ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Francis Collins - Geneticist, physician
A key player in the US' new brain-mapping project, Francis Collins is director of the National Institutes of Health.

Why you should listen

In 2000 the world saw the first working draft of the human genome, and that's in no small part thanks to Francis Collins. Under his directorship at the National Human Genome Research Institute, the Human Genome Project was finished, a complete mapping of all 20,500 genes in the human genome, with a high-quality, reference sequence published in April 2003.

In 2009 President Obama nominated Collins as the director of the National Institutes of Health, and later that year he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate. In March 2013, Collins helped Obama introduce the BRAIN Initiative, an ambitious, well-funded program to map the human brain. Read more about the BRAIN Initiative >>

Collins is also a self-described serious Christian and the author of several books on science and faith, including The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief.

More profile about the speaker
Francis Collins | Speaker | TED.com
TEDMED 2012

Francis Collins: We need better drugs -- now

Francis Collins: Precisamos mellores fármacos.

Filmed:
898,302 views

Hoxe en día coñecemos a causa molecular de 4.000 enfermidades, pero só hai tratamentos dispoñibles para 250. Que está levando tanto tempo? O xenetista e médico Francis Collins explica por que o descubrimento sistemático de fármacos é imperativo, incluso para enfermidades raras e complexas, e ofrece solucións, como ensinarlles novos trucos a vellos fármacos.
- Geneticist, physician
A key player in the US' new brain-mapping project, Francis Collins is director of the National Institutes of Health. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:16
So let me ask for a show of hands.
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Levanten as mans, por favor.
00:18
How many people here are over the age of 48?
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Cantos dos que están aquí
teñen máis de 48 anos?
00:22
Well, there do seem to be a few.
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Ben, parece que hai uns cantos.
00:25
Well, congratulations,
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Parabéns,
00:28
because if you look at this particular slide of U.S. life expectancy,
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porque se miran este gráfico
da esperanza de vida nos EE.UU.
00:31
you are now in excess of the average life span
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verán que superan xa
a esperanza de vida media
00:35
of somebody who was born in 1900.
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de alguén que nacera en 1900.
00:37
But look what happened in the course of that century.
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Pero vexan o que pasou
no correr dese século.
00:41
If you follow that curve,
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Se seguen esta curva,
00:42
you'll see that it starts way down there.
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verán que comeza aí abaixo.
00:45
There's that dip there for the 1918 flu.
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Velaquí a baixada por causa
da gripe do 1918.
E velaquí 2010,
00:48
And here we are at 2010,
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a esperanza de vida dun neno ou dunha nena
que naza hoxe é de 79 anos,
00:50
average life expectancy of a child born today, age 79,
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00:53
and we are not done yet.
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e isto aínda non rematou.
00:55
Now, that's the good news.
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Estas son as boas novas.
00:56
But there's still a lot of work to do.
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Pero aínda queda moito por facer.
00:58
So, for instance, if you ask,
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Se nos preguntamos, por exemplo,
01:00
how many diseases do we now know
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a cantas enfermidades lle coñecemos
01:02
the exact molecular basis?
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a base molecular exacta?
01:05
Turns out it's about 4,000, which is pretty amazing,
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Son sobre 4000, o cal é incrible,
01:08
because most of those molecular discoveries
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porque a maioría destes descubrimentos
01:10
have just happened in the last little while.
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ocorreron hai pouco.
01:13
It's exciting to see that in terms of what we've learned,
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É emocionante ver o que aprendemos,
01:16
but how many of those 4,000 diseases
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pero destas 4000 enfermidades,
01:18
now have treatments available?
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cantas teñen tratamento dispoñible?
01:21
Only about 250.
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Só unhas 250.
01:23
So we have this huge challenge, this huge gap.
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Temos este gran desafío,
este gran baleiro.
01:25
You would think this wouldn't be too hard,
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Podería pensarse que
non debería ser moi complicado
01:28
that we would simply have the ability
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se temos a capacidade
01:30
to take this fundamental information that we're learning
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de coller esa información esencial
que estamos adquirindo
01:33
about how it is that basic biology teaches us
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sobre o que nos ensina a bioloxía básica
01:36
about the causes of disease
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arredor das causas das enfermidades
01:38
and build a bridge across this yawning gap
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e construír unha ponte
sobre este enorme baleiro
01:41
between what we've learned about basic science
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entre o que aprendemos de ciencia básica
01:43
and its application,
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e a súa aplicación,
01:44
a bridge that would look maybe something like this,
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unha ponte que se puidese parecer a esta,
01:48
where you'd have to put together a nice shiny way
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onde tes que percorrer un brillante camiño
01:51
to get from one side to the other.
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para chegar dun lado a outro.
01:54
Well, wouldn't it be nice if it was that easy?
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Non sería xenial se fose así de sinxelo?
01:57
Unfortunately, it's not.
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Por desgraza, non o é.
01:59
In reality, trying to go from fundamental knowledge
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Na realidade, tentar ir
dende o coñecemento fundamental
02:02
to its application is more like this.
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á súa aplicación, é máis ben así.
02:04
There are no shiny bridges.
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Non hai pontes brillantes.
02:06
You sort of place your bets.
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En certa medida, fanse apostas.
02:08
Maybe you've got a swimmer and a rowboat
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Pode que teñan un nadador, un bote,
02:10
and a sailboat and a tugboat
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un veleiro e unha lancha
02:11
and you set them off on their way,
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e inician a viaxe,
02:13
and the rains come and the lightning flashes,
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comeza a chover e a tronar,
mi madriña!
hai tiburóns na auga,
02:16
and oh my gosh, there are sharks in the water
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02:17
and the swimmer gets into trouble,
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o nadador comeza a ter problemas,
02:19
and, uh oh, the swimmer drowned
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oh, o nadador afogou,
02:21
and the sailboat capsized,
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o veleiro envorcou,
02:24
and that tugboat, well, it hit the rocks,
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e a lancha bateu nas rochas,
02:26
and maybe if you're lucky, somebody gets across.
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e con sorte, alguén conseguiu cruzar.
02:28
Well, what does this really look like?
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Ben, como é isto en realidade?
02:30
Well, what is it to make a therapeutic, anyway?
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Que é facer unha terapia, á fin e ó cabo?
02:32
What's a drug? A drug is made up
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Que é un fármaco?
Un fármaco está formado
02:35
of a small molecule of hydrogen, carbon,
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por unha pequena molécula
de hidróxeno, carbono,
02:38
oxygen, nitrogen, and a few other atoms
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osíxeno, nitróxeno e outros átomos
02:40
all cobbled together in a shape,
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todos conectados dunha certa forma,
02:42
and it's those shapes that determine whether, in fact,
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e estas formas son as que determinan
02:45
that particular drug is going to hit its target.
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que este fármaco en concreto
alcance o seu albo.
02:48
Is it going to land where it's supposed to?
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Estase indo cara a onde se pretende?
02:50
So look at this picture here -- a lot of shapes dancing around for you.
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Se miramos esta imaxe vemos
unha morea de formas bailando.
02:53
Now what you need to do, if you're trying to develop
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O que hai que facer,
se se quere desenvolver
02:56
a new treatment for autism
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un tratamento para o autismo,
02:57
or Alzheimer's disease or cancer
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para o alzhéimer ou para o cancro,
é atopar nesa morea
a forma axeitada
02:59
is to find the right shape in that mix
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03:01
that will ultimately provide benefit and will be safe.
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que nos provoque o beneficio desexado
e que sexa segura.
03:04
And when you look at what happens to that pipeline,
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Se vemos o que acontece neste funil,
03:07
you start out maybe with thousands,
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comezamos con milleiros,
03:09
tens of thousands of compounds.
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decenas de milleiros de compostos.
03:10
You weed down through various steps
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Descartaranse algúns con varios filtros
03:13
that cause many of these to fail.
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que amosan que moitos fallan.
03:14
Ultimately, maybe you can run a clinical trial with four or five of these,
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Finalmente, pode que con catro ou cinco
se realice un ensaio clínico,
03:17
and if all goes well, 14 years after you started,
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e se todo vai ben, 14 anos despois,
03:20
you will get one approval.
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consegue aprobarse un.
03:22
And it will cost you upwards of a billion dollars
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E isto custará millóns de dólares
03:24
for that one success.
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para un único éxito.
03:27
So we have to look at this pipeline the way an engineer would,
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Debemos mirar este funil
como o faría un enxeñeiro,
e dicir: "Como podemos mellorar"?
03:30
and say, "How can we do better?"
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03:31
And that's the main theme of what I want to say to you this morning.
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Disto é do que vos quero falar esta mañá.
03:34
How can we make this go faster?
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Como o podemos facer máis rápido?
03:36
How can we make it more successful?
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Como podemos ter máis éxito?
03:39
Well, let me tell you about a few examples
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Vou falarvos duns exemplos
03:40
where this has actually worked.
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onde isto funcionou.
03:42
One that has just happened in the last few months
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Un aconteceu hai tan só uns meses
03:45
is the successful approval of a drug for cystic fibrosis.
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e foi a aprobación dun fármaco
para a fibrose quística.
03:49
But it's taken a long time to get there.
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Pero levou moito tempo.
03:51
Cystic fibrosis had its molecular cause discovered in 1989
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A base molecular da fibrose quística
descubriuna en 1989
o meu grupo en colaboración
con outro de Toronto,
03:55
by my group working with another group in Toronto,
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03:57
discovering what the mutation was in a particular gene
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e descubrimos que a mutación
estaba nun xene
04:00
on chromosome 7.
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no cromosoma 7.
04:01
That picture you see there?
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Vedes esta foto?
04:03
Here it is. That's the same kid.
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Velaquí o está. É o mesmo neno.
04:05
That's Danny Bessette, 23 years later,
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Danny Bessette, 23 anos despois,
04:09
because this is the year,
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porque este é o ano,
04:10
and it's also the year where Danny got married,
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e tamén é o ano en que Danny casou,
04:12
where we have, for the first time, the approval by the FDA
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en que, por primeira vez, a FDA
(Food and Drug Administration)
04:15
of a drug that precisely targets the defect in cystic fibrosis
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aproba un fármaco que ataca con precisión
o defecto da fibrose quística
04:19
based upon all this molecular understanding.
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baseándose no coñecemento molecular.
04:21
That's the good news.
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Estas son as boas novas.
04:23
The bad news is, this drug doesn't actually treat all cases of cystic fibrosis,
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As malas son que o fármaco non trata
todos os casos de fibrose quísitica,
04:26
and it won't work for Danny, and we're still waiting
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e non funcionará para Danny.
Estamos á espera
04:28
for that next generation to help him.
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da seguinte xeración para axudalo.
04:31
But it took 23 years to get this far. That's too long.
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Levou 23 anos conseguir isto.
É demasiado.
Como imos máis rápido?
04:34
How do we go faster?
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04:36
Well, one way to go faster is to take advantage of technology,
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Unha opción é aproveitar
o avance da tecnoloxía,
04:38
and a very important technology that we depend on
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e unha tecnoloxía moi importante
da que dependemos
04:41
for all of this is the human genome,
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é o xenoma humano,
04:43
the ability to be able to look at a chromosome,
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a capacidade de ver un cromosoma,
04:46
to unzip it, to pull out all the DNA,
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desenrolalo, extraer o ADN,
04:49
and to be able to then read out the letters in that DNA code,
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e ser capaces de ler as letras
neste código do ADN,
04:51
the A's, C's, G's and T's
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os A, os C, os G e os T
04:54
that are our instruction book and the instruction book for all living things,
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que son o libro de instrucións que nós,
e todos os seres vivos, temos,
04:57
and the cost of doing this,
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e o custo de facer isto,
04:58
which used to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars,
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que era de centos de millóns de dólares,
05:01
has in the course of the last 10 years
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diminuíu nestes últimos 10 anos
05:03
fallen faster than Moore's Law, down to the point
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máis rápido que a lei de Moore
05:05
where it is less than 10,000 dollars today to have your genome sequenced, or mine,
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ata o punto de que hoxe custa menos de
10.000 dólares ter un xenoma secuenciado
05:09
and we're headed for the $1,000 genome fairly soon.
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e axuña custará sobre os 1.000.
05:13
Well, that's exciting.
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Isto é emocionante.
05:14
How does that play out in terms of application to a disease?
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Que significa isto en termos de
aplicación ás enfermidades?
05:18
I want to tell you about another disorder.
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Quero falarlles doutra enfermidade.
05:21
This one is a disorder which is quite rare.
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Esta é unha enfermidade rara.
05:23
It's called Hutchinson-Gilford progeria,
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Chámase a proxeria de Hutchinson-Gilford,
05:26
and it is the most dramatic form of premature aging.
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e é a forma máis drástica
de envellecemento prematuro.
05:29
Only about one in every four million kids has this disease,
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Só a ten un de cada catro millóns de nenos
05:33
and in a simple way, what happens is,
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e dunha forma sinxela,
o que acontece é que,
05:36
because of a mutation in a particular gene,
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a causa dunha mutación nun xene,
05:39
a protein is made that's toxic to the cell
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créase unha proteína tóxica para a célula
05:41
and it causes these individuals to age
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o que provoca
que estes suxeitos envellezan
05:44
at about seven times the normal rate.
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sete veces máis rápido do normal.
05:46
Let me show you a video of what that does to the cell.
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Déixenme amosarlles un vídeo
sobre o que provoca na célula.
05:49
The normal cell, if you looked at it under the microscope,
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A célula normal, vista co microscopio,
05:53
would have a nucleus sitting in the middle of the cell,
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terá un núcleo situado no seu centro
05:55
which is nice and round and smooth in its boundaries
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que é bonito, redondo
e liso nos seus bordos
05:59
and it looks kind of like that.
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e aseméllase a isto.
06:01
A progeria cell, on the other hand,
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Por outro lado, a célula da proxeria
06:03
because of this toxic protein called progerin,
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a causa da proteína, chamada proxerina,
06:06
has these lumps and bumps in it.
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ten estes vultos e protuberancias.
06:08
So what we would like to do after discovering this
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O que queríamos facer
despois de descubrir isto,
06:11
back in 2003
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alá no 2003,
06:13
is to come up with a way to try to correct that.
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era atopar unha maneira de corrixilo.
06:16
Well again, by knowing something about the molecular pathways,
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De novo, coñecendo algo
das vías moleculares,
06:20
it was possible to pick
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era posible coller
06:22
one of those many, many compounds that might have been useful
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un destes compostos que podían ser útiles
06:24
and try it out.
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e probalo.
06:26
In an experiment done in cell culture
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Nun experimento "in vitro"
06:28
and shown here in a cartoon,
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mostrado nesta animación,
06:30
if you take that particular compound
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se se escolle ese composto particular
06:33
and you add it to that cell that has progeria,
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e se lle engade á célula que ten proxeria,
06:36
and you watch to see what happened,
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observen o que acontece,
06:38
in just 72 hours, that cell becomes,
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en só 72 horas, a célula transfórmase,
06:41
for all purposes that we can determine,
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para todos os efectos
que podemos determinar,
06:44
almost like a normal cell.
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nunha célula normal.
06:45
Well that was exciting, but would it actually work in a real human being?
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Funcionará nunha célula humana real?
06:50
This has led, in the space of only four years
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Isto levou, en tan só catro anos
06:53
from the time the gene was discovered to the start of a clinical trial,
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dende que se descubriu o xene
ata que empezou o ensaio clínico,
06:57
to a test of that very compound.
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a probar ese composto.
06:59
And the kids that you see here
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Todos os nenos que ven aquí
07:01
all volunteered to be part of this,
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participaron voluntariamente no proceso,
07:03
28 of them,
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28 nenos,
07:05
and you can see as soon as the picture comes up
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pódese ver, como mostra a foto,
07:08
that they are in fact a remarkable group of young people
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que son un grupo de xente nova
07:11
all afflicted by this disease,
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afectado pola enfermidade,
07:13
all looking quite similar to each other.
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que se parecen bastante entre eles.
07:15
And instead of telling you more about it,
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Antes de falarlles máis disto,
07:17
I'm going to invite one of them, Sam Berns from Boston,
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vou invitar a un deles,
Sam Berns de Boston,
07:21
who's here this morning, to come up on the stage
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que está aquí esta mañá,
a subir ao escenario
07:23
and tell us about his experience
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para que nos conte a súa experiencia
07:25
as a child affected with progeria.
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como un neno afectado de proxeria.
07:27
Sam is 15 years old. His parents, Scott Berns and Leslie Gordon,
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Sam ten 15 anos. Seus pais,
Scott Berns e Leslie Gordon,
07:31
both physicians, are here with us this morning as well.
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médicos os dous,
tamén están aquí esta mañá.
07:33
Sam, please have a seat.
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Sam, senta por favor
07:36
(Applause)
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(Aplausos)
07:43
So Sam, why don't you tell these folks
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Sam, por que non lle dis a esta xente
07:45
what it's like being affected with this condition called progeria?
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como é estar afectado de proxeria?
07:49
Sam Burns: Well, progeria limits me in some ways.
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Sam Burns: A proxeria limítame
nalgúns aspectos.
07:53
I cannot play sports or do physical activities,
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Non podo facer deporte ou
actividades físicas,
07:57
but I have been able to take interest in things
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pero fun capaz de facer
cousas interesantes
08:00
that progeria, luckily, does not limit.
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que por sorte a proxeria non me limita.
08:03
But when there is something that I really do want to do
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Pero cando hai algo
que realmente quero facer
08:05
that progeria gets in the way of, like marching band
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e a proxeria se interpón no meu camiño,
como tocar nunha banda, ou arbitrar,
08:08
or umpiring, we always find a way to do it,
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sempre atopamos
a maneira de facelo,
08:12
and that just shows that progeria isn't in control of my life.
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e isto demostra que a proxeria
non controla a miña vida.
08:15
(Applause)
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(Aplausos)
08:17
Francis Collins: So what would you like to say to researchers
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FC: Que lles dirías aos investigadores
08:19
here in the auditorium and others listening to this?
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que están aquí e a outros que te escoiten?
08:22
What would you say to them both about research on progeria
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Qué lles dirías
sobre a investigación da proxeria
08:25
and maybe about other conditions as well?
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e tamén doutras doenzas?
08:27
SB: Well, research on progeria has come so far
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SB: A investigación en proxeria
avanzou moito
08:30
in less than 15 years,
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en menos de 15 anos,
08:32
and that just shows the drive that researchers can have
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e isto amosa a determinación
que os investigadores deben ter
08:36
to get this far, and it really means a lot
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para avanzar tanto, o cal significa moito
08:40
to myself and other kids with progeria,
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para min e para outros nenos con proxeria,
08:43
and it shows that if that drive exists,
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e isto ensínanos que
se esa determinación existe
08:46
anybody can cure any disease,
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calquera pode curar
calquera tipo de enfermidade,
08:48
and hopefully progeria can be cured in the near future,
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e espero que a proxeria
poida curarse nun futuro próximo
08:52
and so we can eliminate those 4,000 diseases
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e que poidamos eliminar
esas 4000 enfermidades
08:56
that Francis was talking about.
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das que Francis falaba.
FC: Xenial. Sam faltou hoxe ao instituto
08:59
FC: Excellent. So Sam took the day off from school today
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09:02
to be here, and he is — (Applause) --
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para estar aquí --(Aplausos)--
09:07
He is, by the way, a straight-A+ student in the ninth grade
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Aínda así, é un estudante
de sobresaliente de noveno grado
09:12
in his school in Boston.
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no seu instituto de Boston.
09:14
Please join me in thanking and welcoming Sam.
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Deámoslle as grazas a Sam.
09:16
SB: Thank you very much. FC: Well done. Well done, buddy.
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SB: Moitas grazas.
FC: Ben feito, rapaz.
09:19
(Applause)
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(Aplausos)
09:32
So I just want to say a couple more things
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Quero dicir un par de cousas máis
09:34
about that particular story, and then try to generalize
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sobre esta historia e tentar xeneralizar
09:37
how could we have stories of success
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sobre como podemos ter historias de éxito
09:40
all over the place for these diseases, as Sam says,
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para todas estas enfermidades,
como dixo Sam,
09:43
these 4,000 that are waiting for answers.
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estas 4000 enfermidades
que agardan respostas.
09:46
You might have noticed that the drug
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Debedes saber que o fármaco
09:48
that is now in clinical trial for progeria
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2769
que se está probando para a proxeria
09:50
is not a drug that was designed for that.
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non é un fármaco deseñado para ela.
09:52
It's such a rare disease, it would be hard for a company
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É unha enfermidade tan rara
que unha empresa tería moi difícil
09:55
to justify spending hundreds of millions of dollars to generate a drug.
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3730
xustificar o gasto de centos de millóns
de dólares para producir o fármaco.
09:59
This is a drug that was developed for cancer.
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Este fármaco desenvolveuse para o cancro.
10:01
Turned out, it didn't work very well for cancer,
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2165
Non funcionou moi ben contra el,
10:03
but it has exactly the right properties, the right shape,
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pero ten as propiedades exactas,
a forma precisa,
10:05
to work for progeria, and that's what's happened.
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2892
para tratar a proxeria, e
isto foi o que pasou.
10:08
Wouldn't it be great if we could do that more systematically?
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3228
Non sería fantástico facermos isto
máis sistematicamente?
10:11
Could we, in fact, encourage all the companies that are out there
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Poderiamos animar ás compañías
10:15
that have drugs in their freezers
224
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1838
que teñen fármacos nos conxeladores
10:17
that are known to be safe in humans
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2202
que sabemos que son seguros en humanos
10:19
but have never actually succeeded in terms
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2292
pero que nunca se demostraron efectivos
nos tratamentos para os que se deseñaron?
10:22
of being effective for the treatments they were tried for?
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Agora estamos aprendendo
sobre estas novas vías moleculares
10:24
Now we're learning about all these new molecular pathways --
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609011
2384
10:27
some of those could be repositioned or repurposed,
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algunhas das cales poderían ser
reorientadas ou reutilizadas,
10:30
or whatever word you want to use, for new applications,
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ou como lle queiramos chamar,
para novas aplicacións,
10:32
basically teaching old drugs new tricks.
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2969
ensinándolles novos trucos
a vellos fármacos.
10:35
That could be a phenomenal, valuable activity.
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Podería ser unha actividade
extraordinaria e valiosa.
10:38
We have many discussions now between NIH and companies
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3046
Temos moitos debates entre
o Instituto Nacional da Saúde e empresas
10:41
about doing this that are looking very promising.
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2124
sobre facer isto
que tan prometedor parece.
10:43
And you could expect quite a lot to come from this.
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2614
E temos bastantes esperanzas
de que resulte.
10:46
There are quite a number of success stories one can point to
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3039
Hai abondas historias exitosas
que podemos destacar
10:49
about how this has led to major advances.
237
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2353
sobre como isto comportou
avances relevantes.
10:51
The first drug for HIV/AIDS
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2207
O primeiro fármaco contra o VIH
10:53
was not developed for HIV/AIDS.
239
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1729
non se desenvolveu para o VIH.
10:55
It was developed for cancer. It was AZT.
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2518
Foino para o cancro.
Trátase do AZT.
10:58
It didn't work very well for cancer, but became
241
642159
2001
Non funcionou contra o cancro, pero foi
11:00
the first successful antiretroviral,
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2116
o primeiro antirretroviral exitoso,
11:02
and you can see from the table there are others as well.
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e como se ve na táboa, hai outros tamén.
11:04
So how do we actually make that a more generalizable effort?
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3644
Como facemos este esforzo
máis xeneralizable?
11:08
Well, we have to come up with a partnership
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2224
Temos que chegar a acordos
11:10
between academia, government, the private sector,
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2860
entre o mundo académico, o goberno,
o sector privado,
11:13
and patient organizations to make that so.
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2453
e organizacións de pacientes para facelo.
No Instituto Nacional da Saúde,
creamos un novo
11:15
At NIH, we have started this new
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660029
1650
11:17
National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences.
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3200
Centro Nacional de
Ciencias Translacionais Avanzadas.
11:20
It just started last December, and this is one of its goals.
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3615
Comezou en decembro pasado,
e este é un dos seus obxectivos.
Déixenme dicirlles outra cousa
que poderiamos facer
11:24
Let me tell you another thing we could do.
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668494
1441
11:25
Wouldn't it be nice to be able to a test a drug
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2919
Non sería xenial se puidésemos
probar un fármaco
11:28
to see if it's effective and safe
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2371
para ver se é efectivo e seguro
11:31
without having to put patients at risk,
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2101
sen poñer en risco pacientes,
11:33
because that first time you're never quite sure?
255
677326
2553
porque as primeiras veces
non se está seguro?
11:35
How do we know, for instance, whether drugs are safe
256
679879
2151
Como sabemos que un fármaco é seguro
11:37
before we give them to people? We test them on animals.
257
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3245
antes de darllo a persoas?
Probámolo en animais.
11:41
And it's not all that reliable, and it's costly,
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2642
E iso non é demasiado fiable,
e ademais é custoso,
11:43
and it's time-consuming.
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1690
e consome tempo.
11:45
Suppose we could do this instead on human cells.
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2863
Imaxinen que podemos facelo
en células humanas.
11:48
You probably know, if you've been paying attention
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2232
Se lle prestan atención
á literatura científica
11:50
to some of the science literature
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1300
probablemente saberán que
11:51
that you can now take a skin cell
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1656
pode collerse unha célula da pel
11:53
and encourage it to become a liver cell
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2881
e estimulala para convertela en hepática
11:56
or a heart cell or a kidney cell or a brain cell for any of us.
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3075
ou cardíaca, ou renal
ou derebral de calquera de nós.
11:59
So what if you used those cells as your test
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3152
E se utilizamos estas células para probar
12:02
for whether a drug is going to work and whether it's going to be safe?
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2945
se un fármaco vai ser efectivo e seguro?
12:05
Here you see a picture of a lung on a chip.
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4231
Velaquí unha imaxe dun pulmón nun chip.
12:09
This is something created by the Wyss Institute in Boston,
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3521
É unha creación do Wyss Institute
en Boston,
12:13
and what they have done here, if we can run the little video,
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3175
e o que fixeron,
se poñemos en marcha o vídeo,
12:16
is to take cells from an individual,
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2136
foi coller células dun individuo,
12:18
turn them into the kinds of cells that are present in the lung,
272
722774
3109
transformalas en células
que hai nos pulmóns,
12:21
and determine what would happen
273
725883
1805
e ver que acontece
12:23
if you added to this various drug compounds
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3077
se se engaden varios compostos
12:26
to see if they are toxic or safe.
275
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2465
para ver se son seguros ou tóxicos.
12:29
You can see this chip even breathes.
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2271
Poden ver que este chip incluso respira.
12:31
It has an air channel. It has a blood channel.
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2617
Ten unha canle de aire e outra de sangue.
12:34
And it has cells in between
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738118
1703
E ten células no medio
que permiten ver o que acontece
ao engadir un composto.
12:35
that allow you to see what happens when you add a compound.
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2438
12:38
Are those cells happy or not?
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1772
Están contentas as células ou non?
12:39
You can do this same kind of chip technology
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3031
Pódese usar esta mesma tecnoloxía
12:42
for kidneys, for hearts, for muscles,
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2209
para riles, corazóns, músculos,
12:45
all the places where you want to see whether a drug
283
749271
2464
calquera órgano
onde se queira ver se o fármaco
12:47
is going to be a problem, for the liver.
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2281
vai ser un problema, para o fígado.
12:49
And ultimately, because you can do this for the individual,
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3048
E finalmente, porque isto pode facerse
para cada persoa,
12:52
we could even see this moving to the point
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2214
podemos ver que se encamiña ata o punto
12:55
where the ability to develop and test medicines
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3441
en que a capacidade
para desenvolver e testar fármacos
12:58
will be you on a chip, what we're trying to say here is
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3186
irá con vostedes nun chip, o que implica
13:01
the individualizing of the process of developing drugs
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3501
a individualización do proceso
para desenvolver fármacos
13:05
and testing their safety.
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2248
e probar a súa seguridade.
13:07
So let me sum up.
291
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1652
Resumindo.
13:09
We are in a remarkable moment here.
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2260
Estamos nun momento extraordinario.
13:11
For me, at NIH now for almost 20 years,
293
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2103
Para min, con case 20 anos
no Instituto Nacional da Saúde,
13:13
there has never been a time where there was more excitement
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2601
nunca houbo unha época
de maior entusiasmo
13:16
about the potential that lies in front of us.
295
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2585
sobre o potencial do que temos diante.
13:18
We have made all these discoveries
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1792
Fixemos todos estes descubrimentos
13:20
pouring out of laboratories across the world.
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2365
en laboratorios espallados polo mundo.
13:22
What do we need to capitalize on this? First of all, we need resources.
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3362
Que fai falla para sacar proveito deles?
Primeiro, recursos.
13:26
This is research that's high-risk, sometimes high-cost.
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3555
Esta é investigación de alto risco,
e ás veces de alto custo.
13:29
The payoff is enormous, both in terms of health
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1971
A recompensa é enorme, en termos de saúde
13:31
and in terms of economic growth. We need to support that.
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2880
e de crecemento económico.
Hai que apoiala.
13:34
Second, we need new kinds of partnerships
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2301
Segundo, precisamos novos tipos
de relacións
13:36
between academia and government and the private sector
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2221
entre o mundo académico, o goberno,
o sector privado
13:39
and patient organizations, just like the one I've been describing here,
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3347
e as organizacións de pacientes,
como xa contei aquí,
13:42
in terms of the way in which we could go after repurposing new compounds.
305
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3580
sobre que camiño adoptar
despois da reutilización de compostos.
13:46
And third, and maybe most important, we need talent.
306
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3236
E terceiro, e pode que máis importante,
precisamos talento.
13:49
We need the best and the brightest
307
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2141
Precisamos os mellores e máis brillantes
13:51
from many different disciplines to come and join this effort --
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815606
2857
de diferentes disciplinas
para vir e axudar,
13:54
all ages, all different groups --
309
818463
2446
de calquera idade, de calquera grupo,
13:56
because this is the time, folks.
310
820909
2087
porque este é o momento, amigos.
13:58
This is the 21st-century biology that you've been waiting for,
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3625
Esta é a bioloxía do s. XXI
que estabamos a agardar,
14:02
and we have the chance to take that
312
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2462
e temos a oportunidade
de collela
14:04
and turn it into something which will, in fact,
313
829083
2490
e convertela en algo
acabe coas enfermidades.
Ese é o meu obxectivo.
14:07
knock out disease. That's my goal.
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2330
14:09
I hope that's your goal.
315
833903
1884
Agardo que tamén sexa o seu.
14:11
I think it'll be the goal of the poets and the muppets
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2680
Penso que será o obxectivo dos
poetas, marionetas,
14:14
and the surfers and the bankers
317
838467
2009
surfeiros e banqueiros
14:16
and all the other people who join this stage
318
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2278
e de todas as persoas
que se unan a esta causa
14:18
and think about what we're trying to do here
319
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1750
e pensen no que tentamos facer
14:20
and why it matters.
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1165
e por qué é importante.
14:21
It matters for now. It matters as soon as possible.
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2770
É importante para agora,
para o antes posible.
14:24
If you don't believe me, just ask Sam.
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3118
Se non me cren, pregúntenlle a Sam.
14:27
Thank you all very much.
323
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1443
Moitas grazas a todos.
14:28
(Applause)
324
853000
4831
(Aplausos)

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Francis Collins - Geneticist, physician
A key player in the US' new brain-mapping project, Francis Collins is director of the National Institutes of Health.

Why you should listen

In 2000 the world saw the first working draft of the human genome, and that's in no small part thanks to Francis Collins. Under his directorship at the National Human Genome Research Institute, the Human Genome Project was finished, a complete mapping of all 20,500 genes in the human genome, with a high-quality, reference sequence published in April 2003.

In 2009 President Obama nominated Collins as the director of the National Institutes of Health, and later that year he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate. In March 2013, Collins helped Obama introduce the BRAIN Initiative, an ambitious, well-funded program to map the human brain. Read more about the BRAIN Initiative >>

Collins is also a self-described serious Christian and the author of several books on science and faith, including The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief.

More profile about the speaker
Francis Collins | Speaker | TED.com