You may not realize this, but there are more bacteria in your body than stars in our entire galaxy. This fascinating universe of bacteria inside of us is an integral part of our health, and our technology is evolving so rapidly that today we can program these bacteria like we program computers.
Ndoshta nuk keni dijeni, por ka me shume baktere ne trupin tuaj sesa yje ne te gjithe galaksine. Ky univers magjepses bakteresh brenda nesh eshte pjese e shendetit tone ne teresi, dhe teknologjia po perparon kaq shpejt sa sot ne mund te programojme bakteret ashtu si programojme kompjuterat.
Now, the diagram that you see here, I know it looks like some kind of sports play, but it is actually a blueprint of the first bacterial program I developed. And like writing software, we can print and write DNA into different algorithms and programs inside of bacteria. What this program does is produces fluorescent proteins in a rhythmic fashion and generates a small molecule that allows bacteria to communicate and synchronize, as you're seeing in this movie. The growing colony of bacteria that you see here is about the width of a human hair. Now, what you can't see is that our genetic program instructs these bacteria to each produce small molecules, and these molecules travel between the thousands of individual bacteria telling them when to turn on and off. And the bacteria synchronize quite well at this scale, but because the molecule that synchronizes them together can only travel so fast, in larger colonies of bacteria, this results in traveling waves between bacteria that are far away from each other, and you can see these waves going from right to left across the screen.
Skema qe ju shihni ketu, e di qe duket si nje lloj skeme sportive, por ne fakt eshte nje projekti im per programimin e pare bakterial. Ashtu si krijojme nje software, ne mund te shkruajme dhe krijojme ADN ne algoritme te ndryshme dhe programe brenda baktereve. Ky program prodhon proteina fluoreshente ne menyre ritmike dhe jep nje molekule te vogel qe i lejon bakteret te komunikojne dhe sinkronizohen, ashtu si po shikoni ne kete filmim. Kolonite bakteriale ne rritje qe ju shihni ketu jane sa gjeresia e nje fije floku. Ajo qe nuk duket eshte se programimi yne gjenetik i udhezon bakteret te prodhojne cdonjera molekula te vogla, te cilat kalojne ndermjet mijera baktereve te vecanta dhe i udhezojne kur te ndizen dhe fiken. Bakteret sinkronizohen shume mire ne kete nivel, Por meqe molekulat qe i sinkronizojne levizin shume shpejt, ne koloni bakteriale te medha, kjo shkakton vale qe levizin midis baktereve qe jane shume larg ndermjet tyre, dhe ju mund te shihni valet qe levizin nga e djathta ne te majte ne ekran.
Now, our genetic program relies on a natural phenomenon called quorum sensing, in which bacteria trigger coordinated and sometimes virulent behaviors once they reach a critical density. You can observe quorum sensing in action in this movie, where a growing colony of bacteria only begins to glow once it reaches a high or critical density. Our genetic program continues producing these rhythmic patterns of fluorescent proteins as the colony grows outwards. This particular movie and experiment we call The Supernova, because it looks like an exploding star.
Programi yne gjenetik bazohet ne kete dukuri natyrore qe quhet ndijim grupi, bakteret krijojne sjellje te koordinuara dhe ndonjehere virulente nese arrijne dendesi kritike. Mund te verehet ne kete filmim si vepron ky ndijim, nderkohe qe nje koloni bakteriale fillon te shkelqeje vetem kur arrin nje dendesi te larte ose kritike. Programimi yne gjenetik vijon te prodhoje keto skema ritmike proteinash fluoreshente me rritjen e kolonise se jashtmi. Kete filmim ne vecanti dhe eksperimentin ne e quajme Supernova sepse duket si nje yll qe shperthen.
Now, besides programming these beautiful patterns, I wondered, what else can we get these bacteria to do? And I decided to explore how we can program bacteria to detect and treat diseases in our bodies like cancer. One of the surprising facts about bacteria is that they can naturally grow inside of tumors. This happens because typically tumors are areas where the immune system has no access, and so bacteria find these tumors and use them as a safe haven to grow and thrive. We started using probiotic bacteria which are safe bacteria that have a health benefit, and found that when orally delivered to mice, these probiotics would selectively grow inside of liver tumors. We realized that the most convenient way to highlight the presence of the probiotics, and hence, the presence of the tumors, was to get these bacteria to produce a signal that would be detectable in the urine, and so we specifically programmed these probiotics to make a molecule that would change the color of your urine to indicate the presence of cancer. We went on to show that this technology could sensitively and specifically detect liver cancer, one that is challenging to detect otherwise.
Pervec programimit te ketyre skemave te bukura une po mendoja: "Cfare behet tjeter me keto baktere?" Keshtu vendosa te hulumtoj si programohen bakteret per te pikasur dhe trajtuar semundjet si psh tumoret. Nje fakt mahnites per bakteret eshte se ato rriten natyralisht ne brendesi te tumoreve. Arsyeja eshte se tumoret jane zona ku sistemi imunitar nuk mund te veproje, per kete bakteret i gjejne keto tumore dhe i perdorin si nje vend te sigurte per tu rritur dhe shumuar. Ne filluam me baktere probiotike, qe jane baktere te sigurta dhe mund te jene me dobi, dhe pame se kur u jepeshin minjve ne menyre orale, keto probiotike rriteshin ne menyre selektive brenda tumoreve. Kuptuam se menyre me e mire per te vene ne pah pranine e ketyre probiotikeve, pra, dhe pranine e tumoreve ishte qe keto baktere te prodhonin nje sinjal qe te ishte i kapshem ne urine, dhe per kete programuam keto baktere te prodhonin nje molekule per te ndryshuar ngjyren e urines duke treguar keshtu pranine e kancerit. Na duhej te tregonim se kjo teknologji do te ishte e ndjeshme dhe specifike per kancerin e melcise, qe eshte veshtire te identifikohet.
Now, since these bacteria specifically localize to tumors, we've been programming them to not only detect cancer but also to treat cancer by producing therapeutic molecules from within the tumor environment that shrink the existing tumors, and we've been doing this using quorum sensing programs like you saw in the previous movies.
Meqe keto baktere vendosen te tumoret, i programuam qe jo vetem te identifikonin tumorin por dhe ta trajtonin ate duke prodhuar molekula terapeutike ne brendesi te mjedisit tumoral qe do te reduktonin tumorin, dhe kete e beme duke perdorur ndijimin e grupit ashtu si pate ne filmime me pare.
Altogether, imagine in the future taking a programmed probiotic that could detect and treat cancer, or even other diseases. Our ability to program bacteria and program life opens up new horizons in cancer research, and to share this vision, I worked with artist Vik Muniz to create the symbol of the universe, made entirely out of bacteria or cancer cells. Ultimately, my hope is that the beauty and purpose of this microscopic universe can inspire new and creative approaches for the future of cancer research.
Imagjinoni sesi ne te ardhmen duke mare probiotike te programuar do te mund te identifikohen dhe trajtohen tumoret, ose dhe semundje te tjera. Aftesia per te programuar bakteret dhe programuar jeten hap horizonte te reja ne hulumtimet per tumoret, dhe per te ndare me ju kete vizion, punova me Vik Muniz per te krijuar simbolin e universit, teresisht me baktere ose qeliza tumorale. Ne fund, shpresoj se bukuria dhe qellimi i universit mikroskopik te frymezoje perqasje te reja dhe krijuese per hulumtime tumorale.
Thank you.
Faleminderit!
(Applause)
(duartrokitje)