Medicine from the Sea

Medicine from the Sea

 

By Kevin Krajick /

Originally appeared in Smithsonian,

May 2004. Reprinted by permission.

 

From slime to sponges, scientists are plumbing¹ the ocean’s depths in search of new medications to treat cancer, pain and other ailments²

 

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Sea slime, it turns out, is unusually adept³ at producing useful biochemicals. Over the past 30 years, researchers have extracted at least 20,000 new biochemical substances from marine⁴ plants and creatures. These compounds are tested as treatments for ailments such as chronic⁵ pain, asthma⁶ and various malignancies, including cancer. Dozens have reached clinical trials; a handful may soon be reviewed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for possible approval.

 

Looking on land

 

Botanists⁷ and chemists have long prospected⁹ in tropical forests and other terrestrial ecosystems¹⁰ for unusual substances to meet human needs. More than 100 important drugs originate either as direct extracts or synthetic¹¹ redesigns of plant molecules¹², including aspirin¹³ (from willow¹⁴ bark), the heart-stimulant drug digitalis (from the flowering herb foxglove), morphine (from opium¹⁵ poppies), and the antimalarial drug quinine (from the bark of the cinchona tree).

 

Looking in the sea

 

The work done over the years in medicinal botany has spurred marine bioprospecting. The world’s oceans, which may contain as many as 2 million undiscovered species, have remained largely untapped. Native plants and animals in difficult-to-reach locations, such as deep-sea hot vents¹⁶ and seabed sediments¹⁷, have hardly been documented. Yet the sea’s potential as a biochemical resource is becoming ever more apparent.

 

“Because we humans live on land, that’s where we’ve always looked,” says organic chemist William Fenical, of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in California. “But if you were to ask ... ‘Where should we explore?’ the answer would always be the sea. Now we’re there.”

 

The first marine drugs

 

Two antiviral drugs already on the market were inspired by marine product chemistry: Acyclovir, which treats herpes infections, and AZT, which fights the AIDS virus, HIV. Those drugs can be traced to chemical compounds that chemist Werner Bergmann isolated¹⁸ from a Caribbean sponge in the 1950s.

Vocabulary Focus

extract (v) [iks5trAkt] to remove or take out something

malignancy (n) [mE5li^nEnsi] a disease or a diseased growth that is likely to become uncontrollably worse and lead to death

antiviral (adj) [5Anti5vaiErEl] relating to a drug or treatment used to cure an infection or disease caused by a virus

 

Specialized¹⁹ Terms

biochemical (n) 生物化学物质 a chemical substance produced by living things

clinical trial (n) 临床实验 a carefully managed test of a new drug or medical device on human subjects

prospect⁸ (v) 勘探；勘察 to search for valuable substances on or under the surface of the earth

terrestrial (adj) 陆地的 on the land rather than in the sea or air

organic chemist (n) 有机化学家 a scientist who studies chemical substances that contain carbon, especially those produced by living organisms

herpes (n) 疱疹 an infectious disease that causes painful red spots to appear on the skin, especially on the lips or sexual organs

来自海洋的医病良药

张梵 译

 

从粘稠物到海绵，科学家正在探索海洋深处，寻找治疗癌症、疼痛及其他疾病的药物

 

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海底粘稠物质正被证实用于产出有益的生物制剂（过去30年来研究人员已从海洋植物及生物中，萃取出至少2万种新的生物化学物质，并针对这些化合物进行试验，以寻求慢性疼痛、哮喘及包括癌症等各种恶性疾病的治疗药物。几十种化合物已进入临床实验阶段，美国食品药物管理局也可能不久后开始审查其中一些化合物，并可能正式批准其使用。

 

在陆地上寻找   

长久以来，植物学家及化学家一直在勘探热带森林及其它各种陆上生态系统，以寻找稀有物质来满足人类需求。逾100种重要药物系从植物分子直接萃取或重新合成设计而来，包括阿司匹林（来自柳树皮）、强心药物毛地黄制剂（来自开花植物毛地黄）、吗啡（来自罂粟花）及抗疟疾药物奎宁（来自金鸡纳树皮）。

 

在深海里探索   

药用植物学历年的研究工作，带动了海洋生物勘探。全球各海域可能约有多达200万个物种尚未被发现，大部分的海域也尚未被探索利用。有些海洋原生动植物生长于深海热液喷口或海床沉积物等难以接近的地带，也几乎不被纳入文献记载。纵然如此，海洋成为生物化学资源的潜力，已日益明显。   

威廉·费尼卡是美国加州史格斯海洋学协会的有机化学家。他说：“由于人类居住在陆地上，我们过去一直在陆地上探索寻找。但你若问‘我们应该探索何处？’答案一定是海洋。我们现在已经深入海洋了。”

 

首批来自海洋的药品   

市面上两种抗病毒药品最初制造的灵感即来自海洋产物化学：“阿昔洛韦”可治疗疱疹感染，而AZT则可抑制艾滋病病毒 HIV。这些药物可追溯至沃纳·柏格曼于20世纪50年代从加勒比海海绵分离出的一些化合物。

1 plumbing   

n.水管装置；水暖工的工作；管道工程v.用铅锤测量（plumb的现在分词）；探究

参考例句：

• She spent her life plumbing the mysteries of the human psyche. 她毕生探索人类心灵的奥秘。
• They're going to have to put in new plumbing. 他们将需要安装新的水管。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 ailments   

疾病（尤指慢性病），不适( ailment的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His ailments include a mild heart attack and arthritis. 他患有轻度心脏病和关节炎。
• He hospitalizes patients for minor ailments. 他把只有小病的患者也送进医院。

3 adept   

adj.老练的，精通的

参考例句：

• When it comes to photography,I'm not an adept.要说照相，我不是内行。
• He was highly adept at avoiding trouble.他十分善于避开麻烦。

4 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

5 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

6 asthma   

n.气喘病，哮喘病

参考例句：

• I think he's having an asthma attack.我想他现在是哮喘病发作了。
• Its presence in allergic asthma is well known.它在过敏性气喘中的存在是大家很熟悉的。

7 botanists   

n.植物学家，研究植物的人( botanist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Botanists had some difficulty categorizing the newly found plant. 植物学家们不大容易确定这种新发现的植物的种类。 来自辞典例句
• Botanists refer this flower to the rose family. 植物学家将这花归入蔷薇科。 来自辞典例句

8 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

9 prospected   

vi.勘探（prospect的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The structural ceramics EDM processing is prospected and analysed with the mechanisms. 利用蚀除机理对加工过程进行了预测和分析。 来自互联网
• At last future developments of micron op let in microfluidic are prospected. 论文展望了微液滴的发展前景。 来自互联网

10 ecosystems   

n.生态系统( ecosystem的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There are highly sensitive and delicately balanced ecosystems in the forest. 森林里有高度敏感、灵敏平衡的各种生态系统。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Madagascar's ecosystems range from rainforest to semi-desert. 马达加斯加生态系统类型多样，从雨林到半荒漠等不一而足。 来自辞典例句

11 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。

12 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。

13 aspirin   

n.阿司匹林

参考例句：

• The aspirin seems to quiet the headache.阿司匹林似乎使头痛减轻了。
• She went into a chemist's and bought some aspirin.她进了一家药店，买了些阿司匹林。

14 willow   

n.柳树

参考例句：

• The river was sparsely lined with willow trees.河边疏疏落落有几棵柳树。
• The willow's shadow falls on the lake.垂柳的影子倒映在湖面上。

15 opium   

n.鸦片；adj.鸦片的

参考例句：

• That man gave her a dose of opium.那男人给了她一剂鸦片。
• Opium is classed under the head of narcotic.鸦片是归入麻醉剂一类的东西。

16 vents   

（气体、液体等进出的）孔、口( vent的名词复数 )； （鸟、鱼、爬行动物或小哺乳动物的）肛门； 大衣等的)衩口； 开衩

参考例句：

• He always vents his anger on the dog. 他总是拿狗出气。
• The Dandelion Patch is the least developed of the four active vents. “蒲公英区”在这四个活裂口中是发育最差的一个。

17 sediments   

沉淀物( sediment的名词复数 )； 沉积物

参考例句：

• When deposited, 70-80% of the volume of muddy sediments may be water. 泥质沉积物沉积后，体积的70-80％是水。
• Oligocene erosion had truncated the sediments draped over the dome. 覆盖于穹丘上的沉积岩为渐新世侵蚀所截削。

18 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

19 specialized   

adj.专门的，专业化的

参考例句：

• There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations.联合国有许多专门机构。
• These tools are very specialized.这些是专用工具。