ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Kary Mullis - Biochemist
Kary Mullis won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for developing a way to copy a strand of DNA. (His technique, called PCR, jump-started the 1990s' biorevolution.) He's known for his wide-ranging interests -- and strong opinions.

Why you should listen

In the early 1980s, Kary Mullis developed the polymerase chain reaction, an elegant way to make copies of a DNA strand using the enzyme polymerase and some basic DNA "building blocks." The process opened the door to more in-depth study of DNA -- like the Human Genome Project. Mullis shared the 1993 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for developing this technique.

As he tells it, after winning the Nobel Prize, his next career move was to learn how to surf. It's typical of Mullis, whose scientific method is to get deeply curious about a topic, work it out from first principles, and then imagine the next giant leap forward. As he puts it in his Nobel autobiography, revised several times since 1993, "I read a lot, and think a lot, and I can talk about almost anything. Being a Nobel laureate is a license to be an expert in lots of things as long as you do your homework."

Most recently, he's been taking a hard look at immunity; a recent patent from his company Altermune describes the redirection of an existing immune response to a new pathogen.

More profile about the speaker
Kary Mullis | Speaker | TED.com
TED2009

Kary Mullis: A next-gen cure for killer infections

Kary Mullisov lijek protiv smrtonosnih infekcija

Filmed:
691,090 views

Bakterije koje su otporne na lijekove su smrtonosne, čak i u najboljim bolnicama. Međutim, opasnim infekcijama poput stafilokoka i antraksa sprema se iznenađenje. Kemičar, Nobelovac, Kary Mullis, čiji je prijatelj umro jer i najbolji antibiotici nisu pomogli, otkriva radikalnu novu, obećavajuću metodu liječenja.
- Biochemist
Kary Mullis won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for developing a way to copy a strand of DNA. (His technique, called PCR, jump-started the 1990s' biorevolution.) He's known for his wide-ranging interests -- and strong opinions. Full bio

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

00:18
So it was about fourčetiri yearsgodina agoprije, fivepet yearsgodina agoprije,
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Bilo je to otprilike prije četiri, pet godina,
00:21
I was sittingsjedenje on a stagefaza in PhiladelphiaPhiladelphia, I think it was,
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sjedio sam na bini u Philadelphiji,
00:23
with a bagtorba similarsličan to this.
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sa torbom sličnom ovoj.
00:26
And I was pullingpovlačenjem a moleculemolekula out of this bagtorba.
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I vadio sam molekule iz torbe.
00:29
And I was sayingizreka, you don't know this moleculemolekula really well,
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I govorio sam, vi ne znate ovu molekulu dobro,
00:32
but your bodytijelo knowszna it extremelykrajnje well.
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ali ga vaš organizam zna vrlo dobro.
00:35
And I was thinkingmišljenje that your bodytijelo hatedomrznut it, at the time,
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I tada sam mislio da ga vaše tijelo mrzi,
00:39
because we are very immuneimun to this. This is calledzvao alpha-galAlfa-gal epitopeepitope.
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zato što smo mi imuni na njega. Ovo je molekula alpha-gal Epitop.
00:42
And the factčinjenica that pigsvinja heartsrce valvesventili have lots of these on them
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I činjenica da svinjski srčani zalistak ima puno ovih molekula,
00:46
is the reasonrazlog that you can't transplanttransplantaciju a pigsvinja heartsrce valveventil into a personosoba easilylako.
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razlog je zašto ne možete presaditi svinjski srčani zalistak u čovjeka.
00:50
ActuallyZapravo our bodytijelo doesn't hatemrziti these.
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Ustvari, naše tijelo ne mrzi ove molekule.
00:52
Our bodytijelo lovesvoli these. It eatsjede them.
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Naše tijelo ih obožava. Ono ih proždire.
00:55
I mean, the cellsStanice in our immuneimun systemsistem are always hungrygladan.
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Stanice našeg imunološkog sustava su uvijek gladne.
00:58
And if an antibodyprotutijela is stucku škripcu to one of these things
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I ako je antitijelo zakačeno za jednu ovakvu molekulu
01:02
on the cellćelija, it meanssredstva "that's foodhrana."
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na ćeliji, to znači da je vrijeme za večeru.
01:05
Now, I was thinkingmišljenje about that and I said, you know, we'veimamo got this
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I dosta sam razmišljao o tome. Mi imamo
01:07
immuneimun responseodgovor to this ridiculoussmiješan moleculemolekula
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imunu reakciju na ovu smiješnu molekulu,
01:10
that we don't make, and we see it a lot in other animalsživotinje and stuffstvari.
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koju mi ne proizvodimo, ali ga nalazimo u drugim životinjama i stvarima.
01:14
But I said we can't get ridosloboditi of it,
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I uvijek ćemo imati tu imunu reakciju.
01:17
because all the people who triedpokušala to transplanttransplantaciju heartsrce valvesventili
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I svi ljudi koji su pokušali presaditi srčani zalistak,
01:19
foundpronađeno out you can't get ridosloboditi of that immunityimunitet.
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otkrili su da se ne mogu riješiti te imune reakcije.
01:21
And I said, why don't you use that?
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Zašto onda ne probamo iskoristiti to?
01:23
What if I could stickštap this moleculemolekula,
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Što ako bih uzeo ovu molekulu,
01:26
slapšamar it ontona a bacteriabakterija
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i zakačio ju na bakteriju
01:28
that was pathogenicpatogeni to me, that had just invadednapali my lungspluća?
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koja je patogena za mene i koja je napala moja pluća.
01:32
I mean I could immediatelyodmah tapslavina into
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Štoviše, u tom slučaju
01:34
an immuneimun responseodgovor that was alreadyveć there,
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imunitet bi se stvorio istog trenutka.
01:36
where it was not going to take fivepet or sixšest daysdana to developrazviti it --
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I ne bi nam trebalo pet ili šest dana da se imunitet razvije,
01:39
it was going to immediatelyodmah attacknapad whateveršto god this thing was on.
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nego bi istovremeno organizam reagirao.
01:42
It was kindljubazan of like the sameisti thing that happensdogađa se when you,
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Na primjer, zamislite da vas dok
01:44
like when you're gettinguzimajući stoppedprestao for a trafficpromet ticketulaznica in L.A.,
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vozite auto, zaustavi policajac u Los Angelesu.
01:48
and the coppolicajac dropsKapi a bagtorba of marijuanamarihuana in the back of your carautomobil,
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I da vam policajac ubaci vrećicu marihuane u prtljažnik,
01:51
and then chargesnaknade you for possessionposjed of marijuanamarihuana.
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i privede vas zbog posjedovanja marihuane.
01:54
It's like this very fastbrzo, very efficientučinkovit way to get people off the streetulica.
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To bi bio veoma brz i efikasan način uklanjanja ljudi sa ulica.
01:58
(LaughterSmijeh)
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(Smijeh)
02:00
So you can take a bacteriabakterija
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Slično tome, uzmite neku bakteriju,
02:02
that really doesn't make these things at all,
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koja ne proizvodi ovu molekulu uopće,
02:04
and if you could clampObujmice these on it really well
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i ako bismo mogli zakačiti ove molekule za bakteriju,
02:06
you have it takenpoduzete off the streetulica.
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mi bismo ih uklonili s ulice.
02:08
And for certainsiguran bacteriabakterija
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I za određene bakterije
02:10
we don't have really efficientučinkovit waysnačine to do that anymoreviše.
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mi ustvari više i nemamo učinkovit način učiniti to.
02:12
Our antibioticsantibiotici are runningtrčanje out.
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Ponestaje nam antibiotika.
02:14
And, I mean, the worldsvijet apparentlyočigledno is runningtrčanje out too.
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Ustvari, izgleda kako cijeli svijet polako nestaje,
02:17
So probablyvjerojatno it doesn't matterstvar 50 yearsgodina from now --
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tako da vjerojatno neće ni biti bitno za 50 godina,
02:20
streptococcusStreptococcus and stuffstvari like that will be rampantbijesan --
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što su Streptokoki i slične stvari toliko nabujale,
02:23
because we won'tnavika be here. But if we are --
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jer mi nećemo biti ovdje. Ali ako budemo ...
02:25
(LaughterSmijeh)
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(Smijeh)
02:27
we're going to need something to do with the bacteriabakterija.
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treba nešto učiniti sa ovim bakterijama.
02:29
So I startedpočeo workingrad with this thing,
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Tako sam i počeo raditi na ovome,
02:33
with a bunchmnogo of collaboratorssuradnici.
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sa svojim suradnicima.
02:35
And tryingtežak to attachpričvrstiti this to things that were
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Pokušavajući zakačit ovu molekulu
02:38
themselvesse attachedprivržen to certainsiguran specificspecifično targetcilj zoneszone,
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za stvari koje se onda mogu zakačit za određene zone
02:42
bacteriabakterija that we don't like.
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onih bakterija, koje i inače ne volimo.
02:44
And I feel now like GeorgeGeorge BushBush.
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I sada se osjećam kao George Bush.
02:48
It's like "missionmisija accomplishedostvariti."
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Kad je izgovorio''misija je završena'' (u Iraku).
02:50
So I mightmoć be doing something dumbglup, just like he was doing at the time.
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Možda radim nešto glupo, baš kao što je i on svojevremeno,
02:53
But basicallyu osnovi what I was talkingkoji govori about there we'veimamo now gottendobivši to work.
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ali hoću reći kako ovaj naš način ustvari radi.
02:57
And it's killingubijanje bacteriabakterija. It's eatingjelo them.
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I metoda ubija bakterije tj. imunološki sustav ih jede.
03:01
This thing can be stucku škripcu, like that little greenzelena triangletrokut up there,
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Ovu molekulu možemo zakačit i to kao onaj mali zeleni trokut gore
03:05
sortvrsta of symbolizingkao simbol this right now.
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što ju simbolizira.
03:08
You can stickštap this to something calledzvao a DNADNK aptameraptamer.
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To možete zakačit za nešto što se zove DNK aptamer,
03:11
And that DNADNK aptameraptamer will attachpričvrstiti specificallyposebno
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a taj DNK aptamer će se zakačit
03:13
to a targetcilj that you have selectedodabran for it.
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za metu koju ste vi odabrali.
03:15
So you can find a little featuresvojstvo on a bacteriumbakterija that you don't like,
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Tako možete naći neki detalj na bakteriji koju ne volite,
03:19
like StaphylococcusStaphylococcus -- I don't like it in particularposebno,
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npr. stafilokok, koju ja naročito ne volim,
03:22
because it killedubijen a professorprofesor friendprijatelj of minerudnik last yeargodina.
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jer je ubila mog prijatelja, profesora, prošle godine.
03:25
It doesn't respondodgovarati to antibioticsantibiotici. So I don't like it.
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Ne reagira na antibiotike. Zato je ne volim.
03:28
And I'm makingizrađivanje an aptameraptamer that will have this attachedprivržen to it.
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I napravio sam aptamer koji će imati ovu molekulu zakačenu za njega.
03:31
That will know how to find StaphStafilokokom when it's in your bodytijelo,
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Tako će znati kako pronaći stafilo-bakteriju u vašem organizmu
03:34
and will alertuzbuna your immuneimun systemsistem to go after it.
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i upozoriti vaš imunološki sustav da je napadne.
03:37
Here'sOvdje je what happeneddogodilo. See that linecrta on the very topvrh
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Evo što se dogodilo. Vidite ovu liniju na samom vrhu,
03:40
with the little dotstočkice?
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s točkicama?
03:42
That's a bunchmnogo of micemiševi that had been poisonedzatrovan
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To je gomila miševa koje su otrovali
03:45
by our scientistnaučnik friendsprijatelji down in TexasTexas,
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naši prijatelji znanstvenici iz Teksasa,
03:47
at BrooksBrooks AirKlima BaseBaze, with anthraxantraks.
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u Brooks avio bazi, s antraksom.
03:50
And they had alsotakođer been treatedliječi with a drugdroga that we madenapravljen
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I oni su također bili tretirani lijekom koji smo mi napravili,
03:53
that would attacknapad anthraxantraks in particularposebno,
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koji specifično napada antraks,
03:56
and directdirektno your immuneimun systemsistem to it.
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i upućuje vaš imuni sustav na njega.
03:58
You'llVi ćete noticeobavijest they all livedživjeli, the onesone on the topvrh linecrta --
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Primjećujete da su svi miševi preživjeli, ovi gore na vrhu.
04:00
that's a 100 percentposto survivalopstanak ratestopa.
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To je 100 posto stopa preživljavanja.
04:02
And they actuallyzapravo livedživjeli anotherjoš 14 daysdana,
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Oni su ustvari živjeli još 14 dana
04:05
or 28 when we finallykonačno killedubijen them,
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ili 28, kad smo ih na kraju ubili,
04:07
and tookuzeo them apartosim and figuredshvaćen out what wentotišao wrongpogrešno.
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i otvorili da bi vidjeli što im se dogodilo.
04:10
Why did they not dieumrijeti?
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I zašto nisu umrli?
04:12
And they didn't dieumrijeti because they didn't have anthraxantraks anymoreviše.
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Pa nisu umrli jer više nisu imali antraks.
04:15
So we did it. Okay?
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Znači uspjeli smo, zar ne?
04:17
(ApplausePljesak)
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(Pljesak)
04:19
MissionMisija accomplishedostvariti!
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Misija je završena!
04:21
(ApplausePljesak)
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(Pljesak)
Translated by Romana Perković
Reviewed by Bojan Hodap

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Kary Mullis - Biochemist
Kary Mullis won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for developing a way to copy a strand of DNA. (His technique, called PCR, jump-started the 1990s' biorevolution.) He's known for his wide-ranging interests -- and strong opinions.

Why you should listen

In the early 1980s, Kary Mullis developed the polymerase chain reaction, an elegant way to make copies of a DNA strand using the enzyme polymerase and some basic DNA "building blocks." The process opened the door to more in-depth study of DNA -- like the Human Genome Project. Mullis shared the 1993 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for developing this technique.

As he tells it, after winning the Nobel Prize, his next career move was to learn how to surf. It's typical of Mullis, whose scientific method is to get deeply curious about a topic, work it out from first principles, and then imagine the next giant leap forward. As he puts it in his Nobel autobiography, revised several times since 1993, "I read a lot, and think a lot, and I can talk about almost anything. Being a Nobel laureate is a license to be an expert in lots of things as long as you do your homework."

Most recently, he's been taking a hard look at immunity; a recent patent from his company Altermune describes the redirection of an existing immune response to a new pathogen.

More profile about the speaker
Kary Mullis | Speaker | TED.com