英伦广角 蛇伤咬痕里的DNA有助于鉴定袭击者身份（在线收听）

Snakes still kill tens of thousands of people each year. Giving the antidote quickly can be the difference between life and death. But many bite victims cannot identify the species of their slithering assailants. Which leaves health care workers to make educated guesses about treatment.

每年仍有成千上万人死于毒蛇口下。能否迅速给予解毒剂是生死攸关的大问题。但很多被蛇咬伤的的受害者无法辨认袭击他们的蛇的种类。而这导致医护人员只能根据经验推测做出相应治疗。

\Now a first-of-its-kind study finds that it’s possible to analyze snake DNA left in the victim’s wound to identify the snake—and thus the correct antivenom. The preliminary findings were presented November 4th at the annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene in New Orleans. [Sanjib K. Sharma et al, Use of clinical predictors and molecular diagnosis to identify the species responsible for snakebite in rural Nepal]

目前一项史无前例的研究发现，通过分析毒蛇留在受害者伤口内的DNA可鉴定蛇的种类——从而进一步给出正确的抗蛇毒素。这项初步发现于11月4日在新奥尔良召开的美国热带医学与卫生学会上提出。【萨恩基·K·莎玛等：使用临床预测及分子诊断为尼泊尔农村地区被毒蛇咬伤者鉴定毒蛇种类】

Researchers collected samples from fang wounds from 749 people at three health centers in Nepal. They isolated snake DNA, sequenced it and compared it to sequences in a snake DNA database. Ultimately they managed to identify snakes responsible for 194 bites, 87 of which had harmful venom.

研究人员从尼泊尔3家卫生院的749名伤者身上提取了毒牙伤口样本。它们从中分离出DNA，为其排序，并与蛇类DNA数据库中的序列进行比较。最终他们成功鉴别出194名伤者被哪种蛇类所伤，而其中87种蛇带有毒液。

Such intricate genetic analysis is still not available in most settings, but could lead to speedier diagnostic methods for bite victims. The research team hopes to devise a fast test that would at least rule out certain common venomous snakes. The test would analyze DNA along bite marks and scan it for telltale signs of specific poisonous predators.

这种复杂的基因分析在大多数情况中仍是不可用的，但能为蛇伤受害者带来快速的诊断方法。研究小组希望能够设计出一个，至少能帮忙排除某些常见毒蛇的快速测试。这种测试可通过咬痕分析蛇的DNA，对其进行扫描以找到某些特定毒蛇的蛛丝马迹。