TED2010
Frederick Balagadde: Bio-lab on a microchip
Frederick Balagadde：微芯片上的生化室
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要阻止撒哈拉南部非洲各国的疾病流行，仅靠药品是不够的。我们还需要与之配套的诊断工具。TED资深会员Frederick Balagadde向我们展示如何通过微型化技术把笨重昂贵的化验室集成至一个芯片大小，从而大大提高它的诊断能力和普及性。
Frederick Balagadde - Inventor
TED Senior Fellow Frederick Balagadde invented the micro-chemostat, a first-of-its-kind, dime-sized piece of transparent plastic that can orchestrate the behavior of living cells. Full bio
TED Senior Fellow Frederick Balagadde invented the micro-chemostat, a first-of-its-kind, dime-sized piece of transparent plastic that can orchestrate the behavior of living cells. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:16
The greatest irony in global health
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全球医疗事业最大的讽刺在于
00:18
is that the poorest countries
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那些最为贫穷的国家
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carry the largest disease burden.
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同时也是最为病魔缠身的国家
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If we resize the countries of the globe
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如果我们对全球各国
00:25
in proportion to the subject of interest,
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按各种疾病的严重程度进行排序的话
00:27
we see that Sub-Saharan Africa
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我们会发现撒哈拉沙漠以南的非洲
00:29
is the worst hit region by HIV/AIDS.
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是艾滋病最为肆虐的地区
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This is the most devastating epidemic of our time.
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而这是世界上目前最致命的传染性疾病
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We also see that this region
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我们还会发现这一地区
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has the least capability in terms of dealing with the disease.
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在应对艾滋病方面恰恰是最无能为力的
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There are very few doctors
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那里缺乏医生
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and, quite frankly, these countries do not have the resources
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而且老实说，那些国家根本不具备
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that are needed to cope
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应对艾滋病的
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with such epidemics.
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必要物资
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So what the Western countries,
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西方发达国家
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developed countries, have generously done
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为他们慷慨解囊
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is they have proposed to provide free drugs
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免费提供药品
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to all people in Third World countries
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给所有第三世界国家
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who actually can't afford these medications.
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给买不起这些药的人们
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And this has already saved millions of lives,
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这种义举已经挽救了数以百万计的生命
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and it has prevented entire economies
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也把撒哈拉南部非洲各国的经济
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from capsizing in Sub-Saharan Africa.
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从沉没边缘挽救了回来
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But there is a fundamental problem
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但还有一个最基本的问题
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that is killing the efforts
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就是抗艾滋斗争
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in fighting this disease,
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为此拖了后腿
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because if you keep throwing
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那就是，假如你不停提供药品
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drugs out at people
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给那些
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who don't have diagnostic services,
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得不到有效诊断的人们
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you end up creating a problem of drug resistance.
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就会导致病毒抗药性增强的问题
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This is already beginning to happen in Sub-Saharan Africa.
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这个现象已开始在萨哈拉以南非洲地区显现
01:27
The problem is that,
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问题在于
01:29
what begins as a tragedy in the Third World
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始于第三世界国家的悲剧
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could easily become a global problem.
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很容易就会演变为全球性的问题
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And the last thing we want to see
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我们最不愿意见到的事情
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is drug-resistant strains of HIV
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就是产生了抗药性的艾滋病毒
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popping up all over the world,
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在全球各地疯狂传播
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because it will make treatment more expensive
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这样一来要治好它就会逾发昂贵
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and it could also restore
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从而导致人类抗艾斗争重回
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the pre-ARV carnage of HIV/AIDS.
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抗逆转录病毒药物出现前的黑暗时代
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I experienced this firsthand
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我在乌干达上中学的时候
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as a high school student in Uganda.
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就曾亲眼目睹过这样一个时代
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This was in the 90s
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那是上世纪90年代
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during the peak of the HIV epidemic,
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艾滋病流行最高峰时期的事儿了
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before there were any ARVs in Sub-Saharan Africa.
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当时萨南非洲还没有任何的抗逆转录病毒药
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And during that time, I actually lost more relatives,
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那几年中，我大多数的亲人
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as well as the teachers who taught me,
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还有给我上课的老师
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to HIV/AIDS.
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都死于艾滋病
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So this became one of the driving passions of my life,
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所以，我人生中最大的目标之一
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to help find real solutions
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就是寻找一个有效的办法
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that could address these kinds of problems.
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来解决这个问题
02:16
We all know about the miracle of miniaturization.
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我们都见识过微型化技术的神奇
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Back in the day, computers used to fill this entire room,
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从前的电脑能填满这一整个屋子
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and people actually used to work inside the computers.
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人们使用它的时候还得钻到它里面去
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But what electronic miniaturization has done
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但是随着电子技术微型化的发展
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is that it has allowed people to shrink
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人们已经可以把最新的科技成果
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technology into a cell phone.
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缩到一个手机那么小的体积
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And I'm sure everyone here enjoys cell phones
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我想在座的各位对手机都很有爱吧
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that can actually be used in the remote areas of the world,
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这东西在偏远的第三世界国家
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in the Third World countries.
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能派上大用场
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The good news is that the same technology
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好消息是，我们在微缩电子产品体积的过程中
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that allowed miniaturization of electronics
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所使用的技术
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is now allowing us to miniaturize
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也可以用来微缩
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biological laboratories.
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生物实验室
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So, right now, we can actually miniaturize
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所以，如今，我们可以把
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biological and chemistry laboratories
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生化实验室
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onto microfluidic chips.
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给微缩到微流体芯片上
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I was very lucky to come
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我很幸运
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to the US right after high school,
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高中毕业之后就直接来到美国
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and was able to work on this technology
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并且还能参与这项技术的研究
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and develop some devices.
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为它研发相关设备
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This is a microfluidic chip that I developed.
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这就是我发明的一种微流体芯片
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A close look at how the technology works:
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我来详细解释一下这种技术的工作原理：
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These are channels that are about the size of a human hair --
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这些管道跟人的头发差不多粗细
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so you have integrated valves, pumps, mixers and injectors --
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你可以在上面装上阀门、泵、注射器和混合器
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so you can fit entire diagnostic experiments
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把整套诊断化验设备
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onto a microfluidic system.
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都装到一个微流体芯片上去
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So what I plan to do with this technology
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我想做的是
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is to actually take the current state
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利用目前的
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of the technology
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这种技术
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and build an HIV kit
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来把一个艾滋病化验室
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in a microfluidic system.
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集成到一个芯片上去
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So, with one microfluidic chip,
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那样，只要有一个
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which is the size of an iPhone,
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跟iPhone差不多大小的芯片
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you can actually diagnose
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就可以同时诊断
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100 patients at the same time.
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上百位病人
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For each patient, we will be able to do
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为每位病人做多达百组的
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up to 100 different viral loads per patient.
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病毒负荷量检测
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And this is only done in four hours,
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这一切仅需四小时
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50 times faster than the current state of the art,
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比现有方法快五十倍
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at a cost that will be five to 500 times cheaper
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价格却只有它的
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than the current options.
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五百分之一
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So this will allow us to create
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这将允许我们在第三世界国家
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personalized medicines in the Third World
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创造出个性化治疗的条件
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at a cost that is actually achievable
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并且价格完全可接受
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and make the world a safer place.
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从而使世界变得更加安全
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I invite your interest
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我希望大家能关注这项技术
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as well as your involvement
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更希望你们能投入进来
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in driving this vision
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使我们的这个愿景
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to a point of practical reality.
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能够早日实现
04:15
Thank you very much.
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非常感谢
04:17
(Applause)
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（掌声）
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Frederick Balagadde - InventorTED Senior Fellow Frederick Balagadde invented the micro-chemostat, a first-of-its-kind, dime-sized piece of transparent plastic that can orchestrate the behavior of living cells.
Why you should listen
Frederick Balagadde is a research scientist in the Engineering Technologies Division at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. As a graduate student at Caltech and Stanford University, Frederick invented the micro-chemostat: a first-of-its-kind microfabricated fluidic chip that mimics a biological cell culture environment in a highly complex web of tiny pumps and human hair-sized water hoses, all controlled by a multitasking computer.
Frederick's pioneering research has attracted interest in the scientific community, including a publication in Science Magazine.
Frederick was a TEDGlobal 2009 Fellow and is a TED Senior Fellow.
Frederick Balagadde | Speaker | TED.com