Lara Dsouza - 2021 3MT 2nd place — Transcript

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1. 0:05Cancer cells, pretty much like our
2. 0:07normal healthy cells, also require
3. 0:10nutrients to grow and survive.
4. 0:12So, a good way to deal with these cancer
5. 0:14cells would be to basically put them on
6. 0:16a very strict diet. To cut off the
7. 0:19supply of something they really love to
8. 0:22feed on.
9. 0:23But, what exactly do these breast cancer
10. 0:25cells love to eat?
11. 0:27Well, studies have shown that these
12. 0:30breast cancer cells, they love a
13. 0:32compound called asparagine. And that if
14. 0:35you cut off the supply or restrict these
15. 0:37cells of this compound, it basically
16. 0:40reduces their ability to spread and
17. 0:42cause secondary tumors.
18. 0:45But, the human body has like a trillion
19. 0:48other cells.
20. 0:49How would you go about designing a
21. 0:51treatment that specifically targeted the
22. 0:53cancer cells and restricts asparagine
23. 0:56from these cancer cells without it
24. 0:58affecting the normal healthy cells of
25. 1:00our body?
26. 1:02Here comes in a little warrior, vaccinia
27. 1:05virus.
28. 1:06Well, viruses all around the world have
29. 1:10often been represented as the bad guys.
30. 1:13And of course, we have a very prominent
31. 1:15example of a virus that took our world
32. 1:18by storm the last year.
33. 1:20However, are all viruses that bad? Not
34. 1:24really. There are some viruses that can
35. 1:27actually specifically target cancer
36. 1:29cells. Example, vaccinia virus. Vaccinia
37. 1:33virus has this remarkable ability to
38. 1:36differentiate between a healthy cell and
39. 1:38a cancer cell and specifically target
40. 1:41the cancer cell.
41. 1:43And of course, I am going to take undue
42. 1:45advantage of this remarkable ability of
43. 1:48this virus to specifically target the
44. 1:50cancer cell.
45. 1:51But, I would also want to make it way
46. 1:53more effective as a treatment
47. 1:55specifically against breast cancer
48. 1:57cells.
49. 1:59I would not only want vaccinia virus to
50. 2:01specifically target these cancer cells,
51. 2:04but I would also want it to restrict the
52. 2:06supply of asparagine, thereby making
53. 2:09these breast cancer cells pretty
54. 2:11unhappy.
55. 2:12And how would I go about doing that?
56. 2:15In my lab, I'm basically working on
57. 2:17tweaking the DNA of the virus, or to
58. 2:20technically put it, genetically
59. 2:22modifying the virus.
60. 2:23I'm genetically modifying the virus in
61. 2:26such a way that once it targets a cancer
62. 2:28cell, it would also produce a protein
63. 2:30called asparaginase that can act as a
64. 2:33pair of molecular scissors and break
65. 2:36down any asparagine that would be
66. 2:38available to these breast cancer cells.
67. 2:41Therefore, by using this genetically
68. 2:44modified vaccinia virus, I can not only
69. 2:47specifically target breast cancer cells,
70. 2:49but also deprive them of a key component
71. 2:52called asparagine, thereby reducing
72. 2:55their ability to spread and cause
73. 2:57secondary tumors.
74. 2:59Now you would believe me when I say not
75. 3:02all viruses are really that bad.