ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Fredros Okumu - Mosquito scientist
Fredros Okumu studies human-mosquito interactions, hoping to better understand how to keep people from getting malaria.

Why you should listen

Fredros Okumu is director of science at the Ifakara Health Institute (IHI). Since 2008, Okumu has been studying human-mosquito interactions and developing new techniques to complement existing malaria interventions and accelerate efforts towards elimination. His other interests include quantitative ecology of residual malaria vectors, mathematical simulations to predict effectiveness of interventions, improved housing for marginalized communities and prevention of child malnutrition.

Okumu was awarded the Young Investigator Award by the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene in 2009, a Welcome Trust Intermediate Research Fellowship in Public Health and Tropical Medicine (2014-2019) and, most recently, a Howard Hughes-Gates International Research Scholarship (2018-2023). He is co-chair of the Malaria Eradication Research Agenda consultative group on tools for elimination and a co-chair of the WHO Vector Control Working Group on new tools for malaria vector control. Okumu was named one of the "Top 100 Global Thinkers" by Foreign Policy in 2016.

More profile about the speaker
Fredros Okumu | Speaker | TED.com
TEDGlobal 2017

Fredros Okumu: Why I study the most dangerous animal on earth -- mosquitoes

Fredros Okumu: Kwanini najifunza mnyama wa hatari kabisa duniani -- mbu

Filmed:
1,191,616 views

Nini tunachojua hasa kuhusu mbu? Fredros Okumu anakamata na kujifunza hawa wadudu wabeba-ugonjwa kama kazi -- na tumaini la kuponda makazi yao. Jiunge na Okumu kwenye matembezi ya mstari wa mbele ya tafiti za mbu, akieleza kiundani baadhi ya njia zisizo za kawaida ambazo timu yake ya Taasisi ya Afya Ifakara ilioko Tanzania imeendeleza kulenga kilichoelezewa kama mnyama hatari zaidi duniani.
- Mosquito scientist
Fredros Okumu studies human-mosquito interactions, hoping to better understand how to keep people from getting malaria. Full bio

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

00:12
I guessnadhani because I'm from TanzaniaTanzania
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Nahisi sababu nimetoka Tanzania
00:14
I have a responsibilitywajibu
to welcomekuwakaribisha all of you oncemara moja again.
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nina wajibu wa kuwakaribisha
wote kwa mara nyingine.
00:18
Thank you for comingkuja.
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Asanteni kwa kuja.
00:19
So, first of all, before we startkuanza,
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Kwanza kabisa, kabla hatujaanza,
00:21
how manywengi of you in the audiencewatazamaji
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wangapi wenu kwenye hadhira
00:22
have been in the pastzilizopita
a victimmwathirika of this bugmdudu here?
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wamekuwa kipindi cha nyuma
waathirika wa mdudu huyu hapa?
00:28
We apologizekuomba msamaha on behalfkwa niaba
of all the mosquitombu catcherscatchers.
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Tunaomba msamaha kwa niaba ya
wakamata mbu wote.
00:31
(LaughterKicheko)
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(Kicheko)
00:33
LadiesWanawake and gentlemenmabwana,
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Mabibi na mabwana,
00:34
imaginefikiria gettingkupata sevensaba infectiouskuambukiza
mosquitombu biteskunguni everykila day.
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fikiria kuumwa na mbu saba wenye
maambukizi kila siku.
00:39
That's 2,555 infectiouskuambukiza biteskunguni everykila yearmwaka.
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Hizo ni umo 2,555 yenye maambukizi kila
mwaka.
00:44
When I was in collegechuo,
I movedwakiongozwa to the KilomberoKilombero RiverMto valleybonde
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Nilipokua chuo, nilihamia
bonde la mto la Kilombero
00:48
in the southeasternkusini mashariki partsehemu of TanzaniaTanzania.
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eneo la kusini-mashariki la Tanzania.
00:50
This is historicallykihistoria
one of the mostwengi malariousmalarious zoneskanda
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Hii kihistoria ni moja ya
kanda zenye malaria zaidi
00:53
in the worldulimwengu at that time.
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kwenye dunia kwa muda huo.
00:55
Life here was difficultvigumu.
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Maisha hapo yalikuwa magumu.
00:58
In its laterbaadae stageshatua
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Kwenye hatua zake za baadae
01:00
malariamalaria manifestedwazi with extremeuliokithiri seizuresmajeruhi
locallyndani ya nchi knowninayojulikana as degedegedegedege.
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malaria ilibainika na kifafa
kilichokithiri kilichoitwa degedege.
01:05
It's killedaliuawa bothwote wawili womenwanawake and menwatu,
adultswatu wazima and childrenwatoto,
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Kimeua wote wanawake kwa wanaume,
wakubwa na wadogo,
01:08
withoutbila mercyrehema.
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bila huruma.
01:09
My home institutiontaasisi,
IfakaraIfakara HealthAfya InstituteChuo,
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Taasisi yangu ya nyumbani,
Taasisi ya Afya Ifakara
01:12
beganilianza in this valleybonde in the 1950s
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ilianza kwenye hili bonde miaka ya 1950
01:14
to addressanwani prioritykipaumbele healthafya needsmahitaji
for the localmitaa communitiesjamii.
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kuzungumzia mahitaji ya afya yenye
kipaumbele kwa jamii ya ndani.
01:17
In factukweli, the namejina IfakaraIfakara
refersinahusu to a placemahali you go to diekufa,
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Ki kweli, jina Ifakara
lina maanisha sehemu unaenda kufa,
01:22
whichambayo is a reflectionkutafakari
of what life used to be here
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ambayo inaonyesha jinsi
maisha yalivyokua hapa
01:24
in the dayssiku before
organizediliyoandaliwa publicumma healthafya carehuduma.
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kwenye siku kabla ya
kupanga huduma za afya ya umma.
01:28
When I first movedwakiongozwa here,
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Mwanzoni nilipohamia hapa,
01:29
my primarymsingi rolejukumu was to estimatetathmini
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jukumu la msingi lilikua kukadiria
01:31
how much malariamalaria transmissionmaambukizi
was going on acrosskote the villagesvijiji
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ni kiasi cha maambukizi ya malaria
yanayoendelea katika vijiji
01:35
and whichambayo mosquitoesmbu
were transmittingkusambaza the diseaseugonjwa.
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na ni mbu gani waliokuwa
wakisambaza ugonjwa.
01:38
So my colleaguemwenzake and myselfMimi mwenyewe camealikuja
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Hivyo mimi na mwenzangu tukaenda
01:41
30 kilometerskilomita southkusini
of IfakaraIfakara townmji acrosskote the riverMto.
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kilomita 30 kusini mwa mji
wa Ifakara kupitia mto.
01:44
EveryKila eveningjioni we wentakaenda into the villagesvijiji
with flashlightstochi and siphonssiphons.
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Kila jioni tulienda kwenye vijiji
na tochi na mabomba.
01:49
We rolledakavingirisha up our trouserssuruali,
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Tulikunja suruali zetu,
01:51
and waitedwalisubiri for mosquitoesmbu
that were comingkuja to bitebite us
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na kungojea mbu ambao
walikuja kutung'ata
01:54
so we could collectkukusanya them
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ili tuweze kuwakusanya
01:56
to checkangalia if they were carryingkubeba malariamalaria.
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kuwaangalia kama wamebeba malaria.
01:58
(LaughterKicheko)
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(Kicheko)
01:59
My colleaguemwenzake and myselfMimi mwenyewe
selectedkuchaguliwa a householdkaya,
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Mimi na mwenzangu
tulichagua kaya,
02:01
and we startedilianza insidendani and outsidenje,
swappingkubadilishana positionsnafasi everykila halfnusu hoursaa.
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na tukaanza ndani na nje,
tukibadilishana nafasi kila nusu saa.
02:06
And we did this for 12 hoursmasaa everykila night
for 24 consecutivemfululizo nightsusiku.
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Na tulifanya hivi kwa masaa 12 kila usiku
kwa usiku 24 mfululizo.
02:11
We sleptakalala for fournne hoursmasaa everykila morningasubuhi
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Tulilala kwa masaa manne kila asubuhi
02:13
and workedkazi the restpumzika of the day,
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na kufanya kazi siku nzima,
02:15
sortingkuchagua mosquitoesmbu, identifyingkutambua them
and choppingukataji wa off theirwao headsvichwa
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kuchambua mbu, kuwatambua
na kukata vichwa vyao
02:18
so they could be analyzedkuchambuliwa in the labmaabara
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ili waweze kuchanganua maabara
02:19
to checkangalia if they were
carryingkubeba malariamalaria parasitesvimelea
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kuangalia kama wanabeba
vimelea vya malaria
02:22
in theirwao blooddamu mouthpartsmouthparts.
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kwenye damu ya midomo yao.
02:23
This way we were ableinaweza to not only know
how much malariamalaria was going on here
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Hii njia tunaweza kutokujua tu
kiasi gani cha malaria kinaendelea hapa
02:27
but alsopia whichambayo mosquitoesmbu
were carryingkubeba this malariamalaria.
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lakini pia mbu gani walibeba
hii malaria.
02:30
We were alsopia ableinaweza to know
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Tumeweza pia kujua
02:32
whetherkama malariamalaria was mostlyzaidi
insidendani housesnyumba or outsidenje housesnyumba.
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kama malaria ilikua nyingi
nje au ndani ya nyumba.
02:35
TodayLeo, ladieswanawake and gentlemenmabwana,
I still catchcatch mosquitoesmbu for a livingwanaishi.
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Leo, mabibi na mabwana,
bado ninakamata mbu kama kazi.
02:39
But I do this mostlyzaidi to improvekuboresha
people'swatu livesanaishi and well-beingustawi.
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Lakini nafanya hivi mara nyingi kuboresha
maisha ya watu na hali njema.
02:44
This has been calledaitwaye by some people
the mostwengi dangeroushatari animalmnyama on earthdunia --
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Hii imeitwa na baadhi ya watu
kua mnyama wa hatari zaidi duniani --
02:48
whichambayo unfortunatelykwa bahati mbaya is truekweli.
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ambayo kwa bahati mbaya ni kweli.
02:50
But what do we really
know about mosquitoesmbu?
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Lakini ni nini tunachojua
hasa kuhusu mbu?
02:54
It turnsinageuka out we actuallykwa kweli know very little.
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Inaonekana kwa kweli tunajua kidogo sana.
02:58
ConsiderFikiria the factukweli that at the momentwakati
our bestbora practicemazoezi againstdhidi malariamalaria
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Zingatia ukweli kua wakati huu
njia yetu bora dhidi ya malaria
03:02
are bednetsbednets --
insecticideneti treatedkutibiwa bednetsbednets.
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ni vyandarua --
vyandarua vyenye dawa ya wadudu.
03:05
We know now that acrosskote AfricaAfrika
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Tunajua kua katika Afrika
03:06
you have widespreadkuenea resistanceupinzani
to insecticideskuua wadudu.
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una upinzani ulioenea
kwa dawa ya wadudu.
03:09
And these are the samesawa insecticideskuua wadudu,
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Na hizi ndizo zilezile dawa za
wadudu
03:11
the pyrethroidpyrethroid classdarasa,
that are put on these bednetsbednets.
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za darasa la pyrethroid,
zilizo kwenye vyandarua.
03:14
We know now that these bednetsbednets
protectkulinda you from biteskunguni
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Tunajua kua hivi vyandarua
vinakulinda using'atwe
03:17
but only minimallychini killkuua
the mosquitoesmbu that they should.
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lakini vinaua kidogo tu
mbu wanaotakiwa.
03:21
What it meansina maana is that we'vetumekuwa got to do more
to be ableinaweza to get to zerosufuri.
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Kinachomaanisha ni kua tunatakiwa kufanya
zaidi kuweza kufikia sifuri.
03:25
And that's partsehemu of our dutywajibu.
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Na hio ni sehemu ya kazi yetu.
Kwenye Taasisi ya Afya Ifakara
03:28
At IfakaraIfakara HealthAfya InstituteChuo
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03:30
we focustazama very much
on the biologybiolojia of the mosquitombu,
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tunalenga sana kwenye
biolojia ya mbu,
03:33
and we try to do this
so we can identifytambua newmpya opportunitiesfursa.
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na tunajaribu kufanya hivi
ili kutambua nafasi mpya.
03:37
A newmpya approachmbinu.
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Mtazamo mpya.
03:38
NewMpya waysnjia to try and get newmpya optionschaguo
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Njia mpya kujaribu kupata suluhisho mpya
03:41
that we can use togetherpamoja
with things suchvile as bednetsbednets
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ambazo tunaweza kutumia pamoja
na vitu kama vyandarua
03:43
to be ableinaweza to get to zerosufuri.
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kuweza kufikia sifuri.
03:45
And I'm going to sharekushiriki
with you a fewwachache examplesmifano
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Nitaenda kuwashirikisha
mifano michache
03:47
of the things that
my colleagueswenzake and myselfMimi mwenyewe do.
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ya vitu ambavyo
wenzangu na mimi tunafanya.
03:50
Take this, for examplemfano.
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Chukua hii, kwa mfano.
03:52
MosquitoesMbu breedkuzaliana in smallndogo poolsmabwawa of watermaji.
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Mbu huzaliana kwenye mabwawa madogo ya
maji.
03:56
Not all of them are easyrahisi to find --
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Sio wote ni rahisi kupatikana --
03:58
they can be scatteredkutawanywa acrosskote villagesvijiji,
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wanaweza kutawanyika katika vijiji,
04:00
they can be as smallndogo as hoofprintshoofprints.
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wanaweza kua ndogo kama alama za
kwato.
04:03
They can be behindnyuma your housenyumba
or farmbali from your housenyumba.
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Zinaweza kua nyuma ya nyumba yako
au mbali na nyumba yako.
04:06
And so, if you wanted
to controlkudhibiti mosquitombu larvaemabuu,
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Na hivyo, kama unataka
kuthibiti mabuu ya mbu,
04:09
it can actuallykwa kweli be
quitekabisa difficultvigumu to get them.
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kwa kweli inaweza kua
ngumu kabisa kuzipata.
04:12
What my colleagueswenzake
and I have decidedaliamua to do
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Wenzangu na mimi
tulichoamua kufanya
04:15
is to think about what if
we used mosquitoesmbu themselveswenyewe
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ni kufikiri je tukitumia
mbu wenyewe
04:18
to carrykubeba the insecticideskuua wadudu
from a placemahali of our choiceuchaguzi
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kubeba dawa ya wadudu
kutoka sehemu ya chaguo letu
04:21
to theirwao ownmwenyewe breedingkuzaliana habitatsmakazi
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mpaka kwenye mazingira yao ya kuzaliana
04:23
so that whichevernamna yoyote eggsmayai
they laykuweka there shallitakuwa not survivekuishi.
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ili mayai yoyote watakayotaga
pale yasiishi.
04:28
This is DicksonDickson LwetoijeraLwetoijera.
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Huyu ni Dickson Lwetoijera.
04:30
This is my colleaguemwenzake
who runsanaendesha this showonyesha at IfakaraIfakara.
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Huyu ni mwenzangu
anaeendesha tamasha hili Ifakara.
04:32
And he has demonstratedimeonyeshwa cleverlywateja wanaokunywa
that you can actuallykwa kweli get mosquitoesmbu
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Na ameonyesha kwa ustadi kua
unaweza kwa kweli kupata mbu
04:36
to come to the placemahali
where they normallykawaida come to get blooddamu
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kuja kwenye eneo
ambalo kawaida wanapata damu
04:38
to pickpick up a dosedozi
of sterilantssterilants or insecticideneti,
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kuchagua kiasi cha
dawa za kusafisha au dawa ya wadudu,
04:42
carrykubeba this back
to theirwao ownmwenyewe breedingkuzaliana habitatmakazi
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kuzirudisha kwenye
mazingira yao ya kuzaliana
04:45
and killkuua all theirwao progenyilishikwa.
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na kuua kizazi chao wenyewe.
04:48
And we have demonstratedimeonyeshwa
that you can do this
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Na tumeonyesha kua unaweza
kufanya hivi
04:50
and crushkuponda populationswatu very, very rapidlyharaka.
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na kuponda wakazi kwa haraka sana sana.
04:53
This is beautifulnzuri.
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Hii ni nzuri.
04:56
This is our mosquitombu cityjiji.
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Hili ni jiji letu la mbu.
04:58
It is the largestkubwa mosquitombu farmshamba
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Ni shamba kubwa la mbu kuliko yote
05:01
availableinapatikana in the worldulimwengu
for malariamalaria researchutafiti.
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linalopatikana duniani
kwa tafiti za malaria.
05:04
Here we have large-scalekwa kiasi kikubwa self-sustainingkujitegemea
coloniesmakoloni of malariamalaria mosquitoesmbu
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Hapa tuna kiasi kikubwa cha jamii
inayojiendesha yenyewe ya mbu wa malaria
05:09
that we rearnyuma in these facilitiesvifaa.
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ambao tunakuza kwenye hivi vituo.
05:10
Of coursebila shaka, they are disease-freezinazohimili magonjwa.
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Bila shaka, hawa hawana magonjwa.
05:12
But what these systemsmifumo allowkuruhusu us to do
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Hii mifumo inachoturuhusu kufanya
05:14
is to introducekuanzisha newmpya toolszana
and testmtihani them immediatelymara moja,
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ni kuanzisha zana mpya na
kuzijaribu mara moja,
05:18
very quicklyharaka,
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haraka sana,
05:19
and see if we can crushkuponda these populationswatu
or controlkudhibiti them in some way.
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na kuona kama tutaponda haya makazi
au kuzidhibiti kwa njia nyingine.
05:23
And my colleagueswenzake have demonstratedimeonyeshwa
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Wenzangu wote wameonyesha
05:24
that if you just put
two or threetatu positionsnafasi
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kua ukiweka tu
nafasi mbili au tatu
05:27
where mosquitoesmbu can go
pickpick up these lethalhatari substancesdutu,
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ambazo mbu wanaweza kwenda
kuokota hivi vitu vya hatari,
05:29
we can crushkuponda these coloniesmakoloni
in just threetatu monthsmiezi.
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tutaponda hizi jamii
ndani ya miezi mitatu tu.
05:33
That's autodisseminationautodissemination, as we call it.
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Hio tunaita, usambazaji wa kujitegemea.
05:36
But what if we could use
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Lakini inakuaje tukitumia
05:38
the mosquitoes'mbu sexualngono behaviortabia
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tabia za ngono za mbu
05:42
to alsopia controlkudhibiti them?
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na kuzitawala?
05:43
So, first of all I would like to tell you
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Hivyo, kwanza kabisa ningependa kuwaambia
05:45
that actuallykwa kweli mosquitoesmbu matempenzi
in what we call swarmsmifupa.
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kua ki ukweli mbu wanajamiiana
kwenye tunachoita makundi.
05:49
MaleMwanamume mosquitoesmbu usuallykwa kawaida congregatekusanyika
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Mbu dume kawaida wanakusanyika
05:51
in clustersmakundi around the horizonupeo wa macho,
usuallykwa kawaida after sunsetjua.
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kwenye makundi karibu na upeo wa macho,
kawaida baada ya jua kuzama.
05:55
The maleswanaume go there for a dancengoma,
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Madume wanaenda pale kucheza dansi,
05:57
the femaleswanawake flykuruka into that dancengoma
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majike wanaelekea kwenye hio dansi
05:59
and selectchagua a malekiume mosquitombu
of theirwao choiceuchaguzi,
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na kuchagua mbu wa kiume
wa chaguo lao,
06:02
usuallykwa kawaida the best-lookingBest-Looking
malekiume in theirwao viewmtazamo.
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kawaida dume linalovutia kwa
mtazamo wao.
06:04
They clumpclump togetherpamoja
and fallkuanguka down ontokuingia the floorsakafu.
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Wanashikana pamoja na
kuamguka chini kwenye sakafu.
06:07
If you watch this, it's beautifulnzuri.
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Ukitazama hii, ni nzuri sana.
06:08
It's a fantasticfantastic phenomenonuzushi.
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Ni jambo la ajabu.
06:11
This is where our mosquito-catchingkuambukizwa na mbu
work getshupata really interestingkuvutia.
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Hapa ndipo kazi yetu ya ukamataji mbu
unakua wa kuvutia mno.
06:15
What we have seenkuonekana, when we go
swampof swamp huntinguwindaji in the villagesvijiji,
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Tulichokiona, tunapoenda
kuwinda makundi vijijini,
06:18
is that these swampof swamp locationsmaeneo
tendtamaa to be at exactlyhasa the samesawa locationeneo
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ni kwamba haya maeneo ya vikundi
huwa yanakua kwenye eneo lilelile kabisa
06:22
everykila day, everykila weekwiki, everykila monthmwezi,
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kila siku, kila wiki, kila mwezi,
06:25
yearmwaka in, yearmwaka out.
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kwa mwaka mzima.
06:26
They startkuanza at exactlyhasa
the samesawa time of the eveningjioni,
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Wanaanza kabisa mda
ule ule jioni,
06:29
and they are at exactlyhasa
the samesawa locationsmaeneo.
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na wanakua kabisa kwenye
maeneo yale yale.
06:32
What does this tell us?
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Hii inatuambia nini?
06:33
It meansina maana that if we can mapramani
all these locationsmaeneo acrosskote villagesvijiji,
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Ina maanisha kama tukiwa na ramani
ya maeneo yote haya katika vijiji,
06:36
we could actuallykwa kweli
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tunaweza kabisa
06:38
crushkuponda these populationswatu
by just a singlemoja blowpigo.
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kuponda haya makazi
kwa pigo moja tu.
06:41
KindAina of, you know, bomb-spraybomu-dawa them
or nukenuke them out.
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Kama vile, kuwawekea bomu la dawa
au kuwatoa na nyuklia.
06:45
And that is what we try to do
with youngvijana menwatu and womenwanawake
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Na ndio tunachotaka kufanya na
vijana wakike na wakiume
06:48
acrosskote the villagesvijiji.
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katika vijiji.
06:49
We organizekupanga these crewsya wafanyakazi, teachkufundisha them
how to identifytambua the swarmsmifupa,
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Tunaandaa hawa wafanyakazi, kuwafundisha
jinsi ya kutambua makundi,
06:53
and spraydawa them out.
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na kuwapulizia nje.
06:54
My colleagueswenzake and I believe
we have a newmpya windowdirisha
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Wenzangu na mimi tunaamini
tuna mwangaza mpya
06:57
to get mosquitoesmbu out of the valleybonde.
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ya kutoa mbu nje ya bonde.
07:01
But perhapslabda the factukweli that mosquitoesmbu
eatkula blooddamu, humanbinadamu blooddamu,
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Lakini pengine ukweli kua mbu
wanakula damu, damu ya binadamu,
07:05
is the reasonsababu they are
the mostwengi dangeroushatari animalmnyama on earthdunia.
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ndio sababu ni mnyama wa hatari
sana duniani.
07:09
But think about it this way --
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Lakini fikiria hio hivi --
07:11
mosquitoesmbu actuallykwa kweli smellharufu you.
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mbu ki kweli wanakunusa.
07:14
And they have developedmaendeleo
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Na wamekuza
07:16
incredibleajabu sensoryhisia organsvyombo vya.
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viungo vya hisia vya ajabu.
07:19
They can smellharufu from as farmbali
sometimesmara nyingine as 100 metersmita away.
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Wanaweza kunusa kwa umbali
mara nyingine wa mita 100.
07:24
And when they get closerkaribu,
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Na wanaposogea karibu,
07:25
they can even tell the differencetofauti
betweenkati two familyfamilia memberswanachama.
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wanaweza hata kuona tofauti kati
ya watu wa familia mbili.
07:28
They know who you are
basedmsingi on what you producekuzalisha
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Wanajua wewe ni nani kadri
na unachozalisha
07:30
from your breathpumzi, skinngozi,
sweatjasho and bodymwili odorharufu.
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kutoka kwenye pumzi, ngozi,
jasho na harufu ya mwili.
07:34
What we have donekufanyika at IfakaraIfakara
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Tulichokifanya Ifakara
07:35
is to identifytambua what it is in your skinngozi,
your bodymwili, your sweatjasho or your breathpumzi
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ni kutambua kilicho kwenye ngozi yako,
mwili wako, jasho lako au pumzi
07:39
that these mosquitoesmbu like.
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ambazo hawa mbu wanapenda.
07:41
OnceMara moja we identifiedkutambuliwa these substancesdutu,
we createdimeundwa a concoctionconcoction,
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Mara moja baada ya kutambua hivi vitu,
tuliunda mchanganyiko,
07:44
kindaina of a mixturemchanganyiko,
a blendmchanganyiko of syntheticsynthetic substancesdutu
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kama mkorogo,
mchangamano wa vitu vilivyotengenezwa
07:47
that are reminiscenttamaduni
of what you producekuzalisha from your bodymwili.
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ambavyo vina kumbukumbu
ya unachozalisha mwilini mwako.
07:50
And we madealifanya a syntheticsynthetic blendmchanganyiko
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Na tunatengeneza mchangamano wa
kutengenezwa
07:52
that was attractingkuvutia threetatu to fivetano timesnyakati
more mosquitoesmbu than a humanbinadamu beingkuwa.
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ambayo ilivutia mbu watatu mpaka
watano zaidi ya binadamu.
07:57
What can you do with this?
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Utafanya nini na hili?
07:58
You put in a trapmtego, lurelure a lot
of mosquitoesmbu and you killkuua them, right?
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Unaweka kwenye mtego, shawishi mbu
wengi na kuwaua, ndio?
08:02
And of coursebila shaka, you can alsopia
use it for surveillanceufuatiliaji.
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Na bila shaka, unaweza pia
ukatumia kwa ufuatiliaji.
08:04
At IfakaraIfakara
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Katika Ifakara
08:06
we wishunataka to expandkupanua our knowledgeujuzi
on the biologybiolojia of the mosquitombu;
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tunataka kupanua maarifa yetu kwenye
biolojia ya mbu;
08:11
to controlkudhibiti manywengi other diseasesmagonjwa,
includingikiwa ni pamoja na, of coursebila shaka, the malariamalaria,
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kudhibiti magonjwa mengi zaidi,
ikiwemo, bila shaka, malaria,
08:14
but alsopia those other diseasesmagonjwa
that mosquitoesmbu transmittuma
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lakini pia magonjwa mengine
yanayosambazwa na mbu
08:16
like denguehoma ya dengi, ChikungunyaChikungunya and ZikaZika virusvirusi.
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kama dengue, Chikungunya na kirusi
cha Zika.
08:19
And this is why my colleagueswenzake,
for examplemfano --
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Na hii ndio maana wenzangu,
kwa mfano --
08:21
we have lookedilionekana at the factukweli
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tumeangalia kwenye ukweli
08:23
that some mosquitoesmbu
like to bitebite you on the legmguu regionkanda.
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kua baadhi ya mbu
wanapenda kukung'ata eneo la mguu.
08:26
And we'vetumekuwa now createdimeundwa
these mosquitombu repellentrepellent sandalsviatu
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Na sasa tumeunda hivi
viatu vya kuzuia mbu
08:30
that touristswatalii and localswenyeji can wearkuvaa
when they're comingkuja.
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ambavyo watalii na wenyeji wanaweza kuvaa
wanapokuja.
08:33
And you don't get bittenkuumwa --
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Na hauwezi kung'atwa --
08:34
this givesanatoa you 'round'pande zote the clocksaa protectionulinzi
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hii inakupa ulinzi masaa yote
08:36
untilmpaka the time you go underchini your bednetbednet.
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mpaka mda unaingia kwenye chandarua
chako.
08:39
(ApplauseMakofi)
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(Makofi)
08:41
My love-hateupendo-chuki relationshipuhusiano
with mosquitoesmbu continuesinaendelea.
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Uhusiano wangu wa upendo na chuki
na mbu unaendelea.
08:43
(LaughterKicheko)
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(Kicheko)
08:44
And it's going to go
a long way, I can see.
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Na utaendelea kwa mda
mrefu, ninaona.
08:47
But that's OK.
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Lakini ni sawa.
08:48
WHO has setkuweka a goallengo of 2030
to eliminatekuondoa malariamalaria from 35 countriesnchi.
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WHO imeweka lengo la 2030
kuondoa malaria kwenye nchi 35.
08:53
The AfricanAfrika UnionUmoja wa has setkuweka a goallengo
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Muungano wa Afrika umeweka lengo
08:55
of 2030 to eliminatekuondoa malariamalaria
from the continentbara.
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la 2030 kuondoa malaria
kwenye bara.
08:58
At IfakaraIfakara we are firmlyimara
behindnyuma these goalsmalengo.
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Ifakara tupo imara nyuma
ya haya malengo.
09:01
And we'vetumekuwa put togetherpamoja
a cohortkikundi of youngvijana scientistswanasayansi,
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Na tumeweka pamoja utafiti wa
kundi wa wanasayansi vijana,
09:04
malekiume and femalekike,
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wanaume na wanawake,
09:06
who are championsmabingwa,
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ambao ni mabingwa,
09:07
who are interestednia in comingkuja togetherpamoja
to make this visionmaono come truekweli.
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ambao wana nia wa kuja pamoja
kufanya hili ono kua kweli.
09:11
They do what they can
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Wanafanya wanachoweza
09:13
to make it work.
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ili ifanye kazi.
09:16
And we are supportingkusaidia them.
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Na tunawaunga mkono.
09:18
We are here to make sure
that these dreamsndoto come truekweli.
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Tuko hapa kuhakikisha
kua hizi ndoto zinakua kweli.
09:21
LadiesWanawake and gentlemenmabwana,
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Mabibi na mabwana,
09:23
even if it doesn't happenkutokea in our lifetimemaisha,
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hata kama isipotokea kwenye maisha yetu,
09:27
even if it doesn't happenkutokea
200
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hata kama isipotokea
09:29
before you and me go away,
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kabla wewe na mimi hatujaondoka,
09:31
I believe that your childmtoto and my childmtoto
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ninaamini kua mtoto wako na mtoto wangu
09:34
shallitakuwa inheritkurithi a worldulimwengu
freebure of malariamalaria transmittingkusambaza mosquitoesmbu
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watarithi dunia iliyohuru
na mbu waenezao malaria
09:37
and freebure of malariamalaria.
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na huru na malaria.
09:39
Thank you very much, ladieswanawake and gentlemenmabwana.
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Asanteni sana, mabibi na mabwana.
09:41
(ApplauseMakofi)
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(Makofi)
09:45
Thank you.
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Asante.
09:46
KeloKelo KubuKubu: OK, FredrosFredros.
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Kelo Kubu: Sawa, Fredros.
09:48
Let's talk about CRISPRCRISPR for a bitkidogo.
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Tuongelee kuhusu CRISPR kidogo.
09:50
(LaughterKicheko)
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(Kicheko)
09:52
It's takenkuchukuliwa the worldulimwengu by stormdhoruba,
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Imechukua dunia kwa tufani,
09:54
it promisesahadi to do amazingajabu things.
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imeahidi kufanya vitu vya kushangaza.
09:58
What do you think of scientistswanasayansi
usingkutumia CRISPRCRISPR to killkuua off mosquitoesmbu?
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Unafikiria nini juu ya wanasayansi
wanaotumia CRISPR kuua mbu?
10:03
FredrosFredros OkumuOkumu: To answerjibu this questionswali,
let's startkuanza from what the problemtatizo is.
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Fredros Okumu: Kujibu swali hili, tuanze
kwenye nini ndio tatizo.
10:08
First of all, we're talkingkuzungumza
about a diseaseugonjwa that still killsunaua --
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Kwanza kabisa, tunaongelea kuhusu
ugonjwa ambao bado unaua --
10:12
accordingkulingana to the latestkaribuni figurestakwimu
we have from WHO --
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kadri ya takwimu za karibuni
tulizonazo kutoka WHO --
10:14
429,000 people.
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watu 429,000.
10:16
MostWengi of these are AfricanAfrika childrenwatoto.
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Wengi wao ni watoto wa Afrika.
10:19
Of coursebila shaka, we'vetumekuwa madealifanya progressmaendeleo,
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Bila shaka, tumefanya maendeleo.
10:21
there are countriesnchi that have achievedmafanikio
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kuna nchi zilizofanikiwa
10:23
up to 50-60 percentasilimia reductionkupunguza
in malariamalaria burdenmzigo.
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mpaka asilima 50-60 imepungua
ya mzigo wa malaria.
10:26
But we still have to do more
to get to zerosufuri.
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Lakini tunahitaji kufanya zaidi
kufikia sifuri.
10:29
There is alreadytayari proofushahidi of principlekanuni
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Tayari kuna ushahidi wa kanuni
10:31
that gene-editinguhariri wa Gene techniquesmbinu,
suchvile as CRISPRCRISPR,
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kua mbinu za kuhariri kinasaba
kama CRISPR,
10:34
can be used effectivelykwa ufanisi
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zinaweza kutumika kiufanisi
10:37
to transformkubadilisha mosquitoesmbu so that
eitherama they do not transmittuma malariamalaria --
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kubadilisha mbu ili
aidha wasisambaze malaria --
10:41
we call this populationidadi ya watu alterationmabadiliko --
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tunaita hii mabadiliko ya wakazi --
10:43
or that they no longertena existzipo,
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au wasiendelee kuwepo,
10:46
populationidadi ya watu suppressionUkomeshaji.
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ukandamizaji wa wakazi.
10:48
This is alreadytayari provenkuthibitishwa in the labmaabara.
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Hii tayari imethibitishwa kwenye maabara.
10:50
There is alsopia modelingmfano work
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Kuna kazi pia ya muundo
10:52
that has demonstratedimeonyeshwa
that even if you were to releasekutolewa
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ambayo imeonyesha kua
hata kama ungetoa
10:55
just a smallndogo numbernambari of these
geneticallykizazi modifiedkurekebishwa mosquitoesmbu,
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idadi ndogo tu ya hawa mbu
waliobadilishwa vinasaba,
10:58
that you can actuallykwa kweli achievekufikia
eliminationkuondoa very, very quicklyharaka.
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kua ungetimiza ki ukweli
kuondoa kwa haraka sana.
11:01
So, CRISPRCRISPR and toolszana like this
offerkutoa us some realhalisi opportunitiesfursa --
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Hivyo, CRISPR na zana kama hizi
zinatoa nafasi za ukweli --
11:05
real-lifehalisi ya maisha opportunitiesfursa
to have high-impactyenye athari kubwa interventionshatua
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nafasi za maisha halisi kuwa
na misaada yenye athari za juu
11:09
that we can use
in additionkuongeza to what we have now
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ambayo tunaweza kutumia
tukiongezea na tulichonacho sasa
11:12
to eventuallyhatimaye go to zerosufuri.
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ili hatimae kufikia sifuri.
11:14
This is importantmuhimu.
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Hii ni muhimu.
11:15
Now, of coursebila shaka people always askkuuliza us --
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Sasa, bila shaka watu wanatuuliza sisi --
11:18
whichambayo is a commonkawaida questionswali,
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ambalo ni swali la kawaida,
11:20
I guessnadhani you're going
to askkuuliza this as well --
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nakisia utauliza
hili pia --
11:22
"What happenshutokea if you
eliminatekuondoa mosquitoesmbu?"
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"Nini kitatokea kama
utaondoa mbu?"
11:24
KKKK: I won'thaitakuwa askkuuliza then, you answerjibu.
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KK: Basi sitouliza, wewe jibu.
11:26
FOFO: OK. In respectheshima to this,
I would just like to remindkukumbusha my colleagueswenzake
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FO: Sawa. Kwa hali ya hili,
ningependa tu kukumbusha wenzangu
11:30
that we have 3,500
mosquitombu speciesaina in this worldulimwengu.
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kua tuna aina ya mbu
3,500 hapa duniani.
11:34
Maybe more than that.
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Labda ata zaidi ya hao.
11:35
About 400 of these are AnophelenesAnophelenes,
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Karibia 400 wa hawa ni Anophelene
11:38
and only about 70 of them
have any capacityuwezo to transmittuma malariamalaria.
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na karibia 70 tu wa hao
wanauwezo wowote wa kusambaza malaria.
11:41
In AfricaAfrika, we're havingkuwa na to dealtoa with
threetatu or fournne of these as the majorkubwa guys.
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Afrika, tunakua tunapambana na
tatu au nne ya hawa kama jamaa wakuu.
11:45
They carrykubeba mostwengi -- like 99 percentasilimia
of all the malariamalaria we have.
251
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Wanabeba zaidi -- kama asilimia 99 ya
malaria tuliyonayo.
11:49
If we were to go out
with genejeni editinguhariri like CRISPRCRISPR,
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Kama tungetakiwa kutoka
na kuhariri kinasaba kama CRISPR,
11:52
if we were to go out
with genejeni drivesanatoa to controlkudhibiti malariamalaria,
253
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kama tungetakiwa kutoka na
mwendesho wa kinasaba kuthibiti malaria,
11:55
we would be going after only one or two.
254
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tungekua tunaenda kwa moja au mbili tu.
11:57
I don't see a diversityutofauti problemtatizo with that.
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Sioni tatizo la utofauti na hilo.
11:59
But that's personalbinafsi viewmtazamo.
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Lakini huo ni mtazamo binafsi.
12:01
I think it's OK.
257
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Nafikiri ni sawa.
12:02
And rememberkumbuka, by the way,
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Na kumbuka, japo kuwa,
12:03
all these yearsmiaka we'vetumekuwa been tryingkujaribu
to eliminatekuondoa these mosquitoesmbu effectivelykwa ufanisi
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miaka yoye hii tumekua tukijaribu
kuondoa hawa mbu kwa ufanisi
12:07
by sprayingkunyunyizia them -- our colleagueswenzake
in AmericaAmerika have sprayedkupuliziwa dawa with --
260
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kwa kuwafukiza -- wenzetu wa
Marekani wamewafukiza na --
12:11
really bomb-sprayingkunyunyiza na bomu
these insectswadudu out of the villagesvijiji.
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kweli kuwapa hawa wadudu
bomu la dawa kuwatoa vijijini.
12:14
In AfricaAfrika we do a lot
of householdkaya sprayingkunyunyizia.
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Afrika tunafanya mengi
kwenye kufukiza nyumbani.
12:17
All these are aimedlengo
solelytu at killingkuua the mosquitoesmbu.
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Zote hizi zinalenga
tu kwenye kuua mbu.
12:20
So there's really no problemtatizo
if we had a newmpya toolchombo.
264
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2496
Hivyo hakuna kweli tatizo
kama tukiwa na zana mpya.
12:22
But havingkuwa na said that, I have to say
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Ila na kusema hivyo, lazima niseme
12:24
we alsopia have to be
very, very responsiblewajibu here.
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sisi pia tunatakiwa tuwajibike,
sana hapa.
12:26
So there's the regulatoryudhibiti sideupande,
and we have to partnermpenzi with our regulatorswasimamizi
267
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Hivyo kuna upande wa udhibiti,
na tunatakiwa kuungana na waagizaji
12:30
and make sure that everything
that we do is donekufanyika correctlykwa usahihi,
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na kuhakikisha kua kila kitu
tunachofanya kinakua sahihi,
12:33
is donekufanyika responsiblyuwajibikaji
269
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kinafanywa kwa kuwajibika
12:34
and that we alsopia have to do
independenthuru riskhatari assessmentsTathmini,
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na kua tunatakiwa pia
kutathmini hatari za kujitegemea
12:37
to just make sure
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na kuhakikisha tu
12:38
that all these processesmichakato
do not fallkuanguka into the wrongsi sawa handsmikono.
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kua michakato yote hii
haiangukii kwenye mikono mibaya.
12:42
Thank you very much.
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Asante sana.
12:43
KKKK: Thank you.
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KK: Asante.
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(ApplauseMakofi)
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(Makofi)
Translated by Doris Mangalu
Reviewed by Nelson Simfukwe

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Fredros Okumu - Mosquito scientist
Fredros Okumu studies human-mosquito interactions, hoping to better understand how to keep people from getting malaria.

Why you should listen

Fredros Okumu is director of science at the Ifakara Health Institute (IHI). Since 2008, Okumu has been studying human-mosquito interactions and developing new techniques to complement existing malaria interventions and accelerate efforts towards elimination. His other interests include quantitative ecology of residual malaria vectors, mathematical simulations to predict effectiveness of interventions, improved housing for marginalized communities and prevention of child malnutrition.

Okumu was awarded the Young Investigator Award by the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene in 2009, a Welcome Trust Intermediate Research Fellowship in Public Health and Tropical Medicine (2014-2019) and, most recently, a Howard Hughes-Gates International Research Scholarship (2018-2023). He is co-chair of the Malaria Eradication Research Agenda consultative group on tools for elimination and a co-chair of the WHO Vector Control Working Group on new tools for malaria vector control. Okumu was named one of the "Top 100 Global Thinkers" by Foreign Policy in 2016.

More profile about the speaker
Fredros Okumu | Speaker | TED.com