The key to a better malaria vaccine | Faith Osier

翻译人员: Tianji (Homer) Li 校对人员: Lipeng Chen

There are 200 million clinical cases

在疟疾肆虐的非洲，

of falciparum malaria in Africa every year,

每年都有两万亿临床病例，

resulting in half a million deaths.

导致了将近50万人的死亡。

I would like to talk to you about malaria vaccines.

我想和你们谈谈疟疾疫苗。

The ones that we have made to date are simply not good enough.

这是我们迄今为止 做的不够好的地方。

Why?

为什么呢？

We've been working at it for 100 plus years.

人类已为此奋斗了100多年。

When we started, technology was limited.

在一开始，科技受限。

We could see just a tiny fraction of what the parasite really looked like.

我们只能看到很小部分的寄生虫。

Today, we are awash with technology,

现在，我们的科技激流勇进，

advanced imaging and omics platforms --

先进的成像和组学平台——

genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics.

基因组学、转录组、蛋白质组学。

These tools have given us a clearer view

这些工具使我们看得更清楚了

of just how complex the parasite really is.

寄生虫是多么的复杂。

However, in spite of this,

然而，除此之外，

our approach to vaccine design has remained pretty rudimentary.

我们的疫苗设计方法仍然很简陋。

To make a good vaccine, we must go back to basics

为了制造一种好的疫苗， 我们必须回到根本

to understand how our bodies handle this complexity.

去了解我们的身体 如何处理这种复杂性。

People who are frequently infected with malaria

那些最近感染疟疾的人

learn to deal with it.

正尝试着去解决它。

They get the infection, but they don't get ill.

他们遭到了感染， 但他们没有生病。

The recipe is encoded in antibodies.

这个配方是用抗体编码的。

My team went back to our complex parasite,

我的团队回到了复杂的寄生虫，

probed it with samples from Africans who had overcome malaria

并对战胜疟疾的非洲人的 样本进行了研究

to answer the question:

以回答一个问题：

"What does a successful antibody response look like?"

一个成功抗体的反应是怎样的？

We found over 200 proteins,

我们查找了超过200个蛋白质，

many of which are not on the radar for malaria vaccines.

其中许多都跟 疟疾疫苗没什么关系。

My research community may be missing out important parts of the parasite.

我的研究团队可能会错失 寄生虫的重要部分。

Until recently, when one had identified a protein of interest,

直到现在，当人们发现 一种有趣的蛋白质时，

they tested whether it might be important for a vaccine

他们会通过队列研究

by conducting a cohort study.

检验它们对疫苗的研究重要与否。

This typically involved about 300 participants in a village in Africa,

这通常涉及到一个非洲村庄内 的三百个参与者，

whose samples were analyzed to see

他们的样本会被采集检查，

whether antibodies to the protein would predict who got malaria

蛋白质的抗体是否能 预测谁得了疟疾，

and who did not.

而谁没有得疟疾。

In the past 30 years,

在过去的三十年里，

these studies have tested a small number of proteins

通常在单一的地方，

in relatively few samples

相对很少的种类中

and usually in single locations.

很少的蛋白质被这些实验检测。

The results have not been consistent.

这些结果并不连续。

My team essentially collapsed 30 years of this type of research

在这个失败的实验上， 我的团队花费了30年，

into one exciting experiment, conducted over just three months.

接着进入了只用了3个月 完成的一个激动人心的实验。

Innovatively, we assembled 10,000 samples

我们创新的组装了从七个非洲国家

from 15 locations in seven African countries,

15个地区收集到的10000个样本，

spanning time, age and the variable intensity

这些样本跨越时间、年龄以及变化的强度

of malaria experienced in Africa.

非洲经历的疟疾。

We used omics intelligence to prioritize our parasite proteins,

为了区分寄生虫蛋白质的优先级， 我们使用组学智能

synthesize them in the lab

在实验室合成它们，

and in short, recreated the malaria parasite on a chip.

简而言之，在芯片上 重新创造了疟原虫。

We did this in Africa, and we're very proud of that.

我们在非洲做过这个， 并为此感到非常自豪。

(Applause)

（鼓掌）

The chip is a small glass slide,

芯片虽然只是个小玻璃片，

but it gives us incredible power.

但却意义非凡。

We simultaneously gathered data on over 100 antibody responses.

我们同时收集数据 超过100个抗体反应。

What are we looking for?

我们在寻找什么呢？

The recipe behind a successful antibody response,

抗体反应成功背后的秘诀，

so that we can predict what might make a good malaria vaccine.

这样一来，我们可以预测 怎样才能研制出好的疟疾疫苗。

We're also trying to figure out

我们也在试着弄清楚

exactly what antibodies do to the parasite.

抗体是怎样对付寄生虫的。

How do they kill it?

它们（抗体）如何 杀死它们（寄生虫）的？

Do they attack from multiple angles? Is there synergy?

它们会从多个角度攻击吗? 有协同作用吗?

How much antibody do you need?

你们需要多少抗体?

Our studies suggest that having a bit of one antibody won't be enough.

我们的研究表明： 一个抗体是不够的。

It might take high concentrations of antibodies

对抗多种寄生虫蛋白质，

against multiple parasite proteins.

可能会消耗很高的抗体浓度。

We're also learning that antibodies kill the parasite in multiple ways,

我们也了解到抗体会 以多种方式杀死寄生虫，

and studying any one of these in isolation may not adequately reflect reality.

单独研究其中的任何一个 可能不能充分反映现实。

Just like we can now see the parasite in greater definition,

宏观来看，就像我们现在 看到的寄生虫一样

my team and I are focused

我和我的团队将重心放在

on understanding how our bodies overcome this complexity.

了解我们的身体克服 这个问题的复杂性。

We believe that this could provide the breakthroughs that we need

我们认为这可以提供 我们需要的突破，

to make malaria history through vaccination.

来通过接种疫苗， 使疟疾成为历史。

Thank you.

谢谢。

(Applause)

（掌声）

(Cheers)

（呐喊）

(Applause)

（鼓掌）

Shoham Arad: OK, how close are we actually to a malaria vaccine?

肖汉姆·阿拉德：实际上，疟疾疫苗 发展到什么程度了?

Faith Osier: We're just at the beginning of a process

费思 奥斯勒：在我们实际发展疫苗之前，

to try and understand what we need to put in the vaccine

我们才刚开始尝试

before we actually start making it.

并理解该怎样制作疫苗。

So, we're not really close to the vaccine, but we're getting there.

因此，我们并不是很接近疫苗， 但我们正在努力。

SA: And we're hopeful.

肖汉姆·阿拉德：并且我们胜利在望。

FO: And we're very hopeful.

费思 奥斯勒：我们必胜。

SA: Tell me about SMART, tell me what does it stand for

肖汉姆·阿拉德：跟我说说SMART， 告诉我它代表什么

and why is it important to you?

并且那为什么对你们很重要？

FO: So SMART stands for South-South Malaria Antigen Research Partnership.

费思 奥斯勒：SMART代表双南 疟疾抗原研究合作企业。

The South-South is referring to us in Africa,

双南指的是非洲的我们，

looking sideways to each other in collaboration,

相互珍视，互相合作，

in contrast to always looking to America and looking to Europe,

而不是总是依赖于美国或欧洲，

when there is quite some strength within Africa.

这时候，非洲显现着 一股强大的力量。

So in SMART,

因此，在SMART中，

apart from the goal that we have, to develop a malaria vaccine,

撇开我们发明疟疾疫苗的目标，

we are also training African scientists,

我们也在培养非洲的科学家。

because the burden of disease in Africa is high,

因为非洲的发病率负担很高，

and you need people who will continue to push the boundaries

并且你需要人们来突破

in science, in Africa.

科学与非洲的边界。

SA: Yes, yes, correct.

肖汉姆·阿拉德：非常正确。

(Applause)

（掌声）

OK, one last question.

好的，最后一个问题。

Tell me, I know you mentioned this a little bit,

告诉我，我知道关于这个 你提过一点，

but how would things actually change if there were a malaria vaccine?

但如果疟疾疫苗被发明出来后 会有怎样的变化呢?

FO: We would save half a million lives every year.

费思 奥斯勒：每年我们可以 拯救50万条生命。

Two hundred million cases.

2亿病例。

It's estimated that malaria costs Africa 12 billion US dollars a year.

据估计，疟疾使非洲付出了 每年120亿美元的代价。

So this is economics.

这就是经济。

Africa would simply thrive.

非洲也将走向繁荣。

SA: OK. Thank you, Faith.

肖汉姆·阿拉德：好的，谢谢你，费思。

Thank you so much.

非常感谢。

(Applause)

（掌声）