Fifty years ago,
humanity began the war against cancer.
When the war against cancer began,
we were relying on chemotherapy as the main treatment for cancer.
Now, almost fifty years later,
we are still relying on chemotherapy as the main treatment for cancer.
What is going on?
Because we have spent billions of dollars on cancer research,
and yet we don't seem to see the productive results of this investment.
We are still relying on chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgery
as the main treatments against cancer despite spending billions of dollars
and despite all the many years that have passed.
So what is going on with cancer research?
Is it possible that we don't want to treat cancer?
That would be absurd.
Is it possible that we are approaching cancer research the wrong way?
Luckily, the number of cancer survivors is on the rise.
But we still haven't won the war against cancer.
Scientists are now working on the second generation of cancer treatment.
The ones that are supposed to replace chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgery.
In fact, two of these treatments were approved last year.
One is called immunotherapy,
and the second one is called gene therapy.
Now immunotherapy works like this:
You take immune cells from a cancer patient;
these are called T cells.
You send them to a lab
where they are genetically engineered to fight cancer.
Then you inject them into the patient.
Three months later, and the patient is cancer-free.
As exciting as it sounds, many people and many scientists believe
that immunotherapy is the future of cancer treatment.
But I don't think so.
There are three problems,
actually four problems with this treatment.
The first problem is that so far, it only works against one type of cancer
which is called lymphoblastic leukemia.
And we all know that we have too many types of cancers to deal with:
breast cancer, brain cancer, skin cancer,
and the list goes on.
The second problem with this treatment
is that it only works on people who are younger than 25 years old.
And we all know that cancer can strike at any age.
The third problem,
actually with the two treatments that were approved last year,
is that they are extremely expensive.
The cost of immunotherapy is $475,000.
And that's not the telephone number of your health insurance company.
Actually, that's the cost of only treating one patient
against only one type of cancer.
What is it about cancer treatments that makes them so expensive?
Why? Why do people have to sell an organ to treat another?
It is a devastating future that we are heading to
unless we do something.
So what we really need is a cancer treatment that is efficient,
that works for the long run,
and that is available when you need it.
Now, the other problem with these treatments
is that by the time they are cheap enough for you to afford,
they won't be efficient.
It's going to take many years
before somebody from the middle class can afford immunotherapy.
And by then, it won't be efficient,
because cancer cells tomorrow will not respond
to the same treatment they way they do today.
So we need something that also works for the long run.
Now, what if I told you that instead of wasting $475,000
on treating only one patient against only one type of cancer,
we could, at the same cost, prevent almost all types of cancer
in 15 individuals.
The human body is equipped with a natural defense mechanism
which protects us against cancer.
And it's working in your body right now.
It is called DNA repair mechanism.
When DNA makes copies of itself,
there are chances of errors called mutations.
And these mutations can be accelerated
when you expose yourself to chemicals, radiation,
when you adopt unhealthy lifestyles,
and sometimes family history and genetics also play a role.
But there are proteins that are tasked
with repairing these mutations as soon as they happen.
And this is happening in your cells right now.
So what if there is a way by which we could enhance the cell's ability
to repair DNA at a maximum efficiency.
In fact, we could do that.
We know which proteins are involved in the DNA repair mechanism,
and we know how to control them
with the help of a gene editing technique called CRISPR,
which you have heard about in the news.
CRISPR is the most precise gene editing technique
ever invented in human history.
And it is proving to be very efficient.
So we could use this technique to enhance the cell's ability
to repair its DNA at all times, at all costs.
But there is one problem.
If we want to protect you against all types of cancers,
then we have to make sure
that your entire body is genetically engineered,
that every cell is programmed to resist cancer.
But we can't do it in adult humans,
because your body consists of 37 trillion cells,
and that is impossible to engineer.
In fact, there isn't any technology or gene delivery technique
that can deliver genes to this massive number of cells.
But what if we could do it with human embryos instead?
Why?
Because human embryos only have eight cells
in the third day after fertilization.
And we can manage,
in fact, we can engineer eight cells in human embryos.
In fact, we are already doing it right now.
Take a look at these remarkable results.
Scientists genetically engineer human embryos.
They manage to correct a mutation
responsible for a serious heart condition in human embryos.
They also manage to treat a condition responsible for a blood disorder.
What's more amazing, also,
they manage to introduce HIV resistance to human embryos.
So technically speaking,
if these embryos were allowed to develop into adult humans,
then the chances of getting HIV infection in these humans
are so slim they may never happen.
So if we can do it with these diseases by engineering human embryos,
then we can also do it with cancer.
And it is called embryonic cancer therapy,
which I believe could be the ultimate cure for cancer.
What's beautiful about embryonic cancer therapy
is that we only have to engineer eight cells in human embryos.
These embryos will grow to be adult humans
with 37 trillion genetically engineered cells.
And we only have to do it once with one generation.
Because future generations will already, by default,
get this genetic change as we pass it on.
So they will pass it on to the next generation.
What's also beautiful about this treatment is that it's cost efficient.
We are already doing part of the treatment.
You know about in-vitro fertilization:
you take sperms, eggs, you fuse them in the lab,
you create embryos, and you implant them.
This is a procedure for people who can't conceive.
So, it's very much the same procedure,
except that we are adding one additional step,
which is genetic engineering.
We are engineering the human embryo before implantation.
And the cost is really not so much - I mean, in comparison to $475,000.
The cost of in-vitro fertilization is not more than $15,000.
In fact, you can get it cheaper in some countries.
And the cost of genetically engineering human embryos
is also not more than $10,000.
In fact, you can buy a CRISPR kit for $1,500,
and you can use it to engineer at least 100 embryos.
Think of the possibilities here.
Yes, maybe we have to rely on in-vitro fertilization at the beginning,
but eventually, we will find a way
by which we could engineer the embryos right on the spot, inside the body.
Now, there are many ways
by which we can enhance human embryos to fight cancer.
We can tweak molecular processes.
We have a great deal of knowledge
about the molecules that are involved with cancer,
and we could manipulate them long before birth.
We could also manipulate human cells.
And instead of immunotherapy after birth, we could do it before birth.
What's more fascinating is
we could adopt certain traits from other creatures.
Now, you have heard of the tardigrades, the toughest animals on earth.
Tardigrades:
they can survive in space radiation, in the vacuum of space;
they can survive extreme radiation;
they can turn into glass, under dehydrated conditions.
But what's fascinating is that they can survive
extreme radiations which could cause cancer in humans.
What scientists did is they studied what causes this.
Why are they protected against radiation?
And they found a gene responsible for that.
They took that gene and added it to human cells.
Now you have a human cell but with a gene from another creature.
They took these engineered cells and exposed them to UV radiation,
and what happened?
The immune cells were resistant to radiation.
They gained 40% resistance.
So we could acquire this trait.
We could add it to human embryos,
which would definitely be helpful against cancer.
And there are many other creatures that have incredible super strength
which we could also add to the human genome.
Now let's imagine a future
where we have eradicated cancer, and it no longer exists.
Do you know how much money we spend on cancer medication?
In 2015, the world spent 107 billion dollars on cancer medication.
By 2020 it is expected to be 150 billion dollars.
And that is just on cancer medication.
There are still billions of dollars that are spent on cancer research.
We are flooding a lot of money into cancer research,
and we are ignoring other diseases that are also as important:
Alzheimer's, multiple sclerosis, heart failure, spinal cord injuries,
and the list goes on and on.
These diseases also kill people. They make them terminally ill as well.
And if we just keep flooding all the resources that we have
into cancer research,
then we are not heading into the right future.
So, imagine a world
where we don't have to spend that money on cancer research anymore.
Cancer has been eradicated.
Everybody is born with a built-in mechanism
that protects them against cancer.
We can now use that money to study other diseases
and learn about their genetics.
And in a few short years, we will use what we learned about their genetics
to apply the same technique and treat them.
So this will be our gate not only to treating cancer
but also other diseases.
If we have the knowledge and the technology
to do something as remarkable as this, then what is stopping us?
Well, there are a number of challenges that we have to overcome
before we can make this a reality.
The first challenge is bioethics.
As I said, we're working with embryos here.
And most of the countries, now,
do not allow research on human embryos
beyond 14 days.
So after 14 days, the human embryos are destroyed.
They are not allowed for scientific research.
So how are we supposed to understand the potential of this treatment
if we aren't less strict with the rules?
The problem with bioethics
is that the rules that we established against scientific research do not change.
Science and technology continue to evolve,
but the rules that we established 50 years ago do not change;
we don't revisit them.
And that is a big problem.
And this is why I believe
that the rule of 14 days on embryonic therapy
should be revisited,
we should discuss it more,
and we should be less strict
so we can understand the potential of embryonic treatment.
We will unlock unlimited potential of such treatment
if we become less strict with the rules.
The second challenge is business interest.
It's quite clear that cancer is a stable source of income.
It's a problem, and as long as the problem exists,
some people will continue to profit from it.
And it is those people who invest their money in cancer research.
So why would they invest it into the area of research
that could eradicate cancer once and for all?
So that is a big problem. Business interest.
If we eradicated cancer,
we're going to destroy many business interests
for companies and individuals who profit from the condition.
But luckily, part of the money that is spent on cancer research
also comes from public funding: governments.
Where do they get their money?
From you, the taxpayer.
Part of your money goes to cancer research.
And we have control over that.
So if we spend that money on new areas of cancer research,
then we might be onto something,
instead of having the monopoly of only focusing on the same areas.
As I said, for almost 50 years, we haven't seen remarkable progress.
The last challenge is public awareness.
Now, the problem with society today is that we keep our minds shut.
We're not open-minded when it comes to a new revolution in technology.
We just don't accept it -
even if we haven't learned a great deal about it,
even if we didn't educate ourselves.
And that is a big problem.
You have seen in online forums, the rise of ignorance,
comments,
and people who are objecting scientific knowledge, rise of technology
simply because they don't understand it,
simply because they don't learn about it,
or maybe we're not doing a good job of educating them.
So it's very important
for people to keep open minds towards technology and science.
Learn more about these available options before saying yes or no.
And it is your responsibility, since you know about this now,
to bring this discussion to other people who don't know about it.
More people will know.
We can influence the decision makers to break the rule of 14 days
so scientists can now study embryos,
we can unlock the potential of embryonic treatments,
and we can defeat cancer.
The applications of science are endless,
and the possibilities are limitless,
and the choice is only ours now.
Either to keep cancer as a friend by embracing ignorance and greed,
or defeat our enemy once and for all
by embracing selflessness and rational thinking.
Thank you.
(Applause)