A promising test for pancreatic cancer ... from a teenager | Jack Andraka

Translator: Joachim Mangilima Reviewer: Nelson Simfukwe

Have you ever experienced a moment in your life

Je umeshawahi kukutana na wakati maishani

that was so painful and confusing,

ambao ulikuwa ni wa huzuni sana

kiasi kitu pekee ulichotaka

that all you wanted to do

kufanya ni kujifunza zaidi na zaidi ili kuelewa hali hiyo?

was learn as much as you could to make sense of it all?

When I was 13, a close family friend who was like an uncle to me

Nilipokuwa na miaka 13, rafiki wa karibu wa familia

ambaye alikuwa kama mjomba kwangu

passed away from pancreatic cancer.

alifariki kwa kansa ya kongosho.

When the disease hit so close to home,

Wakati ugonjwa ulipokumba karibu sana na nyumbani,

I knew I needed to learn more.

Nilitambua nahitaji kujifunza zaidi,

So I went online to find answers.

nikaingia mtandaoni kutafuta majibu.

Using the Internet, I found a variety of statistics on pancreatic cancer,

kwa kutumia mtandao, nikapata takwimu mbalimbali

kuhusu kansa ya kongosho,

and what I had found shocked me.

na kilichonishtusha.

zaidi ya asilimia 85 ya kansa zote za kongosho

Over 85 percent of all pancreatic cancers are diagnosed late,

zinagundulika kwa kuchelewa sana,

when someone has less than a two percent chance of survival.

wakati mtu ana chini ya asilimia ya kuishi.

Why are we so bad at detecting pancreatic cancer?

kwa nini hatufanyi vizuri kugundua kansa ya kongosho?

The reason?

Sababu?mfumo wetu wa utabibu na dawa

Today's current "modern" medicine is a 60-year-old technique.

una umri wa miaka karibu 60 sasa.

That's older than my dad.

Umri huo ni mkubwa kuliko wa baba yangu

(Laughter)

(vicheko)

But also, it's extremely expensive, costing 800 dollars per test,

lakini pia, ni wa gharama kubwa sana,

unagharimu dola za kimarekani 800 kwa kipimo,

and it's grossly inaccurate, missing 30 percent of all pancreatic cancers.

lakini pia vipimo havina uhakika,

na kushindwa kugundua asilimia 30 ya kansa zote za kongosho

Your doctor would have to be ridiculously suspicious that you have the cancer

Daktari wako itabidi awe ni mdadisi wa ajabu sana

kuamua kukuandikia kipimo hiki.

in order to give you this test.

Learning this, I knew there had to be a better way.

nilipojua hili, nikajua lazima iwepo njia bora zaidi.

So, I set up scientific criteria

kwa nikaweka kigezo

as to what a sensor would have to look like

cha kipimo kinavyotakiwa kuwa

in order to effectively diagnose pancreatic cancer.

ili kugundua vizuri kansa ya kongosho.

The sensor would have to be:

Kipimo kinahitajika kuwa cha gharama nafuu, haraka,

inexpensive, rapid, simple, sensitive,

rahisi,kinachogundua haraka,

selective, and minimally invasive.

na kisichohitaji kuingia kwa sehemu kubwa mwilini.

Kuna sababu kwa nini kipimo hiki hakijabadilishwa

Now, there's a reason why this test hasn't been updated in over six decades.

kwa karibia miaka sitini,

And that's because when we're looking for pancreatic cancer,

kwa sababu,tunapoangalia kansa ya kongosho,

we're looking at your bloodstream,

tunaangalia mzunguko wako wa damu

ambao tayari umejaa tani nyingi za protini,

which is already abundant in all these tons and tons of protein,

and you're looking for this miniscule difference in this tiny amount of protein.

na unatafuta chembe tofauti ndogo sana

katika protini ndogo sana,

Just this one protein.

protini hii moja tu.

jambo hili ni gumu sana

That's next to impossible.

lakini, bila kukatishwa tamaa kutokana na shauku ya ujana

However, undeterred due to my teenage optimism --

(Laughter)

(makofi)

(Applause)

I went online to a teenager's two best friends, Google and Wikipedia.

nikaenda mtandaoni kwa marafiki wawili sana wa kijana

Google na Wikipedia

I got everything for my homework from those two sources.

Nilipata kila kitu kutoka vyanzo hivyo viwili,

(Laughter)

nilichokipata ilikuwa ni chapisho

And what I had found was an article

that listed a database of over 8,000 different proteins

ambalo lilionyesha taarifa za protini 8000 tofauti

that are found when you have pancreatic cancer.

ambazo zinaonekana ukiwa na kansa ya kongosho.

So, I decided to go and make it my new mission

kwa hiyo nikaamua hii iwe kazi yangu mpya

to go through all these proteins,

kupitia protini zote hizi na kuona zipi

and see which ones could serve as a bio-marker for pancreatic cancer.

zinaweza kuwa kitambulishi cha kansa ya kongosho.

na kunirahisishia mambo,

And to make it a bit simpler for myself,

I decided to map out scientific criteria, and here it is.

nikachagua kigezo, na ni hiki.

Essentially, first, the protein would have to be found in all pancreatic cancers,

Kwanza, protini lazima ionekane

katika kansa zote za kongosho kwa kiasi kikubwa,katika damu

at high levels in the bloodstream,

katika hatua za mwanzoni.

in the earliest stages, but also only in cancer.

And so I'm just plugging and chugging through this gargantuan task,

Kwa hiyo nikawa nafanya majaribio katika kazi hii ngumu,

and finally, on the 4,000th try,

na mwishowe, katika jaribio la 4000,

when I'm close to losing my sanity,

wakati nakaribia kuwa kichaa,

I find the protein.

nikaipata hiyo protini.

And the name of the protein I'd located was called mesothelin,

jina la protini niliyoiona

linaitwa mesothelin,

and it's just your ordinary, run-of-the-mill type protein,

na ni protini ya kawaida tu,

unless, of course, you have pancreatic, ovarian or lung cancer,

ikiwa tu hauna kansa ya kongosho

ya kizazi au ya mapafu,

in which case it's found at these very high levels in your bloodstream.

ikiwa unazo,protini hii inakua nyingi sana katika damu

But also, the key is that it's found in the earliest stages of the disease,

lakini pia muhimu ni

kwamba inapatikana katika hatua za mwanzo kabisa za ugonjwa,

when someone has close to 100 percent chance of survival.

wakati mtu ana nafasi ya asilimia 100

ya kupona kabisa.

baada ya kupata protini ya uhakika,kuigundua

So now that I'd found a reliable protein I could detect,

I then shifted my focus to actually detecting that protein,

nikabadilisha mwelekeo kwenda katika kuigundua sasa,

and thus, pancreatic cancer.

na hivyo, kugundua pia kansa ya kongosho.

mafanikio yangu yalipatina mahali pasipotarajiwa kabisa,

Now, my breakthrough came in a very unlikely place,

possibly the most unlikely place for innovation --

labda sehemu isiyotegemewa kwa uvumbuzi kabisa:

katika darasa langu la biolojia la sekondari,

my high school biology class, the absolute stifler of innovation.

mahali ambapo ubunifu unazuiwa kabisa.

(Laughter)

(vicheko)(makofi)

(Applause)

na nilifanikiwa kuliona andiko kuhusu vitu vinaitwa

And I had snuck in this article on these things called carbon nanotubes,

tyubu ndogo sana za kaboni.

and that's just a long, thin pipe of carbon

that's an atom thick, and one 50,000th the diameter of your hair.

ambazo upana wake ni kama wa atom

na kipenyo chake moja ya hamsini ya kipenyo cha nywele yako.

And despite their extremely small sizes,

pamoja na udogo huu

they have these incredible properties.

zina tabia za ajabu sana.

They're kind of like the superheroes of material science.

ni kama mashujaa wa sayansi ya maada.

wakati nasoma chapisho

And while I was sneakily reading this article under my desk in my biology class,

chini ya dawati katika darasa la elimu ya viumbe,

we were supposed to be paying attention to these other kind of cool molecules,

tulitakiwa tuwe makini

katika molekyuli ziitwazo antibodi

called antibodies.

And these are pretty cool because they only react

na hizi zimetulia sana kwa kuwa zinaweza ungana tu

with one specific protein,

na protini moja,

but they're not nearly as interesting as carbon nanotubes.

lakini sio za kupendeza kama tyubu ndogo za kaboni

kwa hiyo nilikuwa darasani,

And so then, I was sitting in class, and suddenly it hit me:

na ghafla nikatambua:

I could combine what I was reading about, carbon nanotubes,

Kwamba naweza kuunganisha nilichokuwa nasoma,

tyubu ndogo za kaboni,

with what I was supposed to be thinking about, antibodies.

na kile nilichotakiwa kuwaza, antibodi.

Essentially, I could weave a bunch of these antibodies

naweza nikazungusha antibodi hizi

into a network of carbon nanotubes,

katika mkusanyiko wa tyubu ndogo za kaboni

such that you have a network that only reacts with one protein,

kiasi kwamba unakuwa na mkusanyiko

ambao unaungana na protini moja

but also, due to the properties of these nanotubes,

lakini,pia kutokana na tabia za tyubu ndogo za kaboni,

it will change its electrical properties,

itabadilisha tabia zake za kiumeme

based on the amount of protein present.

kulingana na kiasi cha protini kilichopo

However, there's a catch.

lakini kuna jambo la kuzingatia.

These networks of carbon nanotubes are extremely flimsy.

muunganiko huu wa tybu ndogo za kaboni ni laini sana

kwa kuwa ni laini sana,zinahitaji kutegemezwa

And since they're so delicate, they need to be supported.

So that's why I chose to use paper.

ndio maana nikachagua karatasi.

Making a cancer sensor out of paper is about as simple

Kutengeneza kipimo cha kansa kwa karatasi

ni rahisi kama kutengeneza biskuti za chokleti

as making chocolate chip cookies, which I love.

ambazo nazipenda

(Laughs)

You start with some water, pour in some nanotubes,

unaanza na maji,unamimina nanotubes,

add antibodies, mix it up, take some paper, dip it, dry it,

ongeza antibodies, changanya,

chukua karatasi,chovya,ikaushe,

and you can detect cancer.

na unaweza ukagundua kansa.

(makofi)

(Applause)

Then, suddenly, a thought occurred

ghafla, wazo likanijia,

that kind of put a blemish on my amazing plan here.

lililoweka doa katika mpango wangu wa ajabu.

I can't really do cancer research on my kitchen countertop.

siwezi nikafanya utafiti wa kansa

katika jiko langu.

My mom wouldn't really like that.

mama yangu hatapenda kitu hicho.

So instead, I decided to go for a lab.

kwa hiyo, nikaamua kwenda maabara.

So I typed up a budget, a materials list, a timeline, and a procedure,

nikaandika bajeti, orodha ya vifaa,

ratiba na taratibu zitakazotumika,

and I emailed it to 200 different professors

nikatuma kama barua pepe kwa maprofesa 200 tofauti

at Johns Hopkins University and the National Institutes of Health --

katika chuo cha Johns Hopkins

na katika taasisi ya afya ya taifa,

essentially, anyone that had anything to do with pancreatic cancer.

kimsingi yoyote ambaye alikuwa na chochote kuhusu kansa ya kongosho.

I sat back waiting for these positive emails to be pouring in,

nikakaa nikisubiri majibu mazuri kuingia,

saying, "You're a genius! You're going to save us all!"

yakisema, "wewe una kipaji cha ajabu!

unaenda kutusaidia sisi wote!"

And --

na - (vicheko)

(Laughter)

Then reality took hold, and over the course of a month,

baadae ukweli ukaanza kuonekana,

na ndani ya mwezi mmoja,

I got 199 rejections out of those 200 emails.

nikapata majibu ya kukataa 199 kati ya barua pepe zile 200.

profesa mmoja akapitia mpango wangu wote

One professor even went through my entire procedure,

painstakingly -- I'm not really sure where he got all this time --

sijui alipata wapi muda wote huu --

and he went through and said why each and every step

na akaanza kusema kwa nini kila hatua

was like the worst mistake I could ever make.

ni kosa kubwa sana.

Clearly, the professors did not have as high of an opinion of my work as I did.

wazi wazi kabisa kila profesa hakuwa na maono makubwa

kuhusu kazi yangu kama nilivyokuwa mimi.

lakini, kulikuwa bado na tumaini.

However, there is a silver lining.

One professor said, "Maybe I might be able to help you, kid."

profesa mmoja, "labda naweza kukusaidia kijana."

So, I went in that direction.

kwa hiyo nikaenda katika mwelekeo huo.

(Laughter)

(vicheko)

As you can never say no to a kid.

kwa kuwa hauwezi kumkatalia mtoto.

And so then, three months later,

kwa hiyo miezi mitatu baadae,

I finally nailed down a harsh deadline with this guy,

nilifanikiwa kupanga kukutana na mtu huyu,

and I get into his lab, I get all excited, and then I sit down,

nikaingia katika maabara yake,

nikawa na shauku kubwa, halafu nikakaa chini

I start opening my mouth and talking,

nikaanza kuongea,

sekunde tano baadaye akamwita Daktari wa fasafa

and five seconds later, he calls in another Ph.D.

Ph.D.s just flock into this little room,

madaktari wa falsafa wakajaa katika chumba hiki kidogo,

and they're just firing these questions at me,

wakawa wananiuliza maswali,

and by the end, I kind of felt like I was in a clown car.

na mwishowe,nikahisi kama nilikuwa katika gari lililojaa watu wengi mno

There were 20 Ph.D.s, plus me and the professor

Kulikuwa na madaktari wa falsafa 20, mimi na huyu Profesa

tumejazana katika ofisi ndogo

crammed into this tiny office space,

with them firing these rapid-fire questions at me,

wakinirushia maswali ya haraka haraka

trying to sink my procedure.

wakijaribu kuzamisha mpango wangu.

How unlikely is that? I mean, pshhh.

Jinsi gani jambo hili lilivyokuwa gumu?

(Laughter)

(vicheko)

However, subjecting myself to that interrogation --

bila kujali kuhojiwa kote kule,

I answered all their questions, and I guessed on quite a few

nilijibu maswali yao yote,

nilibahatisha katika baadhi ya maswali lakini nilikuwa sahihi,

but I got them right --

mwishowe nikafanikiwa kupata nafasi ya maabara niliyoihitaji.

and I finally landed the lab space I needed.

But it was shortly afterwards that I discovered my once brilliant procedure

muda mfupi baadae ndipo nikagundua

mpango wango mahiri

had something like a million holes in it,

kuwa na makosa karibia milioni moja,

and over the course of seven months,

na ndani ya miezi saba,

I painstakingly filled each and every one of those holes.

nikaanza kazi nzito ya kusahihisha makosa haya yote moja baada ya jingine.

The result?

Matokeo yake? kipimo cha karatasi

One small paper sensor that costs three cents and takes five minutes to run.

kikigharimu senti tatu za dola kikichukua dakika tano.

This makes it 168 times faster,

hii inakifanya kiwe mara 168 haraka zaidi,

over 26,000 times less expensive,

kikiwa na gharama ya chini ya mara 26,000

and over 400 times more sensitive than our current standard

na kikiwa cha uhakika kwa zaidi ya mara 400

kushinda kipimo cha sasa cha kansa ya kongosho

for pancreatic cancer detection.

(makofi)

(Applause)

One of the best parts of the sensor, though,

moja kati ya vitu muhimu kuhusu kipimo hiki,

ni kuwa kinatoa majibu sahihi kwa karibia asilimia 100,

is that it has close to 100 percent accuracy,

and can detect the cancer in the earliest stages,

na kinagundua kansa katika hatua za mwanzo kabisa

wakati mtu ana nafasi ya asilimia 100 ya kupona.

when someone has close to 100 percent chance of survival.

And so in the next two to five years,

kwa hiyo ndani ya miaka miwili mpaka mitano ijayo,

this sensor could potentially lift the pancreatic cancer survival rates

kipimo hiki kinaweza kikaongeza watu kupona kansa ya kongosho

from a dismal 5.5 percent to close to 100 percent,

kutoka asilimia 5.5

mpaka karibu na asilimia 100,

and it would do similar for ovarian and lung cancer.

na pia itafanya hivyo hivyo kwa kansa ya kizazi na ya mapafu.

lakini haitaishia hapo tu.

But it wouldn't stop there.

By switching out that antibody,

Kwa kuifunga hiyo antibodi,

you can look at a different protein, thus, a different disease --

unaweza ukaangalia protini mbalimbali,

kwa hiyo pia magonjwa mbalimbali,

potentially any disease in the entire world.

lakini uwezo huu ni kwa ugonjwa wowote duniani

So that ranges from heart disease, to malaria, HIV, AIDS,

kutoka ugonjwa wa moyo

mpaka Malaria,HIV,AIDS,

as well as other forms of cancer -- anything.

pia ni aina nyingine za kansa-- ugonjwa wowote ule.

And so, hopefully one day,

Kwa hiyo, tumaini ni kuwa siku moja

we can all have that one extra uncle,

wote tunaweza tukawa na yule mjomba wa ziada,

that one mother, that one brother, sister,

yule mama,yule kaka,dada,

tunaweza kuwa na ndugu wa kumpenda,

we can have that one more family member to love.

na mioyo yetu itapunguziwa mzigo wa ugonjwa mmoja

And that our hearts will be rid of that one disease burden

that comes from pancreatic, ovarian and lung cancer,

utokanao na kansa ya kongosho,kizazi na mapafu,

and potentially any disease.

au ugonjwa wowote mwingine,

But through the Internet, anything is possible.

na kupitia mtandao mengi yanawezekana.

Theories can be shared,

tunaweza kushirikishana nadharia,

and you don't have to be a professor with multiple degrees

na sio lazima uwe profesa

na shahada nyingi ili mawazo yako yathaminike.

to have your ideas valued.

It's a neutral space, where what you look like, age or gender --

ni eneo lililo wazi kwa mtu yeyote

ambapo mwonekano,umri wako au jinsia,

it doesn't matter.

haijalishi.

It's just your ideas that count.

ni mawazo yako tu ndiyo yanayojalisha.

Kwangu mimi,ni suala la kuangalia mtandao wa intaneti

For me, it's all about looking at the Internet in an entirely new way,

kwa mtazamo mpya kabisa

to realize that there's so much more to it

ili kujua kuna mengi sana ndani yake

than just posting duck-face pictures of yourself online.

badala ya kuweka picha zako tu mtandaoni.

(Laughter)

unaweza ukaibadilisha dunia.

You could be changing the world.

So if a 15 year-old who didn't even know what a pancreas was

kwa hiyo kama kijana wa miaka 15

ambaye alikuwa hajui hata kongosho ni nini

could find a new way to detect pancreatic cancer --

anaweza akavumbua njia mpya ya kugundua kansa ya kongosho.

jaribu kufikiri unaweza ukafanya mangapi.

just imagine what you could do.

Thank you.

Asante sana

(Applause)

(makofi)