ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Fatima AlZahra'a Alatraktchi - Nanophysicist, entrepreneur
Fatima 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.

More profile about the speaker
Fatima AlZahra'a Alatraktchi | Speaker | TED.com
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Fatima AlZahra'a Alatraktchi: To detect diseases earlier, let's speak bacteria's secret language

Fatima AlZahra'a Alatraktchi: Kutambua magonjwa mapema, tuongee lugha ya siri ya bakteria

Filmed:
1,799,889 views

Bakteria "wanaongea" pamoja, wakituma taarifa za kemikali kuunda mashambulizi. Je kama tungesikiliza wanachosema? Mnanofizikia Fatima AlZahra's Alatraktchi ameunda kifaa cha kupeleleza mazungumzo ya bakteria na kutafsiri mazungumzo yao ya siri kwenda lugha ya binadamu. Kazi yake inaweza kuandaa njia ya ugunduzi wa mapema wa ugonjwa -- kabla hata hatujaumwa.
- Nanophysicist, entrepreneur
Fatima AlZahra'a Alatraktchi invented a method to spy on the social behavior and communication of bacteria. Full bio

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

Hauwajui.
00:13
You don't know them.
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00:16
You don't see them.
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Hauwaoni.
00:18
But they're always around,
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Lakini daima wapo wanazunguka,
00:21
whisperingwhispering,
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wananong'oneza,
00:23
makingkufanya secretsiri plansmipango,
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wakitengeneza mipango ya siri,
00:25
buildingkujenga armiesmajeshi with millionsmamilioni of soldiersaskari.
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wakijenga jeshi la mamilioni ya wanajeshi.
00:30
And when they decidekuamua to attackkushambulia,
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Na wanapoamua kushambulia,
00:33
they all attackkushambulia at the samesawa time.
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wanashambulia kwa wakati mmoja.
00:39
I'm talkingkuzungumza about bacteriabakteria.
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Ninaongelea kuhusu bakteria.
00:40
(LaughterKicheko)
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(Kicheko)
00:42
Who did you think I was talkingkuzungumza about?
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Mlidhani ninaongelea kuhusu nani?
00:46
BacteriaBakteria livekuishi in communitiesjamii
just like humansbinadamu.
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Bakteria wanaishi kwenye jamii
kama tu binadamu.
00:49
They have familiesfamilia,
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Wana familia,
00:50
they talk,
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wanaongea,
00:52
and they planMpango theirwao activitiesshughuli.
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na wanapanga shughuli zao.
00:53
And just like humansbinadamu, they trickhila, deceivekudanganya,
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Na kama tu binadamu, wanahila, waongo,
00:56
and some mightnguvu even cheatsoka on eachkila mmoja other.
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na wengine hata wanadanganyana wenyewe.
01:00
What if I tell you that we can listen
to bacterialbakteria conversationsmazungumzo
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Je kama nikikuambia kua tunaweza
kusikiliza mazungumzo ya bakteria
01:03
and translatekutafsiri theirwao confidentialsiri
informationhabari into humanbinadamu languagelugha?
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na kutafsiri taarifa zao za siri
kuwa lugha ya binadamu?
01:08
And what if I tell you that translatingkutafsiri
bacterialbakteria conversationsmazungumzo can savesalama livesanaishi?
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Na kama je nikiwaambia kuwa kutafsiri
mazungumzo ya bakteria kutaokoa maisha?
01:14
I holdkushikilia a PhDPhD in nanophysicsnanophysics,
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Nina PhD ya nanofizikia,
01:16
and I've used nanotechnologynanoteknolojia
to developkuendeleza a real-timeMuda halisi translationtafsiri toolchombo
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na nimetumia teknolojia ya nano kuunda
chombo cha kutafsiri cha muda halisi
01:20
that can spykupeleleza on bacterialbakteria communitiesjamii
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kinachoweza kupeleleza kwenye jamii
za bakteria
01:23
and give us recordingsrekodi
of what bacteriabakteria are up to.
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na kutupa rekodi za nini
bakteria wanafanya.
01:28
BacteriaBakteria livekuishi everywherekila mahali.
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Bakteria wanaishi kila sehemu.
01:29
They're in the soiludongo, on our furnituresamani
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Wako kwenye udongo, kwenye samani zetu
01:32
and insidendani our bodiesmiili.
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na ndani ya miili yetu.
01:34
In factukweli, 90 percentasilimia of all the livekuishi cellsseli
in this theatersinema are bacterialbakteria.
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Ki ukweli, asilimia 90 ya seli zote hai
kwenye huu ukumbi ni bakteria.
Baadhi ya bakteria ni wazuri
kwetu;
01:39
Some bacteriabakteria are good for us;
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01:41
they help us digestkuponda foodchakula
or producekuzalisha antibioticsantibiotics.
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wanatusaidia kumeng'enya chakula
au kutengeneza dawa.
01:44
And some bacteriabakteria are badmbaya for us;
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Na baadhi ya bakteria na wabaya kwetu:
01:46
they causekusababisha diseasesmagonjwa and deathkifo.
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wanasababisha magonjwa na kifo.
01:49
To coordinatekuratibu all
the functionskazi bacteriabakteria have,
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Kushirikisha kazi zote bakteria
walizonazo,
01:52
they have to be ableinaweza to organizekupanga,
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wanatakiwa wawe na uwezo wa
kupanga,
01:54
and they do that just like us humansbinadamu --
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na wanafanya hivyo kama tu sisi
binadamu --
01:56
by communicatingkuwasiliana.
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kwa mawasiliano.
01:58
But insteadbadala yake of usingkutumia wordsmaneno,
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Lakini badala ya kutumia
maneno,
02:00
they use signalingishara moleculesmolekuli
to communicatekuwasiliana with eachkila mmoja other.
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wanatumia molekuli za ishara
kuwasiliana wenyewe kwa wenyewe.
Bakteria wanapokuwa wachche,
02:04
When bacteriabakteria are fewwachache,
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02:05
the signalingishara moleculesmolekuli just flowmtiririko away,
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molekuli za ishara zinatiririka nje,
02:08
like the screamskwa ubaya sana of a man
alonepeke yake in the desertjangwa.
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kama kelele za mtu peke yake
jangwani.
02:11
But when there are manywengi bacteriabakteria,
the signalingishara moleculesmolekuli accumulatekukusanya,
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Lakini kukiwa na bakteria wengi,
molekuli za ishara zinajikusanya,
02:15
and the bacteriabakteria startkuanza sensingkuhisi
that they're not alonepeke yake.
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na bakteria wanaanza kuhisi kuwa
hawapo peke yao.
02:19
They listen to eachkila mmoja other.
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Wanasikilizana wenyewe.
02:21
In this way, they keep trackkufuatilia
of how manywengi they are
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Kwa njia hii, wanapima
wako wangapi
02:24
and when they're manywengi enoughkutosha
to initiatekuanzisha a newmpya actionhatua.
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na wanapokuwa wengi wa kutosha
kuanzisha hatua mpya.
02:28
And when the signalingishara moleculesmolekuli
have reachedilifikia a certainfulani thresholdkizingiti,
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Na pale molekuli za ishara zinafika
kizingiti flani,
02:32
all the bacteriabakteria sensehisia at oncemara moja
that they need to acttenda
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bakteria wote wanahisi kwa mara moja
kua wanahitaji kutenda
02:35
with the samesawa actionhatua.
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kwa tendo hilo hilo.
02:37
So bacterialbakteria conversationmazungumzo consistslina
of an initiativempango and a reactionmajibu,
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Hivyo mazungumzo ya bakteria yanakuwa
na mwanzo na jibu,
02:42
a productionuzalishaji of a moleculemolekuli
and the responsejibu to it.
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uzalishaji wa molekuli
na majibu yake.
02:47
In my researchutafiti, I focusedililenga on spyingujasusi
on bacterialbakteria communitiesjamii
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Kwenye utafiti wangu, nimelenga kupeleleza
kwenye jamii za bakteria
02:50
insidendani the humanbinadamu bodymwili.
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ndani ya mwili wa binadamu.
02:52
How does it work?
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Inafanyaje kazi?
02:54
We have a samplesampuli from a patientsubira.
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Tunasampuli kutoka kwa mgonjwa.
02:56
It could be a blooddamu or spitmate samplesampuli.
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Inaweza kuwa ni sampuli ya damu au mate.
02:59
We shootrisasi electronselektroni into the samplesampuli,
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Tunapiga elektroni ndani ya sampuli,
03:01
the electronselektroni will interactkuingiliana with any
communicationmawasiliano moleculesmolekuli presentsasa,
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elektroni zitaingilia na molekuli
zozote za mazungumzo zilizopo,
03:05
and this interactionmwingiliano
will give us informationhabari
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na huu muingiliano utatupa
taarifa
03:08
on the identityutambulisho of the bacteriabakteria,
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ya aina ya bakteria,
03:10
the typeaina of communicationmawasiliano
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aina ya mawasiliano
03:11
and how much the bacteriabakteria are talkingkuzungumza.
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na kiasi gani bakteria wanazungumza.
03:16
But what is it like
when bacteriabakteria communicatekuwasiliana?
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Lakini inakuaje pale
bakteria wakizungumza?
03:19
Before I developedmaendeleo the translationtafsiri toolchombo,
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Kabla sijaunda chombo cha kutafsiri,
03:23
my first assumptiondhana was that bacteriabakteria
would have a primitiveprimitive languagelugha,
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dhana yangu ya kwanza ilikua bakteria
watakua na lugha ya halisi,
03:27
like infantswatoto wachanga that haven'thawana developedmaendeleo
wordsmaneno and sentencessentensi yetbado.
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kama vichanga ambao bado hawajaunda
maneno na sentensi.
03:31
When they laughCheka, they're happyfuraha;
when they crykilio, they're sadhuzuni.
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Wanapocheka, wanafuraha;
wanapolia, wanahuzuni.
03:34
SimpleRahisi as that.
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Rahisi kama hivyo.
03:36
But bacteriabakteria turnedakageuka out to be nowheremahali popote
as primitiveprimitive as I thought they would be.
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Lakini bakteria walionekana kutokuwa
karibu na halisi kama nilivyodhani.
03:40
A moleculemolekuli is not just a moleculemolekuli.
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Molekuli sio tu molekuli.
03:42
It can mean differenttofauti things
dependingkutegemea on the contextmuktadha,
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Inaweza kumaanisha vitu tofauti
kulingana na muktadha,
03:46
just like the cryingkilio of babieswatoto
can mean differenttofauti things:
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kama tu vilio vya watoto
vinavyomaanisha vitu tofauti:
03:49
sometimesmara nyingine the babymtoto is hungrynjaa,
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saa nyingine mtoto ana njaa,
03:51
sometimesmara nyingine it's wetmvua,
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saa nyingine amelowa,
03:52
sometimesmara nyingine it's hurtkuumiza or afraidhofu.
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saa nyingine ameumia au anaogopa.
03:54
ParentsWazazi know how to decodeSimbua those criesvilio.
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Wazazi wanajua jinsi ya kusoma hivi vilio.
03:57
And to be a realhalisi translationtafsiri toolchombo,
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Na kua chombo kizuri cha kutafsiri,
03:59
it had to be ableinaweza to decodeSimbua
the signalingishara moleculesmolekuli
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kinatakiwa kiwe na uwezo wa kusoma
molekuli za ishara
04:02
and translatekutafsiri them
dependingkutegemea on the contextmuktadha.
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na kuzitafsiri
kulingana na muktadha.
04:07
And who knowsanajua?
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Na nani anajua?
04:08
Maybe GoogleGoogle TranslateKutafsiri
will adoptkupitisha this soonhivi karibuni.
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Labda Tafsiri ya Google inaweza
kuiptisha hii.
04:10
(LaughterKicheko)
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(Kicheko)
04:14
Let me give you an examplemfano.
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Hebu niwape mfano.
04:16
I've broughtkuletwa some bacterialbakteria datadata
that can be a bitkidogo trickytricky to understandkuelewa
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Nimeleta baadhi ya taarifa za bakteria
zinazoweza kuwa ngumu kuelewa
04:19
if you're not trainedwamefundishwa,
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kama hauna mafunzo,
04:20
but try to take a look.
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lakini jaribu kuangalia.
04:23
(LaughterKicheko)
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(Kicheko)
04:26
Here'sHapa ni a happyfuraha bacterialbakteria familyfamilia
that has infectedkuambukizwa a patientsubira.
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Hii ni familia ya bakteria yeye furaha
ambayo imemshambulia mgonjwa.
04:32
Let's call them the MontagueMontague familyfamilia.
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Wacha tuwaite familia ya Montague.
04:35
They sharekushiriki resourcesrasilimali,
they reproducekuzaa, and they growkukua.
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Wanatumia wote rasilimali,
wanazaliana, wanakua.
04:40
One day, they get a newmpya neighborjirani,
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Siku moja, wanapata mgeni mpya,
04:44
bacterialbakteria familyfamilia CapuletCapulet.
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familia ya bakteria Capulet.
04:46
(LaughterKicheko)
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(Kicheko)
04:48
Everything is fine,
as long as they're workingkufanya kazi togetherpamoja.
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Kila kitu ni sawa,
alimradi wanafanya kazi kwa pamoja.
04:52
But then something unplannedhaijapangwa happenshutokea.
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Lakini kitu kisichopangwa kinatokea.
04:56
RomeoRomeo from MontagueMontague has a relationshipuhusiano
with JulietJuliet from CapuletCapulet.
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Romeo wa Montague anakua na mahusiano
na Juliet wa Capulet.
05:00
(LaughterKicheko)
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(Kicheko)
05:02
And yes, they sharekushiriki geneticmaumbile materialvifaa.
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Na ndio, wanagawiana chembe za urithi.
05:05
(LaughterKicheko)
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(Kicheko)
Sasa, uhamisho wa kinasaba unaweza
kuwa hatari kwa wakina Montague
05:10
Now, this genejeni transferuhamisho
can be dangeroushatari to the MontaguesMontagues
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05:13
that have the ambitiontamaa to be the only
familyfamilia in the patientsubira they have infectedkuambukizwa,
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waliokuwa na matarajio ya kuwa familia
pekee kwenye mgonjwa waliomshambulia,
kugawana chembe za urithi
kunachangia
05:17
and sharingkugawana genesjeni contributesinachangia
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05:18
to the CapuletsCapulets developingkuendeleza
resistanceupinzani to antibioticsantibiotics.
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kwa wakina Capulet kutengeneza
kinga kwa dawa.
05:23
So the MontaguesMontagues startkuanza talkingkuzungumza internallyndani
to get ridOndoa of this other familyfamilia
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Hivyo wakina Montague wanaanza kuongea
kwa ndani kuondoa hii familia nyingine
05:28
by releasingikitoa this moleculemolekuli.
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kwa kutoa molekuli hii.
05:30
(LaughterKicheko)
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(Kicheko)
05:32
And with subtitlesvichwa vidogo:
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Na kwa maelezo:
05:34
[Let us coordinatekuratibu an attackkushambulia.]
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[Hebu turatibu shambulizi.]
05:36
(LaughterKicheko)
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(Kicheko)
05:37
Let's coordinatekuratibu an attackkushambulia.
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Hebu turatibu shambulizi.
05:41
And then everybodykila mtu at oncemara moja respondsanajibu
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Na kila mtu mara moja akaitikia
05:44
by releasingikitoa a poisonsumu
that will killkuua the other familyfamilia.
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kwa kutoa sumu
itakayoua ile familia nyingine.
05:48
[EliminateKuondoa!]
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[Ondoa!]
05:52
(LaughterKicheko)
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(Kicheko)
05:55
The CapuletsCapulets respondjibu
by callingwito for a counterattackcounterattack.
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Wakina Capulet wakajibu kwa
kuita shambulizi la kujibu.
05:59
[CounterattackCounterattack!]
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[Shambulia!]
06:00
And they have a battlevita.
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Na wakawa na vita.
06:04
This is a videovideo of realhalisi bacteriabakteria
duelingdueling with swordlikeswordlike organellesorganelles,
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Hii ni video ya bakteria wa ukweli
wakipigana na viumbe kama upanga,
06:08
where they try to killkuua eachkila mmoja other
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ambapo wanajaribu kuuana
06:10
by literallyhalisi stabbingkuuawa kwa kuchomwa kisu
and rupturingkupasuka eachkila mmoja other.
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kwa kuchomana kihalisi
na kupasuana wenyewe.
06:14
Whoever'sYeyote ana familyfamilia winsmafanikio this battlevita
becomesinakuwa the dominantkubwa bacteriabakteria.
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Familia ya yeyote atakayeshinda hii vita
anakuwa bakteria mkuu.
06:20
So what I can do is to detectkuchunguza
bacterialbakteria conversationsmazungumzo
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Hivyo ninachoweza kufanya ni kuchunguza
mazungumzo ya bakteria
yanayopelekea tabia
tofauti za kwa pamoja
06:23
that leadkuongoza to differenttofauti
collectivepamoja behaviorstabia
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06:25
like the fightkupigana you just saw.
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kama ugomvi mliyouona.
06:27
And what I did was to spykupeleleza
on bacterialbakteria communitiesjamii
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Na nilichofanya ni kupeleleza
kwenye jamii za bakteria
06:30
insidendani the humanbinadamu bodymwili
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ndani ya mwili wa binadamu
06:32
in patientswagonjwa at a hospitalhospitali.
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kwenye wagonjwa hospitalini.
06:34
I followedikifuatiwa 62 patientswagonjwa in an experimentjaribio,
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Nilifuatilia wagonjwa 62 kwenye jaribio,
06:37
where I testedkupimwa the patientsubira samplessampuli
for one particularhasa infectionmaambukizi,
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ambapo nilipima sampuli ya mgonjwa
kwa aina moja ya shambulizi,
06:41
withoutbila knowingkujua the resultsmatokeo
of the traditionaljadi diagnosticuchunguzi testmtihani.
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bila kujua majibu ya
vipimo vya kawaida.
06:44
Now, in bacterialbakteria diagnosticsuchunguzi,
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Basi, kwenye upimaji wa bakteria,
06:48
a samplesampuli is smearedsmeared out on a platesahani,
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sampuli inasambazwa kwenye kisahani,
06:50
and if the bacteriabakteria growkukua withinndani fivetano dayssiku,
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na kama bakteria watakua ndani ya siku
tano,
06:53
the patientsubira is diagnosedkukutwa as infectedkuambukizwa.
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mgonjwa anagunduliwa kama ameathirika.
06:57
When I finishedkumalizika the studykujifunza
and I comparedikilinganishwa the toolchombo resultsmatokeo
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Nilipomaliza utafiti na
kulinganisha majibu ya chombo
07:00
to the traditionaljadi diagnosticuchunguzi testmtihani
and the validationuhakikishi testmtihani,
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na vipimo vya kawaida
na vipimo vya kuhakikisha,
07:03
I was shockedalishtuka.
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nilishtuka.
07:05
It was farmbali more astonishingkushangaza
than I had ever anticipatedinatarajia.
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Ilikua inashangaza zaidi
kuliko nilivyowahi kutarajia.
07:10
But before I tell you
what the toolchombo revealedalifunua,
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Ila kabla sijawaambia
nini chombo kilionyesha,
07:12
I would like to tell you about
a specificz zara patientsubira I followedikifuatiwa,
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ningependa kuwaambia kuhusu
mgonjwa mahsusi niliomfuatilia,
07:15
a youngvijana girlmsichana.
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binti mdogo.
07:16
She had cysticcystic fibrosisfibrosis,
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Alikua na cystic fibrosis,
07:18
a geneticmaumbile diseaseugonjwa that madealifanya her lungsmapafu
susceptiblekuambukizwa to bacterialbakteria infectionsmaambukizi.
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ugonjwa wa kurithi uliofanya mapafu yake
kuathiriwa kirahisi na bakteria.
07:22
This girlmsichana wasn'thaikuwa a partsehemu
of the clinicalkliniki trialjaribio.
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Huyu binti hakua sehemu ya
majaribio.
07:25
I followedikifuatiwa her because I knewalijua
from her medicalmatibabu recordrekodi
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Nilimfuatilia kwa sababu nilijua
kutoka kwenye taarifa zake
07:28
that she had never had
an infectionmaambukizi before.
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kua hakuwahi kupata mashambulizi
kabla.
Mara moja kwa mwezi, huyu binti
alienda hospitali
07:31
OnceMara moja a monthmwezi, this girlmsichana
wentakaenda to the hospitalhospitali
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07:33
to coughkikohozi up a sputummakohozi samplesampuli
that she spitmate in a cupkikombe.
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kuweka sampuli ya kohozi
ambayo alitemea kwenye kikombe.
07:36
This samplesampuli was transferredkuhamishwa
for bacterialbakteria analysisuchambuzi
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Hii sampuli ilisafirishwa kwa
uchunguzi wa bakteria
07:40
at the centralkati laboratorymaabara
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huko maabara kuu
07:42
so the doctorsmadaktari could acttenda quicklyharaka
if they discoveredaligundua an infectionmaambukizi.
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ili madaktari watende haraka
iwapi wangekuta shambulizi.
07:46
And it allowedruhusiwa me to testmtihani my devicekifaa
on her samplessampuli as well.
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Iliniruhusu mimi kupima chombo
changu kwa sampuli zake pia.
07:49
The first two monthsmiezi I measuredkipimo
on her samplessampuli, there was nothing.
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Miezi miwili ya mwanzo nilipima
sampuli zake, hakukua na kitu.
07:53
But the thirdtatu monthmwezi,
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Lakini mwezi wa tatu,
07:54
I discoveredaligundua some bacterialbakteria
chatterchatter in her samplesampuli.
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Niligundua mazungumzo ya
bakteria kwenye sampuli yake.
07:58
The bacteriabakteria were coordinatingkuratibu
to damageuharibifu her lungmapafu tissuetishu.
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Bakteria walikua wanashirikiana
kuharibu tishu ya pafu lake.
08:02
But the traditionaljadi diagnosticsuchunguzi
showedilionyesha no bacteriabakteria at all.
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Lakini vipimo vya kawaida
havikuonyesha bakteria kabisa.
08:07
I measuredkipimo again the nextijayo monthmwezi,
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Nilipima tena mwezi ujao,
08:09
and I could see that the bacterialbakteria
conversationsmazungumzo becameikawa even more aggressivefujo.
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na niliona kua yale mazungumzo ya
bakteria yamekua makali zaidi.
08:14
Still, the traditionaljadi
diagnosticsuchunguzi showedilionyesha nothing.
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Bado, vipimo vya kawaida
havikuonyesha chochote.
08:18
My studykujifunza endedilimalizika, but a halfnusu a yearmwaka laterbaadae,
I followedikifuatiwa up on her statushali
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Utafiti wangu ukaisha, lakini nusu mwaka
baadae, nikafuatilia hali yake
08:22
to see if the bacteriabakteria
only I knewalijua about had disappearedkutoweka
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kuona kama bakteria niliowajua
pekee walipotea
08:25
withoutbila medicalmatibabu interventionkuingilia kati.
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bila muingilio wa tiba.
08:28
They hadn'thakuwa na.
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Hawakupotea.
08:30
But the girlmsichana was now diagnosedkukutwa
with a severekali infectionmaambukizi
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Yule binti sasa alikua amegundulika
na mashambulio makali
08:32
of deadlymauti bacteriabakteria.
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ya bakteria wabaya.
08:35
It was the very samesawa bacteriabakteria
my toolchombo discoveredaligundua earliermapema.
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Walikua ni wale wale bakteria
chombo changu kiligundua kabla.
08:40
And despitelicha ya aggressivefujo
antibioticantibiotic treatmentmatibabu,
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Na licha ya ukali wa
dawa za kutibu,
08:43
it was impossiblehaiwezekani
to eradicatekuondosha the infectionmaambukizi.
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ilikua inashindikana
kuondoa mashambulizi.
08:46
DoctorsMadaktari deemedimeonekana that she would not
survivekuishi her 20s.
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Madaktari waliona kua asingeweza
kufikia miaka ya 20.
08:52
When I measuredkipimo on this girl'smsichana huyo samplessampuli,
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Nilipopima kwenye sampuli ya binti huyu,
08:54
my toolchombo was still in the initialawali stagehatua.
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kifaa changu kilikua kwenye
hatua za mwanzo.
08:56
I didn't even know
if my methodnjia workedkazi at all,
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Sikujua hata
kama njia yangu ilifanya kazi kabisa,
08:59
thereforekwa hiyo I had an agreementmakubaliano
with the doctorsmadaktari
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hivyo nikawa na makubaliano
na madaktari
09:01
not to tell them what my toolchombo revealedalifunua
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kutowaambia chombo changu
kilichoonyesha
09:03
in orderamri not to compromisemaelewano
theirwao treatmentmatibabu.
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ili kutokuharibu matibabu yao.
Hivyo nilipoona haya majibu
ambayo hata hayakuwa yamehakikishwa,
09:06
So when I saw these resultsmatokeo
that weren'thawakuwa even validatedthibitishwa,
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09:08
I didn't darekuthubutu to tell
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sikudhubutu kusema
09:10
because treatingkutibu a patientsubira
withoutbila an actualhalisi infectionmaambukizi
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ka sababu kutibu mgonjwa
bila mashambulizi halisi
09:13
alsopia has negativehasi
consequencesmatokeo for the patientsubira.
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pia ina matokeo mabaya
kwa mgonjwa.
09:17
But now we know better,
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Lakini sasa tunajua bora,
09:18
and there are manywengi youngvijana boyswavulana
and girlswasichana that still can be savedimehifadhiwa
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na kuna wavulana na wasichana wadogo
wengi bado wanaweza kuokolewa
09:23
because, unfortunatelykwa bahati mbaya,
this scenariohali happenshutokea very oftenmara nyingi.
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kwa sababu, bahati mbaya,
hii hali inatokea mara nyingi.
09:26
PatientsWagonjwa get infectedkuambukizwa,
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Wagonjwa wanaathirika,
09:28
the bacteriabakteria somehowkwa namna fulani don't showonyesha
on the traditionaljadi diagnosticuchunguzi testmtihani,
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bakteria kwa namna flani hawaonekani
kwenye vipimo vya kawaida,
09:31
and suddenlyghafla, the infectionmaambukizi breaksmapumziko out
in the patientsubira with severekali symptomsdalili.
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na ghafla, maambukizi yanatokea
ndani ya mgojwa na dalili kali.
09:35
And at that pointuhakika, it's alreadytayari too latekuchelewa.
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Na kwenye mda huo, tayari tumechelewa.
09:39
The surprisingajabu resultmatokeo
of the 62 patientswagonjwa I followedikifuatiwa
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Majibu ya kushangaza ya
wagonjwa 62 niliowafuatilia
09:42
was that my devicekifaa
caughthawakupata bacterialbakteria conversationsmazungumzo
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yalikua chombo changu kilishika
mazungumzo ya bakteria
09:45
in more than halfnusu of the patientsubira samplessampuli
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kwa zaidi ya nusu ya sampuli za wagonjwa
09:47
that were diagnosedkukutwa as negativehasi
by traditionaljadi methodsnjia.
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ambao walikua wamegundulika bila kitu
kwa njia za upimaji za kawaida.
Kwa maneno mengine, zaidi ya nusu ya
hawa wagonjwa walirudi nyumbani wakiwaza
09:51
In other wordsmaneno, more than halfnusu
of these patientswagonjwa wentakaenda home thinkingkufikiri
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09:55
they were freebure from infectionmaambukizi,
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kua wako huru na maambukizi,
09:56
althoughingawa they actuallykwa kweli carriedkufanyika
dangeroushatari bacteriabakteria.
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japokuwa kihalisi walibeba
bakteria hatari.
10:01
InsideNdani these wronglyvibaya diagnosedkukutwa patientswagonjwa,
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Ndani ya wagonjwa waliopimwa vibaya,
10:03
bacteriabakteria were coordinatingkuratibu
a synchronizedkulandanishwa attackkushambulia.
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bakteria walikuwa wanaandaa shambulizi
la kuambatanishwa.
10:07
They were whisperingwhispering to eachkila mmoja other.
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Walikua wananong'onezana.
10:09
What I call "whisperingwhispering bacteriabakteria"
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Ninachoita "mnong'ono wa bakteria"
10:11
are bacteriabakteria that traditionaljadi
methodsnjia cannothaiwezi diagnosetambua.
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ni bakteria ambao njia za kawaida
za upimjai haziwezi kuona.
10:15
So farmbali, it's only the translationtafsiri toolchombo
that can catchcatch those whispershunong'ona.
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Mpaka sasa, ni chombo cha kutafsiri tu
kinachoweza kudaka hao wanong'onezaji.
10:20
I believe that the time framesura
in whichambayo bacteriabakteria are still whisperingwhispering
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Ninaamini kua mda uliopo ambao
bakteria bado wananong'onezana
10:23
is a windowdirisha of opportunitynafasi
for targetedwalengwa treatmentmatibabu.
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ni nafasi nzuri ya matibabu
ya malengo.
10:27
If the girlmsichana had been treatedkutibiwa
duringwakati this windowdirisha of opportunitynafasi,
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Kama yule binti angekua ametibiwwa
kwenye kuu mda wenye nafasi,
10:30
it mightnguvu have been possibleinawezekana
to killkuua the bacteriabakteria
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ingekua inawezekana kuua
bakteria
10:33
in theirwao initialawali stagehatua,
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kwenye hatua yao ya mwanzo,
10:34
before the infectionmaambukizi got out of handmkono.
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kabla maambukizi kuwa nje ya uwezo.
10:39
What I experienceduzoefu with this youngvijana girlmsichana
madealifanya me decidekuamua to do everything I can
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Nilichopitia na huyu binti mdogo
kumenifanya niamue kufanya ninachoweza
10:43
to pushkushinikiza this technologyteknolojia into the hospitalhospitali.
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kusukuma hii teknolojia kwenye hospitali.
10:46
TogetherPamoja with doctorsmadaktari,
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Pamoja na madaktari,
10:47
I'm alreadytayari workingkufanya kazi
on implementingkutekeleza this toolchombo in clinicskliniki
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tayari ninafanya kazi kutumia
hiki kifaa kwenye kliniki
10:50
to diagnosetambua earlymapema infectionsmaambukizi.
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kutambua maambukizi ya kwanza.
10:53
AlthoughIngawa it's still not knowninayojulikana
how doctorsmadaktari should treatkutibu patientswagonjwa
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Japo bado haijajulikana jinsi
madaktari watatibu wagonjwa
10:56
duringwakati the whisperingwhispering phaseawamu,
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kwenye kipindi cha mnong'ono,
10:58
this toolchombo can help doctorsmadaktari
keep a closerkaribu eyejicho on patientswagonjwa in riskhatari.
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hiki kifaa kinaweza kusaidia madaktari
kuwa makini na wagonjwa kwenye hatari.
11:02
It could help them confirmkuthibitisha
if a treatmentmatibabu had workedkazi or not,
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Kinaweza kuwasaidia kuhakikisha
kama tiba imefanya kazi au la,
11:05
and it could help answerjibu simplerahisi questionsmaswali:
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na inaweza kusaidia kujibu maswali rahisi:
11:08
Is the patientsubira infectedkuambukizwa?
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Mgonjwa ana mashambulizi?
11:10
And what are the bacteriabakteria up to?
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Na bakteria wako wanapanga nini?
11:12
BacteriaBakteria talk,
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Bakteria wanaongea,
11:14
they make secretsiri plansmipango,
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wanatengeneza mipango ya siri,
11:16
and they sendtuma confidentialsiri
informationhabari to eachkila mmoja other.
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na wanatumiana taarifa za siri.
11:20
But not only can we catchcatch them whisperingwhispering,
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Lakini sio tu kuawaangalia wenyewe
wakinong'onezana,
11:22
we can all learnkujifunza theirwao secretsiri languagelugha
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sisi sote tunaweza kujifunza lugha ya siri
11:25
and becomekuwa ourselvessisi wenyewe bacterialbakteria whispererswhisperers.
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na kua wenyewe wanong'onezi wa bakteria.
11:28
And, as bacteriabakteria would say,
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Na, kama bakteria wangesema,
11:31
"3-oxo-C-oxo-C12-aniline-aniline."
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"3-oxo-C12-aniline."
11:35
(LaughterKicheko)
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(Kicheko)
11:36
(ApplauseMakofi)
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(Makofi)
11:38
Thank you.
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Asanteni.
Translated by Doris Mangalu
Reviewed by Julie Mbeyella

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Fatima AlZahra'a Alatraktchi - Nanophysicist, entrepreneur
Fatima 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.

More profile about the speaker
Fatima AlZahra'a Alatraktchi | Speaker | TED.com