VOA常速英语2018--基因驱动技术或能根除蚊子

Mosquitoes spread malaria¹ that kills an estimated 429,000 people every year. Many of them are children, so this new method of killing² mosquito populations has sparked a huge interest. Scientists from Imperial College London managed to eliminate a population of breeding mosquitoes in a laboratory using a gene³ drive.

蚊子会传播疟疾，而据估测，疟疾每年都会导致42.9万人死亡，其中很多人都是孩子。所以，这个杀死蚊子的新方法激发了人们浓厚的兴趣。帝国理工学院的科学家设法在实验室里除掉了一窝正在繁育的蚊子，用的是基因驱动的方法。

Professor Andrea Crisanti co-led the research. The gene drive is, is a technical solution that allows a genetic⁴ qualification to be spread from few individuals to an entire population. That modification⁵ involved disrupting a gene that determines sexual differentiation⁶. So in this way, a genetic female, if you destroy this gene, cannot develop into a female but develop in something between a male and a female that we call intersex. These individuals cannot bite, so which is very good, cannot lay egg and so it cannot reproduce itself. That inability to reproduce spread across the mosquitoes and the entire population died off within eleven generations. The big question is whether that success can be replicated⁷ outside the laboratory.

安德里亚·克里桑蒂教授也牵头做了这项研究。基因驱动是一种技术方案，让遗传条件从少数蚊子传到所有蚊子身上。对基因做的改变包括扰乱基因，让基因无法进行性别的划分。这样的话，就算是雌性基因，只要受到了破坏，就无法发育为雌性，而是发育成介于雌性和雄性之间的物种，也就是我们所说的雌雄间性。这些蚊子咬不了人，这是一件好事，而且她们下不了蛋，也就不能繁殖了。这种无法繁殖的情况会在蚊子之间传播，这样，整个蚊子群体不出11代就会悉数灭亡。最大的问题是：实验室内的成功是否能在实验室外如法炮制。

We already done we moved this mosquito in large confined space which mimicked⁸ completely the tropical environments. Then after this is completed…this phase will also be crucial to gather a lot of information for regulatory purpose for simple about safety, stability, ability of the gene drive to move across the species. Scientists say reassuring⁹ the public about the safety of this powerful technique is paramount¹⁰. It’s hoped that gene drive can be tested in the wild within five to ten years. New tools in the fight against malaria are urgently needed. As the World Health Organization says, global progress against the disease is stalling.

我们已经炮制过了，我们将蚊子移到了宽敞的密闭空间中，仿照了热带环境。完成了这一步后……这个阶段也很关键，可以收集大量信息，可以用于常规用途，从而能让基因驱动以安全稳定的方式传播到整个物种当中。我们希望，基因驱动能在未来5-10年里在野外环境中得到测试。在对抗疟疾的战斗中，我们急需新的工具。正如世界卫生组织所指出的那样，全球对抗疟疾的进程依然毫无进展。

1 malaria   

n.疟疾

参考例句：

• He had frequent attacks of malaria.他常患疟疾。
• Malaria is a kind of serious malady.疟疾是一种严重的疾病。

2 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。

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 modification   

n.修改，改进，缓和，减轻

参考例句：

• The law,in its present form,is unjust;it needs modification.现行的法律是不公正的，它需要修改。
• The design requires considerable modification.这个设计需要作大的修改。

6 differentiation   

n.区别，区分

参考例句：

• There can be no differentiation without contrast. 有比较才有差别。
• The operation that is the inverse of differentiation is called integration. 与微分相反的运算叫做积分。

7 replicated   

复制( replicate的过去式和过去分词 )； 重复； 再造； 再生

参考例句：

• Later outplant the seedlings in a replicated permanent test plantation. 以后苗木出圃栽植成重复的永久性试验林。
• The phage has replicated and the donor cells have lysed. 噬菌体已复制和给体细胞已发生裂解。

8 mimicked   

v.（尤指为了逗乐而）模仿( mimic的过去式和过去分词 )；酷似

参考例句：

• He mimicked her upper-class accent. 他模仿她那上流社会的腔调。 来自辞典例句
• The boy mimicked his father's voice and set everyone off laughing. 男孩模仿他父亲的嗓音，使大家都大笑起来。 来自辞典例句

9 reassuring   

a.使人消除恐惧和疑虑的，使人放心的

参考例句：

• He gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. 他轻拍了一下她的肩膀让她放心。
• With a reassuring pat on her arm, he left. 他鼓励地拍了拍她的手臂就离开了。

10 paramount   

a.最重要的，最高权力的

参考例句：

• My paramount object is to save the Union and destroy slavery.我的最高目标是拯救美国，摧毁奴隶制度。
• Nitrogen is of paramount importance to life on earth.氮对地球上的生命至关重要。