1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,433 Can you tell me about the beauty of viruses? 2 00:00:04,733 --> 00:00:07,533 Viruses are definitely facinating. 3 00:00:07,567 --> 00:00:13,933 If you go out into nature you'll see plants, animals, bacteria, fungi... 4 00:00:14,167 --> 00:00:21,967 What you don't see is that they all carry viruses, not just one but multiple viruses. 5 00:00:22,067 --> 00:00:28,800 So the biodiversity of viruses is much higher than the biodiversity of things you can see with your bare eyes. 6 00:00:28,967 --> 00:00:34,633 These viruses all look different, they belong to large families. 7 00:00:34,933 --> 00:00:37,833 But if you look at them with an electron microscope you'll see 8 00:00:38,267 --> 00:00:48,367 beautiful symmetrical structures, little bars or sometimes ugly polymorfic creatures. 9 00:00:48,400 --> 00:00:55,400 What is special about these virusses is that most of their hosts don't become ill, don't die. 10 00:00:55,700 --> 00:00:57,633 The viruses are completely innocent. 11 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:07,633 However there are a limited number of viruses that can do significant damage to their host. 12 00:01:07,900 --> 00:01:16,767 It's special that such a tiny creature, in a large organism like an elephant, can cause so much damage. 13 00:01:18,367 --> 00:01:21,433 Are they living creatures? Is it life? 14 00:01:22,133 --> 00:01:29,300 Viruses have genetic material, in that sense they are the same as bacteria, 15 00:01:29,367 --> 00:01:33,767 fungi, plants or animals, but formally they are not alive 16 00:01:33,833 --> 00:01:36,567 because they don't have their own metabolic system. 17 00:01:36,767 --> 00:01:42,500 They are completely dependent on a host for multiplying their genetic material. 18 00:01:42,567 --> 00:01:47,867 So they are not alive, but based on their genetic material they are oganisms. 19 00:01:48,067 --> 00:01:51,100 Why are you so facinated by viruses? 20 00:01:51,500 --> 00:02:00,067 Viruses are incredibly diverse, in nature you can see plants, animals and fungi 21 00:02:00,167 --> 00:02:04,133 which look beautiful, very diverse, but you might not realize 22 00:02:04,333 --> 00:02:10,600 all those organisms carry viruses, multiple viruses for every host. 23 00:02:10,667 --> 00:02:17,033 So the biodiversity of viruses is much larger than you can see with you bare eyes. 24 00:02:17,767 --> 00:02:24,067 Most of those viruses don't cause any trouble for their host, 25 00:02:24,333 --> 00:02:32,833 it's a very limited number of viruses that cause illness or death in their host. 26 00:02:33,267 --> 00:02:44,433 But it's admirable that such a tiny invisible organism is capable of killing, say, an elepant. 27 00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:50,533 Could you say the earth is more or less populated by viruses? 28 00:02:51,000 --> 00:02:58,233 Yes, viruses are so diverse you could state the earth actually belongs to them. 29 00:02:58,433 --> 00:03:11,367 Some theories of evolution say all life on earth comes from tiny bits of multiplying genetic material, 30 00:03:11,600 --> 00:03:17,333 which in fact is a virus. So viruses are the foundation for all life on earth. 31 00:03:17,500 --> 00:03:21,867 That is one of the prevalent theories within evolutionary theory. 32 00:03:22,100 --> 00:03:25,433 And there are clear indications for this. 33 00:03:25,667 --> 00:03:33,367 A large part of human genetic material consists of elements that once used to be viruses. 34 00:03:33,867 --> 00:03:37,467 Those viruses played an important role in the evolution of humans, 35 00:03:37,733 --> 00:03:47,200 the fact that women have a placenta is because of former virusses. 36 00:03:47,433 --> 00:03:50,167 So the placenta only came into existence 37 00:03:50,333 --> 00:03:55,767 because of a virus that entered the genetic material of an organism. 38 00:03:56,067 --> 00:04:04,067 Thus viruses are a vital part of the evolution of everything on earth. 39 00:04:04,367 --> 00:04:08,467 You could say viruses conquered the world. 40 00:04:09,033 --> 00:04:13,833 That's comlicated, something of a chicken and egg situation. 41 00:04:14,033 --> 00:04:18,000 First there were viruses, then something bigger evolved. 42 00:04:18,333 --> 00:04:24,733 So in fact humans conquered the world using those viruses. 43 00:04:25,000 --> 00:04:29,633 I think that's a more correct understanding of what happened. 44 00:04:29,800 --> 00:04:31,767 We defeated viruses and conquered the world. 45 00:04:32,200 --> 00:04:36,800 We are alive thanks to the existence of viruses 46 00:04:36,900 --> 00:04:39,067 thanks to viruses we are what we are, 47 00:04:39,500 --> 00:04:42,200 plants and animals are what they are. 48 00:04:42,633 --> 00:04:48,100 But we can now handle viruses 49 00:04:48,867 --> 00:04:53,667 combat them with medication, vaccines and preventive measures. 50 00:04:53,833 --> 00:04:57,467 So we are conquering the viruses, yes. 51 00:04:58,033 --> 00:05:02,167 What was your personal motive to start working on viruses? 52 00:05:03,433 --> 00:05:10,667 I graduated in 1984, when it was discovered HIV was the cause of AIDS. 53 00:05:11,500 --> 00:05:16,967 And I was handed a job I simply couldn't refuse. 54 00:05:17,100 --> 00:05:23,667 Up until that moment we thought we had beaten the world of viruses, 55 00:05:24,000 --> 00:05:29,767 we eliminated smallpox, we were busy eliminating measles, 56 00:05:30,333 --> 00:05:34,400 we actually thought viruses would dissapear. But then there was AIDS 57 00:05:34,500 --> 00:05:39,233 and after that hepatitis and other substantial viral infections. 58 00:05:39,333 --> 00:05:42,033 So I got the chance to work on AIDS, 59 00:05:42,100 --> 00:05:45,533 which I did with great joy for the first 10 years of my career. 60 00:05:45,833 --> 00:05:50,433 But after those 10 years, after lots of basic research, 61 00:05:50,600 --> 00:05:54,000 people with AIDS could live, 62 00:05:54,867 --> 00:06:00,733 we can't completely cure it yet, but we can prevent an early death from AIDS. 63 00:06:01,000 --> 00:06:04,567 That gave me the feeling that my work, 64 00:06:04,600 --> 00:06:08,500 the basic virology reasearch on AIDS, was done 65 00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:09,567 and I should start doing something else, 66 00:06:09,833 --> 00:06:11,700 so I started working on a respiratory virus. 67 00:06:12,267 --> 00:06:19,533 Why do you think you lab is considered to be one of the best in the world? 68 00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:26,700 That's by virtue of the vision of the professors that used to run the lab 69 00:06:27,033 --> 00:06:30,900 it's been a virology department for a long time. 70 00:06:31,167 --> 00:06:34,667 At first run by professor Mulder, Masurel and Osterhaus 71 00:06:34,900 --> 00:06:42,133 and they brought together a very diverse team, it's multidisciplinary, 72 00:06:42,467 --> 00:06:52,900 has ecologists, pathologists, immunologists, virologists, all working together. 73 00:06:53,267 --> 00:06:58,367 They are all relatively young and very enthusiastic people 74 00:06:58,733 --> 00:07:03,167 together they can analyse any problem, 75 00:07:03,233 --> 00:07:08,167 they have all the tools that are needed to do virology research. 76 00:07:08,333 --> 00:07:13,567 That's owing to 50 years of virology lab in Rotterdam. 77 00:07:13,667 --> 00:07:16,933 You have a large archive and a new laboratory 78 00:07:17,733 --> 00:07:26,900 We have an extensive collection of viruses, from humans and animals, dating back to 1930. 79 00:07:27,233 --> 00:07:35,500 We have a great number of freezers filled with samples of viruses. 80 00:07:35,667 --> 00:07:37,500 And we use those for lots of research. 81 00:07:37,733 --> 00:07:43,367 There are wild animals, birds, bats and zoo animals, 82 00:07:43,600 --> 00:07:48,033 we once studied the serengeti lion, those kind of things. 83 00:07:48,167 --> 00:07:56,467 Additionally we have facilities that allow us to work with pathogenic viruses 84 00:07:56,900 --> 00:07:59,700 you can't just bring out to work with. 85 00:08:00,067 --> 00:08:06,200 We built special labs, so called BSL3 labs, biosafety level three, 86 00:08:06,500 --> 00:08:12,100 where you can safely work with the viruses, without the risc of infection 87 00:08:12,633 --> 00:08:17,800 and without the risc of villains stealing a virus. 88 00:08:18,233 --> 00:08:21,167 The laboratories are protected in two ways. 89 00:08:21,367 --> 00:08:27,400 And there we can research the viruses using both cell and tissue culture systems 90 00:08:27,933 --> 00:08:29,767 and test animals. 91 00:08:30,000 --> 00:08:33,567 You want to keep the viruses in and malevolent people out. 92 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:43,167 Yes, in our labs we have two forms of safety: biosafety and biosecurity. 93 00:08:43,533 --> 00:08:49,967 Biosafety means keeping dangerous viruses away from people. 94 00:08:50,333 --> 00:08:57,233 Biosecurity means keeping dangerous people away from viruses, to prevent abuse. 95 00:08:58,133 --> 00:09:05,733 You work on respiratory viruses, what kind of research do you do exactly? 96 00:09:06,367 --> 00:09:13,733 Our research covers everything from the very beginning of the viruses to the end. 97 00:09:14,033 --> 00:09:24,367 My research is about the evolution of these viruses, so we start with their natural hosts, birds 98 00:09:24,567 --> 00:09:31,367 we do field studies and try to understand the evolution and spread of these viruses in birds. 99 00:09:31,500 --> 00:09:41,533 Some of the viruses can spread to poultry, we try to understand why some can and others can not. 100 00:09:41,900 --> 00:09:46,967 If we know the answer we might be able to prevent outbreaks. 101 00:09:47,867 --> 00:09:54,300 In poultry the H5 en H7 influenza viruses can evolve into highly pathogenic forms 102 00:09:54,600 --> 00:09:58,533 that cause death chickens within 24 hours. 103 00:09:58,867 --> 00:10:06,367 We have no idea how it works. Why is it just these two viruses and why is it just in chickens? 104 00:10:06,600 --> 00:10:11,633 We try to understand the evolution so we can do something with that knowledge. 105 00:10:11,933 --> 00:10:18,033 Once poultry has been infected, it can be transmitted to pigs. 106 00:10:18,400 --> 00:10:23,600 When livestock is infected, it can spread to humans. 107 00:10:24,300 --> 00:10:31,567 You can see evolution processes, how a virus adapts to it's new host, a human. 108 00:10:31,867 --> 00:10:37,133 We try to understand that proces. 109 00:10:37,633 --> 00:10:48,933 The final step, when a virus can be transmitted between humans, it becomes endemic, 110 00:10:49,200 --> 00:10:54,333 we try to understand how it has evolved to escape our immune system 111 00:10:55,000 --> 00:10:56,833 and the flu shot sometimes doesn't work. 112 00:10:57,267 --> 00:11:06,633 We try to understand all facets of the evolution of viruses, from birds to humans, 113 00:11:06,933 --> 00:11:14,800 so we can intervene and prevent outbreaks in poultry, prevent human pandemics 114 00:11:14,933 --> 00:11:17,033 and to improve the flu shot. 115 00:11:17,367 --> 00:11:26,300 Studying this evolution allows us to develop completely new intervention strategies. 116 00:11:26,633 --> 00:11:29,867 Influenza viruses can cause a lot of trouble... 117 00:11:30,600 --> 00:11:37,367 Yes, influenza has two forms of activity in humans, epedemics and pandemics. 118 00:11:37,667 --> 00:11:45,900 Pandemics, woldwide outbreaks of a virus new to humans, can be very severe. 119 00:11:46,333 --> 00:11:53,633 In 1918 a pandemic caused 15 million deaths, the last pandemic in 2009 was less severe. 120 00:11:54,033 --> 00:11:58,033 In the future we want te prevent those pandemics. 121 00:11:58,133 --> 00:12:07,233 For the last two centuries they happend every 20 to 30 years. 122 00:12:07,600 --> 00:12:11,400 And we are trying to prevent these pandemics from happening, 123 00:12:11,500 --> 00:12:13,833 we don't know if the next one will be mild, 124 00:12:14,067 --> 00:12:21,067 or severe like the one in 1918 when millions of people died. 125 00:12:21,333 --> 00:12:27,433 We know pandemic viruses jump from animals to humans. 126 00:12:27,800 --> 00:12:34,767 In humans they develop the capacity to spread through the respiratory system, 127 00:12:34,967 --> 00:12:37,567 by coughing, sneezing and breathing. 128 00:12:37,933 --> 00:12:43,900 That is what distinguishes a pandemic virus from all other viruses. 129 00:12:44,100 --> 00:12:52,467 My research group tries to understand is how a virus becomes contagious through the respiratory system. 130 00:12:52,667 --> 00:13:03,600 On the one hand it's purely for fundamental knowledge, we don't know what makes a virus contagious. 131 00:13:03,933 --> 00:13:11,367 On the other hand, if we know how it works, we will be able to do something about it. 132 00:13:11,633 --> 00:13:19,300 We can develop new intervention strategies to stop a pandemic and save many lives. 133 00:13:19,667 --> 00:13:22,133 That is the goal of my research. 134 00:13:22,900 --> 00:13:30,467 The research caused you quite some trouble in 2011, can you tell me what happened? 135 00:13:30,733 --> 00:13:42,800 In 2007 we started to research the contagiousness of animal viruses in humans. 136 00:13:43,033 --> 00:13:52,567 In 1997 we saw bird flu viruses that could infect and kill humans for the first time 137 00:13:52,733 --> 00:13:52,633 very virulent forms of avian influenza. 138 00:13:55,333 --> 00:14:04,867 Sinds 1997 everyone has been wondering if such a virus will cause the next pandemic, 139 00:14:05,167 --> 00:14:09,567 one that might be like the spanish flu pandemic. 140 00:14:10,533 --> 00:14:19,433 So we need to find out if the H5N1 virus really can be transmitted between mammals through the respiratory system. 141 00:14:19,933 --> 00:14:28,400 We can't research this in humans, so we do animal testing, we use ferrets. 142 00:14:29,333 --> 00:14:41,900 We mutated a H5N1 virus, using all our knowledge on pandemics 143 00:14:42,167 --> 00:14:55,633 then we put the virus in the resperatory system of a ferret and let it adapt. 144 00:14:56,100 --> 00:15:06,833 That way you can test if the virus can be transmitted to other ferrets by sneezing, coughing or breathing. 145 00:15:07,533 --> 00:15:20,133 In 2011 we proved the Asian H5N1 virus can in fact become airborne. 146 00:15:20,600 --> 00:15:23,267 That was new, we were the first to discover it. 147 00:15:23,567 --> 00:15:36,167 So we need to be cautious around the H5N1 virus, warn the world health organisation and the involved countries in Asia. 148 00:15:36,533 --> 00:15:42,167 But we also gained fundamental knowledge on how a virus becomes airborne. 149 00:15:42,700 --> 00:15:46,533 This information can be used in surveillance studies 150 00:15:46,667 --> 00:15:55,333 to see if such viruses are already emerging in the field, in that case we can start culling. 151 00:15:55,867 --> 00:16:03,633 Above all this is the fundamental knowledge we had been waiting for in the field of virology. 152 00:16:03,767 --> 00:16:10,333 We don't understand how a virus becomes contagious, yet here, we have two viruses, 153 00:16:10,400 --> 00:16:18,467 an original H5N1 virus and one that is airborne. Now we can find out how a virus becomes airborne. 154 00:16:18,900 --> 00:16:21,667 That is precious scientific knowledge. 155 00:16:22,067 --> 00:16:32,700 Unfortunately the American gouvernment was afraid terrorists would use this knowledge 156 00:16:32,000 --> 00:16:37,633 to make other viruses airborne, use it as a bio-weapon. 157 00:16:38,433 --> 00:16:47,767 Due to the fear of the American gouvernment the publication of our research was initially forbidden. 158 00:16:48,200 --> 00:16:57,100 Of course we took action, the information could possibly be abused 159 00:16:57,133 --> 00:17:04,867 but more importantly it could definitely aid science and public health. 160 00:17:05,233 --> 00:17:15,767 By culling and preventing pandemics we can save more lives than by hiding the results. 161 00:17:16,067 --> 00:17:21,533 After months of discussion on whether this kind of information should be published 162 00:17:21,633 --> 00:17:29,700 the American gouvernment, the World Health Organisation and the Dutch gouvernment decided it should be. 163 00:17:30,867 --> 00:17:33,533 It advances science and public health. 164 00:17:34,700 --> 00:17:41,067 But you were threatened, people blamed you for doing this. 165 00:17:41,233 --> 00:17:53,933 In october 2011 the American gouvernment told us the research could not be published. 166 00:17:54,033 --> 00:17:56,300 And we were not allowed to communicate about it. 167 00:17:56,700 --> 00:17:59,833 The Dutch gouvernment took their advice, 168 00:17:59,933 --> 00:18:07,567 as a result the popular press got the idea that we did something terrible, 169 00:18:07,733 --> 00:18:16,867 they reported that Fouchier's lab created a bio-weapon that could destroy the world. 170 00:18:17,233 --> 00:18:24,200 The New York times wrote an absurd editorial calling it 'the doomsday virus'. 171 00:18:24,667 --> 00:18:28,767 They did this because they didn't know the facts. 172 00:18:29,167 --> 00:18:40,500 Withholding the manuscripts, not sharing our actual findings, caused commotion. 173 00:18:40,867 --> 00:18:49,300 Simply because of the lack of knowledge. We were not allowed to explain the situation. 174 00:18:49,367 --> 00:18:59,600 All this lead to a smear campaign against my research group and against me personally. 175 00:19:00,000 --> 00:19:01,567 You were really threatend personally, right? 176 00:19:01,833 --> 00:19:05,000 Yes, very quickly there were threats on the internet 177 00:19:05,100 --> 00:19:11,267 about what kind of car I drive, push him off the road, where my children go to school. 178 00:19:11,400 --> 00:19:12,800 It went that far? 179 00:19:13,067 --> 00:19:22,567 Yes, unfortunately. I had police officers at my office, driving through my street. A shame. 180 00:19:22,867 --> 00:19:24,000 Do you ever look back? 181 00:19:24,300 --> 00:19:29,333 These things really affect you as a scientist. 182 00:19:29,667 --> 00:19:36,600 Usually we are completely transparent in everything we do. 183 00:19:36,733 --> 00:19:40,300 We work with students and foreign guests, we freely communicate 184 00:19:40,600 --> 00:19:47,567 and enjoy academic freedom, freedom of the press, we are payed with tax money. 185 00:19:47,667 --> 00:19:51,300 So we prefer to be open to the whole world. 186 00:19:51,400 --> 00:20:04,200 Now, however, it seemed like I used tax money for bio-weapons, against public health, 187 00:20:04,333 --> 00:20:07,567 instead of for public health, like I thought I was doing. 188 00:20:08,067 --> 00:20:16,900 That switch in the notion of what kind of work we do, really affects you. 189 00:20:17,267 --> 00:20:19,033 It turned into Dr. Strangelove. 190 00:20:19,333 --> 00:20:30,233 Dr. Strangelove was mentioned, those sketches were on internet, I was depicted that way. 191 00:20:30,733 --> 00:20:31,567 It was taken very far... 192 00:20:31,900 --> 00:20:41,133 Yes, unfortunately at that moment due to a lacking exchange of information. 193 00:20:41,167 --> 00:20:47,533 It shows how important freedom of expression is for the press and science. 194 00:20:48,333 --> 00:20:50,367 This freedom is extremely important. 195 00:20:50,667 --> 00:20:54,767 We can only defend ourselves by explaining what we did, 196 00:20:55,000 --> 00:20:57,533 why we did it and how did this safely. 197 00:20:58,933 --> 00:21:02,667 Do you ever feel like you have to watch your back, fear for your safety? 198 00:21:03,100 --> 00:21:10,933 Even when we were threatend on the internet I never really felt unsafe. 199 00:21:10,967 --> 00:21:19,700 I always viewed them as quite harmless idiots 200 00:21:19,933 --> 00:21:26,700 though the police did feel they had to warn me, so it was someting. 201 00:21:26,900 --> 00:21:36,300 I wasn't too worried about myself, I was more careful about my wife and kids. 202 00:21:36,667 --> 00:21:41,500 I think I was a bit more free than my children at that moment. 203 00:21:41,633 --> 00:21:46,433 It shows how great the fear of viruses is. 204 00:21:46,667 --> 00:21:55,900 Viruses have a bad reputation, they make you ill, you can't see them 205 00:21:56,367 --> 00:21:58,300 so they are scary. 206 00:21:58,367 --> 00:22:01,333 But people don't realize viruses are everywhere. 207 00:22:01,767 --> 00:22:04,833 If you go swimming in the ocean, you're swimming in a pool of viruses. 208 00:22:05,500 --> 00:22:07,967 If you go swimming in a lake, it's also filled with viruses. 209 00:22:08,000 --> 00:22:09,033 But nothing happens. 210 00:22:09,433 --> 00:22:18,133 Most viruses are harmeless, at utmost only infective in one host. 211 00:22:18,400 --> 00:22:21,900 A virus in a chickens is usually harmeless to humans. 212 00:22:22,033 --> 00:22:29,300 But there are many movies where people turn into zombies because of a virus 213 00:22:29,333 --> 00:22:38,833 or a virus kills 99% of the population, exept for one hero, who finds a vacciniation. 214 00:22:39,233 --> 00:22:51,100 That is what people know, but it has nothing to do with reality, with real viruses. 215 00:22:52,000 --> 00:22:59,700 But you are occupied with beating viruses, disarming them? 216 00:23:00,433 --> 00:23:10,100 Laboratories like mine do two things, we try to beat viral infections 217 00:23:10,233 --> 00:23:14,267 using medication and vaccinations. 218 00:23:14,500 --> 00:23:21,633 We also research viruses for practical use. 219 00:23:21,900 --> 00:23:28,933 For example to cure people or to advance our knowledge in biology. 220 00:23:29,067 --> 00:23:36,700 And that's relevant, you are able to predict the evolution of a virus. 221 00:23:37,133 --> 00:23:42,733 All the research on the evolution of influenza viruses 222 00:23:42,800 --> 00:23:45,700 from wild birds to human epidemics 223 00:23:46,267 --> 00:23:49,033 are aimed at predicting that evolution. 224 00:23:49,467 --> 00:23:53,933 Sometimes people find that funny, you can't predict evolution 225 00:23:54,333 --> 00:23:56,700 and indeed it is nearly impossible 226 00:23:57,000 --> 00:24:00,233 if, for example, you want to predict what people will look like in ten thousand years. 227 00:24:00,700 --> 00:24:03,367 But for viruses it is much easier. 228 00:24:03,833 --> 00:24:08,100 Viruses have a very small amount of genetic material 229 00:24:08,467 --> 00:24:14,200 an influenza virus' gentic material has fifteen thousand buiding blocks 230 00:24:14,500 --> 00:24:16,567 those fiteen thousand you can still count and read. 231 00:24:16,967 --> 00:24:22,833 Furthermore we know what drives the evolution of these viruses. 232 00:24:23,167 --> 00:24:27,767 Once a virus jumps from animal to animal, or to humans 233 00:24:28,200 --> 00:24:34,233 we know what has to change in the virus to adapt to it's new host. 234 00:24:34,667 --> 00:24:43,167 The most important driving force for a virus in a human, is our immune system. 235 00:24:43,300 --> 00:24:46,267 The virus needs to escape our immune system. 236 00:24:46,333 --> 00:24:54,967 The system of a virus in it's host is so simple, we can perfectly understand it. 237 00:24:55,367 --> 00:25:01,567 If we understand this and how it relates to the genetic material 238 00:25:01,800 --> 00:25:03,833 we can easily predict the evolution. 239 00:25:04,000 --> 00:25:08,300 Once we can predict the evolution, we can be ahead of it. 240 00:25:08,433 --> 00:25:11,000 We can make better vaccines and beter medication, 241 00:25:11,367 --> 00:25:15,333 better preventive measures, that is the goal of my research. 242 00:25:15,667 --> 00:25:19,567 You say it is simple, it can't really be? 243 00:25:20,033 --> 00:25:27,533 It is much simpler than the evolution of a plant, human or animal. 244 00:25:27,867 --> 00:25:30,533 A flu virus had a small number of genetic building blocks. 245 00:25:30,867 --> 00:25:36,800 So little I can count them, read them and understand what they are saying. 246 00:25:37,000 --> 00:25:39,367 And the driving forces of their evolution are really simple. 247 00:25:39,767 --> 00:25:44,833 Because we only have to watch a limited number of factors 248 00:25:45,200 --> 00:25:49,433 we can start to understand the evolution and eventually predict it. 249 00:25:49,767 --> 00:25:53,933 But it's not something that happens over a period of one or two years. 250 00:25:54,233 --> 00:25:58,267 I have been occupied with influenza viruses for 15 years 251 00:25:58,633 --> 00:26:04,333 and now I have started to test the first predictions in clnical studies. 252 00:26:04,400 --> 00:26:08,667 The predictions are on how the virus evolves in humans 253 00:26:08,967 --> 00:26:15,367 and escapes our immune system, so we continually have to updat the flu shot. 254 00:26:15,733 --> 00:26:22,100 We predict what a virus will look like in two years 255 00:26:22,400 --> 00:26:30,267 we already create a vaccine, to test if it might work better that the one we have. 256 00:26:30,400 --> 00:26:37,300 We predict the virus and intervene to see if we can prevent it. 257 00:26:37,967 --> 00:26:42,000 You even developed computer programs to calculate these things. 258 00:26:42,333 --> 00:26:52,433 In 1998 we started to develop programs to map the genetic material 259 00:26:52,733 --> 00:26:55,933 and the biological attributes of a virus. 260 00:26:56,633 --> 00:27:05,800 So we can see how the genes and biological attiributes evolve over time. 261 00:27:06,200 --> 00:27:09,200 And now we can recognize very distinct paterns. 262 00:27:09,300 --> 00:27:16,900 These paterns are so clear we can predict what will happen next. 263 00:27:17,233 --> 00:27:20,100 If you see evolution along a straight line 264 00:27:20,233 --> 00:27:24,667 it's not very hard to predict where the virus will be in two years. 265 00:27:24,833 --> 00:27:27,900 It'll be at a surtain point along that straight line. 266 00:27:28,100 --> 00:27:32,867 That is what we find in the antigenic drift of a virus, 267 00:27:33,167 --> 00:27:35,867 the way they escape our immunse system. 268 00:27:36,133 --> 00:27:41,667 We think this antigenic drift is so predictable 269 00:27:41,967 --> 00:27:45,367 we can develop a flu shot now, that we'll use in two years. 270 00:27:46,167 --> 00:27:48,833 What does that promise for the future? 271 00:27:50,433 --> 00:27:59,167 Virus research has always been the base for lots of other research 272 00:27:59,267 --> 00:28:00,600 because viruses are simple. 273 00:28:00,667 --> 00:28:03,667 So viruses are the starting point for research 274 00:28:03,733 --> 00:28:08,200 and afterwards you can translate the results to other organisms. 275 00:28:08,533 --> 00:28:12,033 Bacteria, fungi, plants and animals. 276 00:28:12,367 --> 00:28:18,733 Eventually if we really can predict the evolution of a virus 277 00:28:19,033 --> 00:28:22,033 I don't see why we wouldn't be able 278 00:28:22,200 --> 00:28:26,367 to predict the evolution of a plant or an animal in a hundred years. 279 00:28:26,967 --> 00:28:30,000 That is a trend we've see in the past 280 00:28:30,233 --> 00:28:33,833 first discoveries are done on bacteria and viruses 281 00:28:34,067 --> 00:28:36,900 because they are small and easy to understand. 282 00:28:37,000 --> 00:28:42,967 But in higher organisms the processes are exaclty the same. 283 00:28:43,367 --> 00:28:49,867 So if we show we can predict something simple like the evolution of a virus 284 00:28:49,967 --> 00:28:55,033 we can undoubtly eventually do the same for properties of higher organisms. 285 00:28:55,100 --> 00:28:56,433 What would that mean? 286 00:28:56,767 --> 00:29:06,833 It could mean we'll be able to predict new crops, new species. 287 00:29:07,300 --> 00:29:12,833 How they'll develop as a result of changes in our ecosystem. 288 00:29:13,100 --> 00:29:19,800 Form Darwin's theory of evolution we know 289 00:29:19,933 --> 00:29:23,500 the environment determines how an organism evolves. 290 00:29:23,700 --> 00:29:34,600 By shaping the environment you can shape the organisms living in it. 291 00:29:34,767 --> 00:29:42,600 This is thinking outside the box, many people believe you can't predict evolution. 292 00:29:42,767 --> 00:29:48,300 But I think we'll show you can, beginning with simple processes, 293 00:29:48,400 --> 00:29:54,267 but eventually you can use the same approach on higher organisms 294 00:29:54,400 --> 00:29:58,400 and maybe adapt the environment to stear evolution. 295 00:29:58,567 --> 00:30:03,033 Perhaps we want to know what humans will look like in ten thousand years. 296 00:30:03,000 --> 00:30:07,567 What you are saying is, with the knowledge of viruses 297 00:30:07,567 --> 00:30:11,633 we don't just conquer the viruses, but genetic endowment. 298 00:30:12,433 --> 00:30:16,733 Because of these viruses we'll really gain a better understanding of evolution. 299 00:30:17,133 --> 00:30:28,567 Evolution theory is complex, but by using a simple virus you can understand it. 300 00:30:28,733 --> 00:30:35,033 And the evolution of a virus is fundamentally not different from a plant, human or animal. 301 00:30:35,400 --> 00:30:43,867 So by really understaning viruses, I think we'll indeed be able to translate it 302 00:30:44,000 --> 00:30:48,767 to higher organisms and guide and predict evolution. 303 00:30:48,967 --> 00:30:54,967 That's one thing, another is you can use viruses as a tool. 304 00:30:55,567 --> 00:31:02,233 Viruses are simple, they don't have many genetic building blocks 305 00:31:02,900 --> 00:31:05,733 especially the viruses I work on, RNA viruses. 306 00:31:05,867 --> 00:31:08,433 We completely understand their building blocks. 307 00:31:08,533 --> 00:31:13,300 We know which ones we can remove, how to change them 308 00:31:13,533 --> 00:31:17,233 so we change the properties of a virus. 309 00:31:17,333 --> 00:31:26,533 That's why a virus that would kill us 30 years ago, AIDS/HIV, 310 00:31:26,667 --> 00:31:34,967 can now be used to cure children with an autoimmune disease. 311 00:31:35,100 --> 00:31:42,233 We understand how the HIV virus multiplies, 312 00:31:42,633 --> 00:31:49,867 we remove pieces from the genetic material, so it is no longer pathogenic. 313 00:31:49,967 --> 00:31:52,433 It can't autonomously multiply anymore 314 00:31:52,733 --> 00:31:57,533 and the pieces we removed can be replaced by a gene of our choosing. 315 00:31:57,700 --> 00:32:04,233 We can choose a gene that had a defect within the patient population. 316 00:32:04,333 --> 00:32:12,267 That way HIV based gene therapies are developed. 317 00:32:12,433 --> 00:32:16,000 The HIV that used to make you ill is changed 318 00:32:16,167 --> 00:32:22,033 using the copy of a correct gene that is faulty within the patient population, 319 00:32:22,467 --> 00:32:29,967 next you infect the children with the HIV virus to heal them. 320 00:32:30,400 --> 00:32:33,867 40 years ago we never would've predicted 321 00:32:33,967 --> 00:32:37,667 we would understand a deadly virus like AIDS so well 322 00:32:37,800 --> 00:32:44,800 that we'd be able to change it a bit and use it to cure children. 323 00:32:45,333 --> 00:32:50,633 In stead of just fighting viruses you can also use them now? 324 00:32:51,267 --> 00:33:00,333 We use viruses to repair fautly genes in patients. 325 00:33:00,800 --> 00:33:10,500 A fault gene, an immune defect, can cause patients to die very young. 326 00:33:10,633 --> 00:33:19,467 And now we tweeked HIV, a virus that caused AIDS and death 30 years ago, 327 00:33:19,600 --> 00:33:24,500 in such a way it can now cure these young children. 328 00:33:25,167 --> 00:33:28,867 We completely understand the AIDS virus, know all the genetic building blocks. 329 00:33:29,000 --> 00:33:33,733 We can remove the blocks that would normally make people ill 330 00:33:34,033 --> 00:33:36,900 and we can replace them by a gene of our choosing. 331 00:33:37,100 --> 00:33:41,633 In this case a the correct gene which the children are missing. 332 00:33:42,067 --> 00:33:55,400 We use the virus as a method to provide the genetic material that was missing. 333 00:33:55,467 --> 00:33:59,167 The virus enters their cells 334 00:33:59,233 --> 00:34:05,233 and they grow into healty cells with the correct copy of the gene. 335 00:34:05,500 --> 00:34:11,567 So viruses that were deadly 30 years ago are now used to cure children. 336 00:34:12,067 --> 00:34:16,267 What does that mean for the future? 337 00:34:16,733 --> 00:34:26,267 We say our research is important for fundamental science 338 00:34:27,333 --> 00:34:30,300 but of course there practical applications. 339 00:34:30,533 --> 00:34:35,700 If I understand how an influenza virus is transmitted through the respiratory system 340 00:34:35,867 --> 00:34:39,200 how it is stable in an aerosol 341 00:34:39,433 --> 00:34:43,700 and which cells in the respitory system it can infect 342 00:34:44,067 --> 00:34:47,600 you can immagine I'll be able to replicate the virus 343 00:34:47,667 --> 00:34:56,133 add proteines and make a nano particle 344 00:34:56,233 --> 00:34:59,300 that has the same properties as the influenza virus 345 00:34:59,400 --> 00:35:02,333 but is is filled with medication. 346 00:35:02,333 --> 00:35:09,033 I'd be able to give mediation to all the cells in my repiratory system through a spray. 347 00:35:09,067 --> 00:35:11,833 With particles that look like the influenza virus, 348 00:35:11,833 --> 00:35:16,067 they are airborne and stable 349 00:35:16,133 --> 00:35:19,067 and target the cells of the epithelium. 350 00:35:19,067 --> 00:35:23,367 It might be a way to treat patients with cystic fibrosis. 351 00:35:23,933 --> 00:35:29,600 It's all wishful thinking, but that's how science works. 352 00:35:29,667 --> 00:35:35,867 We do basic research to understand fundamental problems 353 00:35:36,000 --> 00:35:42,533 and we don't know which one have practical implications yet. 354 00:35:42,667 --> 00:35:47,633 We can think about it, but we won't know for sure. 355 00:35:48,467 --> 00:35:51,900 It's special, on the one hand you combat them, on the other hand you use them. 356 00:35:52,033 --> 00:36:03,733 Whether you combat or use a virus, the research method is the same. 357 00:36:03,933 --> 00:36:06,500 You need to know exactly how a virus works. 358 00:36:06,633 --> 00:36:12,933 How it enters a cell, why it destroys the cell and how a virus spreads. 359 00:36:13,067 --> 00:36:17,767 If I know how a virus spreads, I might be able to stop it. 360 00:36:17,900 --> 00:36:22,267 If I know how it destroys a cell, I might be able to stop it with medication. 361 00:36:22,467 --> 00:36:25,400 If I know how our immune system reacts to a virus, 362 00:36:25,467 --> 00:36:28,433 I can prepare it with a vaccine. 363 00:36:28,800 --> 00:36:40,033 Research for combatting viruses and using viruses is identical. 364 00:36:40,167 --> 00:36:42,867 You need to understand every detail of how a virus works. 365 00:36:43,967 --> 00:36:53,867 Are you informed of potential epedemics and pandemics? 366 00:36:54,533 --> 00:37:04,600 The past 15 years we developed tools to map epedemics. 367 00:37:04,767 --> 00:37:09,467 The evolution of the genetic and biological properties of a virus 368 00:37:09,633 --> 00:37:18,767 can be quantitatively tracked by a mathematical tool. 369 00:37:18,900 --> 00:37:25,400 These tools are a mathematical methods using lab data. 370 00:37:25,500 --> 00:37:31,600 The world health organisation now uses it to map all viruses. 371 00:37:32,000 --> 00:37:40,867 So we have real time acces to data on how all viruses in the world evolve over time. 372 00:37:40,967 --> 00:37:47,800 That is an great source of information, not just for improving and updating the flu shot 373 00:37:47,900 --> 00:37:52,633 but also for research on the evolution of viruses. 374 00:37:52,800 --> 00:37:59,500 If everyone in the world isolates and analyses ten thousand viruses every year 375 00:37:59,633 --> 00:38:06,233 and sends us data for analysing, we get amazing data sets. 376 00:38:07,300 --> 00:38:10,400 And in case of a code red, what happens? 377 00:38:10,667 --> 00:38:19,833 A code red is when new viruses are transmissable from animals to humans. 378 00:38:20,000 --> 00:38:28,767 Laboratories like ours, with a broad selection of specialisms, 379 00:38:28,900 --> 00:38:31,400 are asked to assist research. 380 00:38:31,533 --> 00:38:39,567 We did this in 2003 during the SARS outbreak, in 1997 with H5N1, 381 00:38:39,667 --> 00:38:46,233 in 2012 with the outbreak of MERS, at the moment with ZIKA. 382 00:38:46,433 --> 00:38:51,300 We are asked to help with research. 383 00:38:51,467 --> 00:38:57,333 It starts with very basic questions. Why is this virus transmitted to humans? 384 00:38:57,500 --> 00:39:00,233 Why do we becom ill? Why do we die? 385 00:39:00,367 --> 00:39:04,400 Is there something we can do, can we develop a vaccine or medication? 386 00:39:04,500 --> 00:39:10,467 These are very practical questions our department had been able to answer. 387 00:39:10,500 --> 00:39:15,500 So they call us when there is an outbreak, it's a great honour 388 00:39:15,567 --> 00:39:21,600 and we like being able to contribute to public healthcare. 389 00:39:21,967 --> 00:39:26,600 But this also provides us with material for further research. 390 00:39:26,667 --> 00:39:29,500 We can answer those basic questions quite quickly 391 00:39:29,600 --> 00:39:37,267 but finding out how a virus really works takes many years of research. 392 00:39:37,367 --> 00:39:42,367 And we can do that research because we were involved from the beginning. 393 00:39:46,000 --> 00:39:51,533 Can you immagine there being a universal vaccination for the flu? 394 00:39:51,700 --> 00:40:01,867 The holy grail within the world of viruses is a universal flu shot. 395 00:40:01,900 --> 00:40:08,067 At the moment we create a flu shot for the current influenza virus. 396 00:40:08,233 --> 00:40:11,333 We take a look at the epidemics every year 397 00:40:11,400 --> 00:40:16,300 to see which viruses are ciruclating, and we make a vaccine. 398 00:40:16,900 --> 00:40:24,533 But there is a huge diversity in influenza viruses, in all kinds of animals. 399 00:40:24,900 --> 00:40:30,300 A vaccine that protects against all these forms would be ideal. 400 00:40:30,467 --> 00:40:34,867 Our lab researches this, together with many others, 401 00:40:34,933 --> 00:40:36,833 including the farmaceutical industry. 402 00:40:36,900 --> 00:40:39,133 That's why it's the holy grail. 403 00:40:39,267 --> 00:40:43,600 If you can develop a vaccine against all influenza viruses 404 00:40:43,700 --> 00:40:46,833 you are, what we would call, in business. 405 00:40:47,000 --> 00:40:50,233 I do think such a vaccine will be developed. 406 00:40:50,333 --> 00:40:56,700 It might take 10 or 15 years of research, but I am convinced we'll get there. 407 00:40:57,200 --> 00:40:59,867 We'll completely conquer viruses? 408 00:41:00,433 --> 00:41:03,400 We'll definitely conquer influenza viruses. 409 00:41:03,467 --> 00:41:08,167 I expect I'll have to look for a different job in 15 years 410 00:41:08,267 --> 00:41:15,800 because the flu, just like AIDS, won't be deadly anymore. 411 00:41:17,167 --> 00:41:29,133 You're lab was feared... Are there still things you have to keep secret? 412 00:41:29,200 --> 00:41:32,167 My lab does not have any secrets. 413 00:41:32,300 --> 00:41:38,333 My research is funded by tax money, I work with students a lot. 414 00:41:38,867 --> 00:41:41,267 Master students and PhD students, 415 00:41:41,500 --> 00:41:44,233 post docs from all over the world. 416 00:41:44,367 --> 00:41:49,367 In a completely transparent way, we don't try to keep anything to ourselves. 417 00:41:49,467 --> 00:41:53,967 There is research done in so called classified labs 418 00:41:54,133 --> 00:41:59,167 belonging to the American, Chinese or Russian army. 419 00:41:59,333 --> 00:42:04,333 They research the threat of bio-warfare. 420 00:42:04,533 --> 00:42:11,800 But it's not what we do, we do research to aid public health and animal welfare. 421 00:42:12,800 --> 00:42:19,367 Let that be clear. We saw the ducks... 422 00:42:19,567 --> 00:42:25,233 Can you tell me why you have them? 423 00:42:25,600 --> 00:42:30,500 Wild birds are the natural reservoir for influenza viruses. 424 00:42:30,700 --> 00:42:36,167 All viruses we know in humans come from animals. 425 00:42:36,367 --> 00:42:41,600 Wild animals are natural reservoirs for those viruses. 426 00:42:41,733 --> 00:42:48,233 Bats are a notorious reservoir for cronaviruses like SARS and MERS. 427 00:42:48,433 --> 00:42:52,633 And wild birds are the reservoir for all influenza viruses. 428 00:42:52,667 --> 00:42:55,233 All influenza viruses we know, avian influenza in poultry 429 00:42:55,400 --> 00:42:59,767 swine influenza, the flu in humans... All come from wild birds. 430 00:42:59,933 --> 00:43:05,567 To understand and handle the virus in pigs, humans and poultry 431 00:43:05,633 --> 00:43:08,533 you need to understand what happens in that reservoir. 432 00:43:08,667 --> 00:43:13,933 In the natural reservoir like wild ducks, sea gulls. 433 00:43:14,033 --> 00:43:20,367 You need to understand how the virus evolves in those hosts, in wild birds. 434 00:43:20,467 --> 00:43:26,233 Know the genetic and biological diversity. 435 00:43:26,367 --> 00:43:33,633 Some viruses can be transmitted to poultry or pigs, but others can't. 436 00:43:34,133 --> 00:43:39,100 You have to start you research with those wild birds. 437 00:43:39,233 --> 00:43:43,367 There's just one way to do that, you have to catch a lot of wild birds. 438 00:43:43,600 --> 00:43:49,133 An infected bird only sheds the virus for 5 days 439 00:43:49,267 --> 00:43:54,533 so you have to catch a great number of birds to map all viruses. 440 00:43:55,033 --> 00:43:59,400 We've been doing this for 15 years, in the Netherlands and other countries. 441 00:43:59,600 --> 00:44:01,433 Slowly we are starting to understand 442 00:44:01,567 --> 00:44:08,267 how these viruses drift around the world in wild birds 443 00:44:08,333 --> 00:44:12,767 and how they end up in poultry, pigs and humans. 444 00:44:13,000 --> 00:44:15,833 So you take them and analyse them in here? 445 00:44:15,900 --> 00:44:26,600 We've set up a network of ornithologists all over the world. 446 00:44:26,900 --> 00:44:40,100 They send samples form the cloaka or throat of birds to my lab. 447 00:44:40,500 --> 00:44:43,000 And we test it for influenza viruses. 448 00:44:43,100 --> 00:44:47,967 In that case we isolate it in our lab. 449 00:44:48,533 --> 00:44:54,033 After we've cultivated it, we can genetically characterize it, 450 00:44:54,200 --> 00:44:59,100 we can map all the genetic material. 451 00:44:59,300 --> 00:45:03,067 And we can determine the biological properties, 452 00:45:03,267 --> 00:45:09,300 we can find out if the virus can infect the cells of mammals, 453 00:45:09,467 --> 00:45:15,067 if it can escape our immune system, things like that. 454 00:45:15,367 --> 00:45:19,600 So these viruses are characterized elaborately. 455 00:45:20,500 --> 00:45:29,000 How difficult is it to change a virus? 456 00:45:29,633 --> 00:45:41,167 For some virus families it is very easy, for others very difficult. 457 00:45:41,367 --> 00:45:45,600 There are small viruses, large viruses, RNA viruses, DNA viruses... 458 00:45:45,700 --> 00:45:52,300 I work on respiratory viruses with an RNA genome, they aren't too large, 459 00:45:52,433 --> 00:46:01,767 and you need special expression systems to make them. 460 00:46:01,967 --> 00:46:06,067 It isn't simple, but is has become a routine job. 461 00:46:06,233 --> 00:46:10,400 Once you have a well trained team of molecular biologists 462 00:46:10,467 --> 00:46:14,267 you can easily make a couple of new viruses every day. 463 00:46:14,367 --> 00:46:26,767 But for a new team it would take 6 or 7 years to get the hang of it. 464 00:46:26,900 --> 00:46:31,233 It demands a high degree of specilization. 465 00:46:31,333 --> 00:46:32,667 It's doable for your team? 466 00:46:32,900 --> 00:46:36,467 Yes, we make viruses on a daily basis. 467 00:46:36,600 --> 00:46:41,467 We make viruses with up to 3 point mutations in the genes. 468 00:46:41,533 --> 00:46:47,067 Sometimes we add genes to a virus, fluorescent proteines for example 469 00:46:47,200 --> 00:46:49,300 so you get a fluorescent virus 470 00:46:49,400 --> 00:46:57,967 and you can easily see how it infects a test animal. 471 00:46:58,267 --> 00:47:07,000 Sometimes we remove a gene to see how we can disable it 472 00:47:07,033 --> 00:47:11,433 and possibly turn it into a vaccine. 473 00:47:11,667 --> 00:47:19,700 It's facinating, they're so tiny you can hardly see them with a regular microscope 474 00:47:19,767 --> 00:47:26,067 however you can change them, change the genetic material. 475 00:47:26,467 --> 00:47:31,933 You can clone a viruses' genetic material, 476 00:47:32,133 --> 00:47:39,167 grow it in bacteria, so you get tons of it. 477 00:47:39,267 --> 00:47:41,433 Then you can cut and paste. 478 00:47:41,567 --> 00:47:49,033 Simply put, you can cut and paste pieces of DNA and RNA. 479 00:47:49,133 --> 00:47:52,300 You can make any combination you like. 480 00:47:52,433 --> 00:47:57,567 However most combinations won't work. 481 00:47:57,767 --> 00:47:59,700 But if you understand a virus 482 00:47:59,800 --> 00:48:06,900 you'll know how to cut and past in order to change the virus. 483 00:48:07,267 --> 00:48:13,100 After you've mutated the genetic material 484 00:48:13,300 --> 00:48:16,300 you can extract the DNA from the bacteria 485 00:48:16,433 --> 00:48:21,267 and transfer it to a mammal cell in a culture dish. 486 00:48:21,467 --> 00:48:27,733 If you do it using the right DNA you can create a virus. 487 00:48:27,933 --> 00:48:32,433 It sounds simple, and it is if you know what you're doing, 488 00:48:32,700 --> 00:48:37,067 but a nonprofessional won't be able to do it. 489 00:48:38,000 --> 00:48:46,200 Viruses are like machines, geometrical, with a special structure. 490 00:48:46,900 --> 00:48:52,400 Viruses are in fact tiny nano machines 491 00:48:52,633 --> 00:48:59,267 pieces of genetic material, packed in proteines, to protect it. 492 00:48:59,433 --> 00:49:09,900 Some proteines, polymerases, make sure the genetic material will multiply in a cell. 493 00:49:10,033 --> 00:49:16,633 The genetic material is protected from outside air in a wax ball 494 00:49:16,800 --> 00:49:25,767 which has thornes to help it attacht to a cell. 495 00:49:26,033 --> 00:49:30,467 It's a nano machine, a wax ball, with genetic material 496 00:49:30,600 --> 00:49:38,467 and proteines that help it to infect a cell, multiply and infect the next host. 497 00:49:38,600 --> 00:49:44,767 We can use those characteristics for our benefit. 498 00:49:44,867 --> 00:49:51,100 You can use a virus to put genetic material into a cell. 499 00:49:51,333 --> 00:49:57,533 Depending on the kind of virus, a respiratory virus, 500 00:49:57,667 --> 00:50:00,767 a liver virus, or a virus carried in the blood, 501 00:50:00,900 --> 00:50:08,833 based on those characteristics you can build a new nano machine 502 00:50:08,967 --> 00:50:17,167 that targets genetic material in the cells of the lungs, blood or the liver. 503 00:50:17,367 --> 00:50:20,000 That's what we now use viruses for. 504 00:50:20,167 --> 00:50:21,200 That is really happening? 505 00:50:21,267 --> 00:50:28,900 Yes, we can put genes in the blood of people with an immune disease 506 00:50:29,400 --> 00:50:31,767 so their genes can be repaired. 507 00:50:32,200 --> 00:50:42,067 We can make viruses so they destroy tumor cells instead of normal cells. 508 00:50:42,333 --> 00:50:46,533 We can use viruses to treat cancer. 509 00:50:47,100 --> 00:50:51,233 Those are all applications of viruses that are already being used. 510 00:50:51,400 --> 00:50:57,367 The first drugs to repair gene defects and cure cancer are on the market. 511 00:50:57,633 --> 00:50:58,900 Where will that take us? 512 00:50:59,267 --> 00:51:05,500 I think eventually virology will really contribute to public health. 513 00:51:05,633 --> 00:51:10,600 We'll solve many gene defects and forms of cancers, 514 00:51:10,733 --> 00:51:19,467 by using genetically modifying viruses to cure people and animals. 515 00:51:19,733 --> 00:51:29,267 Is that a promise? Or is it an uncertain probability? 516 00:51:29,633 --> 00:51:35,467 We can already cure a number of illnesses using viruses. 517 00:51:35,667 --> 00:51:45,000 We can repair a gene defect using the AIDS virus. 518 00:51:45,200 --> 00:51:55,733 We can cure skin cancer using a genetically modified herpes virus. 519 00:51:55,933 --> 00:52:07,900 We're working on other viruses that can infect tumors cells 520 00:52:07,933 --> 00:52:11,300 and start a massive immune reaction 521 00:52:11,500 --> 00:52:14,667 so the immune system will clean up the tumor. 522 00:52:15,200 --> 00:52:18,300 It's called oncolytic immunotherapy 523 00:52:18,367 --> 00:52:22,133 using a virus that kills tumor cells 524 00:52:22,300 --> 00:52:30,233 and also starts a immune reaction against them. 525 00:52:30,433 --> 00:52:32,567 So your own body will clean up the tumor. 526 00:52:32,700 --> 00:52:35,033 It works really well in mice, 527 00:52:35,333 --> 00:52:42,500 in our lab we've done it on mice with pancreatic cancer, 528 00:52:42,633 --> 00:52:48,433 and using a modified virus it completely dissapeared. 529 00:52:48,667 --> 00:52:54,133 We'll need to do more research before we can do it for humans. 530 00:52:54,200 --> 00:52:55,900 But we're working on it very hard. 531 00:52:56,000 --> 00:53:03,433 And I am convinced, in 10 years, we'll be able to cure many forms of cancer 532 00:53:03,567 --> 00:53:08,767 using immunotherapy or viral immunotherapy. 533 00:53:08,867 --> 00:53:12,533 Viruses as a universal medicine. 534 00:53:12,800 --> 00:53:18,500 Viruses as an engineered nano particle 535 00:53:18,533 --> 00:53:21,833 which you specifically target 536 00:53:21,900 --> 00:53:29,833 so you use the viruses' beautiful properties to benefit it's host.