How a sea worm showed me the secret of universal blood | Franck Zal | TEDxParis

This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences.

While studying the respiratory system of a sea worm which lives on the beaches of Brittany, Dr. Zal discovered, almost by chance, a universal blood substitute which could replace the 100 million litres of blood which are lacking each year.

According to the World Health Organization

100 million litres of blood
is needed worldwide

to satisfy the world population's needs.

Moreover, the French Blood Service
has stated

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

But despite this,

only 4% do it each year.

And this is true for most
industrialized nations.

Given the shortfall between
the amount of blood donated

and the needs of the global population,

we need to find another way

in order to respond to this
real public health problem.

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

And I found that solution
on a beach in Brittany.

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

and I think those television programs
by Jacques Cousteau

had something to do with it.

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

and I became a doctor in marine biology.

One particular environment
quickly caught my attention

as it was colonised by very old organisms.

It was the foreshore,

a scientific name for an environment
that you surely like

as it's the beach.

The high tide covers Brittany's
beaches twice daily.

And the sand on these beaches
shelters some very old organisms

which you've probably noticed

by the trails that these organisms
leave on the sand

when you set down your towel.

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

which is called the lugworm.

So, lugworm

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

known locally as Buzuc.

So I studied this sea worm

for answers about
respiratory ecophysiology.

So what does that mean?

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

I was trying to understand
how this worm breathed

between high and low tides.

In order to answer
that burning research question,

(Laughter)

I took an interest in the animal's blood.

Actually, blood is an extremely
interesting biological fluid.

It is the interface between
an organism's physiology

and its environment.

In fact, blood is made up
of different cells

but the molecule that transports oxygen,

oxygen that is vital to all
living organisms,

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

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

Without fuel, the car stalls.

And without oxygen, death is certain.

Actually,

blood contains specific cells
called red blood cells.

Red blood cells are like a small car

which take gas to your body's cells.

And more accurately,

this molecule contains a protein
called hemoglobin.

Hemoglobin is a molecule
that can bind oxygen.

So imagine my surprise,

when the blood of this here seaworm

didn't contain any red blood cells.

To be honest,

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

But my discovery became known
to a research group

called the Red Blood Cell Club.

(Laughter)

Thus, I was invited to a Parisian hospital

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

haemotologists.

And at the end of my scientific conference

several of them came down the ampitheatre

and asked me the following questions,

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

with that function?"

"Well, yes I have!"

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

to make a universal blood substitute!"

You and I, we have the ABO blood type,

rhesus positive or rhesus negative.

Only O negative
is the universal donor type.

The absence of red blood cells
in that animal

would make that molecule universal.

Going back to the lab to test that theory,

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

merely in an attempt
to collect the hemoglobin

present in their circulatory system.

After purifying this molecule

using traditional lab techniques

I was eager to perform
transfusions on rodents.

Imagine my surprise when

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

I did a molecular transfusion
on these animals

and nothing happened.

(Laughter)

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

A surprising discovery,

offering medicine tremendous hope.

Thumbing its nose at all those
skeptics who asked me,

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

(Laughter)

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

(Laughter)

In order to further develop this research,

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

that will develop these molecules

for medical use.

And only a few hundred grams
of lugworms are needed

to make one bag of this globular type.

There are many uses for this molecule.

Why?

Simply because oxygen

is central to all biological
and physiological processes

so, ultimately, to life.

I spent the first years
after starting this company,

developing an industrial
manufacturing process

for my sea worms.

As a biologist,

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

And today, these worms are made
using aquaculture

in a totally controlled
and traceable environment.

Hundreds of tonnes of this animal

are made using aquaculture.

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

We had to find
an industrial production system

to extract these molecules
in pharmaceutical conditions.

And today, we actually have
a whole process

which allows us to extract
the biomass molecules.

This industrial process
and the production of sea worms

provides a multitude of uses.

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

First, there's blood transfusion.

You know, when you give blood,

a bag of blood can be stored for 42 days,

because red blood cells are perishable.

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

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

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

by which I mean powdered blood,

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

So no more storage problem.

No more 4 °C preservation problem.

This product could be readily available
for an emergency,

natural disaster,

wherever a patient
urgently needs a blood transfusion.

Today, this product is in development

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

The second use is healing.

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

Wounds found in people
who suffer from diabetes,

known as Diabetic Foot Syndrome,

people who suffer from
pressure sores, large burns,

all of these wounds have
difficulty healing themselves.

Why?

Well simply because
of bad blood circulation.

And unfortunately,

the wounds found in people
who suffer from diabetes

generally end badly
as most have to be amputated.

And this affects 20 million
people across the globe.

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

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

ultimately avoiding amputation.

The third use, which is closest
to completion today

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

is organ transplantation.

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

on a waiting list of 19,000 patients.

Why?

Because actually, the solutions
used in clinics today

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

When an organ is removed from a donor,

it is immediately disconnected
from blood circulation.

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

it is possible to considerably increase

the time an organ can be preserved.

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

and the moment it is inserted
into the recipient.

For a kidney, it's 12 hours.

With this molecule, today,

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

and preserve a kidney
for four times as long.

So today, we are able to increase

the pool of organs available
for transplant.

Research is progressing,

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

Why?

Because the drug cycle is long,

very long,

very, very long,

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

which could save millions
of lives around the world,

I can only urge you
to go and give blood.

Be generous in order to save lives.

And a little advice,
between friends: go quickly,

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

Thank you.

(Applause)