VOA常速英语2015--科学家开发通用抗毒剂对付毒蛇

Scientists Work to Develop Anti-Venom¹ Against All Sub-Saharan Snakes 科学家开发通用抗毒剂对付毒蛇

Thousands of people in sub-Saharan Africa die or are disabled each year due to poisonous snake bites.  Scientists in Britain are working to develop a serum² that will counteract³ the venom from all sub-Saharan poisonous snake bites.

每年，撒哈拉以南的非洲地区都有成千上万的人被毒蛇咬死。英国的科研人员正在一种血清，这种血清将对撒哈拉以南非洲所有种类的毒蛇的毒液产生解毒作用。

The Puff⁴ adder⁵ is only one of many venomous snakes native to sub-Saharan Africa.

鼓腹巨蝰只是撒哈拉以南非洲地区特有的很多毒蛇的一种。

Dr. Robert Harrison, of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, says every year, puff adders⁶ and the other snakes kill about 32,000 people.

利物浦热带医学院的罗伯特·哈里斯博士说，鼓腹巨蝰和其他蛇类每年要夺去大约3万2千人的生命。

“It's not only that; other people who survive the bite - about 100,000 of them - are living with severe disabled limbs or legs, just really very disabling conditions,” he said.

 “不仅如此，还有那些被蛇咬后大难不死的人，大约有10万人，胳膊或腿落下重大残疾，严重影响生活。”他说。

The current method of producing anti-venom - starting with the venom itself - is time-consuming and costly⁷, and the serum must be refrigerated.  Victims have to be treated multiple times and there are possible side-effects.  With the price of about $140 per single dose, the full treatment may cost more than $500, which makes it unaffordable for most rural Africans.

目前蛇毒解药的生产方式是从毒液本身开始，这需要耗费大量时间和金钱，抗毒血清还必须冷藏。受害人必须接受多次治疗，可能还有副作用。解毒药的价钱每一剂大约是140美元，全程治疗可能要花掉500多美元，超出了很多非洲农民的承受能力。

In addition, because of the way they're produced, current serums⁹ counteract poison from only one species, or a few related ones, so doctors must determine what snake bit the victim.

此外，按照现有的解毒剂制造方法，现有的抗毒血清只能对付一种或几种相近的毒蛇，所以医生们必须确定咬人的究竟是哪种毒蛇。

The anti-venom developed by scientists at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine specifically for Nigeria, proved to be cheap, safe and effective.

经过验证，利物浦热带医学院的科研人员特别为尼日利亚研制的解毒剂不仅价格低廉，而且安全有效。

Harrison says his team is using it as a basis for developing universal anti-venom applicable to all venomous snakes in sub-Saharan Africa.

哈里斯博士说，他的团队正在以这种血清为基础，研制普遍适用于撒哈拉以南非洲地区所有毒蛇的抗毒血清。

“We're going to do that by identifying the proteins that are unique to all the other species," he said. "And taking these unique proteins. i.e. different from the Source Scale Viper¹⁰, the Puff Adder or the Spitting Cobra, and add that to the venoms¹¹ of the original three.”

 “为做到这点，我们将查明所有其它蛇种都具有的特定蛋白质。提取出这些特定蛋白质，也就是与锯鳞蝰、鼓腹巨蝰或射毒眼镜蛇不同的蛋白质，把它加入进最初的那三种蛇毒中去。”他说。

For this purpose the lab is regularly extracting venom from 450 snakes belonging to 21 of the most deadly species of sub-Saharan African snakes.

为此，实验室定期从450条蛇那里提取毒液，这些蛇来自21个物种，全都属于撒哈拉以南非洲地区最致命的毒蛇。

Scientists say the universal anti-venom will be more affordable⁸ than current serums and will be effective much longer.

科研人员说，这种广谱解毒剂价格将低于现有的抗毒血清，药效期也更长。

Target date for the ultimate test - after a year of storage at room temperature - is set for July 2018.

终极试验的日期定在2018年7月。在这之前，这种解毒剂要在室温下储存一年。

1 venom   

n.毒液，恶毒，痛恨

参考例句：

• The snake injects the venom immediately after biting its prey.毒蛇咬住猎物之后马上注入毒液。
• In fact,some components of the venom may benefit human health.事实上，毒液的某些成分可能有益于人类健康。

2 serum   

n.浆液，血清，乳浆

参考例句：

• The serum is available to the general public.一般公众均可获得血清。
• Untreated serum contains a set of 11 proteins called complement.未经处理的血清含有一组蛋白质，共11种，称为补体。

3 counteract   

vt.对…起反作用，对抗，抵消

参考例句：

• The doctor gave him some medicine to counteract the effect of the poison.医生给他些药解毒。
• Our work calls for mutual support.We shouldn't counteract each other's efforts.工作要互相支持，不要互相拆台。

4 puff   

n.一口(气)；一阵(风)；v.喷气，喘气

参考例句：

• He took a puff at his cigarette.他吸了一口香烟。
• They tried their best to puff the book they published.他们尽力吹捧他们出版的书。

5 adder   

n.蝰蛇；小毒蛇

参考例句：

• The adder is Britain's only venomous snake.蝰蛇是英国唯一的一种毒蛇。
• An adder attacked my father.一条小毒蛇攻击了我父亲。

6 adders   

n.加法器，（欧洲产）蝰蛇（小毒蛇），（北美产无毒的）猪鼻蛇( adder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The walls on the outside were seamed with deep cracks which were a breeding-place for adders. 墙外面深刻的裂缝是蝰蛇生息的场所。 来自辞典例句
• Or you can receive a pamphlet if you tell your adders. 如果您留下地址的话，我们将寄一份本店的小册子给您。 来自互联网

7 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

8 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

9 serums   

n.（动物体内的）浆液( serum的名词复数 )；血清；（一剂）免疫血清

参考例句：

• To observe the trends of plague FI antibody serums of Microtus fuscus. 观察青海田鼠血清中鼠疫FI抗体动态。 来自互联网
• The contents of T_3,T_4 and cAMP in serums were increased by 16.01%(P<0.05),17.06%(P<0.05) and 19.88%(P<0.05) respectively. 三碘甲腺原氨酸、甲状腺素和环腺苷酸含量，分别比对照组增加了16.01%(P<0.05)、17.06%(P<0.05)和19.88%(P<0.05)。 来自互联网

10 viper   

n.毒蛇；危险的人

参考例句：

• Envy lucks at the bottom of the human heart a viper in its hole.嫉妒潜伏在人心底，如同毒蛇潜伏在穴中。
• Be careful of that viper;he is dangerous.小心那个阴险的人，他很危险。

11 venoms   

n.（某些蛇、蝎子等分泌的）毒液( venom的名词复数 )；愤恨的感情或语言；毒物

参考例句：

• Spider venoms are exquisitely refined to interfere with the nervous systems of insects. 蜘蛛的毒液非常微妙，专门损坏昆虫的神经系统。 来自百科语句
• Venoms (especially upgraded) are the ideal unit for taking out husks. 毒液（特别是升级后的）是消灭外壳的理想单位。 来自互联网