PBS高端访谈:基因改造的老鼠是否可以减少莱姆病?

 　　But first: Lyme disease is on the rise. It's being spread by a growing tick population and has become a particular problem for the Massachusetts islands of Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard.

　　But an MIT scientist thinks he might have a long-term solution, and it comes from where you might least expect it.

　　From PBS station WGBH in Boston, Cristina Quinn reports.

　　On the island of Nantucket, people walk their dogs and runners weave their way down the trail of Ram¹ Pasture.

　　It's a popular spot, and it's easy to see why. Hundreds of acres of untouched conservation land surround the trails.

　　It's a peaceful setting where deer are often spotted² in the early hours grazing.

　　It's also lush territory for ticks.

　　If you're in an area like this, you want to stay on the beaten path to stay away from the tall grass.

　　Right now, it's a nice, cool day. We had rain last night. It's perfect tick questing season.

　　Roberto Santamaria would know. As director of the Health Department, he's familiar with the concerns of the community;

　　40 percent of Nantucket's 10,000 year-round residents have either had Lyme disease or are currently afflicted³.

　　It's become part of their daily life here. Every time you go out, you go to a pasture,

　　you go to a hike, you go to the beaches into the dunes⁴ even, you want to go home and do a tick check.

　　Tick checks are pretty arduous⁵, and they take a while, and even then, you don't even catch all the ticks. So it's a big burden.

　　The problem isn't unique to Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard.

　　A study last year from the Centers for Disease Control illustrates⁶ the spread of the tick population nationwide over the last two decades.

　　The northern part of the U.S. has seen a significant spike⁷. And MIT scientist Kevin Esvelt says the solution may start with one of the main culprits, mice.

　　Mice are a problem. You might say, what do mice have to do with Lyme disease?

　　Well, ticks aren't born infected. They get infected when they bite an infected host, which is usually a mouse.

　　The white-footed mouse, to be exact.

　　Scientists aren't sure why, but these Northeast natives are more susceptible⁸ to contracting Lyme disease than any other animal around here.

　　They are also abundant. Esvelt's solution? Genetically¹⁰ engineer them so that their immune response prevents them from being infected.

　　So, our idea is, well, how about we take mice that are naturally immune, identify the DNA¹¹ in their genomes that makes them immune,

　　and then take the best such elements and put them all into one engineered strain of mice?

　　He and his team would do this using gene⁹ editing technology. But to really make a difference, it's going to take a lot of mice.

　　So, we're talking maybe up to 100,000 mice on each island.

　　The idea is that when the genetically engineered mice mate with the native mice,

　　their offspring would also be immune to Lyme disease. Over time, this would reduce the prevalence of the disease.

　　But how do Nantucket residents feel about releasing 100,000 genetically engineered mice onto the island?

　　For longtime resident and town selectman, Jason Bridges, his initial reaction was one of disbelief.

　　It sounded like a bad sci-fi movie, and people kind of laughed.

　　But the more presentations that we have in front of the Board of Selectmen, articles in the newspaper, people like, oh, this is a really -- this is a real thing.

　　I think everyone is getting used to the idea. But the initial visceral reaction was, serious? Are you serious about that?

　　If all goes as planned, it will be seven years until these resistant¹² mice are released.

　　But the town is so serious, it has formed a steering¹³ committee to work closely with Esvelt on best practices.

　　Esvelt expects there will be opponents along the way, but he welcomes skepticism and says he thinks major scientific endeavors like this need to be as transparent¹⁴ as possible.

　　I'm particularly passionate¹⁵ about that, because I view this as an opportunity to work out how we, as a society, are going to handle these technologies.

　　I mean, we have certainly been able to engineer the environment before. It's just, we tend to do it with bulldozers or spraying lots of chemicals.

　　For the PBS NewsHour, I'm Cristina Quinn on Nantucket. undefined

1 ram   

(random access memory)随机存取存储器

参考例句：

• 512k RAM is recommended and 640k RAM is preferred.推荐配置为512K内存，640K内存则更佳。

2 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

3 afflicted   

使受痛苦，折磨( afflict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• About 40% of the country's population is afflicted with the disease. 全国40%左右的人口患有这种疾病。
• A terrible restlessness that was like to hunger afflicted Martin Eden. 一阵可怕的、跟饥饿差不多的不安情绪折磨着马丁·伊登。

4 dunes   

沙丘( dune的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The boy galloped over the dunes barefoot. 那男孩光着脚在沙丘间飞跑。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat. 将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。

5 arduous   

adj.艰苦的，费力的，陡峭的

参考例句：

• We must have patience in doing arduous work.我们做艰苦的工作要有耐性。
• The task was more arduous than he had calculated.这项任务比他所估计的要艰巨得多。

6 illustrates   

给…加插图( illustrate的第三人称单数 )； 说明； 表明； （用示例、图画等）说明

参考例句：

• This historical novel illustrates the breaking up of feudal society in microcosm. 这部历史小说是走向崩溃的封建社会的缩影。
• Alfred Adler, a famous doctor, had an experience which illustrates this. 阿尔弗莱德 - 阿德勒是一位著名的医生，他有过可以说明这点的经历。 来自中级百科部分

7 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。

8 susceptible   

adj.过敏的，敏感的；易动感情的，易受感动的

参考例句：

• Children are more susceptible than adults.孩子比成人易受感动。
• We are all susceptible to advertising.我们都易受广告的影响。

9 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。

10 genetically   

adv.遗传上

参考例句：

• All the bees in the colony are genetically related. 同一群体的蜜蜂都有亲缘关系。
• Genetically modified foods have already arrived on American dinner tables. 经基因改造加工过的食物已端上了美国人的餐桌。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 基因与食物

11 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。

12 resistant   

adj.(to)抵抗的，有抵抗力的

参考例句：

• Many pests are resistant to the insecticide.许多害虫对这种杀虫剂有抵抗力。
• They imposed their government by force on the resistant population.他们以武力把自己的统治强加在持反抗态度的人民头上。

13 steering   

n.操舵装置

参考例句：

• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration. 他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。
• Steering according to the wind, he also framed his words more amicably. 他真会看风使舵，口吻也马上变得温和了。

14 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

15 passionate   

adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的

参考例句：

• He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
• He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。