英伦广角 深吻传递千万细菌（在线收听）

A passionate kiss shares much more than intimacy. A single 10-second smooch can transfer tens of millions of bacteria from one partner to the other. That’s the finding from a study in the journal Microbiome. [Remco Kort et al, Shaping the oral microbiota through intimate kissing]

一个激吻传递的可不仅是浓情蜜意。一个10秒长的吻会使情侣间传递数以千万计细菌。该研究结果出自《微生物》杂志的一项研究。【瑞姆科·柯尔特等：通过亲密接吻塑造口腔微生物区】

\More than 700 different bacteria are estimated to live in the human mouth. To find out how macking mixes microbes, Dutch scientists asked 21 couples to French kiss.

据估计人类口腔中生存着700多种不同的细菌。为查明激吻如何混合细菌，荷兰科学家要求21对情侣进行法式接吻。

Intimate partners already have more of the same bacteria in their mouths than do unrelated individuals, because of the couple’s shared habits and environment. But kissing really expedites the bacterial blending.

跟毫不相干的个体之间相比，亲密情侣的口腔内本就拥有更多相同的细菌。原因可能是情侣间拥有共同的生活习惯及环境。但接吻确实会加速细菌混合。

As part of the study, one member of the couple consumed a probiotic yogurt drink loaded with certain bacteria. Saliva samples and tongue swabs revealed that after the couples puckered up, about 80 million bacteria from the drink moved mouth to mouth.

作为研究的一部分，情侣中一人要食用益生菌酸奶从而获得特定的细菌。唾液样本及舌头化验样本显示，情侣在接吻后该酸奶中的8千万细菌通过嘴进行了“口口相传”。

The salivary bug exchange was extensive but the work does not yet tell us why certain swapped bacteria either stuck around or were more transient. Answering that question could help with future medical interventions aimed at microbes.

唾液细菌传播量非常大，但这项研究还不能表明为何某些交换来的细菌要么滞留要么更易消逝。解开了这个谜团，或许对未来我们研究针对微生物的医疗干预有所帮助。

What the research did show: although the bacteria in saliva were easily altered, bacteria living on tongues tended to stay put. Unlike certain frog-princes, those critters were less prone to change because of a mere kiss.

那么此项研究表明了什么：尽管唾液中的细菌很容易改变，但舌头上的细菌却很稳定。这些小生物可不像青蛙王子，不会轻易的仅仅因为一个吻就改变。