经济学人269:药物研究 毒类药品

 　　Science and technology

　　科学技术

　　Drug research

　　药物研究

　　Toxic¹ medicine

　　毒类药品

　　Snake venom² is being used to cure, rather than kill

　　蛇毒用于治病，不是杀伤

　　THERE are no poisons, only poisonous doses.Thus did Paracelsus, the greatest of the alchemists, encapsulate an important piece of medical wisdom.

　　曾经最伟大的炼金术士帕拉塞尔苏斯创立的一条重要的医学名言如是说：没有毒药，只有毒剂。

　　In fact, that is only half the story,

　　然而，这只说对了一半。

　　for many materials which are toxic at high doses, when used sparingly and directed at specific targets, are not merely harmless, but actually beneficial.

　　很多物质量大了以后就有毒性了。当计量后专用时，不仅无害，而且有益。

　　Plant poisons, from digitalis to curare, are routinely employed as drugs.

　　一些植物的汁液，都可用作常规药物。

　　And now it is the turn of animal toxins³, as researchers examine venoms⁴ secreted⁵ by snakes and lizards⁷, to see if they, too, might be turned into treatments.

　　而现在研究人员转向研究动物的毒液―蛇和蜥蜴分泌的毒汁，检验它们是否可用来治病。

　　Snake venom, collected from farmed reptiles⁹, has been used to make antisera for snake bites for decades by injecting it into mammals such as sheep and horses, and collecting the antibodies thus generated.

　　圈养的蛇可收集蛇毒。几十年来，人们一直用蛇毒制作抗血清4治疗毒蛇咬伤，还把它注射到绵羊和马这样哺乳动物体内，收取抗体。

　　Making drugs from the venom itself, however, is a fairly new idea.

　　虽然蛇毒制药是一个全新的概念，

　　But that is what Stefan Hailey of the University of Delaware and his colleagues hope to do.

　　但特拉华州大学的史蒂芬?哈利和他们同事希望如此。

　　In a paper published recently by Toxicon, they report how a protein called eristostatin, which can be extracted from the venom of the Asian sand viper¹⁰, helps people's immune systems fight malignant¹¹ melanoma.

　　最近，他们发表了一篇名为《毒素》的论文，介绍了从亚洲沙蝰的毒液中可以提取蛇毒蛋白质，这种蛋白质可激发人类免疫系统对抗恶性肿瘤。

　　Previous studies have shown that eristostatin stops melanoma cells colonising the liver and lungs in mice.

　　先前的研究发现蛇毒蛋白质能阻止黑色瘤细胞5在肝脏和肺的扩散。

　　Dr Hailey is trying to work out how this happens.

　　哈利正解密这一过程。

　　Eristostatin's day job is to stop victims' blood clotting¹² and thus plugging up damaged blood vessels¹³ after a bite.

　　蛇毒蛋白质的功效是人被蛇咬伤后防止血液凝固堵塞血管。

　　By increasing blood loss, it weakens victims.

　　受伤者失血过多，逐渐虚弱。

　　The molecule¹⁴ does this by glomming onto cellular¹⁵ fragments called platelets that are crucial to the process of clotting, thus disabling them.

　　抗凝分子能抑制血小板这种在血凝过程中起关键作用的细胞碎片，使其失效。

　　Dr Hailey hopes to make use of this tendency to encourage the immune system to attack melanoma cells.

　　哈利希望利用这种性质趋向激发免疫系统对抗黑色瘤细胞。

　　His idea requires eristostatin to be as attracted to cancer cells as it is to platelets.

　　他的理论需要蛇毒蛋白像抑制血小板那样吸引癌细胞。

　　Two observations suggest it could be.

　　两项研究结果证实了其可能性。

　　One is that eristostatin has a particular affinity¹⁶ for melanoma cells, which presumably have a protein on their surfaces that is similar to the one which attracts eristostatin to platelets.

　　一是蛇毒蛋白与黑素瘤细胞有一定的亲和性，黑素瘤细胞表面可能有一种蛋白质，类似于让蛇毒蛋白吸附血小板的蛋白。

　　The other observation is that when eristostatin is attached to a cell's surface it attracts the attention of T-lymphocytes.

　　另一项是蛇毒蛋白附于细胞表面时，可吸引T形淋巴细胞6。

　　These are immune-system cells whose job is to kill other body cells that have been infected with viruses, or which have turned cancerous.

　　这些免疫系统细胞能吞噬被细菌感染的细胞或是癌化细胞。

　　If melanoma cells could, in this way, be made especially attractive to T-lymphocytes, that might clear away the tumour¹⁷ completely.

　　假如能让黑素瘤细胞像这样吸引T形淋巴细胞，那么就可能完全消除肿瘤。

　　Dr Hailey and his colleagues used a technique called atomic-force microscopy to study the interactions between melanoma cancer cells and eristostatin.

　　哈利和其同事用原子力显微镜7技术研究黑素次瘤癌细胞与蛇毒蛋白的相互作用。

　　This technique allows the force required to pull the two apart to be measured precisely¹⁸, to see whether there is a genuine attraction—which he found that there is.

　　这种技术可以调节原子力把两者分开进行精确测量，看看是否真的存在吸引―经他证实是存在的。

　　If eristostatin does prove an effective means to treat cancer, it will join a growing stable of medicines derived¹⁹ from reptile⁸ toxins.

　　假如蛇毒蛋白真能有效地治疗癌症，就会把它归到不断扩大的蛇毒提取药类里。

　　Tirofiban, for instance, is a modified version of another anticoagulant—in this case from the venom of the African saw-scaled viper.

　　例如，欣维宁是从锯鳞8的毒液中提取的，是改良了的抗凝剂。

　　It is given to people with angina, and also to those who have had heart attacks.

　　欣维宁针对心绞痛患者以及心脏病患者。依泰德森是人工的唾液素4。

　　Exenatide is the synthetic²⁰ form of a hormone²¹ called exendin-4 that occurs naturally in the saliva²² of the Gila monster, a venomous North American lizard⁶.

　　自然状态下，存在于北美一种毒蜥―希拉毒蜥的唾液中。

　　It works as a treatment for type-2 diabetes²³ because it increases insulin production in those whose blood-sugar levels are high.

　　唾液素4可用于治疗2型糖尿病10，因为它能增高高血糖患者体内的胰岛素含量。

　　And captopril, a blood-vessel-relaxing agent widely used to treat hypertension, is based on teprotide, from Brazilian arrowhead vipers²⁴, which helps the other toxins in the venom circulate quickly, and thus reach their targets rapidly.

　　卡托普利11―血管放松剂，广泛用于治疗高血压。它由替普罗肽组成，从巴西箭头毒蛇12提取，能加速毒液中毒素循环，迅速到达患处。

　　The year of the snake

　　蛇年

　　There are other venom-based drugs in the pipeline²⁵, too.

　　还有其它蛇毒提取药物在研发。

　　Crotoxin, a protein from the South American rattlesnake, though not yet approved for use, may one day be employed to treat cancers.

　　响尾蛇蛋白是从南美响尾蛇中提取的一种蛋白质，虽然还没有证实临床效果，但有一天会用来治疗癌症。

　　Crotoxin seems particularly attracted to cancer cells.

　　响尾蛇蛋白表面看来特别能吸引癌细胞。

　　One portion of the molecule recognises a protein on the cell's membrane²⁶, and links to it.

　　响尾蛇蛋白分子的一部分能识别细胞膜，并依附其上。

　　The other portion damages the membrane, triggering a mechanism²⁷ called apoptosis which causes the cell to kill itself.

　　另一部分能破坏细胞膜，产生一种让细胞死亡13的机制。

　　Celtic Biotech, based in Dublin, is running a series of tests using this molecule on cancer patients at the Georges Pompidou European Hospital in Paris.

　　位于都柏林的凯尔特生物技术人员正进行一系列的实验，用这种分子来治疗巴黎皮蓬杜欧洲医院的癌症患者。

　　This year, Celtic plans to try it on people with several different sorts of cancer, since the firm's researchers believe it should be effective on all solid tumours²⁸.

　　今年他们计划对患有不同种癌症的患者进行治疗，因为公司的研究人员相信治疗固体肿瘤很有效果。

　　If those trials are successful, though, they then plan to concentrate on lung cancer, the largest market.

　　假如成功，他们就会专攻肺癌的治疗。

　　Perhaps the most astonishing toxin-derived drug of all, however, is hannalgesin, which is made from king-cobra venom.

　　这是从眼镜蛇王毒素中提取，可能是蛇毒提取药中最疗效最神奇的。

　　Kini Manjunatha of the National University of Singapore is developing this substance as a pain-relieving agent.

　　新加坡国大的齐尼教授正把这种物质研发成镇痛剂。

　　He claims it is between 20 and 200 times more effective than morphine.

　　他说作用是吗啡的20到200 多倍不等。

　　Moreover, unlike morphine, which is usually injected, hannalgesin can be taken by mouth.

　　再者，Hannalgesin不像吗啡通过注射，可口服。

　　He is planning to run the first clinical trials at the end of 2013 or in early 2014.

　　他计划于2013年底或2014年初进行首次临床试验。

　　Venom, then, is proving to be a trove²⁹ of useful molecules³⁰.

　　经证实毒素就是有用的分子的集合。

　　At a time when drug companies are struggling to develop new products,

　　让制药公司通过自然选择对原料进行验证，研发新药。

　　a novel source of raw materials that have been road-tested by natural selection, and merely need to be subverted³¹ from their original purposes rather than created afresh, must be welcome.

　　这个新方法肯定受欢迎，因为不需要创新，而只是转换了药性。

　　It is not turning base metals into gold, as Paracelsus and his kind once attempted.

　　这个过程并不是像帕拉塞尔苏斯这样的术士们把贱金属转换成黄金，

　　But as a transformation³² of matter, it is surely a far more valuable trick.

　　但从物质转换的角度来讲，一定是价值连成。

　　1.rather than 而不…，与其…倒不如

　　His film is propaganda rather than documentary.

　　说他的影片是政治宣传而不是纪录片。

　　He is an explorer rather than a sailor.

　　与其说他是一个海员，不如说他是一个探险者。

　　2.turn into 变成；译成；成为

　　Could all of this really turn into a full-fledged crisis?

　　所有这一切真的会变成一场完全的危机？

　　Could 2010 turn into 1994 or 2004 for the markets?

　　2010年的市场会变成1994或2004年的市场吗？

　　3.snake bite 蛇咬伤

　　Handle the occasional snake bite.

　　顶多只能处理个别的蛇咬伤。

　　Epidemiological investigation³³ of the poisonous snake bite around beijing area.

　　北京及周边地区毒蛇咬伤流行病学调查。

　　4.hope to 希望

　　Democrats³⁴ hope to finish the draft in a week.

　　民主党人士希望在一周内完成该草案。

　　I really hope to find my prince charming soon.

　　我真希望能早点找到我的白马王子。

1 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

2 venom   

n.毒液，恶毒，痛恨

参考例句：

• The snake injects the venom immediately after biting its prey.毒蛇咬住猎物之后马上注入毒液。
• In fact,some components of the venom may benefit human health.事实上，毒液的某些成分可能有益于人类健康。

3 toxins   

n.毒素( toxin的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The seas have been used as a receptacle for a range of industrial toxins. 海洋成了各种有毒工业废料的大容器。
• Most toxins are naturally excreted from the body. 大部分毒素被自然排出体外。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 venoms   

n.（某些蛇、蝎子等分泌的）毒液( venom的名词复数 )；愤恨的感情或语言；毒物

参考例句：

• Spider venoms are exquisitely refined to interfere with the nervous systems of insects. 蜘蛛的毒液非常微妙，专门损坏昆虫的神经系统。 来自百科语句
• Venoms (especially upgraded) are the ideal unit for taking out husks. 毒液（特别是升级后的）是消灭外壳的理想单位。 来自互联网

5 secreted   

v.（尤指动物或植物器官）分泌( secrete的过去式和过去分词 )；隐匿，隐藏

参考例句：

• Insulin is secreted by the pancreas. 胰岛素是胰腺分泌的。
• He secreted his winnings in a drawer. 他把赢来的钱藏在抽届里。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 lizard   

n.蜥蜴，壁虎

参考例句：

• A chameleon is a kind of lizard.变色龙是一种蜥蜴。
• The lizard darted out its tongue at the insect.蜥蜴伸出舌头去吃小昆虫。

7 lizards   

n.蜥蜴( lizard的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Nothing lives in Pompeii except crickets and beetles and lizards. 在庞培城里除了蟋蟀、甲壳虫和蜥蜴外，没有别的生物。 来自辞典例句
• Can lizards reproduce their tails? 蜥蜴的尾巴断了以后能再生吗？ 来自辞典例句

8 reptile   

n.爬行动物；两栖动物

参考例句：

• The frog is not a true reptile.青蛙并非真正的爬行动物。
• So you should not be surprised to see someone keep a reptile as a pet.所以，你不必惊奇有人养了一只爬行动物作为宠物。

9 reptiles   

n.爬行动物，爬虫( reptile的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Snakes and crocodiles are both reptiles. 蛇和鳄鱼都是爬行动物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Birds, reptiles and insects come from eggs. 鸟类、爬虫及昆虫是卵生的。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

10 viper   

n.毒蛇；危险的人

参考例句：

• Envy lucks at the bottom of the human heart a viper in its hole.嫉妒潜伏在人心底，如同毒蛇潜伏在穴中。
• Be careful of that viper;he is dangerous.小心那个阴险的人，他很危险。

11 malignant   

adj.恶性的，致命的；恶意的，恶毒的

参考例句：

• Alexander got a malignant slander.亚历山大受到恶意的诽谤。
• He started to his feet with a malignant glance at Winston.他爬了起来，不高兴地看了温斯顿一眼。

12 clotting   

v.凝固( clot的现在分词 )；烧结

参考例句：

• The study was also based only on the one anti-clotting drug. 所用抗血栓药物也仅限于一种。 来自互联网
• A plasma protein that is converted into thrombin during blood clotting. 凝血原酶一种血浆蛋白质，在血液凝聚时转化成凝血''。'酵'。''''。'素'。''。 来自互联网

13 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

14 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。

15 cellular   

adj.移动的；细胞的，由细胞组成的

参考例句：

• She has a cellular telephone in her car.她的汽车里有一部无线通讯电话机。
• Many people use cellular materials as sensitive elements in hygrometers.很多人用蜂窝状的材料作为测量温度的传感元件。

16 affinity   

n.亲和力，密切关系

参考例句：

• I felt a great affinity with the people of the Highlands.我被苏格兰高地人民深深地吸引。
• It's important that you share an affinity with your husband.和丈夫有共同的爱好是十分重要的。

17 tumour   

n.(tumor)(肿)瘤，肿块

参考例句：

• The surgeons operated on her for a tumour.外科医生为她施行了肿瘤切除手术。
• The tumour constricts the nerves.肿瘤压迫神经。

18 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

19 derived   

vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取

参考例句：

• Many English words are derived from Latin and Greek. 英语很多词源出于拉丁文和希腊文。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He derived his enthusiasm for literature from his father. 他对文学的爱好是受他父亲的影响。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 synthetic   

adj.合成的，人工的；综合的；n.人工制品

参考例句：

• We felt the salesman's synthetic friendliness.我们感觉到那位销售员的虚情假意。
• It's a synthetic diamond.这是人造钻石。

21 hormone   

n.荷尔蒙，激素，内分泌

参考例句：

• Hormone implants are used as growth boosters.激素植入物被用作生长辅助剂。
• This hormone interacts closely with other hormones in the body.这种荷尔蒙与体內其他荷尔蒙紧密地相互作用。

22 saliva   

n.唾液，口水

参考例句：

• He wiped a dribble of saliva from his chin.他擦掉了下巴上的几滴口水。
• Saliva dribbled from the baby's mouth.唾液从婴儿的嘴里流了出来。

23 diabetes   

n.糖尿病

参考例句：

• In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者，医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
• Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。

24 vipers   

n.蝰蛇( viper的名词复数 )；毒蛇；阴险恶毒的人；奸诈者

参考例句：

• The fangs of pit vipers are long, hollow tubes. 颊窝毒蛇的毒牙是长的空心管子。 来自辞典例句
• Vipers are distinguishable from other snakes by their markings. 根据蛇身上的斑纹就能把┹蛇同其他蛇类区别开来。 来自辞典例句

25 pipeline   

n.管道，管线

参考例句：

• The pipeline supplies Jordan with 15 per cent of its crude oil.该管道供给约旦15%的原油。
• A single pipeline serves all the houses with water.一条单管路给所有的房子供水。

26 membrane   

n.薄膜，膜皮，羊皮纸

参考例句：

• A vibrating membrane in the ear helps to convey sounds to the brain.耳膜的振动帮助声音传送到大脑。
• A plastic membrane serves as selective diffusion barrier.一层塑料薄膜起着选择性渗透屏障的作用。

27 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。

28 tumours   

肿瘤( tumour的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Blood vessels develop abnormally in cancer tumours. 在癌肿瘤中血管出现不正常。
• This apparatus scans patients' brains for tumours. 这台仪器扫描检查病人的脑瘤。

29 trove   

n.被发现的东西，收藏的东西

参考例句：

• He assembled a rich trove of Chinese porcelain.他收集了一批中国瓷器。
• The gallery is a treasure trove of medieval art.这个画廊是中世纪艺术的宝库。

30 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。

31 subverted   

v.颠覆，破坏（政治制度、宗教信仰等）( subvert的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某人）道德败坏或不忠

参考例句：

• Their wills could be subverted only by death. 只有死神才能使他们放弃他们的意志。 来自教父部分
• Indiana State laws deliberately subverted the intent of the constitutions 14th Amendment. 印第安纳州的法律有意歪曲联邦宪法第十四条修正案的愿意。 来自辞典例句

32 transformation   

n.变化；改造；转变

参考例句：

• Going to college brought about a dramatic transformation in her outlook.上大学使她的观念发生了巨大的变化。
• He was struggling to make the transformation from single man to responsible husband.他正在努力使自己由单身汉变为可靠的丈夫。

33 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

34 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》