2020年经济学人 免疫学—初绿萌芽(2)

In the second study, scientists led by Tao Dong, an immunologist at the Medical Research Council (MRC), in Britain, went hunting for T-cells.

在第二个研究中，由英国医学研究委员会（MRC）免疫学者Tao Dong带领的科学家团队在寻找T细胞。

These get less press than antibodies, but play an equally vital role in battling infections and securing long-term protection.

这些比抗体受到的关注少，但在对抗感染和获得长期保护方面发挥着同样重要的作用。

(Their importance is vividly¹ demonstrated by HIV, which targets and kills them.)

（HIV生动展现了它们的总要性，HIV的目标是找到并杀死它们。）

As described in Nature Immunology, the researchers compared blood samples from 28 mild

正如在《自然免疫学》中所述，研究人员对比了28名轻度

and 14 severely² ill covid-19 patients, as well as 16 healthy donors³.

和14名重症新冠患者以及16名健康捐献者的血液样本。

The paper describes a "robust⁴" T-cell response in infected people and, as with the Icelandic work,

该论文描述了感染人群中T细胞的“强劲”反应，以及和冰岛的研究一样，

different responses in those who developed mild and severe cases of the illness.

轻重病症患者的不同反应。

Specifically, mild cases were characterised by more CD8+ cells, which kill infected cells directly, rather than CD4+ ones,

具体来说，轻度病例的特征是更多的CD8+细胞，它们直接杀死感染细胞，而不是CD4+细胞，

which regulate the immune response more generally. The MRC study found T-cells that could recognise eight separate parts of the virus,

调节免疫反应的细胞。MRC研究发现，T细胞能够识别这种病毒的八个不同部分，

including the spike⁵ protein that allows it to penetrate⁶ human cells. That target list could offer useful hints for refining vaccines⁸ in future.

包括让其渗透人类细胞的纤突蛋白。这一目标清单可以为今后改进疫苗提供有用的线索。

Al Edwards, an immunologist turned biochemical engineer at the University of Reading (who was not involved with either paper), is cautiously optimistic.

从免疫学家转行为雷丁大学生化工程师的Al Edwards（他没有参与这两篇论文的撰写）对此持谨慎乐观态度。

The immune response to the disease seems to be working roughly as expected, he says.

免疫系统对这种疾病的反应似乎和预期的大致一样。

If that continues, then vaccines developed to trigger long-lasting immunity⁹ should work—at least in theory.

如果继续下去，那么研制出能够触发长期免疫的疫苗应该会起作用——至少在理论上是这样。

In practice, it is still too early to celebrate. Dr Edwards warns that immunology has never been a predictive science.

实际上，现在庆祝还为时过早。Edwards博士警告称免疫学从来就不是一门预测科学。

There is no test that can show definitively¹⁰ that a vaccine⁷ will work short of actually trying it in the real world.

没有任何测试可以明确表明，在缺乏现实尝试的情况下，疫苗能够发挥作用。

1 vividly   

adv.清楚地，鲜明地，生动地

参考例句：

• The speaker pictured the suffering of the poor vividly.演讲者很生动地描述了穷人的生活。
• The characters in the book are vividly presented.这本书里的人物写得栩栩如生。

2 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

3 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 robust   

adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的

参考例句：

• She is too tall and robust.她个子太高，身体太壮。
• China wants to keep growth robust to reduce poverty and avoid job losses,AP commented.美联社评论道，中国希望保持经济强势增长，以减少贫困和失业状况。

5 spike   

n.长钉，钉鞋；v.以大钉钉牢，使...失效

参考例句：

• The spike pierced the receipts and held them in order.那个钉子穿过那些收据并使之按顺序排列。
• They'll do anything to spike the guns of the opposition.他们会使出各种手段来挫败对手。

6 penetrate   

v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解

参考例句：

• Western ideas penetrate slowly through the East.西方观念逐渐传入东方。
• The sunshine could not penetrate where the trees were thickest.阳光不能透入树木最浓密的地方。

7 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

8 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。

9 immunity   

n.优惠；免除；豁免，豁免权

参考例句：

• The law gives public schools immunity from taxation.法律免除公立学校的纳税义务。
• He claims diplomatic immunity to avoid being arrested.他要求外交豁免以便避免被捕。

10 definitively   

adv.决定性地，最后地

参考例句：

• None of the three super-states could be definitively conquered even by the other two in combination. 三个超级国家中的任何一国都不可能被任何两国的联盟所绝对打败。 来自英汉文学
• Therefore, nothing can ever be definitively proved with a photograph. 因此，没有什么可以明确了一张照片。 来自互联网