SCIENCE IN THE NEWS - Vaccine Against Cervical Cancer? / Stu

SCIENCE IN THE NEWS - Vaccine¹ Against Cervical Cancer? / Study Finds Women Over 50 Can Have Healthy
Babies / Scientists Try Different Ways to Make Spider Silk

Broadcast: December 17, 2002

((THEME))

VOICE ONE:

This is Sarah Long.

VOICE TWO:

And this is Bob Doughty² with Science in the News, a VOA Special English program about recent developments
in science. Today, we tell about a new vaccine that may prevent a kind of cancer. We tell about a study that says
older women can have healthy babies. And we tell about efforts to make silk by using genetic⁴ engineering.

((THEME))

VOICE ONE:

American scientists have developed the first vaccine that appears to prevent cancer of the cervix, the entrance to
the uterus. The vaccine works by protecting women from developing a virus infection that causes many cases of
cervical cancer.

A new study shows that this experimental vaccine can protect against a form of human papilloma virus, or H-P

V. This virus is called H-P-V Sixteen. The researchers reported that the vaccine proved one-hundred-percent
effective against H-P-V Sixteen. H-P-V Sixteen causes about half of all cervical cancers. The H-P-V virus is
spread during sex.
VOICE TWO:

The study results appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine. Scientists from Merck Research
Laboratories of West Point, Pennsylvania developed the vaccine. They carried out the study with researchers
from sixteen universities. More testing will be done to confirm the results. If the results are confirmed, it could
mean development of one of the first vaccines⁵ to prevent cancer.

The vaccine was tested on more than one-thousand-five-hundred young women. They were between the ages of
sixteen and twenty-five years old. About half of the women received three injections of the vaccine over six
months. None of these women developed H-P-V-Sixteen infections or pre-cancerous growths on their cervix. The
other women were injected with a harmless substance called a placebo⁶. Forty-one women in this group developed
H-P-V infections. Nine women developed abnormal cell growths on their cervix.

Researchers made the vaccine from a protein that forms on the outer part of the H-P-V Sixteen virus. This
vaccine causes the body to produce large amounts of antibodies that fight the virus. Scientists say the ability to
produce so many antibodies is unusual. Women receiving the vaccine showed about sixty times more antibodies
in their blood than women who got the H-P-V Sixteen virus.

VOICE ONE:

Infection with the human papilloma virus is very common. There are thirty different forms of this virus. Not all
cause cancer. Having the infection does not mean a woman will necessarily develop cervical cancer. This cancer
can take many years to develop.

Still, reducing the risk of cervical cancer is a major medical goal. Cervical cancer kills about two-hundred-fortythousand women in the world each year. Millions of American women have yearly tests for cervical cancer and


abnormal growths. So the number of deaths from this cancer in the United States is small. However, most of the
deaths from cervical cancer happen in developing countries where women are not tested for the disease. Cervical
cancer kills more women than any other cancer in developing nations. Experts say vaccination⁷ could be a good
way to prevent the disease in many parts of the world.

VOICE TWO:

Merck Research Laboratories says it is trying to produce an improved version of the vaccine. The National
Cancer Institute and a private company in Maryland also are working to produce a vaccine. Some experts
estimate that the general public may be able to get the vaccine by two-thousand-six.

Only one vaccine currently in use prevents cancer. It protects against hepatitis B, a virus that causes liver disease.
Infection with hepatitis B causes many cases of liver cancer in Asia and Africa. Experts say rates of hepatitis B
and liver cancer have dropped in areas with vaccination programs.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

An American study has shown that a woman’s age need not stop her from having a baby. It found that women
over the age of fifty can have healthy babies. However, older women’s bodies no longer release eggs, so they
must use eggs provided by younger women.The findings were published in the Journal of the American Medical
Association. The study is said to be the largest of its kind.

Scientists at the University of Southern California organized the study. They used a process called in-vitro
fertilization. It was developed for younger women who are unable to have children.

VOICE TWO:

During in-vitro fertilization, scientists combine a woman’s egg and male reproductive fluid in a laboratory dish.
Then, they place the fertilized⁸ egg in the woman’s uterus. There, the egg grows and develops into a fetus⁹.

The California scientists used in-vitro fertilization in seventy-seven women between the ages of fifty and sixty-
three. All of the women were in good health. They received eggs provided by younger women. Forty-two of the
older women had babies. For twenty-six of the women, it was their first child.

Richard Paulson led the study. He says the findings provide evidence that women over the age of fifty can
become pregnant. He said there is no medical reason for barring such women from attempting pregnancy¹⁰ only
because of their age.

VOICE ONE:

However, the study also showed that pregnancies¹¹ in older women often are linked with health problems. There
were no deaths among the mothers or their babies. Yet, many of the women experienced medical problems
during their pregnancy. For example, one-third of the women had high blood pressure. One-fifth developed the
disease diabetes¹². Most of the women had their babies delivered by an operation called a cesarean section.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Silk is a material made mainly by silkworms. It is stronger than steel even though it is very thin. Silk can stretch
more than many other materials without breaking. The most common use of silk is for cloth. However, scientists
are interested in the possible use of silk for industrial and medical purposes.

Spiders also produce strong silk. They use it to build traps to capture insects. The traps hang in the air in complex
designs called webs. Scientists consider some kinds of spider silk to be some of the strongest natural materials on
Earth. However, unlike silkworms, spiders cannot be grown in large numbers on farms. This is because they
attack and eat each other when put together. So it is almost impossible to get a large amount of spider silk
naturally.


VOICE ONE:

Researchers are trying different ways to make spider silk. David Kaplan uses bacteria and genetic engineering.
He works in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Tufts University in Medford,
Massachusetts. Mister Kaplan copies or clones a spider gene³ responsible for producing silk.

He puts the gene copy into a bacterium¹³ such as E. coli. The bacterium grows into large numbers of bacteria.
Later, small particles of silk are collected from the cells of the bacteria. Water is added to these particles and silk
material is made from the mixture.

VOICE TWO:

Mister Kaplan notes that so far only small amounts of silk can be made by this method. However, a company
called Nexia Biotechnologies says it can produce a lot more genetically¹⁴ engineered silk. The company is based in
Montreal, Canada. It is one of the world’s largest producers of manmade silk.

The head of Nexia, Jeffrey Turner, says his researchers put the spider gene for silk-making into goats. The milk
from these goats has silk proteins. Mister Turner says goats can produce a lot of silk because they grow and
reproduce quickly.

VOICE ONE:

The main question now is how to get silk of good quality from silk protein. Scientists agree that it is the way silk
worms and spiders combine or spin proteins that makes silk so strong. Researchers are trying to find ways to spin
genetically produced silk the same way spiders and silkworms spin natural silk. Successful results could lead to
stronger ropes, parachutes, and materials for use in medical operations.

((THEME))

VOICE TWO:

This SCIENCE IN THE NEWS program was written by Jerilyn Watson, George Grow and Doreen Baingana. It
was produced by George Grow. This is Bob Doughty.

VOICE ONE:

And this is Sarah Long. Join us again next week for more news about science in Special English on the Voice of
America.

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1 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

2 doughty   

adj.勇猛的，坚强的

参考例句：

• Most of successful men have the characteristics of contumacy and doughty.绝大多数成功人士都有共同的特质：脾气倔强，性格刚强。
• The doughty old man battled his illness with fierce determination.坚强的老人用巨大毅力与疾病作斗争。

3 gene   

n.遗传因子，基因

参考例句：

• A single gene may have many effects.单一基因可能具有很多种效应。
• The targeting of gene therapy has been paid close attention.其中基因治疗的靶向性是值得密切关注的问题之一。

4 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。

5 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。

6 placebo   

n.安慰剂；宽慰话

参考例句：

• The placebo has been found to work with a lot of different cases.人们已发现安慰剂能在很多不同的病例中发挥作用。
• The placebo effect refers to all the observable behaviors caused by placebo.安慰剂效应是指由安慰剂所引起的可观察的行为。

7 vaccination   

n.接种疫苗，种痘

参考例句：

• Vaccination is a preventive against smallpox.种痘是预防天花的方法。
• Doctors suggest getting a tetanus vaccination every ten years.医生建议每十年注射一次破伤风疫苗。

8 Fertilized   

v.施肥( fertilize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The study of psychology has recently been widely cross-fertilized by new discoveries in genetics. 心理学研究最近从遗传学的新发现中受益匪浅。
• Flowers are often fertilized by bees as they gather nectar. 花常在蜜蜂采蜜时受粉。

9 fetus   

n.胎，胎儿

参考例句：

• In the fetus,blood cells are formed in different sites at different ages.胎儿的血细胞在不同时期生成在不同的部位。
• No one knows why a fetus is not automatically rejected by the mother's immune system. 没有人知道为什么母亲的免疫系统不会自动排斥胎儿。

10 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

11 pregnancies   

怀孕，妊娠( pregnancy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Since the wartime population needed replenishment, pregnancies were a good sign. 最后一桩倒不失为好现象，战时人口正该补充。
• She's had three pregnancies in four years. 她在四年中怀孕叁次。

12 diabetes   

n.糖尿病

参考例句：

• In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者，医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
• Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。

13 bacterium   

n.(pl.)bacteria 细菌

参考例句：

• The bacterium possibly goes in the human body by the mouth.细菌可能通过口进入人体。
• A bacterium is identified as the cause for his duodenal ulcer.一种细菌被断定为造成他十二指肠溃疡的根源。

14 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