Fatima AlZahra'a Alatraktchi: To detect diseases earlier, let's speak bacteria's secret language
Fatima AlZahra'a Alatraktchi invented a method to spy on the social behavior and communication of bacteria. Full bio
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just like humans.
to bacterial conversations
information into human language?
bacterial conversations can save lives?
to develop a real-time translation tool
of what bacteria are up to.
in this theater are bacterial.
or produce antibiotics.
the functions bacteria have,
to communicate with each other.
alone in the desert.
the signaling molecules accumulate,
that they're not alone.
of how many they are
to initiate a new action.
have reached a certain threshold,
that they need to act
of an initiative and a reaction,
and the response to it.
on bacterial communities
communication molecules present,
will give us information
when bacteria communicate?
would have a primitive language,
words and sentences yet.
when they cry, they're sad.
as primitive as I thought they would be.
depending on the context,
can mean different things:
the signaling molecules
depending on the context.
will adopt this soon.
that can be a bit tricky to understand
that has infected a patient.
they reproduce, and they grow.
as long as they're working together.
with Juliet from Capulet.
can be dangerous to the Montagues
family in the patient they have infected,
resistance to antibiotics.
to get rid of this other family
that will kill the other family.
by calling for a counterattack.
dueling with swordlike organelles,
and rupturing each other.
becomes the dominant bacteria.
bacterial conversations
collective behaviors
on bacterial communities
for one particular infection,
of the traditional diagnostic test.
and I compared the tool results
and the validation test,
than I had ever anticipated.
what the tool revealed,
a specific patient I followed,
susceptible to bacterial infections.
of the clinical trial.
from her medical record
an infection before.
went to the hospital
that she spit in a cup.
for bacterial analysis
if they discovered an infection.
on her samples as well.
on her samples, there was nothing.
chatter in her sample.
to damage her lung tissue.
showed no bacteria at all.
conversations became even more aggressive.
diagnostics showed nothing.
I followed up on her status
only I knew about had disappeared
with a severe infection
my tool discovered earlier.
antibiotic treatment,
to eradicate the infection.
survive her 20s.
if my method worked at all,
with the doctors
their treatment.
that weren't even validated,
without an actual infection
consequences for the patient.
and girls that still can be saved
this scenario happens very often.
on the traditional diagnostic test,
in the patient with severe symptoms.
of the 62 patients I followed
caught bacterial conversations
by traditional methods.
of these patients went home thinking
dangerous bacteria.
a synchronized attack.
methods cannot diagnose.
that can catch those whispers.
in which bacteria are still whispering
for targeted treatment.
during this window of opportunity,
to kill the bacteria
made me decide to do everything I can
on implementing this tool in clinics
how doctors should treat patients
keep a closer eye on patients in risk.
if a treatment had worked or not,
information to each other.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Fatima AlZahra'a Alatraktchi - Nanophysicist, entrepreneurFatima AlZahra'a Alatraktchi invented a method to spy on the social behavior and communication of bacteria.
Why you should listen
Fatima AlZahra'a Alatraktchi holds a PhD in nanotechnology and molecular biology, is a renowned fiction writer and the founder of PreDiagnose, where she's created next-generation diagnostics for early bacterial detection. She's an expert in developing micro- and nanosensors for the detection of cellular molecules and microorganisms.
As a result of her research and academic track, Alatraktchi has received a number of prestigious awards, including the Lundbeck Foundation Talent Prize for outstanding research talents in medicine and health and the PhD thesis of the year award by the Technical University of Denmark. She founded PreDiagnose to transform her research into concrete benefit for users. Forbes listed her as one of the 30 most influential people under 30 in Europe within science and health in 2019.
Fatima AlZahra'a Alatraktchi | Speaker | TED.com