科学家利用昆虫致命毒液研制新药

Turning Deadly Insect Venom¹ into Drugs 科学家利用昆虫致命毒液研制新药

There are many secrets yet to be discovered in the world of insects, especially the deadly ones. A group of scientists in Great Britain is trying to create a ‘chemical library’ of peptides contained in the venom of some deadly insects, hoping to find a powerful drug against drug-resistant² ‘superbugs’.

Many of the plastic living quarters of the 400 or so insects in the Venomtech laboratory bear the ominous³ skull⁴ and crossbones, meaning that their bite can be anything from painful to downright deadly.

Their venom contains hundreds of chemical components⁶, each with a different target and effect, and that makes them interesting to medical researchers, like Venomtech managing director Steven Trim.

“Some of them we found can kill bacteria, bacteria like E.Coli and staphylococcus, so very relevant at the moment where modern medicines are failing. And we're also finding venoms⁷ that are modifying and killing⁸ cancer cells,” said Trim.

Finding new ways to kill bacteria is vital since the excessive use of antibiotics⁹ has created some 'superbugs' like tuberculosis¹⁰ that have grown resistant to the medicines we've historically used against them.

Animal venom has already been used in medicines, but with about 100,000 different venomous animals in the world, there is much more to discover.

Trim says Venomtech researchers are trying to isolate¹¹ and catalogue those components, looking for the ones that could be turned into new drugs.

“The principle of Venomtech is separating venoms out into their component⁵ parts and targeting them to the right disease area. So this is the experience of the team in drug discovery of putting the right venom for the right drug target so we maximize the hits - and a hit is an interesting peptide that might make it to a drug,” said Trim.

The insects are well-fed in order to produce as much venom as possible, which is extracted in a way that doesn't harm the animal.

“We anaesthetize the invertebrates¹², just put them to sleep, it makes it safer for us because if they're immobile they can't bite us. But also it's better for the animals as well. And using a very tiny electrical stimulation¹³, just to contract the muscle and squeeze the gland¹⁴ we get a small amount of venom produced,” said Trim.

Components are separated through a two-phase process called high pressure liquid chromatography that yields about a hundred proteins per venom. Each protein contains between one and five different molecules¹⁵ that may someday be turned into powerful new drugs.

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 resistant   

adj.(to)抵抗的，有抵抗力的

参考例句：

• Many pests are resistant to the insecticide.许多害虫对这种杀虫剂有抵抗力。
• They imposed their government by force on the resistant population.他们以武力把自己的统治强加在持反抗态度的人民头上。

3 ominous   

adj.不祥的，不吉的，预兆的，预示的

参考例句：

• Those black clouds look ominous for our picnic.那些乌云对我们的野餐来说是个不祥之兆。
• There was an ominous silence at the other end of the phone.电话那头出现了不祥的沉默。

4 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。

5 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。

6 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。

7 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

8 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。

9 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。

10 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。

11 isolate   

vt.使孤立，隔离

参考例句：

• Do not isolate yourself from others.不要把自己孤立起来。
• We should never isolate ourselves from the masses.我们永远不能脱离群众。

12 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

13 stimulation   

n.刺激，激励，鼓舞

参考例句：

• The playgroup provides plenty of stimulation for the children.幼儿游戏组给孩子很多启发。
• You don't get any intellectual stimulation in this job.你不能从这份工作中获得任何智力启发。

14 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。

15 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。