What do you do when you have a headache? You swallow an aspirin. But for this pill to get to your head, where the pain is, it goes through your stomach, intestines and various other organs first.
當你頭疼時你會怎麼辦? 你會吞下一片阿司匹林。 但要使這片藥到達你的頭, 也就是疼痛的地方, 它要經過你的胃,腸,和許多其他器官。
Swallowing pills is the most effective and painless way of delivering any medication in the body. The downside, though, is that swallowing any medication leads to its dilution. And this is a big problem, particularly in HIV patients. When they take their anti-HIV drugs, these drugs are good for lowering the virus in the blood, and increasing the CD4 cell counts. But they are also notorious for their adverse side effects, but mostly bad, because they get diluted by the time they get to the blood, and worse, by the time they get to the sites where it matters most: within the HIV viral reservoirs. These areas in the body -- such as the lymph nodes, the nervous system, as well as the lungs -- where the virus is sleeping, and will not readily get delivered in the blood of patients that are under consistent anti-HIV drugs therapy. However, upon discontinuation of therapy, the virus can awake and infect new cells in the blood.
口服藥片是最有效且無痛的給藥方式, 對於任何治療都是這樣。 然而不利之處在於, 口服藥品會引起藥物的稀釋。 這是個大問題,尤其對於HIV患者來說。 當他們使用抗HIV藥物時, 這些藥物能夠降低血液中病毒的含量, 并提升CD4細胞(一種免疫細胞)的數量。 但它們也擁有很嚴重的副作用, 其中最大的問題在於,它們在 到達血液的時候已經稀釋, 在到達作用位置時就更糟了。 這是最重要的地方: 當HIV病毒潛伏在宿主體內時, 它們存在於身體裡面,諸如淋巴結、 神經系統,以及肺部﹣﹣ 這裡的病毒處於休眠狀態, 不會很快進入血液, 只要病人持續使用抗HIV的藥物。 然而,一旦治療中斷, 病毒就會甦醒並侵染血液中的新細胞。
Now, all this is a big problem in treating HIV with the current drug treatment, which is a life-long treatment that must be swallowed by patients. One day, I sat and thought, "Can we deliver anti-HIV directly within its reservoir sites, without the risk of drug dilution?" As a laser scientist, the answer was just before my eyes: Lasers, of course. If they can be used for dentistry, for diabetic wound-healing and surgery, they can be used for anything imaginable, including transporting drugs into cells.
如今,上述弊端已成為運用 目前藥物治療HIV的大問題。 也就意味著病人需要終身服藥。 有一天,我突然想到, “我們能否直接向 病毒的潛伏處注入抗HIV藥物, 從而降低藥物稀釋的風險?“ 作為一名雷射光科學家,答案是顯而易見的: 雷射光,當然了。 如果雷射光可以被用於牙科, 糖尿病傷口修復以及外科手術, 那麼它們可以被運用於任何可以想到的領域, 包括向細胞內注入藥物。
As a matter of fact, we are currently using laser pulses to poke or drill extremely tiny holes, which open and close almost immediately in HIV-infected cells, in order to deliver drugs within them. "How is that possible?" you may ask. Well, we shine a very powerful but super-tiny laser beam onto the membrane of HIV-infected cells while these cells are immersed in liquid containing the drug. The laser pierces the cell, while the cell swallows the drug in a matter of microseconds. Before you even know it, the induced hole becomes immediately repaired.
事實上,我們正在運用雷射光脈衝 在HIV感染的細胞上戳或鑽出極小的孔, 這些孔開啟后會立即關閉, 由此可以向其中注入藥物。 ”這怎麼可能?“你可能會問。 是這樣,我們將一束能量極高且極其細的雷射光 照射在被HIV感染細胞的細胞膜上 這些細胞被侵泡在含有藥物的液體里。 激光將細胞刺破,毫秒之間, 細胞就吞下了藥物。 在你察覺到之前, 被鑽出的孔就自動修復了。
Now, we are currently testing this technology in test tubes or in Petri dishes, but the goal is to get this technology in the human body, apply it in the human body. "How is that possible?" you may ask. Well, the answer is: through a three-headed device. Using the first head, which is our laser, we will make an incision in the site of infection. Using the second head, which is a camera, we meander to the site of infection. Finally, using a third head, which is a drug-spreading sprinkler, we deliver the drugs directly at the site of infection, while the laser is again used to poke those cells open.
現在,我們正在培養皿或者試管中, 測試這項技術, 目標在於將這項技術運用於人體, 使它在人體內發揮作用。 “這怎麼可能?”你也許會問。 是這樣的,通過一種三頭儀器。 第一個頭就是我們的激光, 我們會用它對感染部位經行切割。 第二個頭是一個攝像頭, 我們用它來找到感染部位。 最後,第三個頭是一個噴藥頭, 我們將藥物直接注入到感染部位, 與此同時,激光將細胞刺穿一個孔。
Well, this might not seem like much right now. But one day, if successful, this technology can lead to complete eradication of HIV in the body. Yes. A cure for HIV. This is every HIV researcher's dream -- in our case, a cure led by lasers.
目前這看起來還不是那麼成熟。 但終有一天,如果我們能夠成功,這項技術將 完全根除人體內的HIV病毒。 沒錯,治癒HIV。 這是每一個HIV研究者的夢想﹣﹣ 對於我們來說,就是雷射光治療法。
Thank you.
謝謝。
(Applause)
(掌聲)