TED演讲:和老年痴呆症说再见(5)

 　　Even before scientists sort this out, this information is actually really good news for us, 即使科学家还尚未解决问题，这一好消息确实振奋人心，

　　because it turns out that the way we live can influence the accumulation of amyloid plaques¹. 因为这证明了我们的生活方式可以影响淀粉样斑块的积累。

　　And so there are things we can do to keep us from reaching that tipping point. 我们可以做许多小事来避免达到临界点。

　　Let's picture your risk of Alzheimer's as a see-saw scale. 不妨把患老年痴呆的风险比作天平。

　　We're going to pile risk factors on one arm, and when that arm hits the floor, you are symptomatic and diagnosed with Alzheimer's. 把可能增加风险的因素放在一端，如果一端触到地面，那么你将患病。并被诊断为老年痴呆。

　　Let's imagine you're 50 years old. 假设你已五十岁。

　　You're not a spring chicken anymore, so you've accumulated some amyloid plaques with age. Your scale is tipped a little bit. 你已不再年轻，随年岁增长你已积累了部分淀粉样斑块。你的天平已经微微倾斜。

　　Now let's look at your DNA². We've all inherited our genes⁴ from our moms and our dads. 现在观察一下你的DNA。我们的基因全部遗传自我们的父母。

　　Some of these genes will increase our risk and some will decrease it. 一些基因会增加风险，还有一些会降低风险。

　　If you're like Alice in "Still Alice," you've inherited a rare genetic⁵ mutation⁶ that cranks out amyloid beta, 如果你像《依然爱丽丝》中的爱丽丝一样，你遗传的一种罕见的基因突变，粗制滥造着β淀粉样蛋白，

　　and this alone will tip your scale arm to the ground. 单单这一点就会使你的天平一端着地。

　　But for most of us, the genes we inherit will only tip the arm a bit. 不过对于大多数人而言，该基因只会使天平稍稍倾斜。

　　For example, APOE4 is a gene³ variant⁷ that increases amyloid, 举个例子，APOE4是一种增加淀粉样蛋白的变异基因，

　　but you can inherit a copy of APOE4 from mom and dad and still never get Alzheimer's, 你可能会从父母那里遗传一份APOE4的基因，不过却不会患上老年痴呆，

　　which means that for most of us, our DNA alone does not determine whether we get Alzheimer's. 这也就意味着对大多数人而言，我们的DNA并不是决定老年痴呆的唯一要素。

　　So what does? We can't do anything about getting older or the genes we've inherited. 那么什么决定呢？我们对于衰老无能为力，也无法决定我们遗传的基因。

　　So far, we haven't changed our brain's destiny. 到现在我们还没有改变我们大脑的宿命。

1 plaques   

（纪念性的）匾牌( plaque的名词复数 )； 纪念匾； 牙斑； 空斑

参考例句：

• Primary plaques were detectable in 16 to 20 hours. 在16到20小时内可查出原发溶斑。
• The gondoliers wore green and white livery and silver plaques on their chests. 船夫们穿着白绿两色的制服，胸前别着银质徽章。

2 DNA   

(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸

参考例句：

• DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。

3 gene   

n.遗传因子，基因

参考例句：

• A single gene may have many effects.单一基因可能具有很多种效应。
• The targeting of gene therapy has been paid close attention.其中基因治疗的靶向性是值得密切关注的问题之一。

4 genes   

n.基因( gene的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• You have good genes from your parents, so you should live a long time. 你从父母那儿获得优良的基因，所以能够活得很长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Differences will help to reveal the functions of the genes. 它们间的差异将会帮助我们揭开基因多种功能。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 生物技术的世纪

5 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

6 mutation   

n.变化，变异，转变

参考例句：

• People who have this mutation need less sleep than others.有这种突变的人需要的睡眠比其他人少。
• So far the discussion has centered entirely around mutation in the strict sense.到目前为止，严格来讲，讨论完全集中于围绕突变问题上。

7 variant   

adj.不同的，变异的；n.变体，异体

参考例句：

• We give professional suggestions according to variant tanning stages for each customer.我们针对每位顾客不同的日晒阶段，提供强度适合的晒黑建议。
• In a variant of this approach,the tests are data- driven.这个方法的一个变种，是数据驱动的测试。