VOA标准英语2010年-Airport Screening Technology Could Unl

Preserved bodies help doctors understand diseases that have plagued humans for thousands of years

Naomi Seck | Washington, DC 05 May 2010 

Scientists say looking back can help them look forward, by revealing how the disease evolved over time.

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More about Dr. Ruhli 

Back in 2005, when Frank Ruhli was trying to figure out how ancient Egypt's famous boy pharaoh, King Tut, died, he used CT scans of Tut's mummified remains¹. Now, says the renowned² mummy expert, the new technology to screen some airline passengers for explosives can provide even more information.

"By applying this technology on top of another technology, it may help you to look differently at the specimen," he explains, adding that the Terahertz imaging - also known as "full body scan" technology - does not use any sort of radiation, which could destroy DNA³ remnants of the mummies.

"And finally, by using this Terahertz imaging, you eventually may be able to look at the substances within the mummy, for example, the embalming⁴ liquid used in the Egyptian way of embalming. There you can actually do sort of substance analysis which you can't really do by conventional x-ray."

Ruhli and his team of researchers at the Swiss Mummy Institute have just completed the first feasibility study of how they could use the technology to reveal a mummy's secrets, without damaging the mummy. He says the images they have gathered with the terahertz scans are very promising⁵.

And he says the results are not just interesting for historians. "More and more, there are actually people aware of the fact if we want to know more about medicine or actually how to treat patients with all these health care issues, we have to look to the past as well."

Many mummies, from many times and places

The most famous mummies are the Egyptian ones, which were carefully dried out with salts, treated with oils and resins⁶ and wrapped in linen⁷ before being placed in a coffin⁸.

But there are mummies from every historical era, from everywhere in the world. Ruhli explains that these so-called natural mummies were preserved accidentally. "There are different conditions which actually can lead to natural mummification. It's usually a combination of temperature, even air flow. Even in modern times, you can find people in apartments laying there for ten years after death and been mummified because of a specific airflow and temperature which supported the mummification procedure."

However it happens, the mummification process preserves the body's soft tissue long after it would normally have decomposed⁹ ... and with it, the virus or bacteria that may have caused the person to die.

Ruhli, who is a medical doctor as well as a paleo-pathologist, says looking back can help scientists look forward, by revealing how the disease evolved over time.

New technology spotlights¹⁰ direction of disease

They can even map a pathogen's genetic¹¹ code, which changes from generation to generation.

Ruhli notes researchers used that technique to study the evolution of the tuberculosis¹² bacteria from 2,000-year-old mummified tissue to modern-day strains. And scientists have done similar research on the 1918 Spanish flu epidemic¹³.

"The fact that tissue was preserved for more than a few decades helps us to learn more about past disease and actually eventually help to avoid these kinds of diseases in the future," he says, noting that as doctors grapple with the H1N1 flu pandemic, studies like these could prove very useful.

Ruhli says such research could never replace modern clinical studies. But he says taking the long view can help provide insights scientists might miss in a snapshot from a single moment in time.

Ruhli presented his case for the value of mummies for modern medical research to scientists and doctors at the annual meeting of the American Association of Anatomists.
 

1 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。

2 renowned   

adj.著名的，有名望的，声誉鹊起的

参考例句：

• He is one of the world's renowned writers.他是世界上知名的作家之一。
• She is renowned for her advocacy of human rights.她以提倡人权而闻名。

3 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。

4 embalming   

v.保存（尸体）不腐( embalm的现在分词 )；使不被遗忘；使充满香气

参考例句：

• The corpse was preserved from decay by embalming. 尸体用香料涂抹以防腐烂。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They were experts at preserving the bodies of the dead by embalming them with special lotions. 他们具有采用特种药物洗剂防止尸体腐烂的专门知识。 来自辞典例句

5 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

6 resins   

n.树脂，松香( resin的名词复数 )；合成树脂v.树脂，松香( resin的第三人称单数 )；合成树脂

参考例句：

• The resins were used to turn out millions of helmet liners. 用这类树脂生产了成百万只钢盔内衬。 来自辞典例句
• Cheapness is one of the main attractions of polyester resins. 廉价是聚酯树脂受到欢迎的主要原因之一。 来自辞典例句

7 linen   

n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的

参考例句：

• The worker is starching the linen.这名工人正在给亚麻布上浆。
• Fine linen and cotton fabrics were known as well as wool.精细的亚麻织品和棉织品像羊毛一样闻名遐迩。

8 coffin   

n.棺材，灵柩

参考例句：

• When one's coffin is covered,all discussion about him can be settled.盖棺论定。
• The coffin was placed in the grave.那口棺材已安放到坟墓里去了。

9 decomposed   

已分解的，已腐烂的

参考例句：

• A liquid is decomposed when an electric current passes through it. 当电流通过时，液体就分解。
• Water can be resolved [decomposed] into hydrogen and oxygen. 水可分解为氢和氧。

10 spotlights   

n.聚光灯（的光）( spotlight的名词复数 )；公众注意的中心v.聚光照明( spotlight的第三人称单数 )；使公众注意，使突出醒目

参考例句：

• The room was lit by spotlights. 房间被聚光灯照亮。
• The dazzle of the spotlights made him ill at ease. 聚光灯的耀眼强光使他局促不安。 来自辞典例句

11 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。

12 tuberculosis   

n.结核病，肺结核

参考例句：

• People used to go to special health spring to recover from tuberculosis.人们常去温泉疗养胜地治疗肺结核。
• Tuberculosis is a curable disease.肺结核是一种可治愈的病。

13 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。