新奇事件簿 科学家称毒瘾可能由于基因遗传

Scientists have discovered that addictions² may be hereditary³. A team from Britain’s University of Cambridge found that siblings⁴ of drug addicts⁵ share the same brain abnormalities as their drug-using brothers and sisters. The research team said these abnormal brain structures are linked to poor self-control and drug dependence⁶. The researchers suggest that addiction¹ is in some ways a “disorder⁷ of the brain”. This may provide important new ways into helping⁸ people with problems of self-control when it comes to addictions. The study sought to find out if drugs changed the “wiring” of the brain or whether the brains of drug addicts were wired differently from birth.

科学家发现，毒瘾可能是遗传的。来自英国剑桥大学一个研究小组发现，有毒瘾的人与吸毒的兄弟姐妹有着相同的大脑异常。该研究小组表示，这些异常的大脑结构导致自控能力差和药物依赖。研究人员表示，毒瘾从某种程度上讲是一种大脑疾病。这种说法为帮助自控能力差的瘾君子提供了重要的新方法。这项研究旨在发现，是毒品改变了大脑的线路，还是有毒瘾的人的大脑从出生开始就有所不同。

Lead researcher Dr Karen Ersche told the BBC: “It has long been known that not everyone who takes drugs becomes addicted⁹.” She continued: “It shows that drug addiction is not a choice of lifestyle, it is a disorder of the brain and we need to recognise this. These brothers and sisters who don't have addiction problems, what they can tell us is how they overcome these problems, how they manage self-control in their daily life.” Dr Ersche and her colleagues studied 50 pairs of siblings — one with a history of drug addiction and one with no experience of taking drugs. She compared these with 50 healthy people. She concluded: “We need to find out how these non-addicted siblings were able to resist using drugs.”

首席研究人员Karen Ersche告诉BBC：“长期以来人们都知道，并不是所有吸毒的人都会上瘾。”她继续说：“这表明，毒瘾并不是生活方式的选择，而是一种大脑疾病，我们需要认识到这一点。这些没有毒瘾的兄弟姐妹，他们告诉我们的是他们如何克服这些问题，他们在日常生活中如何自我控制。”Ersche和她的同事研究了50对兄弟姐妹——其中一人有毒瘾史，另外一人从来没有吸毒经历。她将这些人与50个健康的人做了对比。她得出结论：“我们需要查明这些没有毒瘾的兄弟姐妹是如何抵制吸食毒品的。”

1 addiction   

n.上瘾入迷，嗜好

参考例句：

• He stole money from his parents to feed his addiction.他从父母那儿偷钱以满足自己的嗜好。
• Areas of drug dealing are hellholes of addiction,poverty and murder.贩卖毒品的地区往往是吸毒上瘾、贫困和发生谋杀的地方。

2 addictions   

瘾( addiction的名词复数 )； 吸毒成瘾； 沉溺； 癖好

参考例句：

• He has removed the stigma of drug addictions. 他已经洗去吸毒的污点了。
• Intelligent people are good at using reason to control excessive addictions. 智慧的人善于用理性来控制过度的嗜欲。

3 hereditary   

adj.遗传的，遗传性的，可继承的，世袭的

参考例句：

• The Queen of England is a hereditary ruler.英国女王是世袭的统治者。
• In men,hair loss is hereditary.男性脱发属于遗传。

4 siblings   

n.兄弟，姐妹( sibling的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A triplet sleeps amongst its two siblings. 一个三胞胎睡在其两个同胞之间。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She has no way of tracking the donor or her half-siblings down. 她没办法找到那个捐精者或她的兄弟姐妹。 来自时文部分

5 addicts   

有…瘾的人( addict的名词复数 )； 入迷的人

参考例句：

• a unit for rehabilitating drug addicts 帮助吸毒者恢复正常生活的机构
• There is counseling to help Internet addicts?even online. 有咨询机构帮助网络沉迷者。 来自超越目标英语 第3册

6 dependence   

n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属

参考例句：

• Doctors keep trying to break her dependence of the drug.医生们尽力使她戒除毒瘾。
• He was freed from financial dependence on his parents.他在经济上摆脱了对父母的依赖。

7 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

8 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

9 addicted   

adj.沉溺于....的，对...上瘾的

参考例句：

• He was addicted to heroin at the age of 17.他17岁的时候对海洛因上了瘾。
• She's become addicted to love stories.她迷上了爱情小说。