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Hacking bacteria to fight cancer - Tal Danino

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6,387 Questions Answered

TEDEd Animation

Let’s Begin…

In 1884, an unlucky patient who had a rapidly growing cancer in his neck came down with an unrelated bacterial skin infection. As he recovered from the infection, the cancer surprisingly began to recede. The infection had stimulated the patient’s immune system. Today, synthetic biologists program bacteria to safely deliver drugs directly to tumors. How is this possible? Tal Danino investigates.

How do synthetic biologists program bacteria to carry out desired functions?

About TED-Ed Animations

TED-Ed Animations feature the words and ideas of educators brought to life by professional animators. Are you an educator or animator interested in creating a TED-Ed Animation? Nominate yourself here »

Meet The Creators

  • Educator Tal Danino
  • Director Chris Bishop
  • Narrator Addison Anderson
  • Animator Chris Bishop
  • Assistant Animation and Compositing Melissa Ferrari, Ariel Navas
  • Director of Production Gerta Xhelo
  • Editorial Producer Alex Rosenthal
  • Associate Producer Bethany Cutmore-Scott
  • Script Editor Alex Gendler
  • Fact-Checker Joseph Isaac
  • Special Thanks Sreyan Chowdhury, Dhruba Deb, Tiffany Chien

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