英伦广角 深吻传递千万细菌

 

A passionate¹ kiss shares much more than intimacy². A single 10-second smooch can transfer tens of millions of bacteria from one partner to the other. That’s the finding from a study in the journal Microbiome. [Remco Kort et al, Shaping the oral microbiota through intimate kissing]

一个激吻传递的可不仅是浓情蜜意。一个10秒长的吻会使情侣间传递数以千万计细菌。该研究结果出自《微生物》杂志的一项研究。【瑞姆科·柯尔特等：通过亲密接吻塑造口腔微生物区】

\More than 700 different bacteria are estimated to live in the human mouth. To find out how macking mixes microbes, Dutch scientists asked 21 couples to French kiss.

据估计人类口腔中生存着700多种不同的细菌。为查明激吻如何混合细菌，荷兰科学家要求21对情侣进行法式接吻。

Intimate partners already have more of the same bacteria in their mouths than do unrelated individuals, because of the couple’s shared habits and environment. But kissing really expedites the bacterial³ blending.

跟毫不相干的个体之间相比，亲密情侣的口腔内本就拥有更多相同的细菌。原因可能是情侣间拥有共同的生活习惯及环境。但接吻确实会加速细菌混合。

As part of the study, one member of the couple consumed a probiotic yogurt drink loaded with certain bacteria. Saliva⁴ samples and tongue swabs revealed that after the couples puckered⁵ up, about 80 million bacteria from the drink moved mouth to mouth.

作为研究的一部分，情侣中一人要食用益生菌酸奶从而获得特定的细菌。唾液样本及舌头化验样本显示，情侣在接吻后该酸奶中的8千万细菌通过嘴进行了“口口相传”。

The salivary⁶ bug⁷ exchange was extensive but the work does not yet tell us why certain swapped⁸ bacteria either stuck around or were more transient. Answering that question could help with future medical interventions⁹ aimed at microbes.

唾液细菌传播量非常大，但这项研究还不能表明为何某些交换来的细菌要么滞留要么更易消逝。解开了这个谜团，或许对未来我们研究针对微生物的医疗干预有所帮助。

What the research did show: although the bacteria in saliva were easily altered, bacteria living on tongues tended to stay put. Unlike certain frog-princes, those critters were less prone¹⁰ to change because of a mere¹¹ kiss.

那么此项研究表明了什么：尽管唾液中的细菌很容易改变，但舌头上的细菌却很稳定。这些小生物可不像青蛙王子，不会轻易的仅仅因为一个吻就改变。

1 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。

2 intimacy   

n.熟悉，亲密，密切关系，亲昵的言行

参考例句：

• His claims to an intimacy with the President are somewhat exaggerated.他声称自己与总统关系密切，这有点言过其实。
• I wish there were a rule book for intimacy.我希望能有个关于亲密的规则。

3 bacterial   

a.细菌的

参考例句：

• Bacterial reproduction is accelerated in weightless space. 在失重的空间，细菌繁殖加快了。
• Brain lesions can be caused by bacterial infections. 大脑损伤可能由细菌感染引起。

4 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。

5 puckered   

v.（使某物）起褶子或皱纹( pucker的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• His face puckered , and he was ready to cry. 他的脸一皱，像要哭了。
• His face puckered, the tears leapt from his eyes. 他皱着脸，眼泪夺眶而出。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 salivary   

adj. 唾液的

参考例句：

• Small doses depress salivary and bronchial secretion and sweating. 小剂量可抑制唾液分泌、支气管分泌及出汗。
• The five pairs of salivary glands open into the mouth. 有五对唾液腺通向口腔。

7 bug   

n.虫子；故障；窃听器；vt.纠缠；装窃听器

参考例句：

• There is a bug in the system.系统出了故障。
• The bird caught a bug on the fly.那鸟在飞行中捉住了一只昆虫。

8 swapped   

交换（工作）( swap的过去式和过去分词 )； 用…替换，把…换成，掉换（过来）

参考例句：

• I liked her coat and she liked mine, so we swapped. 我喜欢她的外套，她喜欢我的外套，于是我们就交换了。
• At half-time the manager swapped some of the players around. 经理在半场时把几名队员换下了场。

9 interventions   

n.介入，干涉，干预( intervention的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Economic analysis of government interventions deserves detailed discussion. 政府对经济的干预应该给予充分的论述。 来自辞典例句
• The judge's frequent interventions made a mockery of justice. 法官的屡屡干预是对正义的践踏。 来自互联网

10 prone   

adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的

参考例句：

• Some people are prone to jump to hasty conclusions.有些人往往作出轻率的结论。
• He is prone to lose his temper when people disagree with him.人家一不同意他的意见,他就发脾气。

11 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。