财富杂志 AI如何让老药新用?(3)

At the dawn of modern genetic² research, almost no one anticipated the enormous complexity³ in the biology of disease.

在现代基因研究的初期，几乎没有人预见到疾病生物学的巨大复杂性。

Many researchers thought the genome would be a kind of instruction manual for the body.

很多研究人员认为，基因组应该是人体的一种指导手册。

Pioneers such as Celera Genomics' Craig Venter and Francis Collins of the National Institutes of Health were celebrated⁴ as "gene¹ hunters,"

像塞雷拉基因组公司的克雷格·温特以及国立卫生研究院的弗朗西斯·柯林斯这样的先驱被誉为“基因猎手”，

a term that evoked⁵ crusaders scouring⁶ the globe for that one "silver bullet" gene that would explain—and facilitate a cure for—a given disease.

这个词让人联想到十字军战士们在全球寻找一种“银弹”基因，这种基因能够解释——并帮助治愈——某种特定的疾病。

To some extent, these researchers found real treasure. Geneticist Nancy Wexler, for example,

在某种程度上，这些研究人员发现了真正的宝藏。例如，遗传学者Nancy Wexler

spent years in Venezuela compiling family trees of those affected⁷ by Huntington's disease, a rare, inherited condition.

花了多年时间在委内瑞拉汇编亨廷顿氏舞蹈病患者的族谱，这是一种罕见的遗传病。

Her work led to the discovery of the mutation⁸ in a single gene that predicts whether an individual will contract the condition.

她的研究发现了一种单基因的突变，这种突变可以预测一个人是否会患上这种病。

But scientists soon realized that genetic maps were less like an instruction manual and more like the parts catalog you get with Ikea furniture.

但科学家们很快意识到，基因图谱不太像一本说明书，而更像是宜家家具的零件目录。

What's more, researchers discovered other catalogs that added complex variables to the relationships between genes⁹ and disease—

更重要的是，研究人员还发现了其他目录，这些目录为基因和疾病之间的关系增加了复杂的变量——

for example, the proteome, the proteins encoded by DNA¹⁰, and the transcriptome, all the nucleic acids that convert DNA into proteins.

例如，蛋白质组，DNA编码的蛋白质，以及转录组，所有将DNA转换成蛋白质的核酸。

The morning-after disappointment has proved wrenching¹¹, as researchers learned that complex diseases,

失望是痛苦的，因为研究人员发现，复杂的疾病，

such as cancer and Alzheimer's, didn't yield to a single gene. (Even Huntington's, its gene identified, has remained untreatable.)

如癌症和阿尔茨海默症，不会产生单个基因。（即使亨廷顿氏舞蹈症的基因已被确认，它仍然无法治愈。）

Today, Cohen and others see a link between the obsession¹² with simplicity¹³ and a decline in drug discovery.

如今，科恩和其他人看到了对简单的痴迷和对药物发现的减少之间的联系。

That decline shows itself in the 1-in-10 success rate for FDA approval of new therapies; in spiraling costs for drug development

这种减少表现在：FDA批准新疗法的成功率为十分之一；药物研发成本不断攀升

(what a Tufts study recently identified as "the $2.6 billion pill"); and in the soaring prices of the few treatments that break new ground,

（塔夫斯大学最近的一项研究将其认定为“价值26亿美元的药丸”）；为数不多的几种有突破的治疗方法价格飞涨，

such as the $475,000 cost of a course of treatment with Novartis's leukemia drug Kymriah.

如诺华的抗白血病药物Kymriah一个疗程的费用为47.5万美元。

More recently, researchers have begun to grapple with biological complexity with the help of the science of networks.

最近，研究人员开始在网络科学的帮助下设法解决生物学的复杂性。

That science's chief evangelist is Albert-Laszlo Barabasi,

这一科学的首席布道师是艾伯特-拉斯洛·巴拉巴西，

a professor at Northeastern University whose 2014 book Linked popularized the notion that network theory can explain numerous fields,

美国东北大学的一名教授，他在2014年出版的《Linked》一书中普及了这样一种概念，即网络理论可以解释各种领域，

from fashion trends to sexual relations to disease.

如流行趋势、性关系以及疾病。

Barabasi and others realized that disease is like a bad signal that moves through a network of connections from genes to proteins to cells to tissues,

巴拉巴西和其他人意识到，疾病就像一个不良信号，通过一个连接网络，在基因、蛋白质、细胞和组织之间移动

until all these "perturbations" manifest as the familiar symptoms of disease.

直到所有这些“混乱”显现出常见的疾病症状。

Complicated diseases are confluences¹⁴ of numerous effects, because pleiotropy means that any given protein can act at different points in the body.

复杂的疾病是多种影响的汇合，因为基因多效性意味着任何给定蛋白质都可以在身体的不同部位起作用。

Startups like Pharnext assume that drugs can also be pleiotropic,

像Pharnext的初创公司认为，药物也可以是多效性的，

acting¹⁵ on more than one protein and more than one interaction in the body at the same time.

在同一时间作用于不止一种蛋白质，在体内不止一种相互作用。

To find a drug combination capable of tackling complexity, the enormous power of machine learning,

为了寻找能够解决复杂性的组合药物，机器学习的巨大能力

with its ability to spot patterns in data, must be wedded¹⁶ to a sense of the structure by which disease operates.

以及其发现数据模式的能力，必须与对疾病运行结构的感知结合起来。

This, in turn, has required an evolution in the relationship between computer scientists and biologists.

这反过来要求计算机科学家和生物学家之间的关系发生进化。

Newer machine-learning approaches ingest vastly more data and can assemble hierarchies¹⁷ of information that let them go beyond correlation¹⁸.

更新的机器学习方法可以大量吸收更多的数据，并且能够将信息进行层次组合，使其超越相关性。

Still, harnessing these "deep learning" neural¹⁹ networks into a structure that has any predictive power requires some elegant algorithm-building.

不过，要将这些“深度学习”神经网络转化为具有预测能力的结构，需要一些简炼的算法构建。

Colin Hill, CEO and founder²⁰ of GNS Healthcare, is one of the builders.

GNS Healthcare的CEO兼创始人Colin Hill就是构建者之一。

His company, based in Cambridge, Mass., has spent 18 years developing a computer system called REFS,

他的公司位于马萨诸塞州剑桥市，该公司花了18年研发一种电脑系统——REFS，

which stands for "reverse engineering, forward simulation."

全称为“逆向工程，正演模拟。”

1 gene   

n.遗传因子，基因

参考例句：

• A single gene may have many effects.单一基因可能具有很多种效应。
• The targeting of gene therapy has been paid close attention.其中基因治疗的靶向性是值得密切关注的问题之一。

2 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。

3 complexity   

n.复杂(性)，复杂的事物

参考例句：

• Only now did he understand the full complexity of the problem.直到现在他才明白这一问题的全部复杂性。
• The complexity of the road map puzzled me.错综复杂的公路图把我搞糊涂了。

4 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

5 evoked   

[医]诱发的

参考例句：

• The music evoked memories of her youth. 这乐曲勾起了她对青年时代的回忆。
• Her face, though sad, still evoked a feeling of serenity. 她的脸色虽然悲伤，但仍使人感觉安详。

6 scouring   

擦[洗]净，冲刷，洗涤

参考例句：

• The police are scouring the countryside for the escaped prisoners. 警察正在搜索整个乡村以捉拿逃犯。
• This is called the scouring train in wool processing. 这被称为羊毛加工中的洗涤系列。

7 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

8 mutation   

n.变化，变异，转变

参考例句：

• People who have this mutation need less sleep than others.有这种突变的人需要的睡眠比其他人少。
• So far the discussion has centered entirely around mutation in the strict sense.到目前为止，严格来讲，讨论完全集中于围绕突变问题上。

9 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

10 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。

11 wrenching   

n.修截苗根，苗木铲根（铲根时苗木不起土或部分起土）v.（猛力地）扭( wrench的现在分词 )；扭伤；使感到痛苦；使悲痛

参考例句：

• China has been through a wrenching series of changes and experiments. 中国经历了一系列艰苦的变革和试验。 来自辞典例句
• A cold gust swept across her exposed breast, wrenching her back to reality. 一股寒气打击她的敞开的胸膛，把她从梦幻的境地中带了回来。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）

12 obsession   

n.困扰，无法摆脱的思想(或情感)

参考例句：

• I was suffering from obsession that my career would be ended.那时的我陷入了我的事业有可能就此终止的困扰当中。
• She would try to forget her obsession with Christopher.她会努力忘记对克里斯托弗的迷恋。

13 simplicity   

n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯

参考例句：

• She dressed with elegant simplicity.她穿着朴素高雅。
• The beauty of this plan is its simplicity.简明扼要是这个计划的一大特点。

14 confluences   

n.（河流的）汇合处( confluence的名词复数 )；汇流处；（事物的）汇合；汇流

参考例句：

• Channel confluences are common in natural rivers and much hydraulic engineering. 水沙交汇区在天然河流和水利工程中广泛存在着。 来自互联网

15 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

16 wedded   

adj.正式结婚的；渴望…的，执著于…的v.嫁，娶，（与…）结婚( wed的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She's wedded to her job. 她专心致志于工作。
• I was invited over by the newly wedded couple for a meal. 我被那对新婚夫妇请去吃饭。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 hierarchies   

等级制度( hierarchy的名词复数 )； 统治集团； 领导层； 层次体系

参考例句：

• That's a trip of two hierarchies. 那是两个领导层之间的互访。
• Hierarchies of authority, spans of control, long-range plans, and budgets. 等级森严的权力机构，控制范围，长期计划，预算。 来自英汉文学 - 廊桥遗梦

18 correlation   

n.相互关系，相关，关连

参考例句：

• The second group of measurements had a high correlation with the first.第二组测量数据与第一组高度相关。
• A high correlation exists in America between education and economic position.教育和经济地位在美国有极密切的关系。

19 neural   

adj.神经的，神经系统的

参考例句：

• The neural network can preferably solve the non- linear problem.利用神经网络建模可以较好地解决非线性问题。
• The information transmission in neural system depends on neurotransmitters.信息传递的神经途径有赖于神经递质。

20 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。