VOA慢速英语20116 实验室将致命毒虫液转换为药物

A Laboratory Turns Deadly Insect Venom¹ into Medicine 实验室将致命毒虫液转换为药物

To most of us, medicine comes from a drugstore. But originally, much of the medicine developed in the last century came from natural sources: plants, bacteria and fungi².

对大多数人来说，药物都来自于药店。但最初，上世纪的大部分药品都来自天然物质，如植物、细菌和真菌。

Now, a group of scientists in Great Britain are hoping to develop a medicine from poisonous insects.They are researching whether the deadly venom of some insects can work against bacteria that make people sick.

如今英国的一组科学家希望从毒虫中研制一种药物。他们在研究一些昆虫的致命毒液能否抵抗让人生病的细菌。

About 400 insects live in plastic containers in the Venomtech laboratory.Each container has an image of a skull³ and crossbones.The images warn that a bite from the insects inside can be anything from painful to downright deadly.

毒液科技实验室的塑料容器中有400多只昆虫。每一个容器上都贴有骷髅和交叉骨头的图片。该图片是警告人们，被里面的昆虫咬一口会非常痛苦，甚至直接致死。

The venom from these insects contains hundreds of chemical components⁵.Each component⁴ has a different target and effect.

这些昆虫的毒液中包含成百上千种化学成分。每种成分有不同的指标和效果。

Medical researchers, such as Venomtech managing director Steven Trim, separate the venom into its component parts.Then they create a library of those components, looking for the ones that could be turned into new drugs.

医学研究员，如毒液科技的总经理Steven Trim将毒液分离成各个成分。然后他们创建了一个成分资料库，寻找哪些成分可以转化为新的药物。

“Some of them we found actually can kill bacteria, and bacteria like E.Coli and staphylococcus, so they’re very relevant at the moment where modern medicines (are) failing. And we’re also finding venoms⁶ that are modifying and killing⁷ cancer cells.”

“我们发现，有一些成分确实可以杀死大肠杆菌、葡萄球菌等细菌，所以在现代药品失效的情况下，目前这些成分都非常重要。我们还发现有些毒液可以改变甚至杀死癌细胞。”

Finding new ways to kill bacteria is important to researchers.One reason is because people have used antibiotics⁸ so much that some bacteria can now resist it.

寻找杀死细菌的新方法对研究人员来说意义重大。一个原因是因为人们使用了太多的抗生素，致使一些细菌产生了抗药性。

For example, tuberculosis⁹ used to be curable with antibiotics.Now it is not.

例如之前可以用抗生素治疗肺结核。但如今这种方法已经失效了。

To get as much venom as possible, researchers feed the insects well, then put them to sleep temporarily.

为了获取尽可能多的毒液，研究人员仔细喂养这些昆虫，并让它们暂时沉睡。

Steven Trim of Venomtech says researchers anaesthetize the invertebrates¹⁰ to make removing the venom safer. After all, an immobile insect cannot bite.

毒液科技的Steven Trim说，研究人员麻醉这些无脊椎动物是为了保证提取毒液时的安全性。毕竟，不能活动的昆虫不会咬人。

Anaesthetizing the insect is better for the animals as well, says Trim.

麻醉这些昆虫对它们自身也有好处，Trim说道。

Researchers then electrically stimulate¹¹ the insect to contract the muscle and squeeze the gland¹².The pressure produces a small amount of venom.

之后研究人员用电刺激这些昆虫，使它们的肌肉收缩并挤压腺体。这些压力会产生少量的毒液。

Researchers separate the venom into hundreds of proteins.Each protein contains between one and five different molecules¹³.Someday, those tiny molecules might be turned into powerful new drugs.

研究人员将毒液分离为成百上千种蛋白质。每一种蛋白都含有1到5种不同的分子。某一天，这些微小的分子有可能转化为强有力的新型药物。

Words in This Story

venom – n. poison that is produced by an animal and used to kill or injure another animal

drug-resistant – n. the reduction in effectiveness of a drug

downright – adv. completely or totally

maximize – v. to increase something as much as possible

peptide n. a compound containing two or more amino acids in which the carboxyl group of one acid is linked to the group of other

anaesthetize v. – deprive of feeling or awareness¹⁴

immobile – adj. unable to move

gland – n. an organ in the body that makes a substance which is used by the body

1 venom   

n.毒液，恶毒，痛恨

参考例句：

• The snake injects the venom immediately after biting its prey.毒蛇咬住猎物之后马上注入毒液。
• In fact,some components of the venom may benefit human health.事实上，毒液的某些成分可能有益于人类健康。

2 fungi   

n.真菌，霉菌

参考例句：

• Students practice to apply the study of genetics to multicellular plants and fungi.学生们练习把基因学应用到多细胞植物和真菌中。
• The lawn was covered with fungi.草地上到处都是蘑菇。

3 skull   

n.头骨；颅骨

参考例句：

• The skull bones fuse between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five.头骨在15至25岁之间长合。
• He fell out of the window and cracked his skull.他从窗子摔了出去，跌裂了颅骨。

4 component   

n.组成部分，成分，元件；adj.组成的，合成的

参考例句：

• Each component is carefully checked before assembly.每个零件在装配前都经过仔细检查。
• Blade and handle are the component parts of a knife.刀身和刀柄是一把刀的组成部分。

5 components   

（机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分

参考例句：

• the components of a machine 机器部件
• Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。

6 venoms   

n.（某些蛇、蝎子等分泌的）毒液( venom的名词复数 )；愤恨的感情或语言；毒物

参考例句：

• Spider venoms are exquisitely refined to interfere with the nervous systems of insects. 蜘蛛的毒液非常微妙，专门损坏昆虫的神经系统。 来自百科语句
• Venoms (especially upgraded) are the ideal unit for taking out husks. 毒液（特别是升级后的）是消灭外壳的理想单位。 来自互联网

7 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

8 antibiotics   

n.（用作复数）抗生素；（用作单数）抗生物质的研究；抗生素，抗菌素( antibiotic的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• the discovery of antibiotics in the 20th century 20世纪抗生素的发现
• The doctor gave me a prescription for antibiotics. 医生给我开了抗生素。

9 tuberculosis   

n.结核病，肺结核

参考例句：

• People used to go to special health spring to recover from tuberculosis.人们常去温泉疗养胜地治疗肺结核。
• Tuberculosis is a curable disease.肺结核是一种可治愈的病。

10 invertebrates   

n.无脊椎动物( invertebrate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Insects and worms are all invertebrates. 昆虫和蠕虫都是无脊椎动物。 来自辞典例句
• In the earthworm and many other invertebrates, these excretory structures are called nephridia. 在蚯蚓和许多其它无脊椎动物中，这些排泄结构称为肾管。 来自辞典例句

11 stimulate   

vt.刺激，使兴奋；激励，使…振奋

参考例句：

• Your encouragement will stimulate me to further efforts.你的鼓励会激发我进一步努力。
• Success will stimulate the people for fresh efforts.成功能鼓舞人们去作新的努力。

12 gland   

n.腺体，(机)密封压盖，填料盖

参考例句：

• This is a snake's poison gland.这就是蛇的毒腺。
• Her mother has an underactive adrenal gland.她的母亲肾上腺机能不全。

13 molecules   

分子( molecule的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The structure of molecules can be seen under an electron microscope. 分子的结构可在电子显微镜下观察到。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules. 在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。

14 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。