VOA慢速英语2021 分子构建工具开发者获得诺贝尔化学奖

Two scientists have won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for developing a molecule¹-building tool that can produce many important compounds in a "greener" way.

两位科学家因开发出一种分子构建工具而获得诺贝尔化学奖，该工具可以以“更绿色”的方式生产许多重要的化合物。

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced the awards Wednesday for Germany's Benjamin List and Scotland-born David MacMillan. List is with Germany's Max Planck Institute, while MacMillan is a professor at America's Princeton University.

瑞典皇家科学院周三宣布德国的本杰明·利斯特和苏格兰出生的大卫·麦克米伦获得该奖项。利斯特在德国马克斯普朗克研究所工作，而麦克米伦是美国普林斯顿大学的教授。

Work by the two scientists has permitted researchers to more effectively produce molecules² for things like medicines and pesticides³ and with less environmental harm. The academy called the winners' development method "an ingenious tool for building molecules."

两位科学家的成果使得研究人员能够更有效地生产用于药物和杀虫剂等物质的分子，并且对环境的危害更小。瑞典皇家科学院称获奖者的开发方法是一种构建分子的巧妙工具。

The process of making molecules requires the linking of individual atoms together in specific positions. This can be very slow and difficult. For many years, chemists had only two methods -- or catalysts⁴ -- to speed up the process. These used either complex enzymes⁵ or metal catalysts.

分子构建过程需要将单个原子在特定位置连接起来。这个过程可能会非常缓慢和困难。多年来，化学家只有两种方法或催化剂来加速这一过程。这要用到复杂的酶或金属催化剂。

That all changed in 2000, when List and MacMillan independently reported that small organic molecules can be used to do the same job.

这一切在2000年发生了改变，当时利斯特和麦克米伦各自独立报告称，有机小分子可以用来实现同样的用途。

The process has made the production of some drugs easier, including an antiviral and an anti-anxiety medication, the academy said. It noted⁶ that an estimated 35 percent of the world's total Gross Domestic Product, GDP, "in some way involves chemical catalysis."

瑞典皇家科学院表示，该过程使得一些药物的生产变得更加容易，包括抗病毒药物和抗焦虑药物。它指出，预计全球GDP总量的35%在某种程度上涉及化学催化。

Jon Lorsch is director of the United States National Institute of General Medical Sciences. He likened the scientists' work to "molecular⁷ carpentry."

乔恩·洛尔施是美国国家普通医学科学研究所所长。他将这些科学家的成果比作“分子木工。”

"They've found ways to not only speed up the chemical joining," he said, "but to make sure it only goes in either the right-handed or left-handed direction."

他说：“他们找到的方法不仅可以加速化合，而且可以确保它按照特定方向进行。”

Johan Aqvist, chair of the Nobel panel, called the new method as "simple as it is ingenious." "The fact is that many people have wondered why we didn't think of it earlier," he added.

诺贝尔委员会主席约翰·阿克维斯特称这种新方法既简单而又巧妙。他还表示：“事实上，许多人在想为什么我们没有早些想到它。”

H.N. Cheng is president of the American Chemical Society. He said the two winners had developed "new magic wands." He added that before their work, the usual molecule building methods often resulted in environmental damage or harm.

H.N. Cheng 是美国化学会主席。他表示，这两位获奖者开发了“新的魔杖。”他还表示，在他们的研究成果之前，通常的分子构建方法往往会导致环境破坏或危害。

Speaking after the announcement, List said the award came as a "huge surprise." He said at the beginning he did not know that MacMillan was working on the same subject, and he thought his effort might turn out to be, what he called, a "stupid idea." But he added: "When I saw it worked, I did feel that this could be something big."

利斯特在获奖消息公布后表示，获得这个奖项是一个“巨大惊喜。”他说，最初他并不知道麦克米伦也在研究这个课题，他认为他的努力可能会被证实为他所谓的一个“愚蠢的想法。”但他补充说：“当我看到它奏效时，我确实觉得这可能是件了不起的大事。”

MacMillan said the start of his catalysis work was "a pretty simple idea that really sparked a lot of different research."

麦克米伦表示，他的催化成果最开始是“一个非常简单的想法，也确实引发了许多不同的研究。”

He added: "The part we're just so proud of is that you don't have to have huge amounts of equipment and huge amounts of money to do fine things in chemistry."

他还表示：“我们非常自豪的部分是，在化学领域做出点事情无需大量的设备和资金。”

1 molecule   

n.分子，克分子

参考例句：

• A molecule of water is made up of two atoms of hygrogen and one atom of oxygen.一个水分子是由P妈̬f婘̬ 妈̬成的。
• This gives us the structural formula of the molecule.这种方式给出了分子的结构式。

2 molecules   

分子( molecule的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The structure of molecules can be seen under an electron microscope. 分子的结构可在电子显微镜下观察到。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules. 在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。

3 pesticides   

n.杀虫剂( pesticide的名词复数 )；除害药物

参考例句：

• vegetables grown without the use of pesticides 未用杀虫剂种植的蔬菜
• There is a lot of concern over the amount of herbicides and pesticides used in farming. 人们对农业上灭草剂和杀虫剂的用量非常担忧。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 catalysts   

n.催化剂( catalyst的名词复数 )；触媒；促进因素；有感染力的人

参考例句：

• The first catalytic converters were called conventional oxidation catalysts. 最初的转化器叫做常规氧化催化器。 来自辞典例句
• Many processes that are essential to the chemical industry use heterogeneous catalysts. 很多重要的化学工业过程就是使用多相催化剂的。 来自辞典例句

5 enzymes   

n. 酶，酵素

参考例句：

• It was said that washing powders containing enzymes remove stains more efficiently. 据说加酶洗衣粉除污更有效。
• Among the enzymes which are particularly effective are pepsin, papain. 在酶当中特别有效的是胃朊酶、木瓜酶。

6 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

7 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。