Jaap de Roode: How butterflies self-medicate
Jaap de Roode: Jak leczą się motyle
Jaap de Roode studies the ecology and evolution of parasites, focusing on those that attack the monarch butterfly. Full bio
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are still the main cause
around the world.
i śmierci na całym świecie.
of diseases such as T.B., malaria, HIV,
na gruźlicę, malarię, HIV,
and even in the United States.
die of seasonal flu.
umiera na sezonową grypę.
we are creative. Right?
ourselves against these diseases.
przed tymi chorobami.
we learn from our experiences
uczymy się z własnych doświadczeń
but now we know we're not.
że jesteśmy w tym sami.
out there that can do it too.
potrafi się leczyć.
to treat their intestinal parasites.
pasożytów układu pokarmowego.
that other animals can do it too:
że także inne zwierzęta to potrafią:
sheep, goats, you name it.
is that recent discoveries are telling us
że ostatnie odkrycia mówią nam,
smaller brains can use medication too.
o mniejszych mózgach także się leczą.
as we all know,
jak wszyscy wiemy,
that we have developed
to find new ways to discover drugs
na wynalezienie nowych leków,
should look at these animals,
how to treat our own diseases.
jak leczyć nasze choroby.
motyle monarchy od 10 lat.
monarch butterflies for the last 10 years.
for their spectacular migrations
down to Mexico every year,
z USA i Kanady do Meksyku,
They get sick like me.
can tell us a lot about drugs
pomóc nam w uzyskaniu leków,
that monarchs get infected with
a mouthful.
on the outside of the butterfly
na zewnątrz ciała motyla,
in between the scales of the butterfly.
widocznych na jego łuskach.
to the monarch.
before they're even adults.
in the greenhouse growing plants,
polega na uprawie roślin w szklarni,
are extremely picky eaters.
są bardzo wybredne w jedzeniu.
species of milkweed that they can use,
kilkoma różnymi gatunkami mleczy.
have cardenolides in them.
but not to monarchs.
ale nie dla monarchów.
can take up the chemicals,
and it makes them toxic
is advertise this toxicity
warning colorations
is grow plants in the greenhouse,
hodowałem rośliny w szklarni,
the tropical milkweed,
jak mlecz tropikalny
of these cardenolides.
They had no disease.
some of these milkweeds are medicinal,
redukują objawy choroby u monarchy,
in the monarch butterflies,
when they are infected
gdy do zakażenia dochodzi
it was a crazy idea,
what if monarchs can use this?
as their own form of medicine?
rozpoczęliśmy eksperyment.
started doing experiments.
and gave them a choice:
non-medicinal milkweed.
z obu gatunków w ciągu życia.
of each species over their lifetime.
in science, was boring:
a pozostałe 50% nie.
Fifty percent was not.
aby sobie pomóc.
anything for their own welfare.
nad dorosłymi motylami,
that can medicate their offspring.
na mleczu leczniczym,
on medicinal milkweed
future offspring less sick?
w leczeniu przyszłych chorób?
over several years,
a monarch in a big cage,
a non-medicinal plant on the other side,
i nieleczniczymi po drugiej.
that the monarchs lay on each plant.
przez motyle na obu roślinach.
is always the same.
strongly prefer the medicinal milkweed.
wolą mlecz leczniczy.
what these females are doing
of their eggs in the medicinal milkweed.
przenoszą one pasożyty
is they actually transmit the parasites
can lay their eggs on medicinal milkweed
future offspring less sick.
odporność na choroby u potomstwa.
important discovery, I think,
something cool about nature,
jak powinnyśmy szukać leków.
more about how we should find drugs.
as very simple.
very sophisticated medication.
w tak wymyślny sposób.
most of our drugs
including plants,
podpatrują sposoby leczenia u zwierząt.
at animals to find new drugs.
how to treat stomach upset,
how to treat bloody diarrhea.
jak leczyć biegunkę krwotoczną.
though, is to move beyond
and give these guys more credit,
i uważne przyjrzeć się
that we tend to think of
insektom, które uważamy
with tiny little brains.
o malutkich móżdżkach.
can also use medication
potrafią się leczyć,
we will be treating human diseases
będziemy leczyć ludzkie choroby lekami,
discovered by butterflies,
worth pursuing.
warta dodatkowych badań.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Jaap de Roode - BiologistJaap de Roode studies the ecology and evolution of parasites, focusing on those that attack the monarch butterfly.
Why you should listen
At his lab at Emory University, Jaap de Roode and his team study parasites and their hosts. Some of the questions that intrigue them: If a parasite depends on its host's survival for its own well-being, why do so many of them cause harm? In what ways are hosts able to self-medicate in order to make themselves less desirable to parasites? And are the abilities to harm hosts — and the ability of hosts to self-medicate — favored by natural selection?
The De Roode Lab focuses on the monarch butterfly and its parasites. The team has made a fascinating discovery: that female butterflies infected by a parasite choose to lay their eggs on a specific variety of milkweed that helps their offspring avoid getting sick. De Roode hopes that this insight could lead to new approaches in medications for human beings in the future.
Jaap de Roode | Speaker | TED.com