How to create a world where no one dies waiting for a transplant | Luhan Yang

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4.1 • 11.9K Ratings

🗓️ 13 September 2018

⏱️ 14 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

For nearly half a century, scientists have been trying to create a process for transplanting animal organs into humans, a theoretical dream that could help the hundreds of thousands of people in need of a lifesaving transplant. But the risks, specifically of transmitting the PERV virus from pigs to humans, have always been too great, stalling research -- until now. In a mind-blowing talk, geneticist Luhan Yang explains a breakthrough: using CRISPR, a technique for editing genes, she and her colleagues have created pigs that don't carry the virus, opening up the possibility of safely growing human-transplantable organs in pigs. Learn more about this cutting-edge science and how it could help solve the organ shortage crisis.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This TED Talk features CRISPR Cast 9 pioneer Lou Han Yang, recorded live at TED 2018.
0:08.0	Hi everyone, I'd like to introduce you to Lyca. To most of us, Laika is simply a very cute pick.
0:19.0	However, to hundreds of thousands of patients
0:22.6	in need of a life-saving organ,
0:25.6	like her, is a symbol of hope.
0:29.6	You see, ever since the 1970s,
0:32.6	when organ transplants became a real option
0:35.6	for patients with kidney failure and other organ diseases,
0:40.3	organ supply has been an issue.
0:43.3	Over the last few decades, the issue only worsened as organ demand has exponentially increased.
0:51.3	Currently, in the US, they are close to 115,000 patients in need of life-saving organ transplant.
1:02.3	By the end of my talk, one more patient will be added to this list. Today, about 100 people will get a new organ,
1:13.4	a chance to start their life anew,
1:16.3	and yet, by the end of today,
1:19.2	20 others were dilating.
1:22.8	The situation is heartbreaking for patients,
1:27.0	for their families, and for the doctors who want to do more.
1:32.8	In some part of the world, the situation also becomes a disturbing social issue.
1:39.0	In Asia, for example, media outlets reported that desperate patients are obtaining organs from the cruel black market.
1:49.0	It is clear that a solution is needed to this crisis.
1:55.0	Human lives are at stake.
1:59.0	As a biologist and a geneticist, it has become my mission to help solve this problem.
	...

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