英国新闻听力 药物研制新工具——“基因剪刀”（在线收听）

Scientists have come up with a way of developing new drugs by using so-called "genetic scissors".

近日，科学家们提出了研制新药的方法——使用所谓的“基因剪刀”。

These are molecules which literally snip out 40 disease genes in order to test new drugs on them.

“基因剪刀”实际上是一组分子，可以挑选出40种疾病基因，在上面试验新药。

They say that the technique know as crisper will enable them to test new drugs more quickly, cheaply and accurately.

据科学家称，这种名为“crisper“的技术将使测试新药更加快捷、低廉和准确。

We have had a very precise technology to do exactly what we want to do.

有如此精准的技术在手，我们可以想做什么就做什么了。

It's hoped the technology will speed the development of medicines for a range of illnesses including diabetes, heart disease and many cancers.

这项技术有望加速多种疾病的药物研发，包括糖尿病、心脏病和各种癌症。

Another doctor from the European Bioinformatics Institute explains how crisper works.

来自欧洲生物信息研究所的医生解释了“crisper”的工作原理。

In particular in cancer, what you can do is you can take a cancer cell which you know now has gone wrong.

尤其是在癌症这一块，你可以把产生病变和生长有问题的一个癌细胞取出来。

It's growing inappropriately.

细胞的增长比例不对。

And then you can test in a single experiment, you can test every single gene.

单独做实验，每个细胞都可以拿来做单独实验，成为独立的项目。

And so a single experiment will do that for all of them.

现在，一项试验就能够实现多有的目标。

Previously each one of those will be a project by itself.

之前，每一个试验仅仅对一个项目。

And you can not just do that on one cancer line,

而且，这样的实验不仅适用于一个癌细胞系，

you'll do it on maybe five hundred or thousand.

你可以在五百、甚至五千个癌细胞系上进行实验。

And this way you can start to say "Aha, this particular gene is the gene that we should try and build a drug to".

“啊哈，我们应该研制新药来对付这种基因”。

About ninety percent of drugs fail.

当前，90%的药物都不管用。

And there are many points where their failure happens.

失败的因素出现在各个环节。

And this technology allows people to do experiments that are just transformative cuz you can test all the genes at once.

而“crisper”技术可以使人们从事各种各样的实验，同时检测所有基因。

And you can find out more about that on the health pages of our website.

你可以登录网站健康版面，查询更多相关信息。

In 1977, a 27-year old woman Robyn Davidson decided to embark on an epic solo adventure.

1977年，27岁女子罗宾·戴维森决定开启一段伟大的单人冒险。

Her plan was to trek nearly three thousand kilometers across the Australian outback with only four camels and her dog for company.

她计划跋涉近三千千米，横穿澳大利亚大陆，随行的只有四只骆驼和她的宠物狗。

Rick Smolan photographed her trip for the National Geographic magazine.

瑞克·斯莫兰为《国家地理》杂志拍摄了她的旅程。

And his pictures are simply stunning.

这些精彩的图片

They've been republished in his new book Inside Tracks.

在他的新书Inside Tracks中重新出现。

Rick Smolan spoke to Dan Damon about this extraordinary adventure and how it began.

瑞克·斯莫兰向丹·达蒙讲述了这次特别冒险的始末。

Robyn Davidson when she was 27 years old decided for reasons that she still never shared with anybody.

罗宾·戴维森27岁的时候决定开始冒险，原因无人知晓。

She set off on this sort of strange journey alone, 1,700 miles across the Australian outback out to the Indian Ocean.

她的这趟独自旅行有点奇怪——跋涉一千七百英里，穿越澳大利亚大陆，到达印度洋。

So she had four camels and her dog.

陪伴她的有四只骆驼和她的宠物狗。

And no one knew why she was doing it.

没人知道她这么做的原因。

And I was sent by National Geographic to find her five times during this nine-month journey and to photograph her.

在她九个月的旅程期间，《国家地理》曾五次派我找到她进行拍摄。

It was one of the most uncomfortable journeys anybody could plan for.

这大概是你能够想象到的最不舒适的旅行。

Here is an image of her covered in flies.

在这张照片中，她被一群苍蝇包围着。