Remote Wireless Gene Control

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Today we're talking about something that
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sounds ripped straight out of a sci-fi
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novel. Scientists just showed that they
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can flick a magnetic switch and have
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living cells pump out whatever protein
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they programmed. No wires, no needles,
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just an external field. It's called
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wireless gene programming. And it uses
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nano particles inside the cell itself.
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It's equally a medical miracle and a
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little bit spooky. All right, let's dive
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in and see what kind of physics lets us
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remote control DNA. I'm Ben. This is
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Physics or Bust. So, first the
Magnetic nanoparticles
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nanoparticle itself. Picture a
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gobstopper only 40 billionth of a meter
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wide. At its heart is magnetite. That's
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iron oxide with a property called super
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paramagnetism. Translation: When there's
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no magnetic field, the particles act
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chill and non-magnetic, which means they
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don't clump in the bloodstream. But the
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minute you apply an alternating magnetic
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field, bam, all those little atomic bar
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magnets flip around and soak up energy.
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Add a slippery biompatible glaze and at
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only 40 nanome wide, these magneto
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electric nano particles slip right into
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the cell. Now the fun part. How do we
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change that magnetic energy that the
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core absorbed into something the cell
Magnetoelectric nanoparticles
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can feel? There's two types of nanop
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particles that researchers have been
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using. Magnetothermal and magneto
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electric. For a magnetoothermal nano
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particle, those flipping magnetic
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domains create friction at the nano
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scale. Neil and brownie and relaxation
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if you want to sound smart at parties.
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The friction releases heat, but it's an
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extremely local heat spike with the
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volume that gets a hot spot literally
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measured in phtoto.
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The bulk tissue hardly budges in
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temperature, but the promoter sitting
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right next to it feels like it's in a
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sauna and kicks the gene into high gear.
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In the latest study, the team used
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magneto electric nano particles as
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opposed to magnetoothermal. They wrapped
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the magnetite core in a pisoctric shell
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materials like barium titanate. When the
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core jiggles in the alternating magnetic
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field, it squeezes the piso layer. Basic
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high school physics. Squeeze a hyo and
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the material changes the mechanical
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energy into electrical energy and you
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get a voltage. Here that voltage is only
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a few millolts but spread only over a
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few
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nanometers. So the electric field is
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really strong. The nano particles
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vibration makes a millisecond long
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electric nanopulse. This trips nearby
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calcium channels. So calcium floods in
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and a calcium sensitive promoter says,
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"Yep, time to transcribe." And then
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boom, insulin, dopamine, or whatever
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gene you've attached starts pouring out.
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Pull the magnetic field away and the
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gene goes quiet again. It's like having
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a dimmer switch for biology. So you
Why 40 nanome
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might be asking, why 40 nanome? Well,
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when the nano particles get around 100
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nanometers, they stop being super
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paramagnetic, which would mean they'd
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clump in the bloodstream and be bad
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news. And if you go too small, the core
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can't carry enough magnetic moment to
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heat or squeeze anything. So, since
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we're looking not too big, but not too
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small, the Goldilock zone is around 15
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to 30 nanome for the core and another 5
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to 10 nanome for the outer shell. Now
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since this process utilizes an
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alternating magnetic field that means an
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electromagnetic wave but at what
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frequency? They run these experiments at
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around 100 to 500 kHz lower than AM
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radio and way lower than the 64 MHz of
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an MRI. That keeps eddycurren heating of
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the human tissue basically non-existent
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while still flipping those nano magnets
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over a 100,000 times a second. The lab
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trick to visually see this process in
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action is to tag the gene with something
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flashy, green fluorescent protein,
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luciferous. They pulse the coil, wait a
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few minutes, and the dish literally
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lights up. In mice, they switch the
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green fluorescent protein with insulin
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or interlucan 2. Then they monitor blood
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glucose or tumor size. When the coil is
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off, expression drops back to baseline.
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Full onoff control. So there's the
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design of the nano particle. A magnetite
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core for power, a mechano or piso
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electric shell for conversion, and a
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promoter that treats the nanoscopic
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nudge like a megapoam. No wires, no
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battery packs, just physics doing its
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thing. Now, here's where this gets fun.
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Treatment of diseases and ailments.
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Diabetes? Instead of jabbing yourself
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every day, you could wear a little RF
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patch. 10 minutes of pulses and
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engineered cells under your skin can
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generate enough insulin to flatten that
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glucose curve. Cancer doctors could park
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these particles inside the tumor and
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command the cells to drip chemrade
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cytoins only when they're at the clinic.
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That way they're under observation and
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the rest of the body is spared. One
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mouse study cut systemic toxicity in
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half. Nervous system disorders.
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Neuroscientists have already sprinkled
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magneto electric nanoisks onto neurons
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and made them fire on Q. No electrodes
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in the brain. Imagine controlling
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epilepsy or Parkinson's tremors
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wirelessly. And because if they swap
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their promoter, they swap the gene. They
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could in theory build a single universal
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cell therapy and just decide the
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function afterwards. But I do have a
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couple reality checks for you. The
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particles do need to reach the right
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tissue. In today's experiments, that
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means local injection, loading cells in
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a dish before implantation, or an IV
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drip followed by a steering magnet. Then
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there's FDA approval, assurance of
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long-term safety, fully defined rules.
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Still works in progress, but the physics
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says it's doable, and the early data is
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fairly promising. So, that's the fun
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side of it, but what about the spooky
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side? So let's address that elephant or
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maybe spy in the room. Because the
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trigger signal is invisible and the nano
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particles are too small to feel.
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Biocurity folks should be looking at
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bond level abuse scenarios. Here's just
Spying
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one scenario. Someone secretly injects a
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target person with a micro needle
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injection patch just through a handshake
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or other similar gesture. or aerosol
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delivers particles that have a clotting
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factor gene. Days or even weeks later,
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the target stands near a podium or sits
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at a place where there's a hidden coil,
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maybe under a conference podium. Then a
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silent RF pulse tells the particles,
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"Go." Minutes later, the target's
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bloodstream is a minefield of micro
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plots. Hard to trace because you'd
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actually have to find the nano particles
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inside the body. and the target dies of
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a heart attack or stroke. Is it likely?
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Not today. The doses are high and the
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magnetic field has to be pretty strong,
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but it is technically possible, which
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should be enough for regulators to start
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sharpening the rule book. So, wireless
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gene programming, a future where your
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medication is literally programmed and a
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great reminder that with great power
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comes great responsibility. So, what
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interests you most about this tech? the
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diabetes fix, the neuro hack, or the spy
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threat. Let me know in the comments
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below. If you enjoyed this video, I
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think you'd like this book. I have an
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affiliate link in the description below.
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I do get a small commission, but it
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doesn't cost you any extra. For more
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updates on space, science, and
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technology, make sure to like and
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subscribe. And remember, keep asking
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questions. I'll see you on the next
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video.