易患感冒原来是基因惹的祸

 　Tried everything and still got the flu this year? While some friends and colleagues always seem to avoid it. Well, they may have more than luck on their side. Scientists have discovered that however hard you try to avoid it; flu is in your genes¹。

　　A study on British volunteers shows that some people are genetically³ predisposed to stave off the illness, while others are struck down year after year。

　　Researchers inoculated⁴ 17 healthy people with the flu virus and monitored their progress for five days。

　　Of the sample, nine became ill and the rest showed no symptoms at all。

　　Using technology usually employed in satellite imaging, they examined the genes in the subjects’ blood samples every eight hours。

　　Those who became sick developed an acute inflammation on certain genes 36 hours before the symptoms set in. This "genetic² signature" was most marked in those who were suffering the worst。

　　Meanwhile, those who remained fine were found to have activated⁵ a totally different genetic signature。

　　The scientists interpreted this signature as an "anti-stress response" that showed their bodies were actively⁶ fighting off the virus. This discovery raises the possibility that experts could find a way to detect flu early, and take preventative action before the worst effects develop。

　　Professor Peter Openshaw, of the Centre for Respiratory Infection at Imperial College, said: "This is a very important science. It has very big implications for many infectious diseases, not only flu。

　　据英国《每日邮报》8月26日报道，今年你是否用尽一切办法却依然难以避免感冒？而你的一些朋友和同事却似乎从来不会得这种病。这不仅仅是运气问题，科学家发现，流感就在人的基因里，无论人们如何努力都避免不了。

　　在对英国一些志愿者进行的研究表明，一些人天生就不易感冒，而另外一些人则每年都会被流感侵袭。

　　研究人员给17位身体健康的人注射了流感病毒，并对他们接下来5天的病情进行了监测。

　　这些人中，有9人得了流感，其它人则完全没有感冒的症状。每8小时，研究人员就会利用卫星图像的技术检测被试者血液样本中的基因。

　　那些得了感冒的人在感冒症状显现的36小时之前，他们的某些特定基因就出现了急性炎症。病情越严重，这种“基因信号”体现的就越明显。

　　同时，(经过检测)那些未受流感影响的人，(研究人员)发现，这些人可以激活一种完全不同的基因信号。

　　科学家把这种信号解释为一种“抗压力反应”，表示人体正积极地与病毒做斗争。这一发现为专家提早检测到流感病毒、在病情恶化之前采取预防措施提供了可能。

　　英国帝国理工学院呼吸道感染病中心的彼得?奥本肖教授说：“这项科学发现非常重要。不仅对于流感，它对许多其他的传染性疾病都有重要的意义。”

1 genes   

n.基因( gene的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• You have good genes from your parents, so you should live a long time. 你从父母那儿获得优良的基因，所以能够活得很长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Differences will help to reveal the functions of the genes. 它们间的差异将会帮助我们揭开基因多种功能。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 生物技术的世纪

2 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

3 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

4 inoculated   

v.给…做预防注射( inoculate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• A pedigree pup should have been inoculated against serious diseases before it's sold. 纯种狗应该在出售前注射预防严重疾病的针。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Disease can be spread by dirty tools, insects, inoculated soil. 疾病也能由不干净的工具，昆虫，接种的土壤传播。 来自辞典例句

5 activated   

adj. 激活的 动词activate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The canister is filled with activated charcoal.蒸气回收罐中充满了活性炭。

6 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。