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(gentle music)

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- Imagine if you didn't
have control of your bowels,

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you'd no doubt rethink
playing your favourite sport.

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- Crohn's disease is
one of two major forms

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of inflammatory bowel disease,

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and it can affect any part of
the gastrointestinal tract,

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from the tongue to the bum.

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There is no cure.

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We currently think that
Crohn's disease results

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from abnormal immune responses to bacteria

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in genetically susceptible individuals.

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Yet nothing is known about
the precise mechanisms

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that cause this disease.

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Now gut macrophages are immune cells

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that protect against bacterial invasion

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in the gut by gobbling up bacteria,

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but without causing inflammation.

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They're derived from
monocytes in the bone marrow.

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These cells turn on inflammation,

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but when they arrive at the
gut and become gut macrophages,

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they turn the inflammation off.

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Now, I suspect that
Crohn's disease results

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when these cells don't
turn off inflammation

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in response to gut bacteria.

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So, my research aims

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at identifying specific
regulatory abnormalities

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in gut macrophages in
Crohn's disease patients.

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This has far reaching potential

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for the development of novel tests,

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therapeutics and may
ultimately result in a cure.

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(gentle music)