Irina Kareva: Math can help uncover cancer's secrets
إيرينا كاريفا: يمكنُ للرياضيات المساعدة في الكشف عن غموض مرض السرطان
Irina Kareva is looking for answers to biological questions using mathematical modeling. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
of differential equations,
behavior over time
لآلية معينة مع مرور الزمن.
interact with each other
مع بعضها البعض ومع بيئتها.
these assumptions into equations,
into the language of biology.
do not think about what things are;
لا نفكرُ بماهية الأشياء،
between individuals,
and with their environment.
have in common?
such as cancer cells.
كالخلايا السرطانية.
of predator-prey type equations
من معادلات النمط "مفترس وفريسة"
between foxes and rabbits
وبين السرطان والخلايا المناعية.
have been studied extensively
على نطاقٍ واسع في المراجع العلمية
of two populations,
on consuming the other.
على استهلاك الآخر.
provide a framework
cancer-immune interactions,
to prevent the predator from killing it,
لمنع المفترس من قتلها،
وحتى سرقة طعام المفترس.
interesting implications.
بعض الآثار المثيرة للاهتمام للغاية.
in the field of immunotherapy,
في مجال العلاج المناعي،
somewhat limited efficacy
such as glucose to survive.
مثل الجلوكوز للبقاء.
the immune cells for shared nutrients
الخلايا المناعية لإحضار المغذيات المشتركة
not be able to do their job.
قادرة فعليًا على أداء وظيفتها.
resource type model
بين المفترس والفريسة
in my own research.
in the tumor microenvironment --
في البيئة المحيطة المتناهية الصغر للورم
immune cells get their food --
تحصل على طعامها،
their edge in fighting cancer, the prey.
قوتهم في مكافحة السرطان باعتباره الفريسة.
as an ecosystem,
compete and cooperate
the immune system --
of the human body.
ecosystems from conservation biology?
من علم الأحياء المتحفظ؟
to extinguish species
the key components
العناصر الجوهرية المكونة لبيئة الورم
and therapeutic interventions
and affordable way
وموفّرةٍ أيضًا.
of the microenvironment
للبيئة المحيطة متناهية الصغر
without harming the host,
دون الضرر بالمضيف،
goal of my research
is to save lives.
بالتأكيد إنقاذ الأرواح.
applied to biology,
على علم الأحياء
to the development of drugs.
recently has remained somewhat marginal,
حتى عهدٍ قريبٍ نسبيًا
mathematical methods,
متطورةٌ بشكلٍ جيدٍ
of computational power available to us.
من فعالية استخدام الحواسيب المتاحة لنا.
of mathematical modeling
that it makes you formalize,
نضفي الطابع الرسمي
for testing biological hypotheses.
لاختبار نظريات علم الأحياء.
so we can make further predictions
وفق تغيير هذا أو ذاك الجانب من النموذج.
aspect of the model.
do not match our observations,
توقعاتنا مع ملاحظاتنا
of our assumptions are wrong,
of the key mechanisms
المحركة لعلم الأحياء الكامن بعد.
are causing the discrepancy.
identified gap in knowledge
هذه الفجوة العلمية الجديدة
and theoretical approaches.
والنظرية على حدٍ سواء.
is extremely complex,
parts is not only very difficult,
ليس صعبًا للغاية وحسب،
on a scale of seconds, some minutes,
تستغرق ثانية من الزمن، وبعضها دقائق،
to separate those out experimentally.
فصلها تجريبيًا في كل الأوقات.
so quickly or so slowly
بسرعةٍ كبيرةٍ أو ببطءٍ شديدٍ
never be able to measure them.
on any subsystem in any timescale
على أي نظامٍ فرعيٍ
of a modeler alone.
collaboration with biologists.
مع علماء الأحياء.
some capacity of translation
من قدرة التحويل لكلا الجانبين.
formulation of a problem
for testing hypotheses
لاختبار الافتراضات
and therapeutic interventions,
and logical inconsistencies
وعدم التناسق المنطقي
as to where we should keep looking
إلى حيث ينبغي علينا التركيز
can help us answer questions
على الإجابة عن الأسئلة
person's health, actually --
to asking the right question
to the right equation ...
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Irina Kareva - Theoretical biologistIrina Kareva is looking for answers to biological questions using mathematical modeling.
Why you should listen
Dr. Irina Kareva studies cancer as an evolving ecosystem, bringing in insights from various disciplines -- from evolutionary biology to paleontology to ergodic theory -- to understand how we can manage, if not cure, cancer like a chronic disease. She has authored more than 25 publications, including several papers with her parents, who are also mathematicians. The Kareva clan was featured in a Nature article entitled "Relationships: Scions of Science."
Kareva is a research scientist at EMD Serono Research Center near Boston Massachusetts, US. Her book, Understanding Cancer from a Systems Biology Point of View: From Observation to Theory and Back, was recently published by Elsevier, and a second book on mathematical modeling of the evolution of heterogeneous populations will be released in mid-2019.
In addition to her scientific studies and endeavors, Kareva also holds a degree in music and works actively as a professional opera singer. She is a member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s Tanglewood Festival Chorus, has performed solo roles in local productions, religious music performances, and can even occasionally be heard in pieces as varied as video game soundtracks and heavy metal recordings.
Irina Kareva | Speaker | TED.com