科学美国人60秒 SSS 2014-09-15_在线英语听力室

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Sepsis is a potentially deadly inflammatory condition caused by infections. Muppet creator Jim Henson was a famous victim. Proper treatment of sepsis can require knowing what bacteria or virus caused the infection. But the identification can take days, and by that time it’s often too late. Some eight million people die of sepsis annually¹ worldwide.

Now, scientists at Harvard’s Wyss Institute of Biologically Inspired Engineering have come up with a device that cleans blood—without a need to diagnose the infectious agent. What’s being called the bio-spleen seems to work even for antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

In the device, blood is cycled outside the patient’s body and gets filtered through microfluidic channels. The channels nanoscale-sized magnetic beads² attached to an immune system protein. The protein naturally latches³ onto bacteria, fungi⁴, viruses, and toxins⁵.

Then magnets pull the magnetic beads out of the blood, taking the attached pathogens and toxins along for the ride. The cleansed⁶ blood then flows back into the patient.

The researchers tested the system on human blood, and then on infected rats. In the trial, 90 percent of the treated rats recovered. Only 14 percent of the controls survived. The research is in the journal Nature Medicine.

The scientists hope to quickly scale up to human trials and ultimately develop a version that could find a place in the emergency room armamentarium.

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收听单词发音

1 annually
adv.一年一次，每年
参考例句：
Many migratory birds visit this lake annually.许多候鸟每年到这个湖上作短期逗留。 They celebrate their wedding anniversary annually.他们每年庆祝一番结婚纪念日。

2 beads
n.（空心）小珠子( bead的名词复数 )；水珠；珠子项链
参考例句：
a necklace of wooden beads 一条木珠项链 Beads of perspiration stood out on his forehead. 他的前额上挂着汗珠。

3 latches
n.（门窗的）门闩( latch的名词复数 )；碰锁v.理解( latch的第三人称单数 )；纠缠；用碰锁锁上（门等）；附着（在某物上）
参考例句：
The virus latches onto the red blood cells. 这种病毒附着在红细胞上。来自《简明英汉词典》 The opposite end latches onto the pathogen. 相对的一端锁在病原体上。来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 预防生物武器

4 fungi
n.真菌，霉菌
参考例句：
Students practice to apply the study of genetics to multicellular plants and fungi.学生们练习把基因学应用到多细胞植物和真菌中。 The lawn was covered with fungi.草地上到处都是蘑菇。

5 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》

6 cleansed
弄干净，清洗( cleanse的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
The nurse cleansed the wound before stitching it. 护士先把伤口弄干净后才把它缝合。 The notorious Hell Row was burned down in a fire, and much dirt was cleansed away. 臭名远场的阎王路已在一场大火中化为乌有，许多焦土灰烬被清除一空。

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科学美国人60秒 SSS 2014-09-15