欧美人文风情第248篇:细胞自噬作用 癌症治疗的一线曙光

 A moment every scientist dreams of—the Nobel Committee in Stockholm announcing the prize winner. ...to Yoshinori Ohsumi. 一个每位科学家梦想的时刻－－在斯德哥尔摩的诺贝尔委员会宣布得奖者。...得奖的是大隅良典。

The Japanese scientist was recognized for his years of research on autophagy—how cells eat damaged content and provide building blocks for renewal¹. 这位日本科学家因多年来在细胞自噬作用上的研究获得认可－－自噬作用是指细胞如何吞食受损内含物并提供细胞更新的原料。

Speaking in Tokyo, Ohsumi said the award was an honor, but he said the biggest prize was knowing that his experiments had proved so fruitful. 于东京发言，大隅良典表示得到这个奖是项殊荣，但他说最大的收获是知道自己的实验有这么丰硕的成果。

There is no greater happiness as a researcher than that this research into yeast², into the fundamentals of living things, 作为一名研究者，没有什么比这更快乐了，这项对酵母、对生物基本原理的研究，

has turned into such a big springboard for the recent research into autophagy. 成为近来自噬作用研究如此重要的一块跳板。

Ohsumi's experiments helped pave the way for research on drugs to treat diseases like cancer, Parkinson's, and diabetes³. 大隅良典的实验帮助替一些疾病药物的研发铺路，象是癌症、帕金森氏症以及糖尿病。

Although autophagy was first discovered in the 1960s, it was Ohsumi's lab that explained how it worked and why it was significant. 虽然自噬作用在 1960 年代首次被发现，却是大隅良典的实验室解释了它的运作方式以及它为何重要。

If you look into the records of publications, it's really been very few papers at the time that Yoshinori Ohsumi started his work—mostly his papers. 如果你查发表记录，在大隅良典开始他的研究那时其实只有很少篇论文－－大部分都是他的论文。

And then as it became clear that this path was of fundamental importance, many researchers became interested, 接着当这条研究之路的重要性变得显而易见时，许多研究者开始感兴趣了，

with thousands of publications each year on autophagy nowadays. 现在每年有数千篇关于自噬作用的论文发表。

So this is really a great example of how basic science, initiated⁴ by a single person or a single laboratory, at least, can actually define a new field. 所以这真的是一个很好的例子，有关基础科学如何，至少由一个人或一个实验室发起的研究，可以真正划出一个新领域。

Seventy-one-year-old Ohsumi said he never thought studying yeast would lead to the Nobel. 七十一岁的大隅良典说他从未想到研究酵母会带给他诺贝尔奖。

But decades after beginning his research, he'll collect the prize in person at the award ceremony in Stockholm in December. 不过在他着手研究的数十年后，他将在十二月于斯德哥尔摩举办的颁奖仪式上亲自领奖。

 

1 renewal   

adj.(契约)延期，续订，更新，复活，重来

参考例句：

• Her contract is coming up for renewal in the autumn.她的合同秋天就应该续签了。
• Easter eggs symbolize the renewal of life.复活蛋象征新生。

2 yeast   

n.酵母；酵母片；泡沫；v.发酵；起泡沫

参考例句：

• Yeast can be used in making beer and bread.酵母可用于酿啤酒和发面包。
• The yeast began to work.酵母开始发酵。

3 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。

4 initiated   

n. 创始人 adj. 新加入的 vt. 开始，创始，启蒙，介绍加入

参考例句：

• He has not yet been thoroughly initiated into the mysteries of computers. 他对计算机的奥秘尚未入门。
• The artist initiated the girl into the art world in France. 这个艺术家介绍这个女孩加入巴黎艺术界。