TED演讲：细菌是怎样交流的(10)

 　　To finish I'll just show you the strategy. 最后，我只跟你们说一下战略。

　　And this one I'm just using the interspecies molecule¹, but the logic² is exactly the same. 在这里，我们只是使用跨菌种分子，但是思维逻辑是一模一样的。

　　So what you know is that when that bacterium³ gets into the animal, in this case, a mouse, it doesn't initiate⁴ virulence⁵ right away. 你们都知道，当细菌进入动物体内，以此为例，对这只老鼠，它并不会马上启动致病机制。

　　It gets in, it starts growing, it starts secreting⁶ its quorum⁷ sensing molecules⁸. 它进入，开始增殖，开始分泌它的聚量感应分子。

　　It recognizes when it has enough bacteria that now they're going to launch their attack, and the animal dies. 当累积到足够数量时，细菌能识别，并开始发起攻击，然后老鼠就死了。

　　And so what we've been able to do is to give these virulent⁹ infections, 我们所做的是在致病感染的同时，

　　but we give them in conjunction with our anti-quorum sensing molecules 加入我们的“反聚量感应分子”，

　　so these are molecules that look kind of like the real thing, but they're a little bit different which I've depicted¹⁰ on this slide. 也就是看起来很像真的“聚量感应分子”的物质，但是，正如同我在幻灯上指出的，它们之间有一点点不同。

　　And what we now know is that if we treat the animal with a pathogenic bacterium -- a multi-drug-resistant pathogenic bacterium 我们现在发现，如果让实验动物感染一种具有多重耐药性的致病细菌，

　　in the same time we give our anti-quorum sensing molecule, in fact, the animal lives. 但是同时，我们施予“反聚量感应分子”治疗，动物就能够存活。

　　And so we think that this is the next generation of antibiotics¹² and it's going to get us around, at least initially¹³, this big problem of resistance. 我们认为这应该是下一代的抗生素，它将能够让我们，至少在开始阶段，解决耐药性细菌的问题。

　　So what I hope you think, is that bacteria can talk to each other, they use chemicals as their words, 我希望你们也能认为，细菌可以彼此交谈，它们使用化学物质当作语言，

　　they have an incredibly complicated chemical lexicon¹⁴ that we're just now starting to learn about. 它们拥有极端复杂的化学语汇，我们现在才刚刚要开始学习这些语汇。

　　And of course what that allows bacteria to do is to be multicellular. 当然，也因为这些语汇，使细菌得以变得像多细胞生物。

　　Right? And so in the spirit of TED¹¹ they're doing things together because it makes a difference. 所以，就像TED的精神一样，它们彼此合作，因为这样才能有一番作为。

　　Right? So what happens is that bacteria have these collective behaviors 细菌因为有这些集体行为，

　　and they can carry out tasks that they could never accomplish if they simply acted as individuals. 所以可以执行一些如果是单枪匹马是永远无法完成的任务。

1 molecule   

n.分子，克分子

参考例句：

• A molecule of water is made up of two atoms of hygrogen and one atom of oxygen.一个水分子是由P妈̬f婘̬ 妈̬成的。
• This gives us the structural formula of the molecule.这种方式给出了分子的结构式。

2 logic   

n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性

参考例句：

• What sort of logic is that?这是什么逻辑？
• I don't follow the logic of your argument.我不明白你的论点逻辑性何在。

3 bacterium   

n.(pl.)bacteria 细菌

参考例句：

• The bacterium possibly goes in the human body by the mouth.细菌可能通过口进入人体。
• A bacterium is identified as the cause for his duodenal ulcer.一种细菌被断定为造成他十二指肠溃疡的根源。

4 initiate   

vt.开始，创始，发动；启蒙，使入门；引入

参考例句：

• A language teacher should initiate pupils into the elements of grammar.语言老师应该把基本语法教给学生。
• They wanted to initiate a discussion on economics.他们想启动一次经济学讨论。

5 virulence   

n.毒力，毒性；病毒性；致病力

参考例句：

• The virulence of the café owner's anger had appalled her.咖啡店老板怒气冲天，充满敌意，把她吓坏了。
• Medical authorities were baffled,both as to its causes and its virulence.医疗当局对其病因及有多致命都还不甚了解。

6 secreting   

v.（尤指动物或植物器官）分泌( secrete的现在分词 )；隐匿，隐藏

参考例句：

• It is also an endocrine gland secreting at least two important hormones. 它也是一种内分泌腺，至少分泌二种重要的激素。 来自辞典例句
• And some calcite-secreting organisms also add magnesium to the mix. 有些分泌方解石的生物，会在分泌物中加入镁。 来自互联网

7 quorum   

n.法定人数

参考例句：

• The meeting is adjourned since there is no quorum.因为没有法定人数会议休会。
• Three members shall constitute a quorum.三名成员可组成法定人数。

8 molecules   

分子( molecule的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The structure of molecules can be seen under an electron microscope. 分子的结构可在电子显微镜下观察到。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules. 在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。

9 virulent   

adj.有毒的，有恶意的，充满敌意的

参考例句：

• She is very virulent about her former employer.她对她过去的老板恨之入骨。
• I stood up for her despite the virulent criticism.尽管她遭到恶毒的批评，我还是维护她。

10 depicted   

描绘，描画( depict的过去式和过去分词 )； 描述

参考例句：

• Other animals were depicted on the periphery of the group. 其他动物在群像的外围加以修饰。
• They depicted the thrilling situation to us in great detail. 他们向我们详细地描述了那激动人心的场面。

11 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

12 antibiotics   

n.（用作复数）抗生素；（用作单数）抗生物质的研究；抗生素，抗菌素( antibiotic的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• the discovery of antibiotics in the 20th century 20世纪抗生素的发现
• The doctor gave me a prescription for antibiotics. 医生给我开了抗生素。

13 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

14 lexicon   

n.字典，专门词汇

参考例句：

• Chocolate equals sin in most people's lexicon.巧克力在大多数人的字典里等同于罪恶。
• Silent earthquakes are only just beginning to enter the public lexicon.无声地震才刚开始要成为众所周知的语汇。