2022年经济学人 为什么大象很少患癌症？(2)（在线收听）

The first step in quality control is evaded, and the last steps -- repair or self-destruct -- are never reached.

逃避质量控制的第一步，而最后一步--修复或自毁--永远也达不到。

Most animals play host to but one type of p53.

大多数动物只有一种类型的p53。

So the discovery last year that elephants have 20, each subtly different, drew the attention of Dr Karakostis and his colleagues.

因此，去年发现大象有20种p53，每头大象略有不同，引起了卡拉科斯蒂斯博士和他的同事的注意。

Maybe the p53s provide one another with anti-cancer backup.

也许p53为彼此提供了抗癌的支援。

But how?

但如何做到呢？

They suspected that mdm2 was involved.

他们怀疑与MDM2有关。

Perhaps all those slightly different p53s latch onto it in slightly different ways.

也许所有这些略有不同的p53以略有不同的方式锁定在它上面。

It would be less likely, the idea goes, that cancer cells’ trickery could work in 20 altered arrangements.

这种想法认为，癌细胞的诡计不太可能在20种改变的排列中发挥作用。

If any failed, the chain of repair would still be triggered.

如果其中任何一个失败，修复链仍将被触发。

First the team took to their computers.

首先，团队开始使用他们的电脑模拟。

Extensive simulations of precisely how mdm2 binds at the molecular level to this plethora of p53s indicated their hunch might be right.

对MDM2如何在分子水平上与大量的p53结合的广泛模拟表明，他们的预感可能是正确的。

A trip to the laboratory, to study that binding in a dish, only confirmed things further.

去一趟实验室，在培养皿中研究这种结合，可能会进一步证实这一点。

Cancer cells might have defences clever enough to smooth the route to one kind of binding -- but not, it is now assumed, 20 of them.

癌细胞可能具有足够聪明的防御机制，能够使一种结合途径变得顺畅 --但现在人们认为，不是20种。

Peto's paradox lives on, however.

然而，皮托的悖论仍然存在。

Why have humans not evolved this variegated gang of anti-cancer proteins, or indeed the different suite of cellular protections enjoyed by blue whales, if they would confer such a clear-cut survival benefit?

如果能够带来如此明确的生存益处，为什么人类没有进化出这种五花八门的抗癌蛋白质，还是蓝鲸享有的不同的细胞保护呢？

Alas, a common refrain in matters scientific: more research is needed.

唉，在科学问题上有一个常见的问题：需要更多的研究。

But that is not to say this work is without potential relevance to humans.

但这并不是说这项工作与人类没有潜在的相关性。

Work reported in 2016 revealed that genetically engineering mice to have a few extra copies of p53 enhanced their cells’ ability to detect and repair dna damage.

2016年的研究报告显示，通过基因工程使小鼠拥有额外的几个p53，提高了它们的细胞检测和修复DNA损伤的能力。

This latest work suggests something many managers are belatedly finding out: success comes not just with a bigger team, but a more diverse one.

这项最新研究表明，许多管理者可以从中获得启发：成功不仅来自更大的团队，而且来自更多元化的团队。