新闻周刊:对抗耐药菌(8)

The idea of bacteria-proof clothing has so far survived a battery of tests. “We've exposed the treated fabric¹ to all kinds of bacteria over and over again, and we can't find any sticking to it,” she says. “We're still trying to figure out the mechanism², but we know it works with all different types of bacteria.” She has already collaborated³ with a major medical-supply company to prove that the nanocrystals can be cheaply incorporated into manufacturing processes. Now, she's investigating ways to get the crystals into a variety of other materials used in hospitals, including stainless⁴ steel, paint and plastics. These treated materials would stay bacteria-free much longer than conventional hospital surfaces that are wiped with common disinfectants, she says.

到目前为止，防细菌服装的理念经受住了一系列测试。“我们一次又一次地将处理过的织物暴露在各种细菌中，却没有发现任何粘附物，”她表示。“我们仍在试图找出其机理，但我们知道它适用于所有不同类型的细菌。”她已经与一家大型医疗供应公司合作，证明纳米晶体可以廉价地用于制造过程。现在，她正在研究如何将这种晶体植入医院使用的多种其他材料中，包括不锈钢、油漆和塑料。她说，与用普通消毒剂擦拭的传统医院表面相比，这些经过处理的材料不含细菌的时间要长得多。

Lasers are another potential weapon against bacteria. Mohamed Seleem, a Purdue University biologist, and his colleagues were trying to come up with a way to quickly identify infectious bacteria in blood samples by hitting the samples with laser light of different colors. Along the way, they noticed that certain drug-resistant⁵ bacteria changed color from gold to white just seconds after being hit with a mild beam of blue laser light. Some of these “photobleached” bugs⁶ died, and others became so weakened that they lost their resistance to ordinary antibiotics⁷. The blue light, it turned out, damages the pigment⁸ in the bacteria's outer membrane⁹. “It only affects a particular pigment,” says Seleem. “So it doesn't harm any other cells.”

激光是另一种对付细菌的潜在武器。普渡大学生物学家穆罕默德塞勒姆和他的同事们正试图找到一种方法，通过用不同颜色的激光照射血液样本，快速识别血液样本中的传染性细菌。在此过程中，他们注意到某些耐药细菌在被柔和的蓝色激光照射几秒钟后，颜色就从金色变成了白色。这些“光漂白”的细菌中，有些已经死亡，而另一些则变得虚弱，以至于对普通抗生素失去了抵抗力。事实证明，蓝光会破坏细菌外膜中的色素。“它只影响一种特殊的色素，”萨利姆说道。“所以它不会伤害任何其他细胞。”

Seleem and his collaborators are now working to find ways to tune¹⁰ the color of the laser light to target other resistant bugs. If he succeeds, health care workers would be able to use a laser the size of a flashlight to safely kill dangerous bacteria on patients' skin or disinfect a hospital or doctor's office. It could also be shined on the skin and clothing of health care workers themselves in order to keep them from spreading infections. His collaborators are working to set up clinical trials.

塞勒姆和他的同事们现在正在寻找调整激光颜色的方法，以瞄准其他具有抗药性的细菌。如果他成功了，医护人员将能够使用手电筒大小的激光安全地杀死病人皮肤上的危险细菌，或对医院或医生的办公室进行消毒。它也可以涂在医护人员自己的皮肤和衣服上，以防止传播感染。他的合作者正致力于建立临床试验。

Seleem also thinks the light could be used on severe, dangerously resistant blood infections, by hooking up a patient to a blood-circulating machine and shining it on the blood as it passes through. “You're basically taking out the patient's blood, sterilizing¹¹ it and returning it to the patient,” he says.

塞勒姆还认为，通过将病人与血液循环机器连接起来，并在血液通过时将其照射在血液上，这种光可以用于治疗严重的、具有危险耐药性的血液感染。“你基本上是把病人的血液取出来，消毒，然后还给病人，”他说。

1 fabric   

n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织

参考例句：

• The fabric will spot easily.这种织品很容易玷污。
• I don't like the pattern on the fabric.我不喜欢那块布料上的图案。

2 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。

3 collaborated   

合作( collaborate的过去式和过去分词 )； 勾结叛国

参考例句：

• We have collaborated on many projects over the years. 这些年来我们合作搞了许多项目。
• We have collaborated closely with the university on this project. 我们与大学在这个专案上紧密合作。

4 stainless   

adj.无瑕疵的，不锈的

参考例句：

• I have a set of stainless knives and forks.我有一套不锈钢刀叉。
• Before the recent political scandal,her reputation had been stainless.在最近的政治丑闻之前，她的名声是无懈可击的。

5 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。

6 bugs   

adj.疯狂的，发疯的n.窃听器( bug的名词复数 )；病菌；虫子；[计算机]（制作软件程序所产生的意料不到的）错误

参考例句：

• All programs have bugs and need endless refinement. 所有的程序都有漏洞，都需要不断改进。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The sacks of rice were swarming with bugs. 一袋袋的米里长满了虫子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 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。

8 pigment   

n.天然色素，干粉颜料

参考例句：

• The Romans used natural pigments on their fabrics and walls.古罗马人在织物和墙壁上使用天然颜料。
• Who thought he might know what the skin pigment phenomenon meant.他自认为可能知道皮肤色素出现这种现象到底是怎么回事。

9 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。

10 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。

11 sterilizing   

v.消毒( sterilize的现在分词 )；使无菌；使失去生育能力；使绝育

参考例句：

• The nurse is sterilizing the surgical instruments. 护士在把外科手术器具消毒。 来自辞典例句
• By testing, steam is the ble sterilizing method for herbal medicine. 这些方法难以保证药性，或有残留，要不然就是费用昂贵。 来自互联网