经济学人319:诺贝尔生理学奖 再生医学界的大好人

 　　Science and technology

　　科学技术

　　The 2012 Nobel prizes

　　诺贝尔生理学奖

　　Good eggs

　　再生医学界的大好人

　　THIS year's Nobel physiology¹ prize goes to Sir John Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka for a crucial discovery in stem-cell science?—how to make what are known as pluripotent stem cells from ordinary body cells.

　　今年的诺贝尔生理学奖颁给了约翰格登爵士和山中伸弥，来表彰他们在干细胞领域的关键发现-那就是如何利用普通的体细胞来合成多功能干细胞。

　　What the citation² does not say is that this work also allows clones to be made from adult animals, potentially including people.

　　诺贝尔颁奖典礼上的褒奖词没有指出的是，这项成果使得成年动物 的克隆成为可能，也有可能可以克隆人类。

　　A stem cell is one that can differentiate³ into daughter cells specialised for particular functions, and all the cells in a body are thus derived⁵ from stem cells.

　　干细胞是一种可以分化成姐妹细胞的物质，而姐妹细胞则担当某种特定的功能 ，体内的所有细胞都是来源于干细胞的。

　　That includes the stem cells themselves, which derive⁴ from ur stem cells found in embryos⁷.

　　而干细胞则是来自胚胎中的ur干细胞。

　　These embryonic⁸ stem cells are the pluripotent cells, meaning they can turn into many other sorts of cell.

　　这些胚胎干细胞就是多功能干细胞，他们可以分化成很多其他种类的细胞。

　　Pluripotent embryonic stem cells are of great value to researchers but, if the embryos they came from were human, their use is controversial.

　　多功能胚胎干细胞对于研究者来讲弥足珍贵，但是如果这些胚胎来自于人类，那这些干细胞的使用就有争议了。

　　Also, if such cells are ever to play a useful role in medicine, then they will need to be available in bulk—and ideally in a form whose DNA⁹ matches that of the recipient¹⁰.

　　而且，这些细胞在医药方面扮演着如何重要角色， 那么 我们就大量需要这些干细胞了—在理想的情况下，这些干细胞的DNA和接受者的DNA相匹配。

　　Sir John and Dr Yamanaka have both conducted work that should help make this possible.

　　格登爵士和山中博士的研究就是来推动这一试想实现的可能性。

　　Sir John's prizewinning study, published half a century ago, in 1962, when he was at Oxford¹¹ University, was to transplant the nuclei¹² of cells from adults of a frog called Xenopus laevis into enucleated eggs of that species.

　　格登爵士的获奖研究发表于半个世纪前的1962年，当时他正在牛津大学读书，打算将一只成年非洲爪蟾的细胞核移植到同类的无核卵子中。

　　The eggs in question then developed into healthy adults.

　　这些卵子随后发育成健康的非洲爪蛙。

　　This showed that DNA is not altered during embryonic development, at least in Xenopus.

　　这表明DNA在胚胎发育的过程中并未变异，只是在非洲爪蛙的身上没有发生变异。

　　It thus suggested it might be possible to get an entire adult cell to perform a similar trick, without involving an egg at all.

　　这表明很有可能在得到一个成年完整细胞的情况下，通过同样的试验，但是不用卵子。

　　That was what Dr Yamanaka did.

　　而后者就是由山中博士完成的。

　　He and his colleagues at Kyoto University managed to activate¹³ four crucial genes¹⁴ in adult mouse cells.

　　在日本京都大学，他和他的同事成功激活了四个成年老鼠细胞中的关键基因。

　　These genes each encode a protein of a type known as a transcription factor, which controls the expression of DNA.

　　这些基因每个都可以表达生成一种蛋白质，转录因子，控制DNA的表达。

　　Together, they trick the cell in question into thinking it is part of an embryo⁶.

　　和他的同事一起，他们将试验细胞看成胚胎的一部分。

　　In the first experiment, conducted in 2005, Dr Yamanaka did not get complete mice, but he did turn the adult cells into pluripotent stem cells. Subsequent work by his group and others then produced embryos which, if transplanted into the womb of a female mouse, will go all the way to adulthood¹⁵.

　　第一个试验是2005年完成的，山中博士的细胞没有发育成完整的老鼠，但是博士确实将成年细胞转化成了多功能胚胎干细胞。他的科研小组随后生成了这种胚胎，如果将该胚胎植入一只雌性老鼠的子宫内，它就会发育成老鼠。

　　Finally, in 2007, Dr Yamanaka managed to switch on the same four genes in adult human cells, and thus generated pluripotent human stem cells.

　　最后，于2007年，山中博士成功转变了成年人体细胞中的同四种基因，而后生成了多功能人体干细胞。

　　In principle, that opens the door to human cloning, though no one has tried this in practice—and in most countries such an experiment would be illegal.

　　理论上，这一研究开启了人类克隆的大门，尽管还没有人曾付诸实施-大多数国家，这种试验都是非法的。

　　It also opens the door, though, to bespoke¹⁶ tissue repair as it would allow cells of whatever type were desired to be grown from, say, a few skin cells and then transplanted back into the donor¹⁷ without risking an adverse¹⁸ reaction from his immune system.

　　这一研究也开启了订制组织修复的大门，因为可以将任何种类的细胞转化成别的细胞，比如，一些皮肤细胞被移植回到捐献者的体内，而不用担心会对捐献者的免疫系统造成不良影响。

　　How well that would work in practice remains¹⁹ to be seen.

　　在实践中，这项研究能走多远，我们拭目以待。

　　But if it works well then Sir John and Dr Yamanaka may turn out to have been the pioneers of a whole, new field: regenerative medicine.

　　但是如果成功的话，格登爵士和山中博士就成为一项全新领域的先驱了，那就是再生医学。

　　1.allow to 允许

　　Allow to freeze solid for 3-4 hours or overnight.

　　允许冻结3-4小时或隔夜固体。

　　Apply solution to the tube and allow to become tacky.

　　在内胎上涂抹胶水并让它发粘。

　　2.derive from 来源于

　　That includes the stem cells themselves, which derive from "ur" stem cells found in embryos.

　　而干细胞则是来自胚胎中的“ur”干细胞。

　　One answer is the indirect benefit that investors²⁰ derive from addressing the economic risks of global warming.

　　答案之一是间接的好处，投资者从处理全球变暖的经济风险中得到好处。

　　3.turn into 变成,成为

　　Could all of this really turn into a full-fledged crisis?

　　所有这一切真的会变成一场完全的危机？

　　Could 2010 turn into 1994 or 2004 for the markets?

　　2010年的市场会变成1994或2004年的市场吗？

　　4.possible to 可能的

　　It isn't possible to verify his allegations.

　　他的这些说法是不可能核实的。

　　It is still possible to eat tofu in long-established restaurants in kyoto.

　　现在你依然可以在京都历史悠久的餐馆里吃豆腐。

1 physiology   

n.生理学，生理机能

参考例句：

• He bought a book about physiology.他买了一本生理学方面的书。
• He was awarded the Nobel Prize for achievements in physiology.他因生理学方面的建树而被授予诺贝尔奖。

2 citation   

n.引用，引证，引用文；传票

参考例句：

• He had to sign the proposition for the citation.他只好在受奖申请书上签了字。
• The court could issue a citation and fine Ms. Robbins.法庭可能会发传票，对罗宾斯女士处以罚款。

3 differentiate   

vi.(between)区分；vt.区别；使不同

参考例句：

• You can differentiate between the houses by the shape of their chimneys.你可以凭借烟囱形状的不同来区分这两幢房子。
• He never learned to differentiate between good and evil.他从未学会分辨善恶。

4 derive   

v.取得；导出；引申；来自；源自；出自

参考例句：

• We derive our sustenance from the land.我们从土地获取食物。
• We shall derive much benefit from reading good novels.我们将从优秀小说中获得很大好处。

5 derived   

vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取

参考例句：

• Many English words are derived from Latin and Greek. 英语很多词源出于拉丁文和希腊文。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He derived his enthusiasm for literature from his father. 他对文学的爱好是受他父亲的影响。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 embryo   

n.胚胎，萌芽的事物

参考例句：

• They are engaging in an embryo research.他们正在进行一项胚胎研究。
• The project was barely in embryo.该计划只是个雏形。

7 embryos   

n.晶胚；胚，胚胎( embryo的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Somatic cells of angiosperms enter a regenerative phase and behave like embryos. 被子植物体细胞进入一个生殖阶段，而且其行为象胚。 来自辞典例句
• Evolution can explain why human embryos look like gilled fishes. 进化论能够解释为什么人类的胚胎看起来象除去了内脏的鱼一样。 来自辞典例句

8 embryonic   

adj.胚胎的

参考例句：

• It is still in an embryonic stage.它还处于萌芽阶段。
• The plan,as yet,only exists in embryonic form.这个计划迄今为止还只是在酝酿之中。

9 DNA   

(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸

参考例句：

• DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。

10 recipient   

a.接受的,感受性强的 n.接受者,感受者,容器

参考例句：

• Please check that you have a valid email certificate for each recipient. 请检查是否对每个接收者都有有效的电子邮件证书。
• Colombia is the biggest U . S aid recipient in Latin America. 哥伦比亚是美国在拉丁美洲最大的援助对象。

11 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

12 nuclei   

n.核

参考例句：

• To free electrons, something has to make them whirl fast enough to break away from their nuclei. 为了释放电子，必须使电子高速旋转而足以摆脱原子核的束缚。
• Energy is released by the fission of atomic nuclei. 能量是由原子核分裂释放出来的。

13 activate   

vt.使活动起来，使开始起作用

参考例句：

• We must activate the youth to study.我们要激励青年去学习。
• These push buttons can activate the elevator.这些按钮能启动电梯。

14 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

15 adulthood   

n.成年，成人期

参考例句：

• Some infantile actions survive into adulthood.某些婴儿期的行为一直保持到成年期。
• Few people nowadays are able to maintain friendships into adulthood.如今很少有人能将友谊维持到成年。

16 bespoke   

adj.（产品）订做的；专做订货的v.预定( bespeak的过去式 )；订（货）；证明；预先请求

参考例句：

• His style of dressing bespoke great self-confidence. 他的衣着风格显得十分自信。
• The haberdasher presented a cap, saying,"Here is the cap your worship bespoke." 帽匠拿出一顶帽子来说：“这就是老爷您定做的那顶。” 来自辞典例句

17 donor   

n.捐献者；赠送人；(组织、器官等的)供体

参考例句：

• In these cases,the recipient usually takes care of the donor afterwards.在这类情况下，接受捐献者以后通常会照顾捐赠者。
• The Doctor transplanted the donor's heart to Mike's chest cavity.医生将捐赠者的心脏移植进麦克的胸腔。

18 adverse   

adj.不利的；有害的；敌对的，不友好的

参考例句：

• He is adverse to going abroad.他反对出国。
• The improper use of medicine could lead to severe adverse reactions.用药不当会产生严重的不良反应。

19 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

20 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会