good afternoon I’m going to talk with
you today of our body an entity
very complex formed of organs so
diverse as the heart the brain the
lungs the intestines
these organs in turn are formed
of very different cells in the brain
we have neurons in the blood
we have red blood cells that transport
the oxygen or white blood cells that
are part of the immune system and in
lungs we have alveoli that we
they help to breathe however they knew
you who are like a bus that
transported in addition to our
cells
an army of small passengers who
they are like my muscles angels
indispensable guardians for our
own life
those guardian angels are very
numerous
imagine that if our organs
we have up to 10 million cells
We transport ten times more
guardian angels that cells in
Our organism
these tiny guardian angels
they are the bacteria that live in us
and that we know with the name of
microbiota micro biota life
microscopic and we have different type
of microbe behind in our body
there is a specific microbiota in the
mouth women also have a
vaginal microbiota and there are also
microbe you are life forces them and
soba streets but the most important the
most diverse in the intestinal microbiota
imagine that the nine meters that can
get to measure our intestine
we have a hugely rich diversity
of bacteria that can reach
represent up to two kilograms
of our own weight is to say the
equivalent to two large bags of
rice
this bacteria play goals
very important in our life and we
protect
actually in all stages of
our life when we are little by
example the intestinal microbiota of
dunga to our immune system so that
protect us from infections and
our adult life
the intestinal microbiota helps us
you say acquire plant elements that
we eat in our diet because
we do not own the enzymes ourselves
necessary for this digestion
finally in our adult stage
similarly these bacteria form a
barrier that protects us against agents
pathogens that enter is not our
intestine
most of the time you’re
bacteria act totally
silent however if these agents
they are very numerous and very aggressive
then there we do see the differences
and the consequences
some pathogens for example are
able to damage the cells of
our gut and are responsible for
diarrhea other pathogens by the
otherwise they can pass through a wall of
intestine now come the most
deep
how the brain the liver step and
they can cause serious diseases
within this second group of
bacteria there are some microorganisms
that we are very interested in our team
of research that we know with the
name of hysteria that are the
stories are bacteria that we found
in the environment
precisely in a recent study that
We did with my colleagues from
cartago technological institute
we discover here in this province of
alajuela a new type of hysteria
only present here in costa rica
most of those stories are
harmless
however some have the ability
to contaminate fresh products like
cheeses or meats little processed and if
we eat these foods because the
listeria can go through the wall of the
intestine and get to the brain that can
produce meningitis or in women
pregnant women can infect the placenta
producing abortions
the doctors have known for
many years that there are two types for
the human stories that are very little
dangerous and others that are very
dangerous and associated with
epidemics in humans
however, it was not known what the
because the cause of this difference
that dangerousness and recently
precisely our team in the
Pasteur Institute of Paris
discovered the key to the mystery
it turns out that these jazz lister more
dangerous can secrete a small
mysterious molecule capable of damaging
our microbiota I will tell you
then a little the history of this
discovery and what we do in
reality a kind of research
police
we wonder where the
facts equal organs
these stories produce this molecule
mysterious what we did then was
use some biology tricks
molecular and genetic
for example you have seen the light of
the fireflies produce at night
this light is a light
farm called bioluminescence and what
we did was take genes needed to
the production of bio mini science and
we generate some jazz lister that can
turn on a light too but
only at the moment when
they secrete the molecule that interested us
study then we exposed some
laboratory animals to these
special bacteria and we say
follow up for several days with a
very sensitive camera able to see
through the skin and examine the
organs in which we imagine that
we could find the stories of
interesting way the only organ in
which went on this chemical light
was the gut this meant
clearly that only in this body is
produced the mysterious molecule
then we had solved in the
first part of the mystery but what role
play this molecule what could be
his function would be able to attack the
cells of our own organism
then we use different types of
very powerful microscopes and we gave ourselves
realize that this molecule is really
completely harmless to the cell
Our organism
that’s when we asked ourselves if
this molecule would have no other function
that would rather attack our
own microbiota but how to analyze
this group of bacteria as diverse as
know changes in the composition of this
such a complex population
then we resort to a tool
molecular called genomic goal this
tool allows us to study the
genes of the bacteria and discover in
certain way your fingerprints
In this way we can identify each
member of the microbiota and study
then changes in these populations
complete
so now with this technique in
What we did was compare two
groups of animals to one we exposed him to
the normal listeria and the other group
we put there I went out serious dangerous
we compare the microdroplets and the result
it was very clear
in the first group we detect the
presence of a good bacteria
which is able to protect against those
normal stories in the second group
on the contrary we realized that the
mysterious molecule of hysteria that
now we know that it is an antibiotic is
able to destroy this good bacteria and
without defenses
then these bacteria can grow
in the intestine and infecting organs like
the brain or the placenta
then our investigation had a
result and suspected
the listeria is have been studied since
1926 have been worked by many
laboratories around the world and it’s not
but 90 years later last year
that we discovered that some of
they are able to detect a
antibiotic but there is a second facet
no less interesting in that study and
we have recently realized that
this antibiotic is a molecule of
very specific record and we have
discovered also that this bacterium
can attack other bacteria is
antibiotic can attack another
very harmful bacteria in hospitals
it is neither more nor less than the
golden staphylococcus a bacterium very
bad reputation that causes meningitis and
very serious pneumonias and that nowadays
developer assistance against many
traditional antibiotics so
it is very difficult to eliminate in those
Patients who want in hospitals
we are studying then the
possibility of using this
antibiotic of hysteria as a
new therapy against infections
caused by the golden staphylococcus
then concluding our
research again reflects how
our microbiota has bacteria very
important ones that do not defend against
diseases it is important to maintain
then the diversity of our
microbiota and unfortunately study of
metagenomics worldwide reveal
that in some regions like america
from the north even europe we are
detecting a serious decrease in
bacterial populations and our
microbiota this has two causes
principal on the one hand we are
abusing antibiotics for example
we use them indiscriminately
then we are killing not only
harmful bacteria but also the
good bacteria that we have in our
microbiota on the other hand we are
moving away from traditional diets that are
important to give life precisely
our microbiota the consumption of certain
low nutritional value foods
it has disastrous effects on our
microbiota and these studies precisely
have revealed that a decrease in
microbiota can be correlated
even with obesity increase
then our research allows
identify good bacteria from our
microbiota that serves to generate new
medicines capable of regenerating our
microbiota if necessary
however the message that I want them
transmit to you today is that the
solution is much simpler and is
at our fingertips
Let’s feed healthily, try to take care
ourselves
the enormous diversity of angels
guardians that we have in our body
and above all, do not use the
antibiotics, let’s use them in
smart that the best way to
grow and live healthily in harmony with
our environment
thank you very much
[Applause]
[Music]
”
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