They may not be headline grabbers yet but are slowly and steadily providing solutions that may transform the planet as we know it today. DR JIMMY lIN is cheating death with an affordable early cancer detection test while MANISHA MOHAN is developing a sexual assault sensor and ROTHNA BEGUM is fighting for human rights. They share their ideas with RAMYA PAlISETTY
Jimmy lin
Dr Jimmy lin has devoted his life to beating cancer and is hoping to reach out to India with a cheap early detection kit that will save lives. By combining early intervention with an understanding of cancer genomic, mankind could be on the cusp of fighting cancer effectively and on a large scale.The final key to the cancer treatment revolution is understanding how our own genetics make us more likely to develop certain cancers. The more we know about which genes are linked to cancer, the more we can target people at risk of developing the disease with early detection tests.
For the past few years, Dr lin has been interested in the idea of a non-invasive, highly specific and widely applicable test that could find cancer early on. The discovery of the simple blood test method emerged while researchers were looking at the DNA of pregnant women to see the health of the baby and to check if it was suffering from any diseases. Said he, “We have taken the same technology and developed our research where we observe cancer DNA present in the blood cells of the patients.”
Dr lin is the chief scientific officer, oncology, at Natera, developing blood-based DNA assays to detect cancer early and monitor it during treatment. He applies computational and genomic methods to understand cancer. He focusses on translating basic scientific discoveries into clinical diagnostics and therapies for patients. He was among the first researchers to fully sequence the genome of cancer cells. lin and his team have developed extremely sensitive blood tests which can detect the earliest traces of cancer DNA within the bloodstream. His blood tests can detect one cancer molecule hiding among 10,000 other innocuous molecules.
“We did our first research in lung cancer where the survival of patients is measured in months. Hundred days is a long and precious time for the family members to spend with the patient. More importantly, in terms of medical impact, if you catch cancer coming back that much earlier when the cancer is still smaller, there is less possibility for resistance cells and the patient may do better for the treatment. It could be the deciding factor between a patient cured of cancer and not being cured of it.The potential between life and death lies in a simple test,” said he.
As the cost of the genetic sequence has plummeted from tens of millions of dollars to just a few hundred, clinicians are starting to understand more precisely how different cancers thrive within the body. Said he, “In India, it is possible to use our test in urban cities with extensive infrastructure. Usually, cancer detection methods require a hospital for colonoscopy or mammogram. Since many people in India do not have access to hospitals, this method can be phenomenal.”
The study done by his team showed that out of 24 cancer patients studied over time, the blood test picked up their cancer DNA 93 per cent of the time and produced no false positives. The test also managed to detect cancer recurrence as early as 11 months before traditional methods. “We want the numbers to be higher and we hope we can replicate it in larger studies.”
Eventually, lin is planning to work in India to incorporate the innovative technology into routine annual health check-ups. It would create accessibility and affordability which is the main reason individuals in our country are reluctant to go to a hospital. Said he, “Early detection in stage 1 and stage 2 of cancer can be cured with the existing drugs available in the market. It will eventually decrease the morbidity and mortality in significant amounts.”
Manisha Mohan
Sexual assault is one of the most heinous crimes prevalent across the globe today. To tackle this threat, Manisha Mohan, an Indian research scientist at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has developed Intrepid, a smart sticker that is intended to detect, communicate and prevent sexual assault. The sensor can be attached to any piece of clothing and could be trained to learn the difference between an individual undressing himself/herself voluntarily and when he/she is being forcefully disrobed.
An integrated Bluetooth connected to a smartphone app can trigger a loud noise to alert people nearby and send out distress signals to pre-defined family members or emergency services. The sensor works in two modes. In passive mode, the wearer is assumed to be conscious and can set off loud alarms on his/her own by touching a button when he/she encounters an approaching threat. In the active mode, the sensor tries to detect signals from the external environment.This allows the sensor to detect signs of an assault even when the victim is unconscious or not in the position to fight against the assaulter in case of minors, bed-ridden patients or intoxicated people.
It took Manisha around 21 months to develop the sensor during her master’s programme. “During my research, there was a point when I learnt about a Minister who decided not to recognise marital rape in India. Since then, we have looked at various ways to address the issue and worked on odorous compounds to understand the correlation between decreased sexual arousal due to certain smells.” A woman who is married and living with a man can’t even go and complain about rape because the family and society will fall upon her. She will probably be threatened and scared to death. Said she, “It is unfortunate that we are having a debate around this topic. It is as simple as saying one plus one is two.The idea behind investigating odours was to create an aversion for men to feel disgusted with themselves.”
Intrepid means fearless and the scientist wanted to communicate the feeling to the women across the globe who fear assault of any form. “Personal safety around sexual preferences should be a birthright for each and every individual”, said she. Intrepid has various features but the most important feature that could change the lives of millions of victims is the ability of the device to document the crime. It creates evidence by recording the audio in the background and time. A lot of culprits who get away with crimes due to lack of evidence will be punished with the help of this innovation.
Though nothing is concrete about the mass production of the device in India, there is still hope. Said she, “The current market is dominated by industries in India and it is difficult to collaborate with them. We would want the prices to go down as well but it is an unbridged gap we are working on at the moment. We came up with the research project for the well-being of people but the industries work on very different motives.”
Many in her shoes would be happy with the creation of the technology but she feels that real success would be five years down the line when we wouldn’t need devices like Intrepid to feel safe. “It would be a nice change to see our children grow up without restrictions or go through so much turmoil while we watch with helpless eyes,” she says.
Rothna Begum
A woman who has been a driving force in securing the treaty on domestic workers’ rights, Rothna Begum is a women’s rights researcher for the Middle East and North Africa region at Human Rights Watch. These days she is working on gender justice. “Women are not allowed to work because men do not like the idea of seeing women as equal. It is our responsibility to uncover, express and make them understand our side of the story,” she said.
While at HRW, she has led the research on the abuse and exploitation of migrant domestic workers in the Gulf such as the United Arab Emirates and Oman as well as the lack of adequate response to domestic violence in Morocco and lebanon. She has also advocated the abolition of child marriage in Yemen and justice for victims of sexual violence during the 2011 libya conflict.
Across the globe, violence against domestic workers is pretty rampant. They do not have legal protection or social security and are excluded from the rest of the society. In the Gulf, all domestic workers are migrants who face triple-fold discrimination. The atmosphere in which they tend to work creates extreme vulnerability for physical and sexual abuse to take place. Said she, “It is difficult to get them recognised because they work inside people’s homes and are unable to unionise, associate and organise themselves in the way others do. The treaty gave the domestic workers a global standing and made everyone realise that they deserve rights as well.”
The work domestic helps do allows employees to go out and do their respective jobs. They run the economy by taking care of the elderly and children, cooking for families and cleaning houses. By giving them jobs, employees aren’t performing an act of kindness.
Over the years, we have seen a growing movement with women finding ways to get their rights collectively. A lot of governments voted for the treaty after debating and discussing the horrible conditions of domestic workers. Under the treaty, domestic workers are entitled to protections available to other workers, including weekly days off, limited hours of work, minimum wage and social security coverage. The convention obligates governments to protect domestic workers from violence and abuse, and to prevent child labour in domestic work.
In a country like India, the need to address the issue is of utmost importance. Girls are trafficked from one part of the country to another with the promise of employment and good money. In some cases, the families who give them work are willing to send them to schools as well. But what transpires after they are uprooted from their homes is beyond imagination. They are starved and forced to work without any money. They are physically abused by various members of the family. “It is imperative to implement stringent laws for the protection of domestic workers who are children. The government needs to deal with the core issue of why parents are sending young girls for work. The employees hiring children should be prosecuted otherwise the cycle would never end,” said she.
(The speakers will be speaking at the 8th edition of TEDxGateway taking place on 4th February 2018 in Mumbai)