Could we treat spinal cord injuries with asparagus? | Andrew Pelling

Prevodilac: Milica Vasic Lektor: Ivana Korom

So I'm here today surrounded by all these fruits and vegetables,

Danas sam ovde okružen svim ovim voćem i povrćem,

because these are the subjects of my experiments.

zato što su oni predmet mog proučavanja.

Now, bear with me for just a second,

Sada, pokušajte da shvatite samo na sekund,

but about a decade ago

ali pre oko deset godina

my team started to rethink how we make materials

moj tim je počeo da preispituje kako mi pravimo materijale

for reconstructing damaged or diseased human tissues,

za rekonstruisanje oštećenih ili obolelih ljudskih tkiva,

and we made the totally unexpected discovery

i došli smo do potpuno neočekivanog otkrića

that plants could be used for this purpose.

da bi biljke mogle da se koriste za ovu svrhu.

In fact, we invented a way to take these plants

Zapravo, smislili smo način da uzmemo ove biljke

and strip them of all their DNA and their cells,

i izvučemo svu njihovu DNK i njihove ćelije,

leaving behind natural fibers.

ostavljajući im prirodna vlakna.

And these fibers could then be used as a scaffold

I ova bi se vlakna mogla koristiti kao skela

for reconstructing living tissue.

za rekonstruisanje živog tkiva.

Now I know this is a little weird,

Sad, ja znam da je ovo malo čudno,

but in our very first proof-of-concept experiment,

ali u našem prvom eksperimentu dokazivanja koncepta,

we took an apple,

uzeli smo jabuku,

carved it into the shape of a human ear,

izrezali smo je u oblik ljudskog uha,

and then we took that ear-shaped scaffold,

i onda smo uzeli tu skelu u obliku uha,

sterilized it, processed it

sterilizovali smo je, obradili je

and coaxed human cells to grow inside of it.

i prinudili ljudske ćelije da rastu unutar toga.

We then took the next step and implanted it,

Onda smo napravili sledeći korak i ugradili ih,

and we were able to demonstrate

i mogli smo da demonstriramo

that the scaffolds stimulated the formation of blood vessels,

da je skela stimulisala formiranje krvnih sudova,

allowing the heart to keep them alive.

omogućavajući srcu da ih održi u životu.

So not too long after these discoveries were taking place,

Pa nedugo nakon što su se dogodila ova otkrića,

I was at home cooking asparagus for dinner,

bio sam kod kuće i spremao šparglu za večeru,

and after cutting the ends off,

i nakon odsecanja krajeva,

I was noticing that the stalks were full of these microchanneled vascular bundles.

primetio sam da su stabiljke bile pune ovih vaskularnih snopova mikrokanala.

And it really reminded me

To me je zaista podestilo

of a whole body of bioengineering effort aimed at treating spinal cord injury.

na čitav niz bioinžinjerskih napora usmerenih na lečenje kičmene moždine.

Up to half a million people per year suffer from this type of injury,

Do pola miliona ljudi godišnje pati od ove vrste povrede,

and the symptoms can range from pain and numbness

i simptomi mogu varirati od bola i utrnulosti

to devastating traumas

do razornih trauma

that lead to a complete loss of motor function and independence.

koje dovode do potpunog gubitka motoričkih funkcija i nezavisnosti.

And in these forms of paralysis,

I za ove oblike paralize

there's no accepted treatment strategy,

ne postoji prihvaćena strategija lečenja,

but one possible solution

ali jedno moguće rešenje

might be the use of a scaffold that has microchannels

može biti upotreba skele koja ima mikrokanale

which may guide regenerating neurons.

koji mogu voditi regenerativne neurone.

So, could we use the asparagus and its vascular bundles

Pa, da li bismo mogli da koristimo špargle i njene vaskularne snopove

to repair a spinal cord?

da popravimo kičmenu moždinu?

This is a really dumb idea.

Ovo je zaista glupa ideja.

First of all, humans aren't plants.

Pre svega, ljudi nisu biljke.

Our cells have not evolved to grow on plant polymers,

Naše ćelije nisu evoluirale da rastu na biljnim polimerima,

and plant tissues have no business being found in your spinal cord.

i biljna tkiva nemaju šta da traže u vašoj kičmenoj moždini.

And secondly,

I drugo,

ideally these types of scaffolds should disappear over time,

idealno ovi tipovi skela trebalo bi da nestanu vremenom,

leaving behind natural, healthy tissue.

ostavljajući za sobom prirodno, zdravo tkivo.

But plant-based scaffolds don't do that,

Ali skele na biljnoj osnovi ne rade to,

because we lack the enzymes to break them down.

jer nam nedostaju enzimi da bi ih razdvojili.

Funnily enough,

Začudo,

these properties were exactly why we were having so much success.

ova svojstva su razlog zašto smo mi imali toliko uspeha.

Over the course of many experiments,

Tokom mnogo eksperimenata

we were able to demonstrate

mogli smo da demonstriramo

that the inertness of plant tissue is exactly why it's so biocompatible.

da je inertnost biljnih tkiva upravo razlog što je ono biokompatibilno.

In a way, the body almost doesn't even see it,

Na neki nacin, telo gotovo da ga i ne vidi,

but regenerating cells benefit from its shape and stability.

ali obnavljajuće ćelije imaju koristi od njegovog oblika i stabilnosti.

Now this is all well and good,

Sad, ovo je sve dobro,

but I constantly felt this weight of doubt

ali sam stalno osećao ovu težinu sumnje

when it came to thinking about spinal cords.

kada je došlo do razmišljanja o kičmenoj moždini.

So many scientists were using materials from traditional sources,

Mnogo naučnika je koristilo materijale iz tradicionalnih izvora,

like synthetic polymers and animal products --

kao sintetičke polimere i životinjske proizvode -

even human cadavers.

čak i ljudske leševe.

I felt like a complete outsider

Osećao sam se kao potpuni autsajder

with no real right to work on such a hard problem.

bez prava da radim na tako teškom problemu.

But because of this doubt,

Ali zbog ove sumnje,

I surrounded myself with neurosurgeons and clinicians,

okružio sam se neurohirurzima i kliničarima,

biochemists and bioengineers,

biohemičarima i bioinžinjerima,

and we started to plan experiments.

i počeli smo da planiramo eksperimente.

The basic idea is that we would take an animal,

Osnovna ideja je bila ta da uzmemo životinju,

anesthetize it,

anesteziramo je,

expose its spinal cord

izložimo njenu kičmenu moždinu

and sever it in the thoracic region,

i prekinemo je u torakalnom predelu,

rendering the animal a paraplegic.

čineći životinju paraplegičnom.

We would then implant an asparagus scaffold

Tada bismo ugradili skelu sa šparglama

between the severed ends of the spinal cord

između nekoliko krajeva kičmene moždine

to act as a bridge.

da deluje kao most.

Now this is crucially important.

Ovo je od presudne važnosti.

We're only using asparagus.

Koristimo samo špargle.

We're not adding stem cells or electrical stimulation

Ne dodajemo matične ćelije ili električnu stimulaciju

or exoskeletons

ili egzoskelete

or physical therapy

ili fizikalnu terapiju

or pharmaceuticals.

ili farmaceutske proizvode.

We're simply investigating

Mi jednostavno istražujemo

if the microchannels in the scaffold alone

da li su mikrokanali na skeli

are enough to guide the regeneration of neurons.

dovoljni za vođenje regeneracije neurona.

And here are the main results.

I evo glavnih rezultata.

In this video, you can see an animal about eight weeks after being paralyzed.

U ovom videu možete videti životinju oko osam nedelja nakon što je paralizovana.

You can see she can't move her back legs,

Možete videti da ne pomera zadnje noge,

and she can't lift herself up.

i ne može da se podigne.

Now I know how difficult this video is to watch.

Sada, znam koliko je teško gledati ovaj video.

My team struggled every day with these types of experiments,

Moj tim se borio svaki dan sa ovim tipom eksperimenata,

and we constantly asked ourselves why we were doing this ...

i konstantno smo se pitali zašto radimo ovo...

until we started to observe something extraordinary.

dok nismo počeli da posmatramo nešto izvanredno.

This is an animal that received an implant.

Ovo je životinja koja je dobila implant.

Now she's not walking perfectly,

Sada, ne hoda savršeno,

but she's moving those back legs

ali pomera zadnje noge

and she's even starting to lift herself up.

i čak počinje da se podiže.

And on a treadmill,

I na traci za trčanje,

you can see those legs moving in a coordinated fashion.

može se videti da se noge pomeraju u koordiniranom pokretu.

These are crucial signs of recovery.

Ovo su krucijalni znakovi oporavka.

Now we still have a lot of work to do,

Sada, imamo još dosta posla,

and there are a lot of questions to answer,

i na mnogo pitanja je potrebno odgovoriti,

but this is the first time anyone has shown

ali ovo je prvi put da je neko pokazao

that plant tissues can be used to repair such a complex injury.

da biljno tkivo može da se koristi da obnovi tako kompleksnu povredu.

Even so, we've been sitting on this data for over five years.

Ali ipak, čuvali smo ove podatke više od pet godina.

Doubt drove us to repeat these experiments again and again,

Sumnja nas je privukla da ponovimo ove eksperimente ponovo i ponovo,

to the point of almost bankrupting my lab.

skoro do tačke bankrotiranja moje laboratorije.

But I kept pushing,

Ali nastavio sam da guram,

because I knew these results could be the start of something extraordinary.

zato što sam znao da ovi rezultati mogu biti početak nečeg inzvanrednog.

And what's just as exciting

I uzbudljivo je

is that my company is now translating these discoveries into the clinic --

da moja kompanija sada prevodi ova otkrića u kliniku -

into the real world.

u stvaran svet.

This technology has just been designated a breakthrough medical device by the FDA.

Administracija za hranu i lekove je ovu tehnologiju proglasila revolucionarnom.

And this designation means

I ova oznaka znači

that right now we're in the midst of planning human clinical trials

da smo sada usred planiranja kliničkog ispitivanja ljudi

set to begin in about two years.

koje treba da počne za oko dve godine.

So I'd like to show you a prototype

Pa voleo bih da vam pokažem prototip

of one of our state-of-the-art spinal cord implants.

jednog od izuzetnih implanata za kičmenu moždinu.

It's still made from asparagus

I dalje je napravljen od špargli

and contains all of those microchannels.

i sadrži mikrokanale.

And you can see that it moves and bends

I možete videti da se pomera i savija

and has the same feel as human tissue.

i ima isti osećaj kao ljudsko tkivo.

And you know,

I znate,

I think the real innovation is that we're now able to design

ja mislim da je stvarna inovacija to da sada možemo da dizajniramo

or program the architecture and structure of plant tissues in such a way

ili programiramo arhitekturu i strukturu biljnih tkiva na takav način

that they could direct cell growth to address an unmet medical need.

da mogu usmeriti rast ćelije na zadovoljavanje medicinskih potreba.

As scientists,

Kao naučnici,

we spend our lives living on a knife's edge.

mi provodimo naše živote živeći na ivici noža.

On the one hand,

S jedne strane,

it's our job to fundamentally broaden the horizons

naš je posao da fundamentalo proširimo horizonte

of human knowledge,

ljudskog znanja,

but at the same time, we're trained to doubt --

ali u isto vreme obučavani smo da sumnjamo -

to doubt our data, to doubt our experiments,

da sumnjamo u naše podatke, da sumnjamo u naše eksperimente,

to doubt our own conclusions.

da sumnjamo u naše zaključke.

We spend our lives crushed under the weight

Provodimo živote pognuti pod teretom

of constant, unrelenting, never-ending anxiety, uncertainty and self-doubt.

konstantne, nestvarne, večne anksioznosti, nesigurnosti i sumnje.

And this is something I really struggle with.

I ovo je nešto sa čime se borim.

But I think almost every scientist can tell you

Mislim da skoro svaki naučnik može da vam kaže

about the time they ignored those doubts

o vremenu kada je ignorisao ove sumnje

and did the experiment that would never work.

i radio eksperiment koji nikada ne bi uspeo.

And the thing is, every now and then,

I stvar je u tome što s vremena na vreme,

one of those experiments works out.

jedan od tih eksperimenata uspeva.

The challenge we face is that while doubt can be destructive

Izazov sa kojim se suočavamo je da iako sumnja može biti destruktivna

to your mental health,

za vaše mentalno zdravlje,

it's also the reason why scientific rigor is such a potent tool for discovery.

ona je i razlog zašto je naučna rigoroznost toliko moćno sredstvo otkrića.

It forces us to ask the difficult questions

To nas primorava da postavljamo teška pitanja

and repeat experiments.

i ponavljamo eksperimente.

Nothing about that is easy.

Ništa u vezi s tim nije lako.

And often it becomes our responsibility

I često postaje naša odgovornost

to bear the burden of the hard and sometimes heart-wrenching experiment.

da podnesemo teret teškog i ponekad srceparajućeg eksperimenta.

This ultimately leads to the creation of new knowledge,

Ovo na kraju dovodi do stvaranja novih znanja,

and in some really rare cases,

i u nekim stvarno retkim slučajevima,

the type of innovation that just might change a person's life.

do vrste inovacije koja možda može da promeni nečiji život.

Thank you.

Hvala vam.