VOA慢速英语2012 Technology Report - New Research Hopes to Speed Development of HIV Vaccine（在线收听）

Technology Report - New Research Hopes to Speed Development of HIV Vaccine

科技报道 - 新研究有望加速HIV疫苗开发

This is the VOA Special English Technology Report.

这里是美国之音慢速英语科技报道。

A team of scientists in the United States has created a new type of mouse that has an immune system similar to that of humans. The scientists hope their research with these mice will speed up development of a vaccine to prevent human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV.

美国一组科学家研究出一种有着与人类免疫系统类似的新型鼠种。科学家希望他们研究的这些小鼠能加快人类免疫缺陷病毒疫苗或HIV疫苗的开发。

Scientists from the Ragon Institute of Massachusetts General Hospital, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard are carrying out the new research.

来自麻省综合医院拉根研究所，麻省理工大学和哈佛大学的科学家正在开展这项新研究。

Earlier research has shown that certain individuals with HIV have immune systems that do better at controlling the AIDS virus. These individuals are commonly known as “elite controllers.” They often live longer with the virus and have fewer problems early on.

此前的研究表明，某些艾滋病人具备可以更好地控制艾滋病毒的免疫系统。这些人被称为“精英控制器”。他们往往感染病毒后能比同类感染者活的更长，而且在前期很少发病。

Todd Allen is one of the lead writers of the new study, which was published in Science Translational Medicine.

托德·艾伦（Todd Allen）是该项新研究的主要编写人之一，该项新研究发表在《科学转化医学》（Science Translational Medicine）杂志上。

TODD ALLEN: “Some people are able to control HIV very well, to very low copies. And what we know is that they express a certain type of host genetics that dictate that they target very critical regions of the virus.”

艾伦：“有些人能够将艾滋病毒控制的非常好，人数极少，而我们所知道的是，他们表现出的宿主基因是一种特定类型，这类宿主基因对付非常关键的病毒领域。”

By using the new experimental mice, the researchers hope to learn what it is about the immune systems of these “elite controllers” that causes them to deal with the HIV virus better than others.

通过新的实验小鼠，研究人员希望了解让这些“精英控制器”比其他艾滋病人更好地应对HIV病毒的免疫系统是什么。

The “humanized” mice were created using stem cells and tissues from human donors. Some of this tissue was taken from liver and thymus tissue. The thymus is a large gland at the bottom of the throat. It trains T-lymphocytes, or T-cells to attack unwelcome microbes, thereby protecting the body from infection.

“人化”小鼠是利用捐献者的干细胞和组织创建的。该组织有些是取于肝脏和胸腺，胸腺是位于喉咙底部的一块大的腺体。它培养T淋巴细胞或T细胞来抵抗细菌，从而保护人体免受感染。

When the scientists infected the so-called “humanized” mice with the HIV virus, the T-cell reaction in the mice was the exact same as that of humans.

当科学家将所谓的“人化”小鼠感染上HIV，小鼠体内的T细胞反应与人类完全相同。

Earlier research using rhesus monkeys helped scientists understand how the virus attacks cells. These monkeys were seen as good replacements for humans because they could be easily infected with a primate version of HIV, known as SIV.

早期研究用恒河猴帮助科学家了解病毒如何攻击细胞。这些猴子被视为人类的良好替代品，因为他们可以很容易感染灵长类HIV，称之为SIV。

However, genetic differences in the two versions of the virus and the immune systems suggested that the monkeys were not the best candidates for HIV research.

然而，病毒和免疫系统两个类型的基因差异表明，猴子不是HIV研究的最佳选择。

Todd Allen says the experiments with the new “humanized” mouse more correctly reflected what happens in humans with the AIDs virus.

艾伦说，新的“人化”小鼠实验，对感染艾滋病毒的人体内发生的情况更准确地做出反映。

TODD ALLEN: “So it allows us to take all the discoveries we’ve had in studying individuals infected with HIV in the different immune responses and host genetics that correlate with a better outcome, and translate that now into an animal model where we can actually further manipulate that to understand exactly how these individuals are doing that.”

艾伦：“因此，我们发现，在研究感染HIV的人，在不同的免疫反应中和宿主基因上的疑惑，都迎刃而解，而且现在转化到动物模型中，我们可以进一步操作，以准确了解究竟这些人的免疫体统是怎样运作的。”

Mr. Allen and the other researchers hope further studies with the “humanized” mouse will lead to an HIV vaccine.

艾伦和其他研究人员希望，对“人化”小鼠的进一步研究可以开发出HIV疫苗。

And that's the VOA Special English Technology Report, Jessica Berman and June Simms, contributing. I'm Steve Ember.