Unraveling the Mystery of Immunity | Dr. James Crowe, Jr. | TEDxNashville

Summary

The speaker, a physician and scientist, recounts a profound experience with the death of a child in East Africa, igniting a passion to combat infectious diseases. He discusses the human immune system's complexity, highlighting its vast potential to create antibodies, and the importance of vaccination as evidenced by smallpox eradication. The talk also explores modern challenges, like the 1918 flu, and innovative approaches in synthetic genomics to harness natural antibodies from survivors as potential treatments for future outbreaks.

Takeaways

• 🌱 The speaker is a physician and scientist with a focus on the human immune system, motivated by a profound experience in East Africa witnessing the impact of infectious diseases on children.
• 💔 A pivotal moment in the speaker's career was when they had to return a deceased child to its mother, an event that instilled a lifelong commitment to combating infectious diseases.
• 📚 Historically, pandemics like the Black Death, the 1918 influenza, and smallpox have had devastating effects on human populations, with death tolls reaching into the millions.
• 🌟 The eradication of smallpox through vaccination represents a significant victory for humanity against infectious diseases, demonstrating the power of medical science.
• 🛡️ The human immune system is a complex defense mechanism that circulates throughout the body, with white blood cells playing a crucial role in fighting infections.
• 🧬 The Human Genome Project revealed that humans have approximately 25,000 genes, a number that initially seemed insufficient to account for the diversity needed to combat pathogens.
• 🔬 The immune system's ability to generate a vast array of antibodies through gene combinations and mutations provides a deep and rich defense against a multitude of pathogens.
• 🧬🌌 The potential diversity of antibodies in the human body is estimated to be greater than the number of stars in the galaxy, highlighting the immense capacity of the immune system.
• 🧪 Modern techniques in synthetic genomics and sequencing allow scientists to study and replicate antibodies from individuals who have survived infections, offering new therapeutic possibilities.
• 🌐 The speaker's team is undertaking an ambitious project to sequence all antibodies in the human population, which could lead to a publicly accessible database for scientific research.
• 🛡️🌟 The human immune system is a marvel of nature, capable of incredible feats of defense and adaptation, and each person carries this 'universe within' them.

Q & A

What was the speaker's profession and area of study?

The speaker is a physician and a scientist who studies the human immune system.

Where did the speaker work during his senior medical student years?

The speaker worked in a rural hospital in East Africa, among the Kip, Cigy people.

What was the challenging aspect of the speaker's experience in East Africa?

The challenging aspect was the overwhelming burden of infectious diseases in young children.

What event during the speaker's time in the hospital deeply affected him?

The event was when the speaker encountered a child who had no heartbeat and had to inform the parents of the child's death.

What did the speaker vow to do after the traumatic experience with the child's death?

The speaker vowed to dedicate his life and career to combating infectious diseases, especially for the most vulnerable.

What historical pandemics were mentioned in the script?

The script mentioned the Black Plague, the 1918 influenza pandemic, and smallpox.

How did humanity achieve the eradication of smallpox?

Humanity achieved the eradication of smallpox through vaccination using a weakened virus.

What is the significance of the immune system in the human body?

The immune system is the body's defense mechanism that wards off or cures infections.

How does the speaker describe the diversity of antibodies in the human immune system?

The speaker describes the diversity of antibodies as having combinatorial diversity, with the potential to create 10 to the 18th different antibodies.

What is the process of synthetic genomics mentioned in the script?

Synthetic genomics is the process of creating artificial DNA sequences, which can be used to produce specific antibodies in a lab setting.

How did the speaker's team obtain antibodies from a survivor of the 1918 pandemic?

They obtained blood from 100-year-old subjects who had experienced the 1918 infection and extracted antibodies from their blood that could kill the virus.

What is the potential application of the antibodies obtained from Michelle Barnes, a survivor of Marburg virus infection?

The antibodies obtained from Michelle Barnes are being developed as a therapy for future cases of Marburg virus or in the event of an outbreak.

What does the speaker suggest about the human immune system's capability against infectious diseases?

The speaker suggests that the human immune system is a deeply complex and powerful system capable of combating a vast array of infectious diseases.

Outlines

00:00

😔 Heartbreaking Encounter with Childhood Mortality

The speaker, a physician and scientist, recounts a profound experience from his time as a senior medical student in a rural East African hospital. Overwhelmed by the prevalence of infectious diseases, he faced a particularly challenging moment when he was unable to save a child's life. This encounter deeply affected him, leading to a personal vow to dedicate his career to combating infectious diseases, especially for the most vulnerable. The narrative emphasizes the historical impact of pandemics, such as the Black Plague and the 1918 influenza pandemic, and the speaker's commitment to the field of immunology.

05:01

🛡️ Triumphs and Challenges of the Immune System

This paragraph delves into the speaker's professional journey and the broader context of infectious diseases. It highlights the success of vaccination in eradicating smallpox, a historic achievement marked by the WHO's declaration in 1980. However, the speaker also underscores the ongoing challenges, such as recent pandemics and outbreaks like bird flu, SARS, and Ebola, emphasizing the need for constant vigilance and innovation in the face of evolving pathogens. The paragraph concludes with a reflection on human vulnerability and resilience, and a call to consider the role of the immune system in personal and public health.

10:03

🔬 Exploring the Complexity of the Immune System

The speaker provides an in-depth look at the human immune system, starting with a demonstration of blood cell observation under a microscope. He discusses the role of white blood cells in immunity and then transitions into the genetic basis of the immune system. The Human Genome Project is mentioned, revealing the relatively small number of genes in the human body. However, the speaker explains the combinatorial diversity of antibodies, which allows for an immense range of potential immune responses. This section illustrates the complexity and the genetic underpinnings of our immune defenses.

15:04

🌟 Harnessing the Power of Antibodies

In this segment, the speaker discusses the process of extracting and sequencing antibodies from individuals who have survived various infectious diseases. He describes the procedure of removing white blood cells, sequencing them, and using the data to create a public database of antibody sequences. The speaker also touches on synthetic genomics, which allows for the reproduction of these antibodies in a lab setting, providing a potential source of treatment for current and future outbreaks. The narrative includes personal stories of survivors and the scientific efforts to understand and utilize their immune responses.

20:06

🌌 The Immune System: A Universe of Defense

The final paragraph wraps up the speaker's presentation by emphasizing the incredible capacity and complexity of the human immune system. He likens it to the vastness of the universe, with each person carrying an intricate network of defenses within. The speaker encourages the audience to face the future with a sense of confidence in the power of their immune systems, while also maintaining caution and wisdom in the face of infectious diseases. The summary serves as a reminder of the ongoing battle between pathogens and human resilience.

Keywords

💡Immune System

The immune system is a complex network of cells, tissues, and organs that work together to defend the body against harmful pathogens. In the video, the immune system is the central theme, as the speaker discusses its role in fighting infectious diseases, especially in vulnerable populations. The speaker's personal experience with a child's death in East Africa underscores the importance of the immune system in health and survival.

💡Infectious Diseases

Infectious diseases are illnesses caused by pathogens such as bacteria, viruses, parasites, or fungi. The video script highlights the overwhelming burden of infectious diseases, particularly in young children in East Africa, which was a pivotal moment for the speaker's career in studying the human immune system and its defenses against such diseases.

💡Vital Signs

Vital signs are the essential clinical measurements indicating the most basic functions of a living being's body, including pulse, respiration, and temperature. In the context of the video, the absence of a heartbeat, a vital sign, tragically indicated the death of a child, which deeply affected the speaker and reinforced the importance of medical intervention in treating infectious diseases.

💡Vaccination

Vaccination is the process of introducing a weakened or modified form of a pathogen to stimulate an immune response and provide immunity against future infections. The script refers to the success of vaccination in eradicating smallpox, a major victory for humanity and a testament to the power of the immune system when aided by medical science.

💡Antibodies

Antibodies are proteins produced by the immune system to identify and neutralize foreign objects such as bacteria and viruses. The script explains how the diversity of antibodies, generated through combinations of genes and mutations, provides a vast defense arsenal against pathogens. This is exemplified by the speaker's work in sequencing and synthesizing antibodies from survivors of various infectious diseases.

💡Genetics

Genetics is the study of genes, heredity, and variation in living organisms. The video script delves into the Human Genome Project, which sequenced all human genes, and the subsequent understanding of the immune system's genetic complexity. The speaker uses genetics to explain the combinatorial diversity of antibodies and their role in fighting pathogens.

💡Synthetic Genomics

Synthetic genomics is the design and construction of new artificial genomes or the modification of existing ones. In the script, the speaker discusses using synthetic genomics to create DNA sequences of antibodies, enabling the production of these antibodies in a lab setting, which can then be used for therapeutic purposes.

💡Eradication

Eradication refers to the complete elimination of a disease, typically through a combination of vaccination, sanitation, and other public health measures. The video script mentions the successful eradication of smallpox as a landmark achievement of the human immune system, aided by medical interventions.

💡Pandemics

A pandemic is an outbreak of a disease that occurs over a wide geographic area and affects an exceptionally high proportion of the population. The script references several historical and recent pandemics, such as the 1918 influenza pandemic and the Ebola outbreak, to illustrate the ongoing threat of infectious diseases to human populations.

💡White Blood Cells

White blood cells, or leukocytes, are a crucial component of the immune system that fights infections by identifying and eliminating pathogens. The video script describes the speaker's demonstration of white blood cells under a microscope, emphasizing their importance in the body's defense mechanisms.

💡Cryo-electron Microscopy

Cryo-electron microscopy is a technique used to visualize biological molecules in three dimensions at near-atomic resolution. The script mentions the use of this technology to observe the interaction between antibodies and the Zika virus, showcasing the power of modern scientific tools in understanding and combating infectious diseases.

Highlights

The speaker is a physician and scientist studying the human immune system.

Worked in a rural hospital in East Africa, witnessing the burden of infectious diseases on children.

A traumatic event involving the death of a child deeply affected the speaker and influenced their career focus.

The speaker vowed to dedicate their life to combating infectious diseases, especially for the most vulnerable.

Historical context provided on the impact of the Black Plague, 1918 influenza pandemic, and smallpox.

The eradication of smallpox through vaccination is highlighted as a major victory against infectious diseases.

Recent outbreaks of infectious diseases like bird flu, SARS, and Ebola are discussed.

The speaker emphasizes the importance of the immune system as the body's defense mechanism against infections.

A demonstration of blood cell observation under a microscope is conducted to illustrate the presence of white blood cells.

The Human Genome Project is mentioned, revealing the number of genes in the human body.

The complexity of the immune system, particularly the diversity of antibodies, is explained.

The speaker discusses the potential of sequencing all antibodies in the human population.

Synthetic genomics and the ability to create antibodies from DNA sequences are introduced.

Examples of antibodies derived from survivors of historical pandemics and their potential for future treatments are provided.

The speaker concludes by emphasizing the strength and complexity of the human immune system.

Transcripts

I'm a physician and a scientist and I

study the human immune

system now when I was a senior medical

student I worked for several months in a

rural Hospital in East Africa very

interesting place uh tea Farmers the kip

cigy people very beautiful and dignified

people but working in this place at my

young age was very challenging to me

because of the

overwhelming uh burden of infectious

diseases in young children

there and I had just learned to put on

my white coat and really my professional

demeanor as a physician in training but

an event happened very early in my time

there that broke through my shield uh

and shattered my world so uh I was

working on the ward the inpatient Ward

and every day we had about a dozen

children referred from the clinic for

admission to be admitted and treated in

hospital and I was along this Hall the

corridor and there were about a dozen

families waiting to be seen and as I

came in uh a man tugged gently at my my

coat and said sir would you see my child

and I turned to him thinking to say you

really need to wait your turn in line

sir when I looked over I saw his wife

was holding a small child and the child

was limp and somewhat blue looking and

this was very disturbing so we moved the

family very quickly into our procedure

room which was just really a closet and

the mother and father and I went in with

the nurse who is the translator now when

a doctor sees you uh at an exam the

first thing they typically do is take

Vital Signs and the first of those is

the pulse but in a child it's actually

easier to use your stethoscope to just

count the the heartbeat so I put my

stethoscope on uh and I was had the

child and I was really going to just

count the heartbeats and I was having

trouble with my stethoscope and they

toggle back and forth so I checked them

and just to make sure I had it in the

right place and I'm I'm listening and I

you know really I'm still having having

silence and then I realized I'm having

silence because the child does not have

a

heartbeat and at that moment in that

place with no ICU no life support all I

could do was to hand the child back to

the mother and say I'm so sorry your

child is

dead that mother let out a whale that

filled the entire room and the soul of

everyone who was there at the

time and something broke in my heart

that day I can't you know forget that

moment uh it start with me forever and I

was experienced in part by proximity the

sadness and loneliness that parents feel

when they experience the death of a

child sometimes when I would put my own

uh child to sleep I would kiss them and

and think about uh the child that died

in my arms and so I vowed in my bed that

night crying that I would use my life

and career to do something about

infectious diseases especially for the

most vulnerable Among Us and I would ask

you when you think about uh what's

happened in in history who is the more

formidable foe is it human beings or

pathogens now you know from your history

books about uh the black plague or

Bubonic plague starting about 1340 at

Peak about 2 million people a year died

um this is a painting from brole from

the 16th century this one on on a very

long time and I think most of us think

of the black plague as the most uh

impressive uh and horrific uh epidemic

that happened in history and certainly

it was

horrible uh but this seems uh long ago

and far away like a fairy tale of sorts

almost like it didn't happen uh but I

want you to remember that there are

people living today who were alive in

1918 when the 1918 influenza pandemic

occurred and 50 million people died in

one year due to that flu virus

interestingly people who are in their

20s and 30s were very susceptible during

this pandemic as well as in the

pandemics in 1957 68 and so on this is a

photograph from a makeshift infirmary in

a barracks in Kansas in the US during

the pandemic 5% of the US population

died that year 50 million people in the

world which far exceeds all of the

deaths in in the world war that was

going on at the time and so this is in

the memory of people who are living

today and at million people doesn't

impress you you may not realize 500

million people died of small pox and

recorded history now small pox is a

horrific disease it goes in every organ

of your body including your skin and

that's what you see these pox and a

third of the people who are infected die

now small pox is our first major victory

against an infectious Foe and how did we

do it we did it with vaccination uh we

used a weaken virus in a solution and

used a little forked needle and took

that needle and we pricked the skin

usually the skin of the arm 15 times

this video is actually me getting my

last small pox vaccine because we work

with similar viruses in the lab um so

I'm well protected against small pox if

it ever comes back but the thing is

small pox does not circulate in the

earth anymore because we eradicated so

we went from 500 million people dying to

no one dying not a single person is

infected with small pux and this is a

major victory but you have to realize

this only happened within the last you

know it's less than 40 years ago and

we've only done it once and it may seem

like a very uh crude way to fight but

this was the magic that allowed us to

eradicate infectious disease and we have

not been able to um do it again now the

who declared that small pox was

eradicated in 1980 and if you're a

millennial 1980 seems long ago and far

far away and kind of like a fairy tale

uh but if you've been uh watching the

news this keeps happening

1997 bird flu h5n1 Aven influenza SARS

2003 coming out in Asia very virulent

virus uh we just lived through the 2009

pandemic H1N1 flu Middle Eastern

respiratory uh syndrome virus in Saudi

Arabia very virulent virus chicken gunia

a million people in the Caribbean were

infected in one year in 20 14 with

debilitating arthritis uh you'll

remember watching the news with the

horrific outbreak of Ebola in West

Africa even came to the shores of the US

uh and last year zika virus sweeping

across South America millions of people

being infected including pregnant women

and the mosquito-born virus has

transmitted to pregnant women passes to

the fetus causing microsopy fetal damage

and death so this stuff is happening

every year around us and uh I want I

want you to think you know what are we

going to do about this uh what is the

what is the next step what are our

defenses and um I want you to just think

about your own body how do you think

about your your body and your health do

you feel healthy and powerful and

resistant or do you think of yourself as

somewhat vulnerable and susceptible and

at risk and when you think about the

entire human race are we resilient and

are we going to pass through all these

things or is there some fear

and and a realistic fear that the entire

human race could be eradicated by one of

these pandemics and I think you would be

justified given what I just showed you

to be concerned about that so the

question is what are we going to do now

when people think of their body um and

their health they often talk about

system they say well my system was run

down and I got a cold last week or I'd

really like to eat better and sleep more

build my system up and be strong well

what are you talking about when you talk

about a system what is that word what

you're really referring to is your

immune IM system your immune system is

your defense system that Wards off or

cures the infections after they happen

in you and I want you to think about

where is that immune system uh the

immune system traffics in all parts of

your body and it does that by living in

your blood so wonder if you ever

wondered what is in blood um maybe

you've never looked inside blood so

we're going to look today uh welcome to

my clinic uh I am actually the both the

physician and the patient

today and I'm going to draw my own

blood

ow uh we'll just get a little drop of

blood going

here so you know a a drop of blood is

just a tiny a tiny

little

volume but there's amazing let's look

and see what we've got

there so I have a uh this microscope is

wireless and my friends are going to

project me up here I think live and

let's see I've dyed this blood with a

blue dye there we go wow that's pretty

amazing so the little dark brown ones

here let me Focus this here are the red

blood cells and they carry the uh life

sustaining oxygen and the little ones in

the in the center that are blue they're

called the white blood cells if I if I

did put a stain you wouldn't see them

but see those two little blue

guys and then see if we can find some

more wow there's some more so those are

the white blood cells and Ted

fortunately has painted the logos for us

today so you'll remember this the red

blood cells are on the left and the

white blood cells on the right so

whenever you want to see that logo

you'll remember the two cells of the IM

of the blood

so um when I see these little blue cells

there's a lot of them in your blood just

just a tiny drop of blood and yet um

we see thousands and thousands of cells

but they all sort of look the same and

uh I've always wondered how many uh

different cells are there and really the

question is do we have enough tools to

um to defend ourself against all the

millions of microorganisms around there

is this enough these little blue dots

that are floating around in my drops of

blood how many do we have how many

different ones we have and uh so I

wanted to do a counting exercise and and

uh figure out how many parts of the body

there are in the immune system so when

we think about Parts uh scientists

usually these days are talking about

genes because in genes the genetic

material encode all your parts so we're

going to go back to the slides and I'm

going to give you a little genetics

class the uh Human Genome Project was

one of the major science projects that's

been done in the last several decades so

scientists spent about $3 billion doar

back in the day and uh took blood and

other body parts and sequenced all of

the genes in the human genome one of the

amazing things that that came out of

that project was that there are only

about 25,000 genes encoding your whole

body all your body tissues and organs

are encoded by just 25,000 genes

actually less than that and but uh that

number seems so small and not large

enough to deal with all the

microorganisms that we're going to face

in our life so it seemed a little scary

but uh what we didn't tell people was

that we of avoided the immune system

genes because there were so many of them

we were not able to get to them with the

technology at the time and the reason is

the molecules in your immune system that

help you fight things like viruses are

called antibodies and the antibodies are

encoded by combinations of genes so you

have these large buckets of genes

there's three main buckets or groups and

to make an antibody you choose one from

each bucket and you put them together

and by combining these things we get

this amazing diversity combinatorial

diversity is what we term and by doing

that we already have an immune system

collection that's as big as all the

other genes in your body but when we put

them together they don't go uh just end

to end they're put together with little

linkers or spacers and these spacers are

near infinite they're like having two

wild cards in your hand of uh your hand

of cards if you were playing cards and

by doing that we end up with 10 to the

11th possibilities of antibodies we can

make now we're talking real numbers and

real diversity and then finally we have

one more trick in our immune system and

that is in our antibody genes our

defense genes we allow those genes to

mutate when they see an organism and so

we get little uh point mutations so we

make new genes that are just a little

bit different from the ones we had

before now you wouldn't want to do this

in any of your other genes because you'd

end up with cancer but in the in the

immune system this is encouraged and

allowed and by doing that we get numbers

like 10 to the 18th are possible in your

body and I was really excited about that

um you can't get your mind around what

what is that number 10 to the 18th the

only thing I can say is you've heard a

lot of astronomy talks at this

conference you have more potential

antibodies in your body than all the

stars in the galaxy it's amazing and so

uh a lot of scientists like me have

obsessive compulsive Tendencies and they

like to just count things and a lot of

these star guys you were saying I want

to go out there on the shuttle and count

all these things well we have more

antibody genes than there are stars and

my friends and I want to count the 10 to

the 18th genes uh and how do you do that

well you do this with sequencing we have

uh instruments that determine the gene

sequences um so if if you were actually

going to count that many uh what would

you do so what I would like to do is

take all the white blood cells out of

your body and count every one of them

and sequence

them and you're giggling but that's

actually what we do so we bring in

people to uh our clinic at Vanderbilt

and we put them on the this instrument

that's like a blood filter we put one

needle in one arm and one in the other

the blood comes out we filter out all

the white blood cells into a large bag

there's 40 billion cells we collect into

these bags and we put the red blood

cells back in so that you can carry your

oxygen and you walk away you're not

anemic uh so you're fine and you'd say

wow that sounds very dangerous to to

remove all the white blood cells 40

billion cells from your body your body

is am amazing it can replenish those

almost immediately you make those back

and put them back so it's a very safe

procedure this is actually a friend and

a hero of mine Morris iuchi he's a

physician he was working in Legos

Nigeria during the Ebola outbreak and a

person came into the country and

basically lied about his situation he

had a bowl and showed up in the in their

hospital and Morris and several of his

colleagues took care of this patient and

they figured out it was Ebola and they

contained the uh infection uh within

their Hospital did not leak out in Legos

Legos has an unknown number of people

it's so large it's about 15 million

people if the virus had gotten out into

that high density population millions of

people would have died but Morris and

several of his physician colleagues

contained that in the hospital Morris

became infected while giving care to

these patients without any specific

treatment he survived uh and came to

Nashville and talked about his

experience and it was really just an

amazing talk about his courage and

persistence uh he survived he's fine now

and he came and gave us blood cells so

we've been studying people like Morris

extraordinary people uh who face down

these these

pathogens um and uh so what happens when

we take all these cells out we put them

in our expensive machines we get all

these sequences well DNA is encoded by

four letters g a t c so it's g g g c t a

a a t c and it just looks like this and

it's kind of like goly goo so what would

you do with that now if you're obsessive

compulsive you love these things and you

just kind of uh you sort of memorize

them how many can you memorize and my

friends and I are attempting at the at

this time to sequence all of the

antibodies on the planet in in the

entire human population and to put these

on a database publicly so people can use

them for their own studies now this is

an enormous task it's the largest

genetic project ever um ever attempted

and we've already started and we're

getting billions of sequences it's

really exciting but what would you do

other than just Catal in these things

it's just just an exercise in in

cataloging and Counting well it turns

out there's another Revolution going on

in biology it's called synthetic

genomics or synthesizing genes and

essentially we have little benchtop

instruments that are like DNA printers

so we can type in some letters and print

out the DNA and well so what about that

well if I type in uh the sequence of an

antibody that I got from Morris's body

that's for Ebola that machine will make

me that DNA I can use that DNA as the

recipe to make the antibody that he was

making in in his body I can make it in

the lab so then we end up with tubes

full of antibodies that are the natural

antibodies from his body but we can make

them forever in unlimited quantities and

give them to other people so it's really

fun to make antibodies it's sort of like

having a little Play-Doh Factory and you

can make uh make things all day

long so I'll give you some examples I

mentioned there are survivors from the

1918 pandemic we've learned a lot of

things one is that your blood retains

the memory of everything you've ever

seen in your experience so uh we

obtained blood from 100-year-old

subjects who had experienced 1918

infection and we were able to get

antibodies out of them that kill the

virus so this is a highresolution x-ray

crystallography structure but basically

you're seeing a single molecule of the

flu protein in the middle and on the top

and yellow and red are antibodies from a

100y old person that bind to and inhibit

1918 flu once we learn we could do it

100 years later everything else seemed

easy here's another example Michelle

barns an adventure traveler went to

Uganda with her husband they were on

Safari seeing amazing animals and the

guide said wow if you like these animals

you should go in Python cave with us on

the last day there this cave has 40,000

fruit bats in it and they're amazing and

Michelle did go in that cave this is a

photograph of the roof of the cave taken

by another friend Joel S he's a National

Geographic photographer a fantastic

photographer this is the actual cave in

which she entered she went to kalala

flew home to the Denver area and about a

week later she nearly died no one knew

what was happening to her she recovered

of her own accord no specific therapy

and a year later it was discovered she

had had marberg Virus Infection marberg

is a deadly cousin of Ebola it's very

similar to Ebola so she was the only

known marberg Survivor at least in the

Western Hemisphere she talked about her

experience at Ted axe Boulder last year

was very very exciting to hear we took

her blood and made a large number of

antibodies this is one of them so in the

center is the marberg protein from the

virus and her antibodies are shown in

yellow we isolate a lot of antibodies

and they'll actually inhibit and kill

the marberg virus so this particular

antibody these antibodies are being

developed in fact the United States

government just invested $30 million to

uh further develop this antibody as a

therapy for the next cases of marberg or

if an outbreak occurs another example

would be zika virus we uh worked with uh

a person who had been infected in South

America last year got cells out made

antibodies here you're seeing the

antibodies in red and this is called a

cryo electron micrograph but it's just

one virus particle it's a picture of one

virus of zika a zika particle and it's

decorated on the surface by the red

antibodies which are attaching to and

killing the virus so in summary when we

when we think back to uh my question

who's who's the a bigger foe is it

infectious diseases or is it you and

your immune system and I hope it's

obvious to you the amazing depth and

complexity and beauty and Glory of what

is within you the human immune system is

the most deep and Rich information

system on the planet and each one of you

have it within you so when you think

about the future I want you to walk

boldly into your future with caution and

wisdom of course but be confident of

that glory and complexity that is the

universe within you thank

[Applause]

you