TED演讲:人类基因研究需要更多样化(1)

As a little Hawaiian, my mom and auntie always told me stories about Kalaupapa

在我还是一个年幼的夏威夷人时，我的母亲和姑姑经常跟我讲关于卡劳帕帕的故事，

the Hawaiian leper colony surrounded by the highest sea cliffs in the world

那个地方充满夏威夷的麻风病患者，被世界上最高的悬崖包围。

and Father Damien, the Belgian missionary¹ who gave his life for the Hawaiian community.

还有为夏威夷社区奉献一生的比利时传教士--达米安神父的故事。

As a young nurse, my aunt trained the nuns² caring for the remaining lepers almost a 100 years after Father Damien died of leprosy.

我的姑姑，作为一名年轻的护士，在达米安神父死于麻风病近一百年后，训练修女们照顾剩下的麻风病患者。

I remember stories she told about traveling down switchback cliff paths on a mule³,

我依旧记得她讲述的故事：她和我的叔叔骑着骡子穿行在高低起伏的悬崖小路上，

while my uncle played her favorite hula songs on the ukulele all the way down to Kalaupapa.

我的叔叔用尤克里里琴弹奏她最喜欢的夏威夷歌曲，直到到达卡劳帕帕。

You see, as a youngster, I was always curious about a few things.

作为一个儿童，我一直对一些事情感到好奇。

First was why a Belgian missionary chose to live in complete isolation⁴ in Kalaupapa,

首先，为什么一个比利时传教士要选择在卡劳帕帕住着与世隔绝的生活，

knowing he would inevitably⁵ contract leprosy from the community of people he sought to help.

并且不可避免会从他帮助的社区里的人们那里传染到麻风病。

And secondly⁶, where did the leprosy bacteria come from?

还有，卡劳帕帕的麻风病菌是哪里来的？

And why were Kānaka Maoli, the indigenous⁷ people of Hawaii, so susceptible⁸ to developing leprosy, or "mai Pake?"

为什么夏威夷的土著居民如此容易受到麻风病的感染？

This got my curious about what makes us unique as Hawaiians -- namely, our genetic⁹ makeup¹⁰.

这让我好奇是什么让我们夏威夷人不同？答案就是我们的基因。

But it wasn't until high school, through the Human Genome Project,

但是直到高中，通过一个人类基因组的项目，

that I realized I wasn't alone in trying to connect our unique genetic ancestry¹¹ to our potential health, wellness and illness.

我才发现我并不是唯一一个想要追溯我们特有的基因祖先，为了了解我们的潜在健康和疾病。

You see, the 2.7 billion-dollar project promised an era of predictive and preventative medicine based on our unique genetic makeup.

要知道，这个27亿美元的计划在研究我们特有基因的基础上保证了一个可预测，可预防的医疗时代。

So to me it always seemed obvious that in order to achieve this dream,

显而易见，为了要完成这一个梦想，

we would need to sequence a diverse cohort of people to obtain the full spectrum¹² of human genetic variation on the planet.

我们需要排列一群不同的人来取得地球上变化多样的人类基因的遗传谱。

That's why 10 years later, it continues to shock me,

这就是为什么10年后，我不断被惊讶，

knowing that 96 percent of genome studies associating common genetic variation with specific diseases

发现96%与特定疾病有关的基因多样性的实验

have focused exclusively on individuals of European ancestry.

都只研究了祖先是欧洲人的人群。

1 missionary   

adj.教会的，传教(士)的；n.传教士

参考例句：

• She taught in a missionary school for a couple of years.她在一所教会学校教了两年书。
• I hope every member understands the value of missionary work. 我希望教友都了解传教工作的价值。

2 nuns   

n.（通常指基督教的）修女， （佛教的）尼姑( nun的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Ah Q had always had the greatest contempt for such people as little nuns. 小尼姑之流是阿Q本来视如草芥的。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Nuns are under vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. 修女须立誓保持清贫、贞洁、顺从。 来自辞典例句

3 mule   

n.骡子，杂种，执拗的人

参考例句：

• A mule is a cross between a mare and a donkey.骡子是母马和公驴的杂交后代。
• He is an old mule.他是个老顽固。

4 isolation   

n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离

参考例句：

• The millionaire lived in complete isolation from the outside world.这位富翁过着与世隔绝的生活。
• He retired and lived in relative isolation.他退休后，生活比较孤寂。

5 inevitably   

adv.不可避免地；必然发生地

参考例句：

• In the way you go on,you are inevitably coming apart.照你们这样下去，毫无疑问是会散伙的。
• Technological changes will inevitably lead to unemployment.技术变革必然会导致失业。

6 secondly   

adv.第二，其次

参考例句：

• Secondly,use your own head and present your point of view.第二，动脑筋提出自己的见解。
• Secondly it is necessary to define the applied load.其次，需要确定所作用的载荷。

7 indigenous   

adj.土产的，土生土长的，本地的

参考例句：

• Each country has its own indigenous cultural tradition.每个国家都有自己本土的文化传统。
• Indians were the indigenous inhabitants of America.印第安人是美洲的土著居民。

8 susceptible   

adj.过敏的，敏感的；易动感情的，易受感动的

参考例句：

• Children are more susceptible than adults.孩子比成人易受感动。
• We are all susceptible to advertising.我们都易受广告的影响。

9 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。

10 makeup   

n.组织；性格；化装品

参考例句：

• Those who failed the exam take a makeup exam.这次考试不及格的人必须参加补考。
• Do you think her beauty could makeup for her stupidity?你认为她的美丽能弥补她的愚蠢吗？

11 ancestry   

n.祖先，家世

参考例句：

• Their ancestry settled the land in 1856.他们的祖辈1856年在这块土地上定居下来。
• He is an American of French ancestry.他是法国血统的美国人。

12 spectrum   

n.谱，光谱，频谱；范围，幅度，系列

参考例句：

• This is a kind of atomic spectrum.这是一种原子光谱。
• We have known much of the constitution of the solar spectrum.关于太阳光谱的构成，我们已了解不少。