科学美国人60秒 SSS 天花疫苗可能对预防新冠肺炎有借鉴意义

This is Scientific American's 60-second Science, I'm Susanne Bard¹.

这里是科学美国人——60秒科学系列，我是苏珊娜·巴德。

Smallpox² was eradicated³ worldwide in 1980. So generations of people have never had to experience the devastation⁴ the disease once brought.

1980年，天花在世界范围内被根除，因此几代人从未经历过天花曾带来的毁灭性影响。

"It could cause, sometimes, even in excess of 30 percent mortality. It caused these very painful blisters⁵ that covered the entire body."

“天花有时甚至会导致超过30%的死亡率。它会让人全身长满非常痛苦的水泡。”

McMaster University's Ana Duggan. She studies how genomes evolve.

麦克马斯特大学的安娜·达根说到。她研究基因组的进化方式。

The first vaccine⁶ for smallpox was developed in 1796.

第一种天花疫苗于1796年研制出来。

It worked by infecting people with pus from pox lesions caused by similar but far less pernicious conditions, like cowpox.

其工作原理是让人们感染痘疹伤口流出的脓来产生免疫，这些痘疹由类似但危害性小得多的疾病（如牛痘）引起。

At the time, no one knew that viruses caused these diseases.

当时，没有人知道是病毒导致了这些疾病。

"We didn't have microscopes that were strong enough to see them.

“当时我们没有强大到足以看到病毒的显微镜。

So we had physicians that were performing this procedure that they knew was beneficial.

因此，我们的医生实施了他们知道有益处的这一程序。

But they didn't understand why it worked. They just knew that it worked."

但他们不明白为何会有效。他们只知道这个方法有用。”

Smallpox vaccination⁷ became common in the 19th century. During the American Civil War, all new soldiers on both sides were required to be vaccinated⁸.

天花疫苗在19世纪开始普及。在美国南北战争期间，双方所有新兵都被要求接种疫苗。

"You had a large number of individuals who were congregated⁹ in a single place, such as an army barracks, where a disease can spread very easily."

“大量个体聚集在军营等病毒能非常容易传播的地方。”

Back then, there were no mass-produced vaccines¹⁰.

那时，还没有大规模生产疫苗。

Instead physicians often used fluids and pox scabs collected from previously¹¹ vaccinated people and shared these materials with each other.

医生们经常从以前接种过疫苗的人身上收集液体和痘疹结痂，之后互相分享这些材料。

They were kept in custom-made vaccination kits¹²—a leather case containing a tin box, glass slides and a lancet for scratching the skin to introduce the vaccine into the body.

它们被保存在定制的疫苗箱里，这是一个皮箱，装有一个锡盒、载玻片和一把用于刮开皮肤让疫苗进入体内的小刀。

Some of these kits were later donated to the Mütter Museum of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia.

其中一些工具箱后来被捐赠给了费城医学院博马特物馆。

Ana Duggan's team recovered fragments of DNA¹³ from the kits, piecing together the viral genomes that were in those old vaccines.

安娜·达根的团队复原了工具箱上的DNA碎片，并将旧疫苗中的病毒基因组拼凑在一起。

"We were interested in understanding what virus was being used to protect against smallpox."

“我们有兴趣了解什么病毒被用来预防天花。”

The researchers discovered that the vaccines were all closely related strains of vaccinia, part of what's called the orthopox group of viruses—

研究人员发现，这些疫苗是彼此密切相关的牛痘病毒，属于所谓的正痘病毒属病毒组，

which also includes both cowpox and smallpox.

该病毒组也包括牛痘和天花。

But the vaccinia virus is only distantly related to the variola virus that causes smallpox.

但是牛痘病毒与引起天花的天花病毒关系疏远。

"However, it's still a really effective vaccine.

“然而，它仍然真正有效的疫苗。

So we just had to have a virus that's close enough that induces that immune response that is then protective against future infection.

因此我们只需要有一种与之足够接近的病毒来诱发免疫反应，之后对未来的感染起到保护作用即可。

Vaccinia virus becomes the predominant strain of virus that's used for smallpox vaccination in the 20th century."

牛痘病毒成为20世纪用于天花疫苗的主要病毒株。”

The study is in the journal Genome Biology.

这项研究发表在《基因组生物学》期刊上。

As scientists scramble¹⁴ to develop vaccines for COVID-19, there are parallels to smallpox.

科学家竞相研发新冠肺炎疫苗时，也出现了类似对抗天花的现象。

For example, they're looking into whether less virulent¹⁵ relatives of coronavirus could protect against COVID-19 the way vaccinia protects against smallpox.

例如，他们在研究毒性较低的冠状病毒亲属能否像牛痘预防天花那样预防新冠肺炎。

"We've recently celebrated¹⁶ the 40th anniversary of the eradication¹⁷ of smallpox. And we are now in another global battle for eradication."

“我们最近庆祝了根除天花40周年。我们现在正处于另一场全球消灭战役中。”

Thanks for listening for Scientific American's 60-second Science. I'm Susanne Bard.

谢谢大家收听科学美国人——60秒科学。我是苏珊娜·巴德。

1 bard   

n.吟游诗人

参考例句：

• I'll use my bard song to help you concentrate!我会用我的吟游诗人歌曲帮你集中精神！
• I find him,the wandering grey bard.我发现了正在徘徊的衰老游唱诗人。

2 smallpox   

n.天花

参考例句：

• In 1742 he suffered a fatal attack of smallpox.1742年，他染上了致命的天花。
• Were you vaccinated against smallpox as a child?你小时候打过天花疫苗吗？

3 eradicated   

画着根的

参考例句：

• Polio has been virtually eradicated in Brazil. 在巴西脊髓灰质炎实际上已经根除。
• The disease has been eradicated from the world. 这种疾病已在全世界得到根除。

4 devastation   

n.毁坏；荒废；极度震惊或悲伤

参考例句：

• The bomb caused widespread devastation. 炸弹造成大面积破坏。
• There was devastation on every side. 到处都是破坏的创伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 blisters   

n.水疱( blister的名词复数 )；水肿；气泡

参考例句：

• My new shoes have made blisters on my heels. 我的新鞋把我的脚跟磨起泡了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• His new shoes raised blisters on his feet. 他的新鞋把他的脚磨起了水疱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 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。

7 vaccination   

n.接种疫苗，种痘

参考例句：

• Vaccination is a preventive against smallpox.种痘是预防天花的方法。
• Doctors suggest getting a tetanus vaccination every ten years.医生建议每十年注射一次破伤风疫苗。

8 vaccinated   

[医]已接种的，种痘的，接种过疫菌的

参考例句：

• I was vaccinated against tetanus. 我接种了破伤风疫苗。
• Were you vaccinated against smallpox as a child? 你小时候打过天花疫苗吗？

9 congregated   

（使）集合，聚集( congregate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The crowds congregated in the town square to hear the mayor speak. 人群聚集到市镇广场上来听市长讲话。
• People quickly congregated round the speaker. 人们迅速围拢在演说者的周围。

10 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。

11 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

12 kits   

衣物和装备( kit的名词复数 )； 成套用品； 配套元件

参考例句：

• Keep your kits closed and locked when not in use. 不用的话把你的装备都锁好放好。
• Gifts Articles, Toy and Games, Wooden Toys, Puzzles, Craft Kits. 采购产品礼品，玩具和游戏，木制的玩具，智力玩具，手艺装备。

13 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。

14 scramble   

v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料

参考例句：

• He broke his leg in his scramble down the wall.他爬墙摔断了腿。
• It was a long scramble to the top of the hill.到山顶须要爬登一段长路。

15 virulent   

adj.有毒的，有恶意的，充满敌意的

参考例句：

• She is very virulent about her former employer.她对她过去的老板恨之入骨。
• I stood up for her despite the virulent criticism.尽管她遭到恶毒的批评，我还是维护她。

16 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。

17 eradication   

n.根除

参考例句：

• The eradication of an established infestation is not easy. 根除昆虫蔓延是不容易的。
• This is often required for intelligent control and eradication. 这经常需要灵巧的控制与消除。