TED演讲:抗击癌症的新式武器(1)

 Cancer affects all of us -- especially the ones that come back over and over again, 癌症是我们每个人的大敌--尤其是那些不断复发的，

the highly invasive and drug-resistant ones, the ones that defy medical treatment, 容易扩散的，具有抗药性的癌症，药物治疗对它们无效，

even when we throw our best drugs at them. 即使我们用最好的药也无济于事。

Engineering at the molecular¹ level, working at the smallest of scales, 在分子级别进行（基因）工程改造，从最小结构层面着手，

can provide exciting new ways to fight the most aggressive forms of cancer. （我们就）能找到意想不到的新办法同最致命的癌症进行斗争。

Cancer is a very clever disease. There are some forms of cancer, which, fortunately, 癌症是一种很狡猾的疾病。幸运的是，对于一些癌症，

we've learned how to address relatively² well with known and established drugs and surgery. 我们可以通过一些验证过的药物和手术进行治疗，可以得到相对较好的结果。

But there are some forms of cancer that don't respond to these approaches, 但有几种癌症这些方法对它们都无效，

and the tumor³ survives or comes back, even after an onslaught of drugs. 即使在药物的猛烈攻击下，肿瘤依然能够存活或者复发。

We can think of these very aggressive forms of cancer as kind of supervillains in a comic book. 我们可以将这几种致命的癌症想象成漫画书里面的大反派。

They're clever, they're adaptable⁴, and they're very good at staying alive. 他们狡猾，适应性强，生存能力一流。

And, like most supervillains these days, their superpowers come from a genetic⁵ mutation⁶. 而且，跟现在（漫画书里）大多数大反派一样，他们的超能力来自基因突变。

The genes⁷ that are modified inside these tumor cells can enable and encode for new and unimagined modes of survival, 这些肿瘤细胞的基因不断变化，能找到新的、意想不到的生存方式，

allowing the cancer cell to live through even our best chemotherapy treatments. 可以让癌细胞抵抗住我们最强大的化学治疗。

 

1 molecular   

adj.分子的；克分子的

参考例句：

• The research will provide direct insight into molecular mechanisms.这项研究将使人能够直接地了解分子的机理。
• For the pressure to become zero, molecular bombardment must cease.当压强趋近于零时，分子的碰撞就停止了。

2 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

3 tumor   

n.（肿）瘤，肿块(英)tumour

参考例句：

• He was died of a malignant tumor.他死于恶性肿瘤。
• The surgeons irradiated the tumor.外科医生用X射线照射那个肿瘤。

4 adaptable   

adj.能适应的，适应性强的，可改编的

参考例句：

• He is an adaptable man and will soon learn the new work.他是个适应性很强的人，很快就将学会这种工作。
• The soil is adaptable to the growth of peanuts.这土壤适宜于花生的生长。

5 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

6 mutation   

n.变化，变异，转变

参考例句：

• People who have this mutation need less sleep than others.有这种突变的人需要的睡眠比其他人少。
• So far the discussion has centered entirely around mutation in the strict sense.到目前为止，严格来讲，讨论完全集中于围绕突变问题上。

7 genes   

n.基因( gene的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• You have good genes from your parents, so you should live a long time. 你从父母那儿获得优良的基因，所以能够活得很长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Differences will help to reveal the functions of the genes. 它们间的差异将会帮助我们揭开基因多种功能。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 生物技术的世纪