>> [FRANK] SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES OFTEN REQUIRE
YEARS OF METHODICAL, PAINSTAKING RESEARCH, INVOLVING
COUNTLESS TESTS, REFORMATIONS, AND RETESTS OF HYPOTHESES.
>> JUST MEDIA ALONE.
>> OK.
>> THE TRANSFECTION VEHICLE.
>> WOW, THAT'S AMAZING.
>> [FRANK] AND THAT DESCRIBES DR. KEN ADLER'S WORK
AT NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY'S
COLLEGE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE.
IT'S HOW HE FOUND OUT ABOUT A MEDICAL
BREAKTHROUGH THAT MAKES THIS STORY UNIQUE.
HIS COLLEAGUES ASKED HIM TO LOOK
AT THE LAB MICE, SOMETHING WAS HAPPENING.
>> I SAID WELL, I THINK I WAS DOING SOMETHING
AT THE TIME, I SAID I CAN'T COME DOWN
TO THE ANIMAL ROOM, RIGHT NOW,
WHY DON'T YOU JUST TAKE A VIDEO?
AND I'D BEEN THINKING, BECAUSE EVERYONE'S
GOT A PHONE, NOW, WITH A VIDEO CAMERA.
SO HE CAME UP AND SHOWED US, AND WE SAID, OH, MY GOODNESS!
>> [FRANK] AND, INDEED,
DR. QI YIN HAD HIS PHONE WITH HIM.
>> YES, WHEN I SAW THE ANIMAL GETTING BETTER,
I JUST WANT TO SHARE THE GOOD NEWS WITH EVERYBODY.
SO, I MAKE THE VIDEO, SIMPLY FROM THIS PHONE.
I KNOW IT'S NOT PROFESSIONAL, BUT IT REALLY
FOUND THE ANIMAL GETTING BETTER.
>> YOU HAD TO SHOW SOMEBODY?
>> YEAH, I HAVE TO SHOW EVERYBODY, FOR THAT.
>> [FRANK] YOU HAVE TO UNDERSTAND THAT
JUST A FEW DAYS BEFORE, THOSE MICE WERE ON THE BRINK
OF DEATH, INFECTED WITH ACUTE RESPIRATORY DISTRESS SYNDROME.
>> SO, WHAT WE HAVE, HERE, IS A MODEL, OF ARDS,
I'M GOING TO CALL IT ARDS NOW,
ACUTE RESPIRATORY DISTRESS SYNDROME, IN MICE.
WHAT YOU DO, IS, YOU INJECT A SUBSTANCE
CALLED LIPOPOLYSACCHARIDE, INTO THE AIRWAYS OF THE MICE.
THIS IS THE MOST COMMON MODEL, IN MICE.
THE MICE GET, ESSENTIALLY, ARDS,
IT'S ABOUT THE SAME AMOUNT OF MORTALITY.
SO, THESE ARE THE MICE THAT ARE SICK,
AND THIS IS WHAT THEY LOOK LIKE.
THEY'RE LYING IN ONE PART OF THE CAGE, IN THEIR OWN URINE,
RAPID BREATHING, HAIR STANDING UP,
EYELIDS DROOPY, SORT OF HUDDLED TOGETHER.
NOT VERY HAPPY, VERY SICK MICE.
>> [FRANK] NOW, LOOK AT
IT WAS SHOT AFTER THE MICE RECEIVED TWO TREATMENTS
WITH A DRUG DR. ADLER DISCOVERED, MORE THAN A DECADE AGO,
AND HAS CONTINUED RESEARCHING.
>> THEIR EYES ARE BRIGHT, THE HAIR IS NO LONGER STANDING UP,
ALL ACTIVITY, BREATHING NORMALLY, MOVING AROUND, HAPPY.
>> YOU COULDN'T BELIEVE IT,
YOU SAID THESE AREN'T THE SAME MICE.
>> I'M TOTALLY BLOWN AWAY BY THIS.
>> [FRANK] DR. ADLER DISCOVERED A PEPTIDE,
WHICH IS BASICALLY A COMPOUND,
FORMED BY LINKING AMINO ACIDS.
DEPENDING ON THE MAKEUP, PEPTIDES REGULATE
ALL KINDS OF THINGS IN THE BODY, INCLUDING HORMONES.
THIS PEPTIDE APPEARS TO BLOCK EXCESSIVE INFLAMMATIONS,
THINK OF THE SWELLING AROUND AN INJURED LEG.
WE'LL LET DR. ADLER EXPLAIN.
>> SO, IF MY HAND IS A CELL, IT'S SITTING ON
A BLOOD VESSEL, OR A TISSUE, AND THE STIMULUS
IS OVER HERE, SO, IT MOVES LIKE THIS.
IT SENDS OUT PART OF THE CELL, IT ADHERES ONTO
WHATEVER IT'S MOVING ON, AND DRAGS THE REST OF IT.
>> [FRANK] THE DRUG BLOCKS THE PROTEINS
THAT ALLOW THE CELLS TO MOVE.
TO BE CLEAR, INFLAMMATION ISN'T BAD, THAT RUSH OF CELLS
HELPS TO PREVENT INFECTION, AND PROMOTE HEALING.
>> YOU WANT SOME INFLAMMATION, YOU WANT SOME
OF YOUR INFLAMMATORY CELLS TO COME TO SITES
OF INFECTION, BUT NOT THIS TREMENDOUS CASCADE,
WHICH CAN CAUSE ALL SORTS OF PROBLEMS.
>> [FRANK] AND YOU NEED TO THINK
OF INFLAMMATION, IN A BROADER SENSE.
MANY LUNG DISEASES ARE CAUSED BY INFLAMMATION.
THE MUCUS, IN BRONCHITIS, IS AN INFLAMMATION.
THAT'S WHY THE DRUG POWDER IS SUSPENDED IN A SOLUTION,
AND DELIVERED AS A MIST, THAT IS INHALED, USING A NEBULIZER.
>> SINCE BRONCHITIS, CAUSED BY SMOKING, CAUSES
ALL THESE INFLAMMATORY CELLS TO COME INTO THE LUNG.
AIR POLLUTANTS, WE BREATHE IN AIR POLLUTANTS,
ALL THE INFLAMMATORY CELLS COME TO THE LUNG.
SO, YOU WANT TO STOP THE EXCESS INFLAMMATION.
>> [FRANK] SO, THIS DISCOVERY COULD MEAN
NEW TREATMENTS FOR CHRONIC BRONCHITIS,
ASTHMA, AND ACUTE RESPIRATORY DISTRESS SYNDROME,
WHICH RESULTS FROM STRESSES SUCH
AS PNEUMONIA, OR NEAR DROWNING.
>> SO, INFLAMMATION IN THE LUNG, ASTHMA'S CONSIDERED
AN INFLAMMATORY DISEASE, BRONCHITIS
IS CONSIDERED AN INFLAMMATORY DISEASE.
>> IT IS RARE THAT DRUGS THAT WE GET, IN BASIC SCIENCE,
MAKE IT TO THE POINT OF BEING A MARKETABLE ITEM.
AND, SO, THIS IS TRULY SPECIAL, WE'VE MADE AN IMPACT.
>> [FRANK] THE CELL BIOLOGIST IS NOW INVESTIGATING
IF HIS DRUG COULD BE USED TO BLOCK CANCER METASTASES,
WHICH IS THE SPREAD OF CANCER CELLS BETWEEN ORGANS.
THERE ARE CURRENTLY NO DRUGS TO DO THAT.
>> AND TO THINK THAT THIS DRUG CAN ACTUALLY HELP
PEOPLE, SAVE LIVES, IS PRETTY HUMBLING.
AND I CONSIDER MYSELF ONE OF THE FORTUNATE SCIENTISTS
WHO'VE COME TO THE POINT WHERE SOMETHING
THAT I DEVELOPED, IN MY LABORATORY, CAN ACTUALLY
BE USED AS A DRUG, TO HELP PEOPLE.
AND THAT'S THE OVERRIDING THOUGHT.