Ed Boyden: A new way to study the brain's invisible secrets
Ed Boyden: Fraldas para bebés inspiraram esta nova forma de estudar o cérebro
Ed Boyden is a professor of biological engineering and brain and cognitive sciences at the MIT Media Lab and the MIT McGovern Institute. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
when you add water to them,
quando lhes deitamos água,
by millions of kids every day.
milhões de crianças todos os dias.
in a very clever way.
de modo muito inteligente.
called a swellable material.
when you add water,
quando adicionada água,
industrial kind of polymer.
industrial muito útil.
in my group at MIT
está a tentar fazer
something similar to the brain.
algo semelhante com o cérebro.
can peer inside
the biomolecules,
as biomoléculas
structure of the brain, if you will?
estrutura do cérebro?
of how the brain is organized
como o cérebro está organizado
the exact changes in the brain
mudanças cerebrais específicas
and epilepsy and Parkinson's,
epilepsia e Parkinson,
treatments, much less cures,
tratamentos, quanto mais curas,
we don't know the cause or the origins
não sabemos a causa ou origem
a different point of view
de um ângulo diferente
been done over the last hundred years.
how to build technologies
como construir tecnologias
incredibly complicated.
over the first century of neuroscience
no primeiro século da neurociência
complicated network,
é uma rede muito complicada,
cells called neurons
especializadas, os neurónios,
through these complexly shaped neurons.
por esses neurónios com formas complexas.
are connected in networks.
estão interligados em redes.
called synapses that exchange chemicals
designadas sinapses, que trocam químicos
to talk to each other.
comunicar entre si.
o neurónio de perto
our artist's rendition of it.
o nosso esboço artístico —
and thousands of kinds of biomolecules,
de tipos de biomoléculas,
organized in complex, 3D patterns,
em padrões tridimensionais complexos,
those electrical pulses,
esses impulsos elétricos,
that allow neurons to work together
aos neurónios trabalhar juntos,
and feelings and so forth.
sentimentos, e por aí fora.
the neurons in the brain are organized
se organizam no cérebro formando redes,
the biomolecules are organized
se organizam nesses neurónios
organizadas e complexas.
of molecules and neurons
de moléculas e neurónios
how the brain conducts information
como o cérebro conduz informação
of molecular changes that occur
todas as alterações moleculares
those molecules have changed,
as moléculas sofreram,
or changed in pattern,
ou alterado o seu padrão,
as targets for new drugs,
para novos fármacos,
energy into the brain
energia para o cérebro
computations that are afflicted
cerebrais que foram afetados
from brain disorders.
de doenças cerebrais.
technologies over the last century
diferentes no último século
de ressonância magnética.
that they are noninvasive,
de não serem invasivas,
or voxels, as they're called,
ou vóxeis, como são chamados,
and millions of neurons.
e milhões de neurónios.
the molecular changes that occur
as alterações moleculares
of these networks
entre essas redes,
to be conscious and powerful beings.
conscientes e com grandes capacidades.
you have microscopes.
to look at little tiny things.
para ver coisas muito pequenas.
to look at things like bacteria.
para ver coisas como bactérias.
were discovered in the first place,
precisamente com a ajuda de microscópios,
with a regular old microscope.
com um microscópio tradicional.
to see the brain more powerful,
a capacidade de ver o cérebro,
a sua verdadeira estrutura,
even better technologies.
ainda mais avançadas.
started thinking:
to zoom in to the brain,
do meu grupo, Fei Chen e Paul Tillberg.
Fei Chen and Paul Tillberg.
a ajudar no processo.
are helping with this process.
se podíamos pegar em polímeros,
if we could take polymers,
within the brain.
e adicionássemos água,
and you add water,
de expandir o cérebro
those tiny biomolecules from each other.
pequenas biomoléculas umas das outras.
and get maps of the brain.
e teríamos mapas do cérebro.
purificado de fraldas de bebés.
just to buy it off the Internet
that actually occur in these diapers.
que existem nestas fraldas.
of the baby diaper material
de material de fraldas para bebés
by about a thousandfold
até cerca de mil vezes o seu tamanho
very interesting molecule,
muito, muito interessante.
to really zoom in on the brain
with past technologies.
com tecnologias antigas.
in the baby diaper polymer?
what you see on the screen.
arranged in long, thin lines.
dispostos em linhas longas e finas.
cerca da largura de uma biomolécula,
de uma biomolécula.
move everything apart in the brain.
entre si as estruturas do cérebro.
is going to absorb the water,
expansível irá absorvê-la,
afastar-se umas das outras,
apart from each other,
is going to become bigger.
de distâncias biomoleculares,
grande para o vermos.
these polymer chains inside the brain
dentro do cérebro
ground truth maps of the brain.
mapas realistas do cérebro.
and see the molecules within.
e ver as moléculas lá dentro.
at, in these artist renderings,
representações artísticas,
like and how we might separate them.
e como as poderemos separar.
to do, first of all,
de fazer, antes de mais,
shown in brown here,
aqui representadas a castanho,
uma pequena maçaneta.
of the brain apart from each other,
as moléculas do cérebro
to have a little handle
de uma pequena maçaneta
agarrarem-se a elas
polymer and dump it on the brain,
de fraldas e o pusermos no cérebro,
to make the polymers inside.
colocar os polímeros lá dentro.
os blocos de construção,
get the building blocks,
those long chains,
as tais cadeias longas,
around biomolecules
e entre as biomoléculas,
to pull apart the molecules
com uma dessas pequenas maçanetas,
of those little handles is around,
and that's exactly what we need
e é isso mesmo que nós precisamos
apart from each other.
all the molecules from each other,
as ligações entre as moléculas,
to start absorbing the water,
começará a absorvê-la,
will come along for the ride.
irão apanhar a boleia.
a picture on a balloon,
away from each other.
afastaram-se entre si.
to do now, but in three dimensions.
mas em três dimensões.
all the biomolecules brown.
com a cor castanha.
kind of look the same.
são todas muito parecidas.
out of the same atoms,
that will distinguish them.
que irão permitir distingui-las.
might get a blue color.
poderá ficar azul.
might get a red color.
poderá ficar vermelho.
como seja um cérebro
far apart enough from each other
we can make the invisible visible.
tornar o invisível em visível.
small and obscure
pequenas e obscuras,
de informação sobre a vida.
of information about life.
of what it might look like.
de como isto poderá ser.
right before your eyes --
cerca de seis vezes —
is going to grow.
de cérebro irá crescer.
or even more in volume.
em cem vezes ou até mais.
those polymers are so tiny,
polímeros são muito estreitos,
evenly from each other.
de modo uniforme.
of the information.
a informação sobre a configuração.
circuitos do cérebro reais
actual brain circuitry --
involved with, for example, memory --
relacionado com a memória —
how circuits are configured.
como os circuitos estão configurados.
at how circuits are configured
a configuração dos circuitos
of our brain is organized
no cérebro estão organizadas
at a molecular level.
a um nível molecular.
look into cells in the brain
de olhar para células do cérebro
molecules that have altered
as 17 moléculas com alterações
undergoing epilepsy
em que ocorreu epilepsia,
of things that are going wrong,
das várias coisas erradas,
at different parts of the brain
para diferentes zonas cerebrais
with Parkinson's or epilepsy
mais de mil milhões de pessoas
over a billion people
has been happening.
tem estado a acontecer.
that expansion might help with.
a expansão poderá ajudar.
from a human breast cancer patient.
de um paciente com cancro da mama.
if you look at development --
ou o desenvolvimento,
large-scale biological systems.
sistemas biológicos em grande escala.
with those little nanoscale molecules,
com essas moléculas à nanoescala,
and the organs in our body tick.
células e os nossos órgãos funcionem.
to do now is to figure out
fazer agora é perceber
to map the building blocks of life
para mapear os tijolos da vida
the molecular changes in a tumor
alterações moleculares num tumor
go after it in a smart way
de modo inteligente
exactly the cells that we want to?
exatamente as células que queremos?
is very high risk.
tem um risco elevado.
what might be a high-risk moon shot
uma tentativa arriscada de "ida à Lua"
feat of engineering.
bastante grande da engenharia.
necessarily have all the laws.
propriamente todas as leis.
that are analogous to gravity,
como estas de que falei hoje
that occur in living systems,
que ocorrem em seres vivos,
the diseases that plague us.
as doenças que nos atingem.
temos dois filhos jovens,
have two young kids,
is to make life better for them
de tornar a vida deles melhor
turn biology and medicine
mudar a biologia e a medicina,
that are governed by chance and luck,
governados pela sorte,
that we win by skill and hard work,
com conhecimento e trabalho árduo,
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Ed Boyden - NeuroengineerEd Boyden is a professor of biological engineering and brain and cognitive sciences at the MIT Media Lab and the MIT McGovern Institute.
Why you should listen
Ed Boyden leads the Synthetic Neurobiology Group, which develops tools for analyzing and repairing complex biological systems such as the brain. His group applies these tools in a systematic way in order to reveal ground truth scientific understandings of biological systems, which in turn reveal radical new approaches for curing diseases and repairing disabilities. These technologies include expansion microscopy, which enables complex biological systems to be imaged with nanoscale precision, and optogenetic tools, which enable the activation and silencing of neural activity with light (TED Talk: A light switch for neurons). Boyden also co-directs the MIT Center for Neurobiological Engineering, which aims to develop new tools to accelerate neuroscience progress.
Amongst other recognitions, Boyden has received the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences (2016), the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award (2015), the Carnegie Prize in Mind and Brain Sciences (2015), the Jacob Heskel Gabbay Award (2013), the Grete Lundbeck Brain Prize (2013) and the NIH Director's Pioneer Award (2013). He was also named to the World Economic Forum Young Scientist list (2013) and the Technology Review World's "Top 35 Innovators under Age 35" list (2006). His group has hosted hundreds of visitors to learn how to use new biotechnologies and spun out several companies to bring inventions out of his lab and into the world. Boyden received his Ph.D. in neurosciences from Stanford University as a Hertz Fellow, where he discovered that the molecular mechanisms used to store a memory are determined by the content to be learned. Before that, he received three degrees in electrical engineering, computer science and physics from MIT. He has contributed to over 300 peer-reviewed papers, current or pending patents and articles, and he has given over 300 invited talks on his group's work.
Ed Boyden | Speaker | TED.com