TED2013
Jack Andraka: A promising test for pancreatic cancer ... from a teenager
Jack Andraka: Un prometedor test para diagnosticar o cancro de páncreas... feito por un adolescente
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Máis do 85% dos cancros de páncreas teñen diagnósticos tardíos, cando a porcentaxe de supervivencia é inferior ao 2%. Como é posible?
Jack Andraka fálanos sobre como desenvolveu un prometedor test para a detección temperá do cancro pancreático que é moi barato, efectivo e non invasivo -- e todo isto antes de facer os 16 anos.
Jack Andraka - Cancer detector inventor
A paper on carbon nanotubes, a biology lecture on antibodies and a flash of insight led 15-year-old Jack Andraka to design a cheaper, more sensitive cancer detector. Full bio
A paper on carbon nanotubes, a biology lecture on antibodies and a flash of insight led 15-year-old Jack Andraka to design a cheaper, more sensitive cancer detector. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:12
Have you ever experienced a moment in your life
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Pasaron algunha vez na vida un momento
00:16
that was so painful and confusing
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tan doloroso e confuso
00:19
that all you wanted to do
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que o único que querían
00:21
was learn as much as you could to make sense of it all?
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era aprender del o máximo posible
para darlle sentido?
para darlle sentido?
00:25
When I was 13, a close family friend
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Cando tiña 13 anos, un amigo da familia,
que era coma se fose meu tío,
que era coma se fose meu tío,
00:28
who was like an uncle to me
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00:30
passed away from pancreatic cancer.
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faleceu de cancro de páncreas.
00:33
When the disease hit so close to home,
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Cando a enfermidade golpeou
tan preto da casa,
tan preto da casa,
00:35
I knew I needed to learn more,
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souben que tiña que aprender máis,
00:37
so I went online to find answers.
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así que fun á web na busca de respostas.
00:40
Using the Internet, I found a variety of statistics
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Atopei datos estatísticos
sobre o cancro de páncreas
sobre o cancro de páncreas
00:43
on pancreatic cancer,
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00:45
and what I had found shocked me.
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e o que encontrei sorprendeume.
00:47
Over 85 percent of all pancreatic cancers
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O 85% destes cancros detéctanse tarde,
00:51
are diagnosed late,
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00:53
when someone has less than a two percent chance of survival.
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cando a supervivencia é inferior ao 2%.
00:57
Why are we so bad at detecting pancreatic cancer?
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Por que non o detectamos con eficacia?
01:01
The reason? Today's current modern medicine
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A razón?
A medicina usa técnicas de hai 60 anos.
01:05
is a 60-year-old technique.
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01:07
That's older than my dad.
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É máis vella có meu pai.
(Risas)
01:09
(Laughter)
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01:13
But also, it's extremely expensive,
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Ademais, son moi caras.
Cada exame custa 800 dólares$
Cada exame custa 800 dólares$
01:15
costing 800 dollars per test,
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01:19
and it's grossly inaccurate,
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e son inexactas:
detectan o 30 % dos cancros.
detectan o 30 % dos cancros.
01:21
missing 30 percent of all pancreatic cancers.
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01:25
Your doctor would have to be ridiculously suspicious
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O voso médico tería que ter
fundadas sospeitas de que tedes cancro
fundadas sospeitas de que tedes cancro
01:28
that you have the cancer in order to give you this test.
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para pedir este exame.
01:31
Learning this, I knew there had to be a better way.
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Sabía que debía haber un sistema mellor.
01:35
So I set up a scientific criteria
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Por iso, establecín criterios científicos
para determinar como debería ser un sensor
01:37
as to what a sensor would have to look like
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01:39
in order to effectively diagnose pancreatic cancer.
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que diagnosticase con efectividade
o cancro de páncreas.
o cancro de páncreas.
O sensor tería que ser
01:43
The sensor would have to be inexpensive, rapid,
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de baixo custo, rápido, simple, sensible,
01:47
simple, sensitive, selective,
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selectivo e pouco invasivo.
01:50
and minimally invasive.
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01:53
Now, there's a reason why this test
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Hai unha razón pola que esa proba
leva sesenta anos sen actualizarse.
leva sesenta anos sen actualizarse.
01:55
hasn't been updated in over six decades,
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01:59
and that's because, when we're looking for pancreatic cancer,
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Porque cando buscamos cancro de páncreas,
02:02
we're looking at your bloodstream,
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analizamos a corrente sanguínea,
02:03
which is already abundant in all these tons and tons of protein,
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que está repleta de proteínas
02:08
and you're looking for this miniscule difference
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e buscamos unha diferenza minúscula
neste volume de proteínas.
neste volume de proteínas.
02:10
in this tiny amount of protein,
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Só unha proteína específica.
02:12
just this one protein.
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02:13
That's next to impossible.
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É case imposible.
02:15
However, undeterred due to my teenage optimism --
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Pero, grazas ao meu optimismo adolescente
02:19
(Applause) —
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(Risas)
(Aplausos)
02:25
I went online to a teenager's two best friends,
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fun consultar os dous mellores amigos
do adolescente: Google e a Wikipedia.
do adolescente: Google e a Wikipedia.
02:28
Google and Wikipedia.
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02:30
I got everything for my homework from those two sources.
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De aí sacaba todo o necesario
para facer os deberes.
para facer os deberes.
(Risas)
02:34
And what I had found was an article
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E encontrei un artigo
02:37
that listed a database of over 8,000 different proteins
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que enumeraba unhas 8000 proteínas
02:41
that are found when you have pancreatic cancer.
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presentes cando se ten cancro de páncreas.
02:43
So I decided to go and make it my new mission
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Por iso decidín seguir
e facer disto a miña nova misión:
e facer disto a miña nova misión:
02:47
to go through all these proteins and see which ones
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analizar todas estas proteínas
e ver cales poderían ser
biomarcadores do cancro.
biomarcadores do cancro.
02:50
could serve as a biomarker for pancreatic cancer.
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02:52
And to make it a bit simpler for myself,
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E para simplificar un pouco o traballo,
02:55
I decided to map out a scientific criteria. And here it is.
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tracei un mapa cos criterios científicos.
Velaquí o está.
Velaquí o está.
02:59
Essentially first, the protein would have to be found
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A proteína debe estar presente
en todos os cancros pancreáticos,
en todos os cancros pancreáticos,
03:01
in all pancreatic cancers at high levels in the bloodstream
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en altas concentracións
na corrente sanguínea,
na corrente sanguínea,
03:04
in the earliest stages, but also only in cancer.
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nas etapas temperás, pero só no cancro.
03:09
And so I'm just plugging and chugging through this gargantuan task,
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Estaba toleando con esta enorme tarefa
03:12
and finally, on the 4,000th try,
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e ao final, despois de 4000 intentos,
03:15
when I'm close to losing my sanity,
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cando estaba a punto de perder o xuízo,
03:17
I find the protein.
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atopei a proteína.
03:19
And the name of the protein I'd located
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Chámase mesotelina,
03:21
was called mesothelin,
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03:23
and it's just your ordinary, run-of-the-mill type protein,
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unha proteína común e corrente,
03:26
unless of course you have pancreatic,
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agás que teñas cancro de páncreas,
ovario ou pulmón,
ovario ou pulmón,
03:27
ovarian or lung cancer,
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03:29
in which case it's found at these very high levels in your bloodstream.
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nese caso a concentración é alta.
03:32
But also the key is
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A clave é que está no inicio da doenza,
03:34
that it's found in the earliest stages of the disease,
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03:37
when someone has close to 100 percent chance
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cando a supervivencia é case do 100%.
03:39
of survival.
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03:40
So now that I'd found a reliable protein I could detect,
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Xa atopara unha proteína para detectalo,
03:44
I then shifted my focus to actually detecting that protein,
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entón centreime en detectar a proteína
03:47
and, thus, pancreatic cancer.
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e, con ela, o cancro de páncreas.
03:49
Now, my breakthrough came in a very unlikely place,
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O meu achado chegou nun lugar insólito,
03:53
possibly the most unlikely place for innovation:
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no lugar menos probable para a innovación:
03:55
my high school biology class,
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a clase de bioloxía de secundaria,
o inhibidor absoluto da innovación.
o inhibidor absoluto da innovación.
03:57
the absolute stifler of innovation.
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(Risas)
04:00
(Laughter) (Applause)
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(Aplausos)
04:05
And I had snuck in this article on these things called
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Lin este artigo sobre algo
chamado nanotubos de carbono,
chamado nanotubos de carbono,
04:08
carbon nanotubes, and that's just a long, thin pipe of carbon
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que son tubos finos e longos de carbono,
04:12
that's an atom thick
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do grosor dun átomo
e 1/50000 do diámetro dun cabelo.
e 1/50000 do diámetro dun cabelo.
04:13
and one 50 thousandth the diameter of your hair.
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E a pesar das súas pequenas dimensións,
04:16
And despite their extremely small sizes,
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04:18
they have these incredible properties.
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teñen propiedades incribles.
04:20
They're kind of like the superheroes of material science.
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Son os superheroes
da ciencia dos materiais.
da ciencia dos materiais.
04:22
And while I was sneakily reading this article
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Mentres lía este artigo, que tiña agachado
baixo o meu pupitre na clase de bioloxía,
baixo o meu pupitre na clase de bioloxía,
04:25
under my desk in my biology class,
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04:27
we were supposed to be paying attention
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supoñíase que lles atendía
a outros interesantes tipos de moléculas:
a outros interesantes tipos de moléculas:
04:28
to these other kind of cool molecules called antibodies.
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os anticorpos.
04:32
And these are pretty cool because they only react
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Son moi interesantes porque só reaccionan
04:34
with one specific protein,
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a unha proteína específica,
pero non tanto como os nanotubos.
04:36
but they're not nearly as interesting as carbon nanotubes.
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04:38
And so then, I was sitting in class,
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Así que estaba sentado nesa clase,
e de súpeto decateime:
e de súpeto decateime:
04:42
and suddenly it hit me:
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04:44
I could combine what I was reading about,
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podía combinar o que estivera lendo
sobre os nanotubos de carbono
sobre os nanotubos de carbono
04:47
carbon nanotubes,
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04:48
with what I was supposed to be thinking about, antibodies.
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con aquelo ao que supostamente
lle atendera: os anticorpos.
lle atendera: os anticorpos.
04:51
Essentially, I could weave a bunch of these antibodies
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Podía tecer un feixe destes anticorpos
04:54
into a network of carbon nanotubes
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para formar unha rede de nanotubos
04:56
such that you have a network
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que só reaccionase a unha proteína
04:58
that only reacts with one protein,
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e grazas ás propiedades dos nanotubos,
05:00
but also, due to the properties of these nanotubes,
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05:03
it would change its electrical properties
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cambiaría as súas propiedades eléctricas
05:05
based on the amount of protein present.
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en función do número
de proteínas presentes.
de proteínas presentes.
05:08
However, there's a catch.
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Pero hai un problema.
05:10
These networks of carbon nanotubes are extremely flimsy,
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Estas redes de nanotubos son moi débiles.
05:13
and since they're so delicate, they need to be supported.
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Son tan finos, que precisan un soporte.
05:17
So that's why I chose to use paper.
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Por iso elixín usar papel.
05:19
Making a cancer sensor out of paper
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Facer un sensor de cancro con papel
é tan simple
é tan simple
05:21
is about as simple as making chocolate chip cookies,
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como facer galletas
con labras de chocolate... encántame!.
con labras de chocolate... encántame!.
05:23
which I love.
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(Risas)
05:27
You start with some water, pour in some nanotubes,
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Comézase con auga,
bótanse uns cantos nanotubos,
bótanse uns cantos nanotubos,
05:30
add antibodies, mix it up,
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engádense anticorpos, mestúrase,
cóllese papel, móllase, sécase
cóllese papel, móllase, sécase
05:33
take some paper, dip it, dry it,
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05:35
and you can detect cancer.
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e pódese detectar o cáncer.
05:38
(Applause)
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(Aplausos)
05:45
Then, suddenly, a thought occurred
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Logo, de repente, caín na conta
05:48
that kind of put a blemish on my amazing plan here.
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de que había un defecto no meu plan.
05:53
I can't really do cancer research
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Non podo investigar sobre o cancro
no mesado da cociña.
no mesado da cociña.
05:54
on my kitchen countertop.
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05:56
My mom wouldn't really like that.
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A miña nai non lle gustaría.
05:58
So instead, I decided to go for a lab.
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Polo tanto, decidín buscar un laboratorio.
06:01
So I typed up a budget, a materials list,
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Elaborei orzamento, material,
calendario e procedemento
calendario e procedemento
06:03
a timeline, and a procedure,
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06:06
and I emailed it to 200 different professors
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e envieilles correos
a 200 profesores distintos
a 200 profesores distintos
06:08
at Johns Hopkins University
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da Johns Hopkins University
e dos Institutos Nacionais de Saúde.
e dos Institutos Nacionais de Saúde.
06:10
and the National Institutes of Health,
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basicamente, a calquera que tivera
algo que ver co cancro de páncreas.
algo que ver co cancro de páncreas.
06:12
essentially anyone that had anything to do with pancreatic cancer.
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06:15
And I sat back waiting for these positive emails to be pouring in,
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E senteime a agardar
polas respostas positivas
polas respostas positivas
06:18
saying, "You're a genius!
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que dirían: “Es un xenio! Vasnos salvar!”
06:19
You're going to save us all!"
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06:21
And — (Laughter)
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E...
(Risas)
06:25
Then reality took hold,
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Despois impúxose a realidade e,
ao cabo dun mes,
ao cabo dun mes,
06:26
and over the course of a month,
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06:29
I got 199 rejections out of those 200 emails.
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rexeitáranme en 199 dos 200 correos.
06:33
One professor even went through my entire procedure,
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Un profesor revisou todo o procedemento,
06:36
painstakingly -- I'm not really sure where he got all this time --
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--non sei de onde sacou o tempo--
06:39
and he went through and said why each and every step
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e explicoume punto por punto
por que cada paso
por que cada paso
06:43
was like the worst mistake I could ever make.
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era un enorme erro.
06:46
Clearly, the professors did not have as high
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Obviamente, os profesores non tiñan
unha opinión tan alta do meu traballo.
unha opinión tan alta do meu traballo.
06:48
of an opinion of my work as I did.
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06:51
However, there was a silver lining.
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Con todo, había unha físgoa de esperanza.
06:54
One professor said, "Maybe I might be able to help you, kid."
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Un dixo: “Talvez poida axudarche, rapaz”.
06:57
So I went in that direction.
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Así que fun nesa dirección.
06:59
(Laughter)
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(Risas)
07:03
As you can never say no to a kid.
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Nunca se pode dicir "non" a un rapaciño.
E así, tres meses máis tarde,
07:06
And so then, three months later,
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07:08
I finally nailed down a harsh deadline with this guy,
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acordei unha reunión con este home,
07:11
and I get into his lab,
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fun ao laboratorio, entusiasmado, senteime
07:12
I get all excited, and then I sit down,
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07:15
I start opening my mouth and talking,
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abrín a boca e comecei a falar.
07:16
and five seconds later he calls in another Ph.D.
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Cinco segundos despois
chama a outro doutor.
chama a outro doutor.
07:19
Ph.D.'s just flock into this little room,
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O cuarto énchese de doutores
07:23
and they're just firing these questions at me,
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que comezaron a torpedearme a preguntas
07:25
and by the end, I kind of felt like I was in a clown car.
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e sentíame coma un espectáculo de feira.
07:28
There were 20 Ph.D.'s plus me and the professor
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Estabamos 20 doutores,
o profesor e mais eu,
o profesor e mais eu,
07:29
crammed into this tiny office space
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amoreados nesa pequena oficina
07:32
with them firing these rapid-fire questions at me,
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e eles bombardeándome a preguntas,
07:35
trying to sink my procedure.
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tratando de afundir o meu procedemento.
Que probabilidade ten? En fin…
07:37
How unlikely is that? I mean, pshhh.
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(Risas)
07:40
(Laughter)
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07:44
However, subjecting myself to that interrogation,
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Porén, sometinme ao interrogatorio,
07:47
I answered all of their questions,
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respondín todas as preguntas,
algunhas ao chou,
algunhas ao chou,
07:48
and I guessed on quite a few but I got them right,
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pero acertei,
07:50
and I finally landed the lab space I needed.
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e conseguín o espazo de laboratorio
que precisaba.
que precisaba.
07:55
But it was shortly afterwards that I discovered
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Pouco despois descubrín
que o meu brillante procedemento
que o meu brillante procedemento
07:57
my once brilliant procedure
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07:59
had something like a million holes in it,
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tiña un millón de buratos,
08:01
and over the course of seven months,
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e ao longo de 7 meses,
08:03
I painstakingly filled each and every one of those holes.
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fun tapando minuciosamente cada un deles.
O resultado?
08:06
The result? One small paper sensor
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Un sensor de papel de 3 centavos
que funciona en 5 minutos.
que funciona en 5 minutos.
08:09
that costs three cents and takes five minutes to run.
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08:12
This makes it 168 times faster,
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Isto é 168 veces máis rápido,
08:16
over 26,000 times less expensive,
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máis de 26000 veces máis barato
08:19
and over 400 times more sensitive
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e 400 veces máis sensible ca o actual test
08:21
than our current standard for pancreatic cancer detection.
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de detección de cancro de páncreas.
08:24
(Applause)
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(Aplausos)
08:34
One of the best parts of the sensor, though,
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Unha das mellores partes do sensor
08:36
is that it has close to 100 percent accuracy,
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é que ten preto do 100% de precisión
08:39
and can detect the cancer in the earliest stages
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e pode detectar o cancro nos seus inicios
08:41
when someone has close to 100 percent chance of survival.
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cando se ten case o 100 %
de posibilidades de supervivencia.
de posibilidades de supervivencia.
08:45
And so in the next two to five years,
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E así, nos próximos dous a cinco anos
este sensor podería elevar a supervivencia
08:47
this sensor could potentially lift for pancreatic cancer survival rates
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08:50
from a dismal 5.5 percent
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dun triste 5,5 % a case o 100 %,
08:52
to close to 100 percent,
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e o mesmo se podería dicir
para os cancros de ovario e pulmón.
para os cancros de ovario e pulmón.
08:54
and it would do similar for ovarian and lung cancer.
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08:57
But it wouldn't stop there.
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Pero iso non é todo.
09:00
By switching out that antibody,
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Cambiando o anticorpo,
09:01
you can look at a different protein,
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podemos ver outra proteína e outra doenza,
09:03
thus, a different disease,
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09:05
potentially any disease in the entire world.
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en teoría calquera enfermidade do mundo.
09:08
So that ranges from heart disease
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Abrangue desde doenzas cardíacas
ata malaria, VIH, sida,,
ata malaria, VIH, sida,,
09:10
to malaria, HIV, AIDS,
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09:13
as well as other forms of cancer -- anything.
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así como outros tipos de cancro --todo.
09:16
And so hopefully one day
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E quizais, un día,
09:18
we can all have that one extra uncle,
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todos poidamos ter un tío extra,
09:20
that one mother, that one brother, sister,
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esa nai, ese irmán, esa irmá,
09:23
we can have that one more family member to love,
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todos poidamos ter ese familiar que amamos
09:26
and that our hearts will be rid of that one disease burden
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e que os nosos corazóns se libren
da carga que supón a enfermidade
da carga que supón a enfermidade
09:31
that comes from pancreatic, ovarian and lung cancer,
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vinculada ao cancro de páncreas,
ovario e pulmón
ovario e pulmón
09:34
and potentially any disease,
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ou calquera outra enfermidade.
Grazas a internet todo é posible.
09:36
that through the Internet anything is possible.
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09:39
Theories can be shared,
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As teorías compártense
09:40
and you don't have to be a professor
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e non é preciso ser un profesor
con moitos títulos
con moitos títulos
09:42
with multiple degrees to have your ideas valued.
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para que as túas ideas se valoren.
09:45
It's a neutral space,
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É un espazo neutral, onde o aspecto,
a idade ou o sexo
a idade ou o sexo
09:46
where what you look like, age or gender,
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09:49
it doesn't matter.
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tanto teñen.
09:50
It's just your ideas that count.
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O que importa son as ideas.
09:52
For me, it's all about looking at the Internet
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Trátase de utilizar internet doutro xeito
09:55
in an entirely new way
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09:57
to realize that there's so much more to it
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e decatarse de que hai moito máis
09:59
than just posting duck-face pictures of yourself online.
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que publicar autofotos poñendo cariñas.
(Risas)
10:04
You could be changing the world.
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Poderiades cambiar o mundo.
10:08
So if a 15-year-old
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Se un rapaz de 15 anos
que non sabía qué era o páncreas.
que non sabía qué era o páncreas.
10:10
who didn't even know what a pancreas was
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10:13
could find a new way to detect pancreatic cancer,
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atopou unha forma nova
de detectar o cancro de páncreas
de detectar o cancro de páncreas
10:16
just imagine what you could do.
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imaxinade o que podedes facer vós.
10:19
Thank you.
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Grazas.
10:20
(Applause)
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(Aplausos)
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Jack Andraka - Cancer detector inventorA paper on carbon nanotubes, a biology lecture on antibodies and a flash of insight led 15-year-old Jack Andraka to design a cheaper, more sensitive cancer detector.
Why you should listen
After Andraka’s proposal to build and test his idea for a pancreatic cancer detector was rejected from 199 labs, the teen landed at Johns Hopkins. There, he built his device using inexpensive strips of filter paper, carbon nanotubes and antibodies sensitive to mesothelin, a protein found in high levels in people with pancreatic cancer. When dipped in blood or urine, the mesothelin adheres to these antibodies and is detectable by predictable changes in the nanotubes’ electrical conductivity.
In preliminary tests, Andraka’s invention has shown 100 percent accuracy. It also finds cancers earlier than current methods, costs a mere 3 cents and earned the high schooler the 2012 Intel Science Fair grand prize.
Jack Andraka | Speaker | TED.com