of dealing with the disease.

koji ima najmanji kapacitet da se nosi sa tom bolešću.

There are very few doctors

Nedovoljno je lekara tamo,

and, quite frankly, these countries do not have the resources

i iskreno govoreći ove zemlje nemaju neophodna

that are needed to cope

sredstva da se nose sa

with such epidemics.

takvom epidemijom.

So what the Western countries,

Tako da su zemlje zapada,

developed countries, have generously done

razvijene zemlje velikodušno

is they have proposed to provide free drugs

predložile da obezbede besplatne lekove

to all people in Third World countries

ljudima u zemljama trećeg sveta

who actually can't afford these medications.

koji u principu ne mogu da priušte ove lekove.

And this has already saved millions of lives,

Ovo je već spasilo milione života

and it has prevented entire economies

i potpuno je sprečilo kolaps

from capsizing in Sub-Saharan Africa.

ekonomije u podsaharskoj Africi.

But there is a fundamental problem

Ovde se nosimo sa osnovnim problemom koji

that is killing the efforts

prosto uništava trud u

in fighting this disease,

borbi protiv ove bolesti,

because if you keep throwing

jer ukoliko samo dajete

drugs out at people

lekove ljudima kojima nije

who don't have diagnostic services,

uspostavljena dijagnoza,

you end up creating a problem of drug resistance.

prosto razvijate sindrom razvoja rezistentnosti na lekove.

This is already beginning to happen in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Ovo se već dešava u podsaharskoj Africi.

The problem is that,

Problem je u tome što

what begins as a tragedy in the Third World

ono što počinje kao tragedija u zemljama trećeg sveta,

could easily become a global problem.

može lako postati globalni problem.

And the last thing we want to see

Poslednja stvar koju želimo

is drug-resistant strains of HIV

jeste rasprostiranje rezistentnih sojeva virusa HIV-a

popping up all over the world,

po čitavom svetu,

because it will make treatment more expensive

jer to će dovesti do povećanja cena terapije,

and it could also restore

i može vratiti na scenu

the pre-ARV carnage of HIV/AIDS.

stopu HIV-SIDA smrtnosti na nivo pre-ARV perioda.

I experienced this firsthand

Ovo sam i lično doživeo

as a high school student in Uganda.

u toku srednje škole u Ugandi.

This was in the 90s

To se dešavalo u periodu '90.

during the peak of the HIV epidemic,

u toku samog vrhunca HIV epidemije,

before there were any ARVs in Sub-Saharan Africa.

pre nego što su uvedeni ARV lekovi u podsaharskoj Africi.

And during that time, I actually lost more relatives,

U tom periodu je epidemija HIV/SID-e usmrtila mnogo mojih rođaka,

as well as the teachers who taught me,

a takođe i nastavnika

to HIV/AIDS.

koji su me podučavali.

So this became one of the driving passions of my life,

To me je motivisalo da se posvetim

to help find real solutions

pronalaženju pravih rešenja

that could address these kinds of problems.

koja bi se na adekvatan način nosila sa ovim tipom problema.

We all know about the miracle of miniaturization.

Svi smo svesni čuda minimalizma.

Back in the day, computers used to fill this entire room,

Ranije su računari bili veličine čitave ovakve sobe,

and people actually used to work inside the computers.

i ljudi su u principu radilu unutar samih računara.

But what electronic miniaturization has done

Minimalizam u elektronici je omogućio

is that it has allowed people to shrink

ljudima da smanje tehnologiju

technology into a cell phone.

do veličine mobilnog telefona.

And I'm sure everyone here enjoys cell phones

Siguran sam da svi prisutni ovde nalaze mobilne telefone

that can actually be used in the remote areas of the world,

koje mogu da koriste u udaljenim krajevima sveta, u zemljama trećeg sveta,

in the Third World countries.

veoma korisnim.

The good news is that the same technology

Dobra vest je što ista ta tehnologija koja je

that allowed miniaturization of electronics

omogućila minimalizam u elektronici,

is now allowing us to miniaturize

danas omogućava da uvedemo minimalizam

biological laboratories.

i u slučaju bioloških laboratorija.

So, right now, we can actually miniaturize

U ovom trenutku možemo svesti

biological and chemistry laboratories

biološku i hemijsku laboratoriju

onto microfluidic chips.

na mikrofluidni čip.

I was very lucky to come

Imao sam sreće da dođem

to the US right after high school,

u SAD odmah nakon srednje škole,

and was able to work on this technology

i bio sam u prilici da radim na ovoj tehnologiji

and develop some devices.

i razvijem neke uređaje.

This is a microfluidic chip that I developed.

Ovo je mikrofluidni čip koji sam razvio.

A close look at how the technology works:

Detaljan pogled na sistem rada ove tehnologije

These are channels that are about the size of a human hair --

Imamo kanale koji su veličine ljudske dlake,

so you have integrated valves, pumps, mixers and injectors --

i tu su integrisani kontrolori protoka, pumpe, mikseri i špricevi,

so you can fit entire diagnostic experiments

tako da možete da smestite čitav dijagnostički eksperiment

onto a microfluidic system.

na sistem mikrofluida.

So what I plan to do with this technology

Moj plan je da iskoristim

is to actually take the current state

ovu tehnologiju kakva postoji danas

of the technology

i na toj platformi

and build an HIV kit

izgradim čitav HIV dijagnostički set,

in a microfluidic system.

na tom sistemu mikrofluida.

So, with one microfluidic chip,

Uz pomoć samo jednog mikrofluidnog čipa

which is the size of an iPhone,

koji je veličine ajFona,

you can actually diagnose

možete uraditi dijagnozu

100 patients at the same time.

100 pacijenata istovremeno.

For each patient, we will be able to do

Moći ćemo da procenimo, za svakog pacijenta,

up to 100 different viral loads per patient.

do 100 različitih titara virusa po pacijentu.

And this is only done in four hours,

Procedura traje samo četiri sata,

50 times faster than the current state of the art,

50 puta je brža od današnjeg najboljeg uređaja,

at a cost that will be five to 500 times cheaper

a cena će biti 500 puta jeftinija

than the current options.

u odnosu na trenutno stanje.

So this will allow us to create

Ovo će nam dozvoliti da plasiramo

personalized medicines in the Third World

personalizovanu medicinu u zemljama trećeg sveta

at a cost that is actually achievable

po ceni koja je u principu dosežna

and make the world a safer place.

i tako ćemo svet učiniti bezbednijim.

I invite your interest

Pozivam vas da se zainteresujete

as well as your involvement

a i da sami doprinesete tome

in driving this vision

da ova vizija

to a point of practical reality.

ugleda svetlost dana.

Thank you very much.

Mnogo vam hvala.

(Applause)

(aplauz)