Nabiha Saklayen: Could you recover from illness ... using your own stem cells? | TED

譯者: Pooi Ling Ng 審譯者: Helen Chang

You're sitting in the doctor's office waiting for test results.

你坐在醫生的辦公室等待檢驗報告。

She comes in and says,

她走進來對你說：

"You have Parkinson's disease."

「你有帕金森病。」

Your heart sinks, and you think about everything that will go wrong:

你的心沉到谷底，想到 一連串可能會發生的壞事：

you'll be unable to walk, unable to feed yourself, your hands trembling, drooling,

無法走路、無法自己 進食、手抖、流口水、

unable to swallow.

無法吞嚥。

But before you say anything, she says,

在你說如何話前，她說：

"Not to worry, we'll put in an order for your cells today."

「別擔心，我們今天會 訂購你的細胞。」

You come back a week later,

你一個星期後回到醫院，

and a surgeon transplants brand new neurons into your brain.

一位外科醫生把全新的神經元 移植入你的大腦。

You just received an on-demand functional cure for Parkinson's,

你剛獲得了由自身的細胞 所製成的定做藥物

made from your cells.

來醫治帕金森氏症。

It sounds like science fiction, but in the future,

聽起來像科幻小說，但在未來，

we will all have the option of having our stem cells banked ahead of time

我們都可以選擇提前儲存幹細胞，

so that any time you need new neurons, new muscle cells, new skin cells,

然後任何時候你需要新的神經元、 新的肌肉細胞，或新的皮膚細胞，

they'd be generated from this bank.

都可以從這個細胞銀行產出。

And because they're 100 percent your cells,

因為它們百分百是你的細胞，

your immune system is extremely unlikely to reject or attack those cells.

所以你的免疫系統極不可能 排斥或攻擊這些細胞。

In fact, the body has no idea

事實上，身體根本不知道

that these cells were actually made in a cell factory.

實際上這些細胞 是由細胞工廠製造的。

All of this is possible because of a breakthrough

這一切得以發生的原因在於

生物學、激光物理 和機器學習的交匯突破。

at the intersection of biology, laser physics and machine learning.

We'll start with biology.

我們從生物學開始。

The human body is an absolute miracle.

人體絕對是一個奇蹟。

Trillions of cells are working in synchronicity

數萬億個細胞在同步工作，

to pump blood, secrete dopamine

輸血、分泌多巴胺，

and let me see and speak to you right now.

以及能讓我現在與你溝通。

But as we age, our cells age, too.

但隨著年齡的增長， 我們的細胞也會老化。

That's why our skin starts to sag,

這就是為什麼我們的皮膚開始下垂，

our cartilage wears away,

我們的軟骨磨損了，

and your five-mile run might turn into a 20-minute walk.

還有你的五英里跑步可能 也會變成 20 分鐘的步行。

Yes, we're all getting older.

是的，我們都在變老。

Our bodies are ticking time bombs.

我們的身體都是定時炸彈。

But stem cells could offer a solution,

幹細胞可以提供一個解決方案，

because one stem cell can become almost any cell in your body.

因為幹細胞幾乎可以 變成你身體的任何細胞。

My grandma passed away due to diabetes in 2012.

我奶奶因糖尿病在 2012 年去世。

If the technology were available at the time,

如果這個技術在當時出現，

we could have used her stem cells to generate new pancreatic cells,

我們可以利用她的幹細胞 製造新的胰腺細胞，

and it could have cured her.

或許她能夠痊癒。

Now, unfortunately, stem cells are notoriously difficult to engineer.

不幸的是，幹細胞 是出了名的難以被設計。

One fundamental problem relates to how they're made,

一個與它們的製作方式 有關的基本問題，

which involves taking a patient's blood cells

就是涉及採取患者的血細胞，

and adding chemicals to those blood cells to turn them into stem cells.

並對這些血細胞添加化學物質 把它們變成幹細胞。

Now, during this chemical process,

在這個化學過程中，

you never end up with a perfect set of stem cells.

你永遠製造不出一套完美的幹細胞。

In fact, you get a very messy plate of cells going in different directions --

事實上，你會得到一盤子非常凌亂 向不同方向發展的細胞——

towards the eye, brain, liver --

成為眼睛、大腦、肝臟。

and every random cell must be removed.

每個隨機的細胞單元都必須被刪除。

Until recently, the main way to remove cells was by hand.

直到最近，去除細胞的 主要方式就是利用手。

I remember the first time I visited the Harvard Stem Cell Institute.

我記得第一次參觀哈佛幹細胞中心時，

I watched a highly skilled scientist sitting at a bench looking at stem cells,

看見一位技術非常好的科學家 坐在一個長凳看著幹細胞，

evaluating them one at a time

並一個一個爲它們檢查，

and removing the unwanted cells by hand.

以及用手移除那些不要的細胞。

It's a slow, tedious and artisanal process,

這是一個緩慢且乏味的手工過程。

which is why generating a personalized stem cell bank today

正因為如此，生成今天的 個性化幹細胞庫

costs about one million dollars.

約花費一百萬美元。

Now, using a donor's stem cells is much cheaper,

使用捐贈者的幹細胞便宜很多，

but your immune system will likely attack or reject those cells

但你的免疫系統很有可能會 攻擊或排斥這些細胞，

unless you take immunosuppressants,

除非你服用免疫抑製劑。

which, unfortunately, is not an option for a lot of people,

但是，這不是大多數人可以選擇的，

especially the elderly.

尤其是長者們。

To avoid this problem,

為了避免這個問題，

some scientists are banking stem cells

一些科學家提取的幹細胞

from individuals with the most common genetic backgrounds.

來自一些擁有最共同遺傳背景的人。

Here in the US,

在美國，

let's say we made a cell bank with 100 of the most common cell lines.

假設我們製作了一個有 100 種 最常見細胞的細胞庫。

It could work for about 75 percent of Caucasians,

它可以幫到 75% 的白種人，

50 percent of African Americans.

以及 50% 的非裔美國人。

But it gets harder.

可是其他的就難了。

My cofounder is Filipina-Mexican,

我的合夥人是菲律賓裔墨西哥人，

and it's unclear if she would be ever covered by a bank.

還不清楚細胞銀行會不會保護她。

And regardless,

無論如何，

if you could choose between using a stranger's cells versus your own,

如果你可以選擇使用陌生人的細胞 或者你自己的細胞，

wouldn't you choose your own?

你不會選擇自己的細胞嗎？

Personalized stem cells are our opportunity

個性化幹細胞是我們的機會，

to make medicines that truly work for me, for you and everyone.

它可以爲你、我， 以及大家製造有效的藥物。

And in order to make this process of stem cell production affordable and scalable,

爲了能讓幹細胞製造過程 可負擔得起且可擴展，

we have to automate it.

我們要把它變成自動化。

Different people are taking different approaches to doing that,

不同的人利用不同的做法，

and I decided to use physics.

而我就利用物理。

Since childhood, I've been a die-hard physics fan,

從小，我就是一個物理的忠實粉絲，

gazing at the stars,

喜歡仰望星星，

daydreaming about space travel.

夢想著去太空旅行。

Thanks, Mom, for not thinking I was weird!

非常感謝我的媽媽， 沒有覺得我很奇怪。

My family moved around a lot,

我的家人經常搬家，

from Saudi Arabia to Germany to Sri Lanka to Bangladesh,

從沙特阿拉伯到德國、 斯里蘭卡、孟加拉國，

and each time, I had to learn new languages and cultures.

而我每次都必須學習 新的語言和文化。

Eventually, I fell in love with physics because it was a universal language

最終，我愛上了物理， 因為它是一種通用語言，

that I didn't have to relearn every time.

我每次都不必重新學習。

When I started my PhD, I joined a laser physics lab,

當我開始攻讀博士學位時， 我加入了一個激光物理實驗室，

because lasers are the coolest.

因為激光是最酷的。

But I also decided to dabble in biology.

但我也決定涉足生物學。

I started using lasers to engineer human cells,

我開始使用激光改造人體細胞，

and when I talked to biologists about it, they were amazed.

當我和生物學家對此 交談時，他們大吃一驚。

Here's why: scientists are always looking for ways to make biology more precise.

原因就是，科學家們一直在尋找 尋找使生物學更精確的方法。

Sometimes cell culture can feel a lot like cooking:

有時培養細胞感覺就很像做飯一樣。

take some chemicals, put it in a pot, stir it, heat it, see what happens,

取出一些化學品，放入鍋中， 攪拌，加熱，看看會發生什麼，

try it all over again.

然後，再試一次。

In contrast, lasers are so precise,

相反，激光是很精準的，

you can target one cell in millions at precise intervals --

你可以以精確的間隔定位 為百萬分之一的細胞——

every second, every minute, every hour -- you name it.

每一秒、每一分鐘、每小時等等。

I realized that instead of doing this tedious process of stem cell culture

我意識到，與其用手來做 這個繁瑣的幹細胞培養過程，

by hand,

we could use lasers to remove the unwanted cells.

我們可以利用激光來移除不要的細胞。

And to automate the entire process,

爲了把整個過程自動化，

we decided to use machine learning to identify those unwanted cells

我們決定利用機器學習 來鑒定不要的細胞，

and zap them.

並擊殺它們。

Algorithms today are great at finding useful information and images,

今日的計算程序很擅長尋找 有用的信息和圖像，

making this a perfect use case for machine learning.

使其成為完美的用例 用於機器學習。

Here's how it works:

它的工作原理就是

Take some blood cells, put it in a cassette.

取一些血細胞放在匣子裡。

Add chemicals to those blood cells to turn them into stem cells like always.

將化學物質添加到這些血細胞中， 它們就會像往常一樣轉化為幹細胞。

Now, instead of having a human look for those unwanted cells

現在，與其由人類

篩檢以及利用人力移除不要的細胞，

and remove them by hand,

the machine identifies the unwanted cells

機器會鑒定不要的細胞， 以及利用激光擊殺它們。

and zaps them with a laser.

As you can see, this entire process happens by machine.

如你所見，這整個過程 都是由機器做的。

The computer decides when and how often to print the cells

計算機決定何時、 多頻繁地篩選細胞，

and uses a fully automated system to run the process.

使用全自動系統運行該過程。

After repeated pruning,

經過反覆篩選，

you end up with a perfect culture of your stem cells,

你最終會得到了完美培養的幹細胞，

ready to be banked and used at any time.

以便可以儲存，以後隨時使用。

In the future, we're going to have stem cell farms

將來，我們將擁有幹細胞農場，

with stacks and stacks of hundreds and then eventually millions of cassettes,

會有成堆上百個 最終數以百萬計的匣子，

each cassette a personalized bank for one human.

每個匣子都是為每個人準備的 個性化的幹細胞。

Nurses will take a sample of your cord blood right at birth

護士會在你出生時取臍帶血樣本，

and ship it off for cultivation,

運去培養。

so that for the rest of your life, your stem cells are on file, banked,

這樣，你的幹細胞在餘生中被存檔。

ready to go, should any medical need arise.

如果有醫療需求的話， 它們隨時都能拿出來用。

Let's say you develop heart disease.

假設你患有心臟病。

Your doctor can order up new heart cells.

你的醫生可以訂製新的心臟細胞。

Hair loss. They can order up new hair.

脫髮，他們可以預訂新的頭髮。

The most immediate application of this technology is for implants.

這項技術最直接的應用是用於植入。

Dr. Kapil Bharti's research at the National Eye Institute

卡皮爾·巴蒂博士 在國家眼科研究所的研究

has informed a breakthrough clinical trial

已經公布一項突破性的臨床試驗

for a stem cell derived therapy for blindness.

關於用衍生的幹細胞治療失明。

As the process becomes cheaper,

隨著過程變得更便宜，

scientists can run larger and larger clinical trials at scale

科學家可以進行越來越大的 大規模臨床試驗

to develop new treatments that don't exist today,

來開發今天不存在的新治療方法。

because what costs one million dollars today

因為今天要花費一百萬美元，

will soon be less than 50,000,

隨著時間的推移， 很快就會少於五萬，

and then even cheaper with time.

還隨著時間進展而更便宜。

Now, it gets even more interesting than that.

還有更有趣的。

And perhaps you have longevity in mind.

也許，你有長壽的想法。

That is certainly a possibility.

這當然是一種可能。

In the future, we might use these exact same stem cell banks

將來，我們可能會使用同一幹細胞庫

to generate entire new organs, new tissues, new skin ...

產生全新的器官、 新的組織、新的皮膚……

New bone, teeth, anyone?

新骨頭、新牙齒等等。

This technology also has the potential

這項技術也有潛力

to revolutionize personalized pharmaceuticals.

徹底改變個性化藥品。

Today, taking medicine is, to some degree, trial and error.

今天在某種程度上 吃藥是試錯的過程。

You don't really know if the drug is going to work for you

除非你把藥物放進你的身體，

until you put it in your body.

不然你不會知道藥物對你是否有用。

But what if we had a miniature human replica of you with your cells --

但是如果我們把 你的細胞製成的微型複製品——

eye cells, brain cells, heart cells, muscle cells, blood cells --

眼細胞、腦細胞、心臟細胞、 肌肉細胞、血細胞——

on a chip?

放在一個芯片裡呢？

A miniature human replica of you.

你的微型複製體。

We could take the drugs, test them on the cells in the lab first

首先，我們可以在實驗室 對細胞進行藥物測試，

to see how it works.

看看它是否有效。

If it works, fantastic. Go ahead and take the drug.

如果它有效，那就太棒了。吃藥吧。

If it doesn't, pharmacists can order up custom drugs just for you.

如果不行，藥劑師就會 為你訂購客製化的藥物。

This has been the hope and dream of scientists for decades.

這就是科學家 長久以來的希望與夢想。

With this technology,

有了這個技術，

we can finally realize the true potential of stem cells:

我們終於能夠實現 幹細胞的真正潛力了：

on-demand functional cures made from your cells.

由你的細胞製成的按需功能性療法。

Cures that your body won't reject.

你的身體不會排斥的治療。

Cures that truly work for everyone.

真正對每個人都有效的治療方法。

The future of regenerative medicine is 100 percent personalized,

再生醫學的未來是 百分之百個性化的，

and it's a lot closer than you think.

它比你想像中還要快很多。

Thank you.

謝謝。

(Applause)

（掌聲）