WEBVTT

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According to the World Health Organization

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100 million litres of blood
is needed worldwide

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to satisfy the world population's needs.

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Moreover, the French Blood Service
has stated

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that 90% of French people know
that donating blood saves lives.

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But despite this,

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only 4% do it each year.

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And this is true for most
industrialized nations.

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Given the shortfall between
the amount of blood donated

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and the needs of the global population,

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we need to find another way

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in order to respond to this
real public health problem.

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As surprising as this may seem,
I might have found one solution.

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And I found that solution
on a beach in Brittany.

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Even as a little boy, I was fascinated
by the ocean,

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and I think those television programs
by Jacques Cousteau

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had something to do with it.

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So obviously, I decided
that I would work in that field,

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and I became a doctor in marine biology.

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One particular environment
quickly caught my attention

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as it was colonised by very old organisms.

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It was the foreshore,

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a scientific name for an environment
that you surely like

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as it's the beach.

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The high tide covers Brittany's
beaches twice daily.

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And the sand on these beaches
shelters some very old organisms

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which you've probably noticed

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by the trails that these organisms
leave on the sand

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when you set down your towel.

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In fact, these trails show
the presence of a marine organism

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which is called the lugworm.

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So, lugworm

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is the name of a sea worm
common on beaches in Brittany

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known locally as Buzuc.

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So I studied this sea worm

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for answers about
respiratory ecophysiology.

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So what does that mean?

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It's simple really, I was interested
in this worm's breathing.

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I was trying to understand
how this worm breathed

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between high and low tides.

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In order to answer
that burning research question,

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(Laughter)

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I took an interest in the animal's blood.

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Actually, blood is an extremely
interesting biological fluid.

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It is the interface between
an organism's physiology

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and its environment.

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In fact, blood is made up
of different cells

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but the molecule that transports oxygen,

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oxygen that is vital to all
living organisms,

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which is a bit like - if I can
use a mechanical analogy -

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oxygen is a bit like the fuel
that you put in your car.

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Without fuel, the car stalls.

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And without oxygen, death is certain.

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Actually,

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blood contains specific cells
called red blood cells.

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Red blood cells are like a small car

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which take gas to your body's cells.

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And more accurately,

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this molecule contains a protein
called hemoglobin.

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Hemoglobin is a molecule
that can bind oxygen.

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So imagine my surprise,

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when the blood of this here seaworm

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didn't contain any red blood cells.

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To be honest,

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at first, I didn't understand
the magnitude of this study.

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But my discovery became known
to a research group

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called the Red Blood Cell Club.

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(Laughter)

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Thus, I was invited to a Parisian hospital

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to present my research
in front of a panel of doctors,

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haemotologists.

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And at the end of my scientific conference

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several of them came down the ampitheatre

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and asked me the following questions,

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"But Sir, haven't you found
the molecule with that structure,

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with that function?"

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"Well, yes I have!"

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"We've been searching
for that molecule for over 40 years

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to make a universal blood substitute!"

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You and I, we have the ABO blood type,

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rhesus positive or rhesus negative.

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Only O negative
is the universal donor type.

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The absence of red blood cells
in that animal

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would make that molecule universal.

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Going back to the lab to test that theory,

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I rushed off to the beach
to collect a few hundred lugworms,

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merely in an attempt
to collect the hemoglobin

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present in their circulatory system.

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After purifying this molecule

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using traditional lab techniques

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I was eager to perform
transfusions on rodents.

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Imagine my surprise when

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after removing more than 80%
of their blood in a lab,

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I did a molecular transfusion
on these animals

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and nothing happened.

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(Laughter)

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The organisms, these rodents,
living with the hemoglobin of sea worms.

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A surprising discovery,

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offering medicine tremendous hope.

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Thumbing its nose at all those
skeptics who asked me,

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"What is the point of studying
how sea worms breathe?

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(Laughter)

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Don't you have anything else
to do in a CNRS lab?"

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(Laughter)

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In order to further develop this research,

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I am forced to leave the CNRS
to create a biotechnology company

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that will develop these molecules

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for medical use.

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And only a few hundred grams
of lugworms are needed

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to make one bag of this globular type.

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There are many uses for this molecule.

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Why?

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Simply because oxygen

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is central to all biological
and physiological processes

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so, ultimately, to life.

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I spent the first years
after starting this company,

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developing an industrial
manufacturing process

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for my sea worms.

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As a biologist,

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it was not an option for me to remove them
from every beach in Brittany.

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And today, these worms are made
using aquaculture

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in a totally controlled
and traceable environment.

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Hundreds of tonnes of this animal

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are made using aquaculture.

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Apart from the worm,
the main issue was the biomass.

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We had to find
an industrial production system

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to extract these molecules
in pharmaceutical conditions.

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And today, we actually have
a whole process

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which allows us to extract
the biomass molecules.

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This industrial process
and the production of sea worms

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provides a multitude of uses.

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And I'm going to mention three
although there are lots.

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First, there's blood transfusion.

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You know, when you give blood,

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a bag of blood can be stored for 42 days,

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because red blood cells are perishable.

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Moreover, the cold chain
must be kept at 4 °C.

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Just to remind you that this molecule
is not contained in red blood cells.

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And so it is possible to get
freeze-dried blood,

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by which I mean powdered blood,

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which can be put back into solution
thanks to pharmaceutical water.

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So no more storage problem.

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No more 4 °C preservation problem.

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This product could be readily available
for an emergency,

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natural disaster,

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wherever a patient
urgently needs a blood transfusion.

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Today, this product is in development

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thanks to a partnership
with the U.S. Army.

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The second use is healing.


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We're not talking about
just any type of wound.

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Wounds found in people
who suffer from diabetes,

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known as Diabetic Foot Syndrome,

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people who suffer from
pressure sores, large burns,

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all of these wounds have
difficulty healing themselves.

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Why?

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Well simply because
of bad blood circulation.

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And unfortunately,

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the wounds found in people
who suffer from diabetes

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generally end badly
as most have to be amputated.

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And this affects 20 million
people across the globe.

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We have been able to show
that bandages soaked with this molecule

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were able to deliver oxygen to the feet,
and to these wounds,

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ultimately avoiding amputation.

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The third use, which is closest
to completion today

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as a human trial will take place
at the end of the year,

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is organ transplantation.

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In France, 500 people die each year
because of a shortage of organs

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on a waiting list of 19,000 patients.

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Why?

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Because actually, the solutions
used in clinics today

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are made up of just water and salt
but nothing to carry oxygen.

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When an organ is removed from a donor,

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it is immediately disconnected
from blood circulation.

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And we have been able to show
that by using this molecule,

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it is possible to considerably increase

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the time an organ can be preserved.

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For a heart today, you have 4 hours
between removal from the donor

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and the moment it is inserted
into the recipient.

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For a kidney, it's 12 hours.

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With this molecule, today,

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we have been able to double the time
for preserving these organs

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and preserve a kidney
for four times as long.

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So today, we are able to increase

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the pool of organs available
for transplant.

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Research is progressing,

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but it is not progressing as quickly
as we would like.

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Why?

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Because the drug cycle is long,

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very long,

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very, very long,

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and while waiting for our product
to be put on the market,

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which could save millions
of lives around the world,

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I can only urge you
to go and give blood.

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Be generous in order to save lives.

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And a little advice,
between friends: go quickly,

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because tomorrow,
it may be an act of the past.

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Thank you.

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(Applause)