美国国家公共电台 NPR--Growing up during the pandemic: What does that mean for kids' microbes?

Growing up during the pandemic: What does that mean for kids' microbes?

Transcript¹

Studies are under way to determine how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the development of babies and young children — and in particular their microbiomes.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

What will growing up during the pandemic mean for kids and for the microbes in their bodies that help protect them? Here's NPR's Julie Depenbrock.

JULIE DEPENBROCK, BYLINE²: Studies are already underway to try to figure out how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected³ the development of babies and young children. Some researchers are looking specifically at changes to children's microbiomes.

KATHERINE WU: So the microbiome is the collective community of microbes that lives inside and on top of our bodies.

DEPENBROCK: That's Katherine Wu. She has a Ph.D. in microbiology. She's also a staff writer for The Atlantic.

WU: It's kind of amazing to think about. The microbial cells in our persons actually outnumbers the human cells. They are basically everywhere. And they help us do all sorts of things from digestion⁴ to calibrating⁵ our immune system to even helping⁶ our brains develop and function properly.

DEPENBROCK: The first few years of life are pivotal to the formation of our microbiomes. And the pandemic may be changing that important process.

WU: Any disruptions in that sort of sensitive period early on, really in the first three-ish years of a kid's life, it's a pretty crucial period.

DEPENBROCK: But microbiologists don't yet have a full understanding of exactly what can disrupt the formation of a microbiome and of what disruptions matter for future health.

MARIA GLORIA DOMINGUEZ-BELLO: Maria Gloria Dominguez-Bello. I'm a professor of microbiology at Rutgers University.

DEPENBROCK: Dominguez-Bello says it's not just about coming in contact with viruses and bacteria.

DOMINGUEZ-BELLO: We more and more are confirming that things like stress, psychological stress, can affect the microbiome and vice⁷ versa.

DEPENBROCK: And Wu says there are any number of things that could affect a child's microbiome.

WU: Could it even be infections from this particular coronavirus? Could it be something about big socioeconomic changes that happened during the pandemic? So many things have changed.

DEPENBROCK: Even if scientists are pretty sure the pandemic has affected microbiome formation, they're a long way from understanding what that'll mean for kids who are growing up in the COVID era.

WU: It's going to be a really tricky⁸ thing to answer. But it's probably good that people are paying attention to it because we're still trying to figure out what sort of early life interruptions can impact how the microbes in our bodies really function.

DEPENBROCK: Are changes in microbiome formation since the pandemic started necessarily a bad thing? Wu says that's also going to be tricky to answer.

WU: Scientists don't actually know if some of those behavioral changes - like frequent sanitizing, frequent distancing, all that stuff - they don't know if it had any really calculable impact at all. It could even be a net positive, as some scientists pointed⁹ out.

DEPENBROCK: And regardless of what future research shows about how pandemic behavior changes altered microbiomes...

WU: None of this discussion is an indictment¹⁰ of the behavioral changes that people undertook, you know? It was so important to mask. It was so important to reduce the spread of this new coronavirus.

DEPENBROCK: Wu says there's no one perfect way to build a microbiome. And things like personal hygiene¹¹ and getting outside, which a lot of people prioritized during the pandemic, can only serve to enrich the health of kids in the long term.

For NPR News, I'm Julie Depenbrock.

(SOUNDBITE OF EL TEN ELEVEN'S "FANSHAWE, PT 2")

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

4 digestion   

n.消化，吸收

参考例句：

• This kind of tea acts as an aid to digestion.这种茶可助消化。
• This food is easy of digestion.这食物容易消化。

5 calibrating   

v.校准( calibrate的现在分词 )；使标准化；使合标准；测量（枪的）口径

参考例句：

• The value of the threshold strain is determined by calibrating the coating. 阈值应变的数值是靠对涂层进行标定测出来的。 来自辞典例句
• Dewpoint hygrometers provide an absolute measurement of humidity and therefore are essentially self-calibrating. 露点湿度计可提供湿度的绝对量测值，因此它基本上是自动标定的。 来自辞典例句

6 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

7 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

8 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

9 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

10 indictment   

n.起诉；诉状

参考例句：

• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。
• They issued an indictment against them.他们起诉了他们。

11 hygiene   

n.健康法，卫生学 （a.hygienic）

参考例句：

• Their course of study includes elementary hygiene and medical theory.他们的课程包括基础卫生学和医疗知识。
• He's going to give us a lecture on public hygiene.他要给我们作关于公共卫生方面的报告。