0:00:24.250,0:00:27.168
Today, I'm here to tell you

0:00:27.160,0:00:31.260
about the hidden treasures[br]of the human body,

0:00:31.261,0:00:33.920
the marvelous stem cells.

0:00:34.695,0:00:38.691
Humans are the crowning glory[br]of the nature,

0:00:38.692,0:00:41.492
and during Renaissance times[br]it was thought

0:00:41.493,0:00:44.388
that the architecture of the human body

0:00:44.389,0:00:47.455
represents the architecture[br]of the Universe.

0:00:48.709,0:00:54.142
This is a picture of the Vitruvian man[br]by Leonardo da Vinci

0:00:54.143,0:00:57.494
showing the geometry of the human body.

0:00:58.442,0:01:02.998
Renaissance period was the beginning[br]of the modern medicine.

0:01:02.999,0:01:06.072
The anatomy of the human body[br]was discovered,

0:01:06.073,0:01:08.675
and by the invention of the microscope

0:01:10.445,0:01:13.892
the body was studied[br]at the cellular level,

0:01:13.893,0:01:16.721
and it was found that the cell is

0:01:16.722,0:01:20.459
the smallest building block of the body.

0:01:20.460,0:01:25.650
And we are composed of 50 trillion cells.

0:01:25.651,0:01:28.964
A trillion is a number with twelve zeroes.

0:01:30.009,0:01:35.702
So how big would be[br]the house of trillion zeroes?

0:01:35.703,0:01:39.582
To imagine a house[br]of trillion building blocks.

0:01:41.326,0:01:47.176
And in fact, the Great Wall of China[br]is built of 4 billion building blocks.

0:01:47.885,0:01:53.505
And we, as human beings,[br]are 10 thousand times more complicated

0:01:53.506,0:01:55.951
than the Great Wall of China!

0:01:55.952,0:02:00.549
It took 2,000 years[br]to build the Great Wall of China

0:02:00.550,0:02:04.511
and perhaps you'll wonder[br]how long it takes to build a human being?

0:02:05.392,0:02:10.014
In an average, it takes[br]7 to 10 minutes for mom and dad

0:02:10.014,0:02:12.818
to put two magic building blocks together,

0:02:14.292,0:02:17.251
to lay the fundaments of a new life,

0:02:17.252,0:02:22.561
and the rest of the body building[br]is done by the magic stem cells.

0:02:24.375,0:02:28.775
I was trying to imagine[br]what would my life look like

0:02:28.776,0:02:31.488
if I lived in Renaissance times.

0:02:33.162,0:02:36.639
Despite of the great progress[br]in science and culture,

0:02:36.640,0:02:39.261
women were not allowed to study.

0:02:40.879,0:02:46.089
So luckily for me,[br]I live in the 21st century in Latvia,

0:02:46.090,0:02:50.654
where society is familiar[br]with gender mainstreaming ideas,

0:02:50.655,0:02:53.852
and I am a researcher,

0:02:53.853,0:02:58.723
so I chose to wear a lab coat[br]instead of that gorgeous dress.

0:03:00.540,0:03:05.606
I came to the research lab[br]when I was a third year biology student,

0:03:05.607,0:03:10.010
and I was fascinated[br]by the friendly atmosphere in the lab.

0:03:10.948,0:03:14.902
Respectable scientists were sequencing DNA

0:03:14.903,0:03:17.785
and during the breaks, they boiled tea

0:03:17.786,0:03:20.088
and smoked in the fume hood.

0:03:20.089,0:03:24.011
"Wow," I thought,[br]"this could be my dream job!"

0:03:24.012,0:03:30.791
So now, I have 19 years of experience[br]being a researcher

0:03:30.792,0:03:36.488
and during the past 7 years[br]I've been studying adult stem cells.

0:03:37.499,0:03:41.663
I'm very of excited[br]about the stem cell potential,

0:03:41.664,0:03:44.097
and I think that today we live

0:03:44.098,0:03:48.002
in the golden era[br]of stem cell discoveries.

0:03:49.282,0:03:53.197
Every part of our body[br]has some capacity to renew

0:03:53.198,0:03:55.664
due to these amazing stem cells.

0:03:56.756,0:03:59.310
I want to understand

0:03:59.311,0:04:03.955
the regeneration process[br]that occurs naturally

0:04:03.956,0:04:08.851
to find out ways[br]how to use stem cells to treat diseases.

0:04:11.026,0:04:14.009
How I got interested in cell biology?

0:04:14.010,0:04:18.003
One day I saw a picture[br]in my high school biology book

0:04:18.004,0:04:19.624
that looked something like this.

0:04:19.625,0:04:22.515
I tried to reproduce it, and it described

0:04:22.516,0:04:25.508
that cell consists of a membrane,

0:04:25.509,0:04:27.458
and there is a Golgi complex,

0:04:27.459,0:04:30.416
and mitochondria, and lysosomes

0:04:30.417,0:04:34.314
and there is a nucleus,[br]the director of the cell,

0:04:34.315,0:04:37.512
so my vivid imagination[br]pictured a large desk

0:04:37.513,0:04:39.100
in the middle of the cell

0:04:39.101,0:04:42.479
with a strict director giving commands.

0:04:42.480,0:04:44.538
When I learned to use the microscope,

0:04:44.539,0:04:48.007
I never saw a director inside the cell,

0:04:48.008,0:04:53.230
instead I learned,[br]that cell is a very complex structure

0:04:53.231,0:04:57.249
and the nucleus is rather a hard disk

0:04:57.250,0:05:00.001
that stores genetic programs.

0:05:01.205,0:05:05.864
And cells communicate[br]with each other by sending signals,

0:05:05.865,0:05:09.789
and these signals are[br]biological and chemical molecules.

0:05:10.746,0:05:14.621
The signals are transmitted[br]then to the nucleus,

0:05:14.622,0:05:17.957
and the genetic program is starting.

0:05:17.958,0:05:23.958
So once we know the signals[br]to make the desired cell type,

0:05:23.959,0:05:27.583
we can grow cells in a Petri dish

0:05:27.584,0:05:32.710
and then transplant them[br]into the patient and treat the disease.

0:05:34.876,0:05:38.585
Cell experiments are performed[br]in a cell culture laboratory

0:05:38.586,0:05:45.658
which is equipped with such equipment[br]as sterile biosafety cabinets,

0:05:45.659,0:05:50.136
incubators, microscopes,[br]and different chemicals.

0:05:50.728,0:05:53.682
And cells are grown[br]in special plastic bottles,

0:05:53.683,0:05:56.387
in liquid cell-culture medium.

0:05:56.388,0:06:00.463
So during the experiment,[br]we add a mixture of growth factors,

0:06:00.464,0:06:05.560
and then we observe changes[br]in cell shape and protein expression.

0:06:06.376,0:06:08.934
And in this image,

0:06:08.935,0:06:11.853
I wish to show you one experiment

0:06:11.854,0:06:16.632
that I managed to prove[br]that adult stem cells are similar

0:06:16.633,0:06:19.532
to embryonic stem cells[br]in their potential.

0:06:21.259,0:06:24.353
When I tried to publish my observation,

0:06:24.354,0:06:27.124
my paper was rejected three times,

0:06:27.125,0:06:30.423
but I didn't give up,[br]and now this paper is published

0:06:30.424,0:06:35.078
and cited 115 times[br]by other stem cell scientists.

0:06:37.044,0:06:42.490
Here is a classical experiment[br]to prove that you work with stem cells.

0:06:42.491,0:06:45.713
So to prove that these are[br]stem cells you have to show

0:06:45.714,0:06:50.234
that they're able to differentiate[br]into 3 distinct cell types.

0:06:50.844,0:06:54.714
So I added 3 different mixtures[br]of growth factors,

0:06:54.715,0:07:00.922
and as a result after 3 weeks[br]of experiment, I got fat cells.

0:07:00.923,0:07:05.846
And I can say that these are fat cells,[br]because I can stain oil droplets in red.

0:07:06.518,0:07:09.972
Then I get bone cells,[br]and I can say that these are bone cells

0:07:09.973,0:07:13.789
because I see calcium deposits[br]stained in orange.

0:07:14.443,0:07:19.017
And then the cartilage cells[br]that I can stain in blue.

0:07:20.956,0:07:25.017
Well, experiments take a long time

0:07:25.018,0:07:28.328
and to get these results,[br]it took me half a year.

0:07:29.066,0:07:33.665
So I wondered what takes so long[br]to get results in research.

0:07:34.388,0:07:37.367
And now, imagine that you want to prepare

0:07:37.368,0:07:41.577
some very complicated dish,[br]a very complicated recipe,

0:07:41.584,0:07:44.251
something like homemade mayonnaise.

0:07:45.055,0:07:47.818
So first, you have to get the recipe,

0:07:47.819,0:07:50.102
then the right ingredients,

0:07:50.103,0:07:52.396
and then you have to know[br]the special technique

0:07:52.397,0:07:54.420
how to mix it together.

0:07:54.421,0:07:57.345
And I tried twice, and I failed.

0:07:57.346,0:08:00.457
Well, the same happens in experiments.

0:08:00.458,0:08:05.596
It's the mixture of right ingredients[br]and a technique that makes it work.

0:08:07.514,0:08:11.039
And here I'm showing you skin stem cells.

0:08:11.040,0:08:14.432
It is the fluorescent microscopy image.

0:08:14.433,0:08:17.996
I use special dyes to color cells,

0:08:17.997,0:08:21.366
so you see the director,[br]the nucleus, stained in blue,

0:08:22.255,0:08:27.333
and the mitochondria, the power plant[br]of the cell, is stained in red,

0:08:27.334,0:08:30.751
and the cytoskeleton,[br]that holds the cell together

0:08:30.770,0:08:34.534
and gives its shape, is stained in green.

0:08:35.635,0:08:38.799
I can spend hours[br]looking into the microscope.

0:08:38.801,0:08:42.388
Its like seeing a different world.

0:08:42.389,0:08:47.140
And I think these cells look like jewels.

0:08:47.141,0:08:51.778
Indeed, stem cells[br]are our inner treasures.

0:08:53.668,0:08:58.187
Here is another experiment where I use[br]the mixture of nerve growth factors

0:08:58.188,0:09:02.469
to make skin stem cells[br]to become nerve cells.

0:09:03.876,0:09:08.168
It took 2 years of work[br]for my student Vadims

0:09:08.181,0:09:11.682
to establish the right procedure.

0:09:11.683,0:09:15.777
And now we have[br]a model system to find a drug

0:09:15.778,0:09:20.070
that would stimulate[br]nerve growth after trauma.

0:09:21.399,0:09:22.854
Make a wild guess,

0:09:22.855,0:09:25.620
how long it will take[br]for me to find this drug

0:09:25.621,0:09:28.539
if it took 2 years to get to this picture?

0:09:30.682,0:09:34.269
Breaking news fascinate[br]humans nearly every day.

0:09:34.270,0:09:37.698
We hear about restored vision,

0:09:37.699,0:09:40.697
about improved heart functions,

0:09:40.698,0:09:44.258
rebuilt urinary bladders, rebuilt trachea.

0:09:45.157,0:09:48.380
A lot of studies have been done[br]in a mouse model.

0:09:49.000,0:09:53.819
By the way, during my PhD studies,[br]I worked with thousands of mice.

0:09:54.639,0:09:59.155
And I really worked very hard,[br]and when I finished my PhD, I thought:

0:09:59.156,0:10:02.028
"That's it, no more mouse work!"

0:10:02.867,0:10:05.533
Then I got married,

0:10:06.883,0:10:11.559
and now I study human adult stem cells.

0:10:13.299,0:10:17.435
For thousands of years, humans[br]have been dreaming to reach the stars,

0:10:17.436,0:10:20.449
and yet, we have come[br]as far as to the Moon,

0:10:21.399,0:10:25.091
and for thousands of years,[br]people have been dreaming

0:10:25.092,0:10:28.583
to find the elixir of life,

0:10:28.584,0:10:32.956
and we are taking the first steps[br]in undertaking

0:10:32.957,0:10:36.992
how stem cells work[br]to regenerate the body.

0:10:38.830,0:10:42.036
There is enough evidence now collected

0:10:42.037,0:10:46.343
that stem cells from the patient[br]or from the donor

0:10:46.344,0:10:48.357
really can cure the disease.

0:10:49.097,0:10:54.606
There is success in clinical trials[br]to treat such diseases

0:10:54.607,0:10:57.799
such as retinal degeneration,

0:10:57.800,0:11:00.972
to improve heart functions[br]after a heart attack,

0:11:00.973,0:11:04.094
to stop transplant rejection,

0:11:04.095,0:11:06.766
to renew cartilage,

0:11:06.767,0:11:09.117
to heal skin lesions,

0:11:09.118,0:11:11.875
and to treat blood cancer,

0:11:11.876,0:11:15.251
autoimmune diseases like Crohn's disease,

0:11:15.270,0:11:17.792
and immune system's deficiencies.

0:11:19.023,0:11:23.409
The road is long[br]from stem cell research to the clinics.

0:11:24.506,0:11:27.876
There are significant safety standards[br]that must be met

0:11:27.877,0:11:30.975
to say that the treatment[br]will be safe for the patient.

0:11:31.900,0:11:35.666
And the main safety issues[br]for stem cells are

0:11:35.667,0:11:40.418
the potential tumorigenicity[br]and immunogenicity risks.

0:11:43.163,0:11:47.133
So I see a great similarity

0:11:47.134,0:11:51.396
between the Renaissance era[br]and the stem cell era.

0:11:52.612,0:11:57.179
Both increased understanding[br]about the human body

0:11:57.167,0:11:59.584
with little effect on healthcare.

0:12:00.792,0:12:03.209
And to increase the effect on healthcare,

0:12:03.198,0:12:06.067
more specialists are needed[br]in biotechnology,

0:12:06.083,0:12:09.375
bio informatics, bioengineers, healthcare

0:12:09.392,0:12:12.165
just to make the infrastructure[br]in the field.

0:12:13.312,0:12:17.956
The university is the incubator[br]of knowledge generation.

0:12:18.960,0:12:22.832
And I use this image[br]-- Earth at night -- to illustrate

0:12:22.834,0:12:26.460
that in each of the major light spots[br]there is a university.

0:12:27.028,0:12:30.492
And in each of the universities[br]there is a cell culture lab

0:12:30.493,0:12:34.505
and a stem cell scientist[br]working on discoveries

0:12:34.506,0:12:37.008
about stem cell use to treat diseases.

0:12:37.009,0:12:39.976
I think there's a great[br]potential in this field.

0:12:42.564,0:12:46.292
It takes a long time[br]to educate a biotechnologist,

0:12:46.293,0:12:50.822
so one learns how to use[br]advanced research equipment,

0:12:50.823,0:12:53.571
how to plan experiments,

0:12:53.572,0:12:56.301
and how to interpret the data.

0:12:57.798,0:13:02.994
In coming years, there will be[br]major advancements in stem cell use

0:13:02.959,0:13:08.668
in bioimplants, drug screening,[br]and stem cells will be uploaded

0:13:08.722,0:13:12.120
with anti-cancer drugs like Trojan horses

0:13:12.121,0:13:15.389
to reach the cancer and to destroy it.

0:13:17.888,0:13:23.238
23 years ago, a Nobel prize was awarded

0:13:23.239,0:13:27.043
for the discovery[br]of bone marrow transplantation.

0:13:28.214,0:13:30.567
That marked the beginning

0:13:30.568,0:13:33.542
of the golden era[br]of regenerative medicine.

0:13:34.762,0:13:39.315
I believe that stem cell based therapies

0:13:39.334,0:13:45.543
will become the golden standard of[br]healthcare for my children's generation.

0:13:48.459,0:13:49.584
Thank you.

0:13:49.584,0:13:51.001
(Applause)