Dentro y fuera de nuestro cuerpo, un mundo plagado de criaturas extrañas convive con nosotros y nos hace ser quienes somos. Es el Microbioma Humano, que influye en nuestro color de piel, nuestra salud, estado de ánimo e incluso nuestro comportamiento. Gracias a él estamos vivos.
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00:00Hidden in us, there is a world that we have never seen, plagued by strange creatures that live in all the corners of the exterior and interior of our body.
00:21They are animals, they are in our face and we do not know much about them.
00:26However, they affect us in ways that we had never imagined.
00:30But now, for the first time, we can explore this unknown world.
00:35They are an absolutely essential component of what we are.
00:39It is a fight to life or death.
00:42If we eliminated all the microbes that are inside of us, we would die.
00:46Doctors are even reintroducing microorganisms into our body.
00:51The larvae are alive, we are going to cross the skin, it is duty and goodwill.
00:58We are more than humans.
01:00Each one of us is a set of different forms of life that consider us their home.
01:06This is Life in Us.
01:09Chapter 2. Superhumans.
01:27Life is an endless struggle.
01:30A battle for food and sex.
01:34But often, the winning strategy is a balance of powers, a truce between rivals.
01:45The same happens inside our body, where billions of organisms have evolved to share with us.
01:54There are worms in our intestines.
01:58Bacterial colonies in our teeth.
02:06Fungi that proliferate in our lungs.
02:11And viruses that are embedded in our DNA.
02:17Collectively, this set of microbes is called the human microbiome.
02:22And it is part of us to the same extent as any of our organs.
02:29We are a set of many different organisms, including us.
02:34Microbes have helped us evolve.
02:37They have become what we are.
02:40They were there since the evolution of human beings, as hunters and gatherers.
02:45And even since the evolution of mammals.
02:49But in a blink of an eye, we have separated from nature.
02:55We have gone from a life in which we were exposed to thousands and thousands of different species.
03:01In which we ate food that still retained dirt.
03:04In which we had worms.
03:06To suddenly live in an environment in which we convince ourselves that all other species,
03:12apart from our dogs, our lovers and our kids, are bad.
03:18In the belief that it makes us healthier,
03:21we do everything possible to eliminate the microbes from our body.
03:25We have unleashed a war between germs.
03:28And now we are paying the price.
03:32Modern medicine is basically about killing harmful species.
03:36If something bad makes us sick, we kill it and we get better.
03:40But the idea that we are missing something beneficial,
03:43and that is why we are sick, is not within our thinking parameters.
03:50The medicine that could address this issue in the right way,
03:54would have to think about the body as an ecosystem.
03:58In this revolution of medicine, it is the microbes that will save us.
04:07This is a journey inside the human body.
04:10Our bowels are a battlefield.
04:13And it is our health that is at stake.
04:18Our journey begins in the mouth.
04:22Not everything goes well at the main entrance.
04:26Dental decay in the current world,
04:29I'm talking about all countries,
04:31has acquired plague proportions.
04:35Dental decay currently affects around 90% of children around the world,
04:41and can lead to serious diseases.
04:44It is an epidemic of the modern age.
04:47Compared to us, our ancestors had completely white teeth.
04:52And they didn't even brush them.
04:56It is a mystery that has fascinated Professor Alan Cooper,
05:00who studies dentistry through the different eras.
05:05When you look at the hunter-gatherer populations,
05:08you see very few signs of dental decay.
05:11They look really good.
05:13But the closer we get to the modern man,
05:16the worse is the state of the denture.
05:18As soon as you go from the hunting and gathering phase,
05:21to the farming phase,
05:23the teeth look horrible.
05:25There are caries, diseases in the gums,
05:28due to the bacteria in the base of the denture,
05:31pernicious pathologies.
05:33And the consequences are much deeper than a bad denture.
05:37If Cooper could discover what is happening inside our mouth,
05:41it could help explain the emergence of some of our most serious diseases.
05:48We think, I'm bleeding a little, I have to go to the dentist.
05:51It's not serious either.
05:53But what we don't realize is that
05:55these bacteria are leaking through the gums,
05:58penetrating our blood system,
06:00and stimulating all kinds of responses
06:02from our immune system.
06:04And these responses are increasingly associated
06:07with a huge range of Western diseases.
06:10Cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, hypertension,
06:13premature birth, cancer.
06:15The list goes on and on.
06:19In one way or another,
06:21the key to everything is bacteria.
06:26There are more than 100 million bacteria in every drop of saliva.
06:31An ecosystem with 700 different species.
06:38And there is no place that they like more
06:40than the wet surface of our teeth.
06:43There they form a layer or biopilicula
06:46that dentists call plaque.
06:49It happens when we sleep.
06:51The layer of bacteria that is in our teeth
06:53calcifies and accumulates slowly.
06:55That's what the dentist takes away from us.
06:59We provide bacteria with a home.
07:02And it's beneficial for us
07:04because without them we wouldn't have teeth.
07:07The microbes in our mouth
07:09protect us from the food we ingest.
07:12We have evolved with the presence of acids.
07:15Most of our diet is essentially acidic.
07:18At the same time,
07:20the enamel that covers the surface of the tooth
07:23is inorganic and dissolves in acid.
07:26So we have a problem when we find out
07:29what's happening here.
07:31How does the tooth stop dissolving?
07:35The answer is the biopilicula.
07:38A dense layer of bacteria adheres to our teeth.
07:41In the same way that the acid eliminates the enamel,
07:44the bacteria fill the holes.
07:46The tooth begins to dissolve.
07:48The raw products of that process
07:51are trapped in the biopilicula
07:54and in the right environment
07:56are reused to heal the tooth.
08:00In a healthy mouth,
08:02everything works in a balanced way
08:04and the beneficial bacteria protect us from caries.
08:08These dentists have studied through the microscope
08:11the evolution of our teeth throughout history.
08:14So what has changed?
08:16We can only judge that
08:18if we know the appearance they had before.
08:21But there was a problem.
08:23In the denture of the skulls of the museums
08:26there are no living bacteria.
08:28There didn't seem to be a way
08:30to observe the appearance
08:32of the bacterial microbiome in the past
08:35until we thought about the calcified plaque on the teeth.
08:41It was an ingenious solution.
08:43Trapped in the plaque of our ancestors
08:46were the fossilized remains
08:48of a large number of bacteria
08:50and compared to ours
08:52there was a noticeable difference.
08:56Everything becomes absolutely strange
08:59when the Industrial Revolution arrives in 1850.
09:02Suddenly you get large amounts of processed sugar and flour
09:06and at that point
09:08the diversity of bacteria in the mouth
09:11fades away.
09:13And huge amounts of this pathogenic bacteria
09:16appear in all the dentures we study.
09:20A large number of bacteria
09:22causing diseases have invaded our mouth.
09:25They proliferate in our modern diet of processed food
09:28and this has caused a change of scenery.
09:32These organisms make us small factories of acids.
09:35They produce acids on the surface of the tooth
09:38reducing the pH of the environment
09:40and they are able to withstand
09:42those low pH levels.
09:44Those hostile conditions
09:46that other mouth microbes are not able to withstand.
09:50The beneficial bacteria
09:52that do not like to live in acidic conditions
09:55the bacteria that normally keep
09:57the harmful bacteria under control
09:59and what happens in the stomach, die.
10:04The changes in our diet
10:06unleashed a war inside our mouth
10:09and the bad guys are winning.
10:16The acidity of the interior of our mouth is a problem
10:19but there is a place where we could not do without it
10:22our stomach.
10:26It is a filter that kills pathogens
10:28we eat food full of microbes
10:30and one of the reasons why those pathogens do not colonize us
10:34is because we have a stomach
10:36capable of adapting to deal with the microbes.
10:39In fact, a healthy person can eat
10:41practically anything
10:43because 90% of the bacteria
10:45that are in the food
10:47is killed by the acid of the stomach.
10:49It is capable of dissolving nails
10:51and throughout the years
10:53we have heard stories of people
10:55who have swallowed knives or nails
10:57and a few months later
10:59they have taken a look at their stomach
11:01and there were only rusty fragments
11:03that have been digested almost completely.
11:07The only bacteria that survives the acid bath
11:10is the known microbe as the gastric demon
11:13Helicobacter pylori.
11:15It is very interesting, it is in an intermediate point
11:18between harmful microbes
11:20and harmless and beneficial.
11:24Nobody knows this microbe better
11:26than this Australian doctor.
11:28In 2005, he shared the Nobel Prize with Robin Warren
11:32for having discovered the power it has over us.
11:35The reason why nobody was looking for bacteria in the stomach
11:38before the 1970s
11:40when Dr. Warren saw them for the first time
11:42was because they thought
11:44that bacteria could not live in acid.
11:46It is too dangerous.
11:51But now we know
11:53that some bacteria have learned to survive
11:55in extreme environments
11:57and the gastric demon is one of them.
12:00So the question was
12:02how do bacteria survive in acid?
12:04And the next discovery was
12:06that bacteria can make ammonia
12:08and ammonia neutralizes acid.
12:15Helicobacter has a terrible reputation.
12:18In Valdez it is known as the gastric demon.
12:21It causes stomach cancer and gastric ulcers.
12:25Marshall and Warren
12:27were the first to show
12:29that ulcers were not produced
12:31by stress or spicy food as thought
12:33but by the infection of helicobacter.
12:38However, we could never explain
12:40why many people who had the bacteria
12:42had never suffered an ulcer.
12:44So the skeptics could always say
12:46you must be wrong
12:48because there are lots of people
12:50with helicobacter
12:52and their lives have been sick.
12:56And even more mysterious
12:58is that in the world in development
13:00where the gastric demon proliferates
13:02almost no one suffers from ulcers.
13:04For some reason
13:06a dangerous bacteria for the rich
13:08is harmless for the poor.
13:10And the difference between the two
13:12is another parasite.
13:14Worms.
13:17Helicobacter pylori causes ulcers.
13:20If we do not have parasitic worms
13:22we are missing a part of the ecosystem
13:24that we cannot ignore.
13:26We need the whole ecosystem.
13:30It is all a matter of balance.
13:32The proportion of worms and bacteria
13:34must be adequate
13:36for a body to be healthy.
13:38And this shows how subtle the ecosystem is.
13:40If we eliminate helicobacter
13:42as we do today with antibiotics
13:44we find another problem.
13:46The extinction of helicobacter
13:48in the western world
13:50has contributed to the emergence
13:52of new diseases
13:54such as asthma and allergies.
13:56It causes cancer, ulcers
13:58but possibly prevents asthma.
14:00And the reason why it prevents asthma
14:02is probably more important
14:04than the rest of the terrible things
14:06it causes.
14:08Helicobacter is an invader
14:10that keeps our immune system active
14:12and if it is not present
14:14we can react in an exaggerated way
14:16against harmless things
14:18such as pollen or pets.
14:22If we could find the right stress
14:24and we were able to control it
14:26I think that would resurrect
14:28helicobacter as a useful bacteria.
14:32If we could tame the gastric demon
14:34it could become a live vaccine
14:36against allergies.
14:40I think there are all kinds of possibilities.
14:42I am excited about it
14:44and we are already testing
14:46helicobacter in human volunteers
14:48at the University of Western Australia.
14:54Bacteria, fungi and worms
14:56are constantly invading us.
14:58In fact,
15:00they come as a garnish
15:02in every bite we take.
15:04Although for some people
15:06no amount of these parasites
15:08seems enough.
15:10Our food contains
15:12more than we expect.
15:14It is full of bacteria,
15:16fungi and sometimes
15:18eggs of parasitic worms.
15:20Richard Faulks
15:22loves his eggs with ham
15:24but this breakfast
15:26has been sacrificed
15:28in the name of science.
15:30Faulks built the first artificial stomach
15:32in the world
15:34and today his goal
15:36is to discover
15:38if the eggs of worms
15:40survive the test
15:42of gastric acid.
15:46This is my breakfast.
15:48I am going to add
15:50a few eggs of parasitic worms
15:52and I am going to mix it
15:54before I put it in my stomach.
16:00There he waits for a bath
16:02of chlorhydric acid
16:04that will kill practically everything.
16:06Everything works normally.
16:10The device is working
16:12at 37 degrees centigrade
16:14which is the same temperature
16:16that the body has.
16:18Now the first sample is being ejected.
16:20This is the material
16:22that ends up going down to the duodenum
16:24and entering the intestine.
16:28Will parasites survive the test?
16:32As we expected,
16:34most of these parasites
16:36seem viable.
16:42Worms are some of the most extraordinary
16:44survivors of nature.
16:46They proliferate in some of the most inhospitable
16:48environments on the planet
16:50including our bowels.
16:54Those who live in our stomach
16:56look like aliens
16:58from a science fiction movie
17:00and, incredibly,
17:02they can reach the depths of the oceans.
17:10They were able to reach the earth
17:12by colonizing the digestive system
17:14of animals, including us.
17:18They are looking for a substantial food supply,
17:20our blood.
17:26We love parasitic worms
17:28and we, for our part,
17:30have to correspond to them.
17:32If I had Crohn's disease,
17:34ulcerative colitis,
17:36or multiple sclerosis,
17:38I would infect myself without hesitation.
17:42A colleague and I
17:44manage ankylostomas.
17:46My colleague had 20 hookworms
17:48and I only had 6.
17:52Being a competitive person,
17:54I thought,
17:56well, I'm going to manage more.
18:00John Crowes and Alex Lucas
18:02are hooked on worms.
18:04Worms are both beneficial and harmful.
18:06In developed countries
18:08where we are well fed,
18:10they are potentially beneficial.
18:12The medical use of worms
18:14is currently being put to the test.
18:18Hugh Shertown suffers from celiac disease,
18:20a dangerous gluten reaction
18:22that causes acute diarrhea and pain.
18:24He and Judy Noonan
18:26are part of a pioneering clinical trial.
18:30We are experimentally infecting
18:32these people with ankylostomas
18:34to see if the infection has a therapeutic benefit
18:36in Crohn's disease
18:38or in celiac disease.
18:40These are diseases
18:42in which the immune system
18:44attacks the lining of the intestines,
18:46causing chronic inflammation.
18:48But how can the worms
18:50solve the problem?
18:52The last thing a worm wants
18:54is for our immune system to expel it.
18:56They modulate the immune system
18:58and make it act in a way
19:00that generally dampens the inflammation
19:02and that protects them,
19:04prevents them from being attacked.
19:06But the benefit of that
19:08is that the inflammation in general disappears.
19:12And the result indicates
19:14that it is the worm saliva
19:16that carries the magical ingredient.
19:18When an ankylostoma is installed,
19:20it is a type of salivary protein
19:22and some of those have immune suppressant properties.
19:24With worms on board,
19:26Gio's immune system
19:28has been tempered
19:30and should stop reacting
19:32excessively to the gluten of the pasta.
19:34We intend to use the ankylostoma
19:36to change the response
19:38of the immune system to gluten.
19:40For people with celiac disease,
19:42any amount of gluten
19:44can be dangerous.
19:46Six weeks with worms
19:48and Gio has achieved a milestone.
19:50It is a small portion,
19:52but before that,
19:54even this would have made him sick.
19:56Then we reintroduce gluten
19:58in celiacs
20:00that are infected with ankylostoma.
20:02Their response will be discreet
20:04and they will start to tolerate
20:06low doses of gluten.
20:08For Gio Sherdown,
20:10the experiment was a success.
20:12At the end of the trial,
20:14he was able to eat a plate
20:16of pasta.
20:18The therapy with live worms
20:20works, but I don't think
20:22it can become a widely used
20:24method of treating inflammation.
20:26However, if we are able
20:28to identify and use
20:30the responsible molecules,
20:32we can turn them into a much more
20:34conventional drug.
20:38But desperate patients
20:40are not willing to wait.
20:42An approved drug will take
20:44two years to develop.
20:46Nice to see you.
20:47Likewise.
20:48Sit down, please.
20:49So people who are seriously ill
20:51are signing treatments with ankylostoma
20:53in a clandestine way.
20:55Originally, I was diagnosed
20:57with ulcerative colitis.
20:59And as the drugs I was taking
21:01did not work, they changed
21:03to irritable bowel syndrome.
21:05Can you stretch your arm, please?
21:07People should be allowed
21:09to undergo alternative therapies,
21:11especially when the other options
21:13don't seem very effective.
21:15And on the other hand,
21:17if this therapy doesn't work,
21:19then you don't know what to do.
21:21You're basically buying a dream.
21:24Velazquez Manoff is a scientist,
21:26but his interest in alternative
21:28therapies is very personal.
21:31My whole life I've had asthma,
21:33I've had food allergies,
21:35and I've had, since I was 11,
21:37an autoimmune disease
21:39called alopecia areata.
21:41My immune system attacked
21:43my pilosus follicles and basically
21:45closed them.
21:47After investigating about his health problems,
21:49Moisés followed the steps
21:51to be inoculated with the so-called
21:53American killer,
21:55Necator americanus.
21:57It is a parasite
21:59that has infected humans
22:01for centuries.
22:03Moisés went to a private clinic
22:05in Mexico,
22:07just across the border
22:09where the use of worms
22:11for medical purposes is still illegal.
22:13Of course I was a little bit nervous
22:15because I was going to do something
22:17that most people would think is stupid,
22:19although I wasn't that scared
22:21because I knew that scientists
22:23around the world had self-infected.
22:25These organisms can't be studied
22:27unless you keep a colony alive
22:29somewhere and they only live in humans,
22:31so they have them in their own intestines
22:33and they cultivate them by ingesting them.
22:35One of the scientists
22:37who cultivated his own worms
22:39is the owner of the Mexican clinic,
22:41Garinaglieti.
22:43In parasitology,
22:45self-experimentation is an old tradition,
22:47so what we are trying to do
22:49is to eliminate the barriers
22:51of access to this therapy
22:53because I don't want everyone
22:55to have to do what I did.
22:57When I got sick and I started
22:59to look for access,
23:01if you went to professional scientists
23:03they couldn't help you,
23:05because they didn't know
23:07the professional standards
23:09and the conventional treatment methods.
23:11Garinaglieti's life
23:13was plagued by chronic
23:15immunological diseases.
23:17Conventional medicine
23:19didn't offer him any help,
23:21so he desperately went to the worms,
23:23but first he had to find them.
23:29He travelled to Peru,
23:31where the American killer
23:33was waiting for him.
23:35Collecting worms
23:37is not a task for beginners,
23:39the process includes an activity
23:41called latrine inspection.
23:43The latrine inspection
23:45basically means taking
23:47samples of soil and feces,
23:49collecting them and cataloging them,
23:51as fun as it seems.
23:53The Ortiz family
23:55was the one who turned out
23:57to be the most suitable,
23:59and something I wasn't prepared for
24:01was to get close and eat them.
24:03If they got there first,
24:05everything would disappear,
24:07so I had to run from one side
24:09to the other trying to scare them off.
24:11After collecting his medicine,
24:13Aglieti became self-infected
24:15with microscopic syphilis,
24:17and the progeny of those worms
24:19is now used by doctors
24:21to treat patients in his clinic.
24:23Once inside us,
24:25the ankylostomas
24:27face a dangerous journey,
24:29although they are well adapted
24:31to the challenges our body presents them with.
24:33If you apply on the skin
24:3550 live ankylostoma larvae,
24:37you can be sure
24:39that those 50 larvae
24:41will reach the intestine.
24:45The larvae travel
24:47aboard blood vessels
24:49and flow through the bloodstream
24:51like rafts through the current of a river.
24:53They will cross the heart
24:55before reaching the lungs.
24:57The lungs will produce
24:59a little bit more phlegm.
25:01The phlegm will go up to the throat
25:03and swallow it,
25:05and reach the stomach
25:07which is full of acid.
25:09But the phlegm is protecting
25:11the worm so that it is not
25:13burned by the acid.
25:15That's nature.
25:17Once they have reached
25:19the intestines,
25:21the worms present themselves
25:23to the immune system
25:25and the sensation is unpleasant.
25:27The phase of the side effects
25:29was a whole experience.
25:31And had I not decided
25:33not to inspect the intestines again,
25:35I don't know if I would have finished the process.
25:39The side effects include
25:41cramps, nausea and diarrhea.
25:43It is the natural response
25:45of the body to get rid of the parasites.
25:47They are painful.
25:49Those symptoms started
25:51fading over time
25:53and I started to feel some benefits.
25:55For example, a few months
25:57after taking the parasites,
25:59the fever of the worm came.
26:01And my allergies disappeared completely.
26:03It was incredible.
26:05Although my allergies never disappeared,
26:07I continued to have them.
26:09Worms are able to manipulate
26:11our immune system in a way
26:13that modern medicine
26:15still cannot match.
26:17The fact that we can eliminate
26:19all the worms does not necessarily
26:21mean that it is a good idea to do it.
26:23Although in some people
26:25it works, in others it does not.
26:27I interviewed some people who got worse,
26:29so I would not recommend it.
26:31But that does not change
26:33any of the evolutionary arguments
26:35that we are raising here.
26:37And that is that our immune system
26:39needs stimuli of this type
26:41and somehow we have to get them.
26:43These therapies
26:45have not yet been proven,
26:47although in one way or another
26:49the worms are forcing us
26:51to reconsider our approach
26:53to the treatment of Western diseases.
26:55But they are only
26:57one of our microscopic tenants.
26:59There are 100 billion more
27:01in the least appreciated place
27:03of our body, the colon.
27:07Gastroenterologist Thomas Borody
27:09discovered the power of the feces
27:11and is saving lives with them.
27:13One of the last unexplored regions
27:15of our planet
27:17are the caves.
27:19They house species
27:21unknown to science.
27:23And yet,
27:25they are nothing compared
27:27to the dark recesses
27:29of our intestines.
27:31In just a square centimeter
27:33there are more bacteria
27:35than all human beings
27:37who have lived throughout history.
27:39In our feces there are
27:41more living cells than in the rest of the body,
27:43so we are 10% human
27:45and 90% excrement.
27:47Intestinal microbes
27:49are not only temporary.
27:51They are essential for the development of the brain,
27:53of the immune system,
27:55of our general health,
27:57and even of our mood
27:59and our body shape.
28:01These bacteria, depending on their composition,
28:03can control the increase
28:05and the loss of weight
28:07and the development of insulin resistance.
28:09The intestinal flora
28:11houses a whole series of mechanisms
28:13responsible for vast processes
28:15that we are just starting to know.
28:17And yet,
28:19we are damaging our intestinal flora
28:21before we even understand
28:23how it works.
28:25We know that when we take too many antibiotics
28:27we run the risk of being attacked
28:29by pathogenic biological agents.
28:31They kill off all the beneficial bacteria
28:33and then the bad bacteria
28:35take over the organism.
28:37So, instead of prescribing antibiotics
28:39to kill the bacteria,
28:41the gastroenterologist Thomas Borody
28:43does just the opposite.
28:45He adds bacteria.
28:47Billions.
28:51We introduce more...
28:57Professor Borody is a pioneer
28:59of fecal transplants.
29:01To treat digestive diseases,
29:03he replaces the infected intestinal flora
29:05with healthy excrements.
29:07It's still displeasing to me,
29:09but it has a great potential.
29:11In its healthy form,
29:13thanks to the huge amount
29:15and diversity of bacteria it contains,
29:17the excrements are able to enter
29:19the intestine of another person
29:21and kill off the microbes
29:23that cause diseases.
29:25Although we have only been taught
29:27to see excrements
29:29as simple smelly waste,
29:31for Borody they are medicine.
29:33Our colon is a factory
29:35that produces bacteria
29:37that devour the food
29:39that we can't digest.
29:41The bacteria eat them
29:43and when they do, they multiply,
29:45so we have to expel them,
29:47that's why we defecate.
29:49And we do it abundantly.
29:51A normal person produces,
29:53on average,
29:55more than 4 tons of feces
29:57throughout their life.
29:59Borody has opened
30:01a new chapter in medicine.
30:03Every morning, healthy donors
30:05go to their clinic with new supplies
30:07to treat people
30:09with gastrointestinal diseases.
30:11Katie Angelidis suffers
30:13from intestinal inflammation problems.
30:17I was used to not finding
30:19answers when I asked
30:21what was happening to me
30:23and how they could help me.
30:25When you have intestinal problems,
30:27you go through a real calvary,
30:29so you are willing to do anything
30:31to get some kind of improvement.
30:35Borody performs 7 to 10 treatments
30:37like this every day
30:39and many more people would submit
30:41to him if they could afford it.
30:43The cost of treatment
30:45in a clinic is prohibitive,
30:47so people are doing it
30:49in their own home, many people.
30:51Many parents,
30:53victims of impotence and despair,
30:55are doing it with their children
30:57because they have Crohn's disease
30:59and other types of inflammation.
31:01They are willing to do anything.
31:03Everything is a bit clandestine,
31:05but it is happening.
31:07People are trying to find
31:09the best system to do it.
31:11You introduce it here
31:13or on the other side
31:15or you bring a radio controlled capsule
31:17with a transmitter
31:19that activates it
31:21to perform its function.
31:23There are already very ingenious
31:25ways to combat diseases
31:27that have nothing to do
31:29with digestive problems.
31:3120 years ago,
31:33William Kostopoulos
31:35was removed from the trial.
31:37The procedure was complicated.
31:39My body was in a traumatic shock.
31:41They thought I had a stroke.
31:43They sent me to a neurologist
31:45and they did a MRI scan.
31:47After the MRI scan,
31:49they told me that I had
31:51multiple sclerosis.
31:55It was devastating news.
31:57There were times
31:59when I wanted to commit suicide.
32:01Your whole life revolves
32:03around medication, doctors,
32:05MRI scans,
32:07treatments, hospitals.
32:13When he saw that he could not
32:15overcome the disease,
32:17he decided to go to Professor Borodin.
32:19He told me about a kind of transplant,
32:21a transplant of caquita,
32:23as he calls it.
32:25I was open to anything
32:27at that stage
32:29because I was suffering
32:31for three and a half years, four years.
32:35William underwent the transplant
32:37and, incredibly,
32:39he is completely recovered.
32:41Now things are fantastic.
32:43They couldn't get any better.
32:45I'm 49 years old,
32:47on my way to 50,
32:49but I don't feel 50.
32:51That was a fortuitous discovery.
32:53We had three patients
32:55with multiple sclerosis,
32:57but we were not treating them
32:59for that reason.
33:01They had come to us
33:03with intestinal problems.
33:05For now,
33:07these are anecdotal results.
33:09However, this new treatment
33:11for digestive diseases
33:13is having even more
33:15intriguing side effects.
33:17We have had at least two patients
33:19who have recovered from a deep depression
33:21during the treatment.
33:23I didn't even realize it.
33:25One of them told me
33:27after we did the transplant
33:29for another kind of disorder.
33:31He said, my depression has gone.
33:33I said, how has it gone?
33:35How is it possible?
33:37And he said, Doctor,
33:39I've had depression for 25 years.
33:41I know when the depression has gone.
33:43Intestinal microbes
33:45influence our body
33:47in a fundamental way,
33:49although still inexplicable.
33:51We have observed great changes
33:53in patients after replacing
33:55their intestinal flora,
33:57which are hard to believe.
33:59Why is this so?
34:01There are still many unanswered questions.
34:03If we are able to explain
34:05the links between our microbial ecosystem
34:07and chronic diseases,
34:09it will represent a revolution
34:11for medicine.
34:13As a first step,
34:15human microbiome explorers
34:17are registering volunteers
34:19to donate a sample of excrements.
34:23A large number of human deposits
34:25are currently being sequenced
34:27in the United States
34:29and have already spread
34:31to the rest of the world.
34:33So when we do the study,
34:35we will be able to check
34:37the different varieties
34:39that exist in the entire human population
34:41due to lack of health.
34:43These initial studies
34:45have already revealed
34:47thousands of unknown bacteria.
34:49Our inner continent
34:51is an unknown land.
34:55We are colonized by bacteria
34:57that have a huge influence
34:59on our way of life
35:01and our health
35:03for our entire life.
35:05For many of them,
35:07we don't even have a name.
35:09They are microorganisms
35:11that make us fat or thin.
35:13A group of bacteria
35:15called firmicutes
35:17favor the absorption of fat
35:19by our body.
35:21Depending on the bacteria you have,
35:23you may have a complete
35:25digestion of food.
35:27Then, theoretically,
35:29you would be one of those people
35:31who, by ingesting a small amount of food,
35:33put on a kilo a day.
35:35While other people
35:37would eat a large amount
35:39and not gain any weight.
35:41Having these bacteria
35:43of fat in our body
35:45is the equivalent of eating
35:47a piece of cake every day.
35:49Historically, adding to our organism
35:51a group of microbes
35:53that provided us with a lot of energy
35:55was considered very beneficial
35:57because it allowed us to endure
35:59longer without eating
36:01and survive with less food.
36:03Now we are all fat.
36:05Bacteria Kermansia
36:07could one day lead to a treatment
36:09against obesity.
36:11I think that in the future
36:13we could have, for example, yogurts
36:15made from lean yogurt
36:17mixed with bacteria
36:19and I will eat a lot.
36:21In the end,
36:23our health will be determined
36:25by the diversity of bacteria
36:27in our gut
36:29and by the balance
36:31between the beneficial
36:34If you look at, for example,
36:36the intestinal flora of people
36:38who live in a small African village
36:40and compare that with the flora
36:42of people who live in Italy,
36:44we will see how different they are.
36:46People in developing countries
36:48have a richer and more balanced
36:50intestinal flora than those
36:52in Western countries
36:54and that explains why in developed
36:56countries we are more likely
36:58to suffer from modern diseases.
37:00One of the reasons is diet.
37:02We not only feed ourselves,
37:04we also feed our microbes
37:06and in the West
37:08we are feeding the microbes
37:10that make us sick.
37:12These harmful microbes
37:14release toxins that cause
37:16a violent response
37:18by our immune system
37:20and that causes us inflammation.
37:22When we eat junk food
37:24we get inflamed immediately.
37:26Our microbes inflame us
37:28as soon as they feel the presence
37:30of toxins in our body.
37:32And the higher that level of inflammation
37:34is, the more likely we are
37:36to suffer all kinds of disorders.
37:40These are diseases characteristic
37:42of an immune system
37:44lacking balance,
37:46ranging from irritable bowel syndrome
37:48to multiple sclerosis,
37:50Crohn's disease, obesity
37:52and allergies.
37:54Inflammation is at the root
37:56of all of them.
37:58Just as our mucous
38:00microbiota has been altered
38:02by consuming too many
38:04carbohydrates, antibiotics
38:06and a bad diet have made
38:08the bacteria in our intestines
38:10stop being our friends
38:12to become our enemies.
38:14We have moved in a space
38:16of very few generations
38:18from living as hunters,
38:20collectors or farmers
38:22to living in places like Hong Kong
38:24where people live in 60 storey buildings
38:26completely disconnected
38:28from the wildlife that surrounds them.
38:30This whole network, this whole ecosystem
38:32or biome is changing
38:34and what we need to advance
38:36is to figure out how we can
38:38take advantage of the beneficial
38:40parts of this web.
38:42The idea of recovering
38:44the lost contact with our environment
38:46has been the work of a British scientist
38:48who has dedicated his whole life to it,
38:50Professor John Stanford.
38:52He found a micro-organism
38:54in an African mud puddle
38:56that some call the Miraculous Bacteria.
39:00Cynthia Stanford
39:02suffered a rare disorder
39:04called Raynaud's disease.
39:06Her fingers turn white
39:08when exposed to cold temperatures.
39:10Daily work in the kitchen
39:12like washing carrots or peeling potatoes
39:14were a problem.
39:16My fingers turned completely white
39:18and became unusable.
39:20Coincidentally, her husband
39:22Professor John Stanford
39:24was testing a new vaccine against leprosy.
39:26It contained a bacteria
39:28that he had isolated in a mud puddle in Uganda
39:30that he called Mycobacterium Baccae.
39:34Since we were the one who had developed it
39:36we wanted to try it on ourselves
39:38before we did it on other people.
39:42John and I, we administered
39:44one dose each
39:46and I realised that my Raynaud's disease
39:48that I had had since I was a little girl
39:50and then we administered it
39:52to the rest of the family
39:54who also had Raynaud's disease
39:56but they also had other things.
40:00Apparently,
40:02the vaccine was useful
40:04for the treatment of other diseases
40:06that the family suffered,
40:08including cancer.
40:10My mother had cancer
40:12and Raynaud's disease
40:14and she was completely cured
40:16including vertebral spine injuries.
40:18We administered the Mycobacterium Baccae
40:20and then about a month or so afterwards
40:22before we lodged in the cell
40:24we were told that the cancer had disappeared.
40:30The results were completely anecdotal
40:32but the bacterial treatment
40:34began to have surprising results
40:36also in other places.
40:38I asked an Indian doctor
40:40who was working with leprosy
40:42if he wanted to try the bacteria
40:44in other diseases
40:47The first time that I noticed
40:49a really significant change
40:51was in a patient with leprosy
40:53and psoriasis.
40:55The psoriasis got better
40:57considerably.
40:59I was so happy that when we went
41:01to visit India
41:03they gave us a goat
41:05in exchange for the good
41:07that we had done to him.
41:09Stanford's discovery
41:11is now being tested in clinical trials
41:13and one of the most promising
41:16The drugs that are commonly used
41:18to treat depression
41:20have anti-inflammatory effects
41:22so one of the ways that they may
41:24improve the health of depressed patients
41:26is by suppressing the inflammation
41:28which is exactly what
41:30Mycobacterium Baccae does.
41:34Inflammatory diseases
41:36are a problem of the immune system
41:38but how is it possible
41:40that something so complex
41:42can be controlled by an African bacteria?
41:44Human beings have co-evolved
41:46with these bacteria
41:48throughout history
41:50and it is believed that
41:52until the last 50 years
41:54we have been consuming
41:56tiny amounts of these bacteria
41:58so the immune system
42:00begins to rely on the presence
42:02of these microorganisms
42:04to activate its police force
42:06so to speak.
42:08Without microbes like Mycobacterium Baccae
42:10the immune system becomes hyperactive
42:12with constant inflammation.
42:14We have spent all this time
42:16thinking about our immune system
42:18as a machine
42:20dedicated to repel microbes
42:22as if it were a fly killer
42:24but now it turns out
42:26that our immune system
42:28that we thought had evolved
42:30to kill microbes
42:32is actually controlled by microbes.
42:34Modern life, however,
42:36is isolating us precisely
42:38from the microorganisms
42:40Now, of course,
42:42we don't consume these bacteria
42:44because we have sterilized
42:46the water and the food
42:48and it is thought that
42:50the lack of these bacteria
42:52is contributing to an increase
42:54in diseases,
42:56specifically diseases
42:58that are related to inflammation.
43:00The tests now indicate
43:02unequivocally that the increase
43:04in these diseases
43:06is the result of our isolation
43:08Very soon it is possible
43:10that we can treat
43:12immune disorders
43:14by introducing microbes
43:16back into our body
43:18but the potential
43:20of bacterial treatment
43:22goes even further.
43:24Australian scientists
43:26are now injecting bacteria
43:28into mosquitoes
43:30to prevent them from infecting us.
43:32Mosquitoes are
43:34very annoying creatures.
43:36They have developed very elaborate weapons
43:38to obtain the food they need
43:40to survive.
43:42Our blood.
43:44Mosquitoes need the proteins
43:46of the blood to lay eggs.
43:48Only the female mosquito
43:50feeds on blood
43:52and without it she will not be able
43:54to produce enough eggs.
43:56But these syringes with legs
43:58are not only dedicated to extracting blood.
44:00They often inject us
44:02potentially lethal parasites
44:04causing serious infections
44:06such as dengue fever.
44:08Dengue is caused by four different parasites
44:10and each of them
44:12has a very different effect
44:14on its host.
44:16So literally
44:18you have to make four vaccines
44:20in one.
44:22However, scientists
44:24at the University of Monash
44:26have discovered a very elegant way
44:28to fight the disease.
44:30Instead of vaccinating human beings
44:32they inject mosquitoes.
44:36These mosquito eggs are being
44:38injected with a powerful bacterium
44:40called Wolbachia.
44:42Professor Scott O'Neill
44:44has dedicated a large part
44:46of his professional career
44:48to study these intriguing bacteria.
44:50I got introduced to the subject
44:52of bacteria very young
44:54and I've been studying it all my life.
44:56One of the most amazing things
44:58about Wolbachia is how common it is.
45:00In a jungle environment like this
45:02about 70% of the insects
45:04carry Wolbachia naturally.
45:06And since there are
45:08between 2 and 5 million
45:10different species of insects on our planet
45:12the number of natural carriers
45:14of Wolbachia bacteria is enormous.
45:16Just as the intestinal bacteria
45:18can be beneficial for us
45:20Wolbachia is beneficial
45:22for the insects
45:24protecting them against the invasion of parasites.
45:26Wolbachia that lives
45:28inside the insect behaves
45:30like a probiotic
45:32makes the insect healthier
45:34and makes it able to defend itself
45:36from other pathogenic agents
45:38like the dengue virus.
45:40But there is a drawback.
45:42Mosquitoes that spread diseases
45:44like dengue do not carry Wolbachia.
45:46So the challenge was to find
45:48a way to infect them.
45:50We spent years and years
45:52trying to carry out this experiment.
45:54Many students failed
45:56until finally
45:58about 4 years ago
46:00we achieved our goal.
46:04These mosquitoes are
46:06Wolbachia carriers.
46:08They are so valuable
46:10that the volunteers
46:12willingly sacrifice their ankles to feed them.
46:14We are rearing thousands
46:16and occasionally tens of thousands
46:18hundreds of thousands of mosquitoes
46:20and we release them
46:22we are not killing them.
46:26There have been several outbreaks
46:28of dengue in the tropical north of Australia
46:30in recent years.
46:32So to prove their theory
46:34researchers have been releasing
46:36vaccinated mosquitoes in the city of Cairns.
46:38Once released
46:40Wolbachia bacteria spreads rapidly.
46:42Every week they check
46:44how many of the wild mosquitoes
46:46carry Wolbachia
46:48and the results are showing.
46:50Of the mosquitoes we released in 2011
46:52almost 100% are infected with Wolbachia.
46:56In all the places
46:58where the mosquitoes have been released
47:00dengue has been kept at bay.
47:04After the success in Cairns
47:06new trials have been initiated
47:08all over the world.
47:12But even the super bacteria
47:14like Wolbachia
47:16have enemies.
47:18Like all living beings
47:20it is a parasite
47:22by antonomy.
47:24These viruses
47:26are everywhere
47:28in the air,
47:30in the earth,
47:32in the oceans
47:34and right now
47:36there are 3 billion of us.
47:38Most of them are probably
47:40completely harmless
47:42but some of them
47:44cause deadly diseases.
47:48Flu,
47:50AIDS,
47:52viruses have killed
47:54countless millions of people.
47:58However, some of them
48:00the retrovirus
48:02have an even more extraordinary power.
48:04They have opened the way
48:06to our own nucleus,
48:08our DNA.
48:10Sometimes
48:12the virus infects the cells
48:14of what we call the germ line.
48:16Those are the cells
48:18destined to become
48:20females and sperm males.
48:22And if they infect
48:24those cells
48:26and get to the chromosomes
48:28then these retrovirus
48:30get a free ride
48:32to the next generation.
48:36Robin Wise
48:38was the first to prove
48:40that viruses not only cause diseases
48:42but can become genes.
48:44It was a unique moment
48:46to realize that something
48:48as simple as an infectious agent
48:50like the virus that moves
48:52from one person to another
48:54could be part of our genetic heritage.
48:58It was an amazing discovery.
49:00When they become genes
49:02the retrovirus can
49:04replicate for millions of years.
49:06They are the survivors
49:08of antonomasia.
49:12Their reason for living
49:14is to replicate themselves
49:16and if your host is going to replicate
49:18your genome for you
49:20you have probably reached nirvana.
49:22These viral DNA invasions
49:24are rare events
49:26that occur maybe once in a million years.
49:28However, surprisingly
49:30there is one that is developing
49:32right now
49:34in front of our eyes.
49:36Veterinarian John Hunger
49:38realized that something strange
49:40was killing the icon of Australia
49:42the koala.
49:44It seemed almost inevitable
49:46if they rang me up and said
49:48we had a sick koala
49:509 out of 10 times it was a sick koala
49:52with leukemia or lymphoma.
49:54It was so common.
49:58When he investigated the problem
50:00Hunger discovered a retrovirus
50:02in the cancerous tissues.
50:04Every single koala that we examined
50:06and every single tissue that we isolated
50:08DNA from and tested
50:10they were all positive
50:12for the retrovirus.
50:14It's the first time we see it.
50:16On the other hand, it's an example
50:18of what we know has been happening
50:20throughout the evolutionary process.
50:24Human beings have survived
50:26viral invasions
50:28like the ones that started a war with the koalas.
50:32Human DNA is full of fossil remains
50:34from these old battles.
50:38It's amazing
50:40that approximately
50:428% of our DNA
50:44is derived
50:46from retroviruses.
50:48We are full of
50:50fossil retroviruses.
50:56Until recently, these genes
50:58were considered insignificant
51:00nothing more than waste.
51:04But now we know
51:06that these genetic fossils
51:08play an essential role in evolution.
51:12In fact, without them
51:14we wouldn't be able to be born.
51:16The same strategy used by a virus
51:18to infect the cells
51:20now allows a mother and her fetus
51:22to merge through the placenta.
51:24This makes a very good
51:26and efficient barrier
51:28between the mother and the fetus
51:30that is a protection
51:32but also
51:34allows nutrients and oxygen
51:36to get to the other side.
51:38And all thanks to a protein
51:40that millions of years ago
51:42was used by a virus
51:44to infect our cells.
51:48We shouldn't think of them
51:50as a scary part of our machinery
51:52but as an absolutely essential component
51:54of what we are.
51:58An old retrovirus
52:00now closely linked to each person on Earth.
52:02And it is just one of the billions
52:04of microorganisms
52:06that consider us their home.
52:10Microbes mark our life
52:12and even our evolution.
52:16Would your personality
52:18be different without all your microbes?
52:20Probably.
52:22Would what we get from our food
52:24be different?
52:26Without a doubt.
52:28Would you differ in other ways
52:30in order to be safe?
52:32So our existence
52:34is part of this complexity of life.
52:44We are not alone.
52:48From the moment we are born
52:50until we die
52:52we live in a delicate balance
52:54with our particular biodiversity.
52:56We are more than humans.
52:58Together
53:00we have become superhumans.