时代周刊 科学家们还是有望根治艾滋病(1)（在线收听）

There is no cure for HIV—but scientists may be getting closer

科学家们虽然无法根治艾滋病- 但希望还是有的

By Alice Park

文/爱丽斯·帕克

CURE ISN’T A WORD NORMALLY USED IN THE CONTEXT OF AIDS.

“根治”一词通常不适用于艾滋病这一语境。

For most of the 35 years since HIV, the virus responsible for the disease, was first identified,

自艾滋病病毒，也即诱发艾滋病的病毒，被首次发现以来的35年间，

doctors have viewed the notion of a cure as more fantasy than fact.

大部分时间医生们都认为根治艾滋病的概念更像是一种幻想而非事实。

That’s because HIV is a virus unlike any other.

这是因为艾滋病病毒不同于其他任何一种病毒。

It disables the very immune cells that are supposed to destroy it and also sequesters itself in the body’s cells,

它能摧毁原本应该反过来摧毁它的免疫细胞，然后将自身隔离在人体的细胞中，

staging the ultimate deadly ambush whenever the immune defense’s guard comes down, months or sometimes even years later.

准备着发动最后的致命伏击，只等免疫系统受损，无论是数月之后还是数年之后。

Yet for the first time in the HIV epidemic that currently affects nearly 37 million people worldwide,

然而，就在目前影响着全世界近3700万人的这一流行病领域，

some experts are starting to aim for a cure—cautiously—as they fashion the next generation of HIV treatments.

一些专家率先开始了 - 谨慎地开始了- 艾滋病的根治研究，研制出了新一代艾滋病疗法。

Scientists now understand how HIV burrows itself inside cells and remains cloaked from the immune system’s watchful gaze—

科学家们现在明白了艾滋病病毒是如何隐藏在细胞内，躲过免疫系统的巡视的——

and they have some ideas about how to expose and annihilate it.

也有了一些关于如何暴露并消灭它的想法。

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is funding HIV cure efforts based on this new knowledge,

美国国立卫生研究院（NIH）目前正在资助一个基于这一认识研发根治艾滋病方案的项目，

and advocacy groups like amfAR are also pouring resources into not just treating HIV, but also finding ways to eradicate it completely.

此外，amfAR等游说团体也开始为艾滋病日常治疗以及寻求彻底根除艾滋病病毒的项目提供资源方面的大力支持。

"Absolutely HIV can be cured,” says Rowena Johnston, vice president and director of research for amfAR. "The bazillion-dollar question is how."

“艾滋病是可以根治的，这一点是毫无疑问的，”amfAR副总裁兼研究主任罗威娜·约翰斯顿说到。“关键是如何根治。”

Doctors today have no trouble keeping HIV under control in people who are infected, thanks to antiretroviral (ARV) drugs,

今天的医生可以毫不费劲地控制住艾滋病患者的病情，多亏了抗反转录病毒药物的发明，

which stop the virus from replicating once it finds its way inside healthy cells.

这种药能够阻止进入健康细胞的病毒进行复制。

If it is not making more copies of itself, HIV cannot spread to infect new cells.

如果不能复制出更多病毒，艾滋病病毒就无法扩散感染新细胞。

That translates into healthier, longer lives for people who are HIV-positive.

这就意味着艾滋病毒阳性患者能生活地更健康、更长寿。

Yet as powerful as the current drug treatments are, they need to be taken daily to keep the virus suppressed,

然而，尽管目前的药物治疗已经非常强大了，患者还是需要每天服用才能控制住病情，

and they can’t actually rid the body of infected cells.

这些药也并不能帮他们摆脱被感染的细胞。

For selfpreservation, some HIV does not actively pump out more copies of itself, but instead lies dormant inside certain immune cells.

为了自我保护，一些艾滋病毒并不会主动进行复制，而是在某些免疫细胞内保持休眠状态。

"The drugs are remarkably good at stopping the virus from replicating,”

“这些药物阻止病毒复制的效果非常好，”

says Dr. Robert Siliciano, professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, who first identified these sleeping virus reservoirs.

约翰斯·霍普金斯大学医学院医学教授罗伯特·希利西亚努博士说，就是他率先发现了这些休眠病毒的。

"The problem is that there is also a form of HIV that is not replicating and is latent, that is not affected by the drugs and not seen by the immune system."

“问题是，还有一种艾滋病病毒是潜伏在细胞内而不复制的，这种病毒是药物影响不到，免疫系统也察觉不到的。”

These are the viruses that come roaring back when people stop taking their medications, or take them erratically.

患者停止服用药物或服用药物不规律时，这些病毒就会卷土重来。