VOA标准英语2015--抗埃博拉病毒化合物已初见成效

Anti-Ebola Compounds Show Promise 抗埃博拉病毒化合物已初见成效

While the West Africa Ebola epidemic¹ is believed to be winding-down, the search for new treatments and vaccines³ is not. One study is a U.S./Serbian effort to find an effective anti-Ebola drug.

Last September, there were some dire⁴ warnings that West Africa Ebola cases could eventually number between 500,000 and one and a half million. Fortunately, that did not happen. But the biggest Ebola outbreak ever did infect about 27,000 people and killed more than 11,000. And after more than a year, it’s still not over. While Liberia has been declared Ebola-free, Sierra Leone and Guinea have not.

So health and government officials say better ways to prevent or contain another outbreak are very much needed. A number of vaccine² trials continue and different drugs are being tested.

For example, the U.S. Defense⁵ Threat Reduction Agency and the Serbian Ministry⁶ of Science and Technical Development have provided funding to study a small class of molecules⁷ known as diazachrysenes.Initial research shows that most of the mice “that received one of three experimental compounds survived infection and did not show any side effects.”

One of the researchers is Bogdan Solaja, professor of organic chemistry at the University of Belgrade. He said, “There are several chemo types, several classes of compounds which are actually today known to be active against Ebola. But from being active against Ebola to being a drug is a long, long way.”

Every step in researching a new drug, he said, is elementary.

“Our compounds, more or less, behave good in mice. I mean they cure some mice up to 90 percent as it is presented in this publication.”

The findings appear in the journal ACS Infectious Diseases.

But even though the results are very good, there’s more that needs to be known. Are these compounds toxic⁸? Solaja said they are not. Can they cause changes in a patient’s body, affecting DNA⁹, for example? Something called mutagenesis. The researcher said they know the answer, but cannot reveal it at this time.

“The compounds are water soluble¹⁰ as salts and they can be administered in [a] water solution. And that is quite good, although they are usually administered in [a] water / DMSO mixture,” he said.

DMSO – dimethyl sulfoxide – is a by-product¹¹ of the wood industry and has been used as solvent¹². It’s been mixed with other substances to help them absorb faster.

Solaja said the goal is to have an Ebola drug that can be used the way HIV and malaria¹³ drugs are now administered.

“We want to have a drug which could be a prophylactic¹⁴ and which could treat the animal, which already got Ebola.”

HIV and malaria drugs are now used to prevent infection – and continue to be used if an infection has already occurred.

Despite the initial and very encouraging success, the professor said the drug will not be on the market soon.

“Average time from starting good results until market is about 10 years,” he said.

Solaja and his colleagues are working with researchers at Fort Detrick in the U.S. state of Maryland. It’s home to the Army Medical Research and Materiel Command and the former site of the U.S. biological weapons program. Some of the most dangerous organisms to humans are studied there in underground labs.

1 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。

2 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

3 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。

4 dire   

adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的

参考例句：

• There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
• We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。

5 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

6 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

7 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。

8 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

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 soluble   

adj.可溶的；可以解决的

参考例句：

• These tablets are soluble in water.这些药片可在水中溶解。
• Camphor is soluble in alcohol.樟脑在酒精中可以溶化。

11 by-product   

n.副产品，附带产生的结果

参考例句：

• Freedom is the by-product of economic surplus.自由是经济盈余的副产品。
• The raw material for the tyre is a by-product of petrol refining.制造轮胎的原材料是提炼汽油时产生的一种副产品。

12 solvent   

n.溶剂；adj.有偿付能力的

参考例句：

• Gasoline is a solvent liquid which removes grease spots.汽油是一种能去掉油污的有溶解力的液体。
• A bankrupt company is not solvent.一个破产的公司是没有偿还债务的能力的。

13 malaria   

n.疟疾

参考例句：

• He had frequent attacks of malaria.他常患疟疾。
• Malaria is a kind of serious malady.疟疾是一种严重的疾病。

14 prophylactic   

adj.预防疾病的；n.预防疾病

参考例句：

• Vaccination and other prophylactic measures can be carried out.可以采取疫苗接种和其他预防措施。
• The region began to use quinine successfully as a prophylactic.该地区开始成功地用奎宁作为预防剂。