英国卫报:一万亿美元能治愈所有疾病吗?(9)

We can add to this. Jessica Metcalf, an infectious diseases biologist at Princeton University, has proposed a Global Immunological Observatory¹,

我们可以加上这个。普林斯顿大学传染病生物学家杰西卡·梅特卡夫提出了一个全球免疫观察站，

a global programme of immune-system sampling from the general public that would allow scientists to pick up signs of new pathogens as they emerge.

这是一个从普通公众中提取免疫系统样本的全球计划，它将允许科学家在新病原体出现时发现它们的迹象。

For malaria³, we can add to the World Health Organization's efforts. The WHO is putting $8.7bn a year into its 10-year malaria strategy.

在疟疾方面，世界卫生组织可以再接再厉。世界卫生组织每年会向其10年疟疾战略投入87亿美元。

If we added, say, $100bn, what could we do? The classic idea in epidemiology is to eliminate the common cold by giving everyone a wonder drug at once. Bingo, cold gone.

比如，如果再增加1000亿美元，我们能做些什么呢？流行病学的观点通常是一次性给每个人一种灵丹妙药来消除一般性的感冒。哇，感冒好了！

With our windfall we could try to ensure that everyone in need, throughout the world, received the best available antimalarial drugs (at the moment, the artemisinin-based combination therapy).

有了这笔意外之财，我们就可以努力确保全世界每一个有需要的人都能获得现有的最佳抗疟药物(目前是青蒿素类复方疗法)。

But, even with our money, we can't reach everyone in remote places and, without also controlling the mosquito population density⁵, malaria will come back instantly.

但是，即便有了这笔钱，我们也无法覆盖到偏远地区的每一个人，而且，如果不控制蚊子种群密度，疟疾将立即卷土重来。

So we'd need to fight the insect as well as the disease. Malaria is caused by a parasitic⁶ microorganism, Plasmodium, carried by a mosquito.

所以我们不仅要对付疾病，还要对付昆虫。疟疾是由一种由蚊子携带的寄生微生物“疟原虫”引起的。

We've tried over the years to eradicate⁷ it, but, every time, the parasite⁸ or the insect – or both – have clung on, evolved resistance to our control methods and bounced back.

多年来我们一直试图根除它，但每次，寄生虫或昆虫——或两者——都坚持了下去，对我们的控制方法产生了抗性，之后又反弹回来。

So we need to take out the mosquito reservoir, and to do that we need a method of beating evolution.

所以我们需要剿灭蚊子的老巢，为了做到这一点，我们需要一种能够打败进化的方法。

Target Malaria, an international research consortium, is working on a solution.

国际研究联盟“防治疟疾”正在研究解决方案。

They want to use a method of genetic⁹ modification¹⁰ called gene² drive, which causes female insects to become infertile¹¹, but in a way that has proven immune to the evolution of resistance.

他们想使用一种被称为“基因驱动技术”的基因改造方法，这种方法可以让雌性昆虫不育，但以一种已经被证明对抗性进化免疫的方式。

Rolled out on a big enough scale in the wild, with a huge modification and breeding programme, we can eliminate local populations of malarial⁴ mosquitoes.

在野外进行超大规模的改造和繁殖，我们就可以消灭当地的疟蚊种群。

If you are wondering about the ecological¹² wisdom of eliminating an entire species from an area, it's a valid¹³ concern.

如果你对消灭一个地区整个物种的生态智慧表示怀疑，那么这个怀疑是合理的。

1 observatory   

n.天文台，气象台，瞭望台，观测台

参考例句：

• Guy's house was close to the observatory.盖伊的房子离天文台很近。
• Officials from Greenwich Observatory have the clock checked twice a day.格林威治天文台的职员们每天对大钟检查两次。

2 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。

3 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。

4 malarial   

患疟疾的，毒气的

参考例句：

• Malarial poison had sallowed his skin. 疟疾病毒使他皮肤成灰黄色。
• Standing water like this gives malarial mosquitoes the perfect place to breed. 像这样的死水给了传染疟疾的蚊子绝佳的繁殖地点。

5 density   

n.密集，密度，浓度

参考例句：

• The population density of that country is 685 per square mile.那个国家的人口密度为每平方英里685人。
• The region has a very high population density.该地区的人口密度很高。

6 parasitic   

adj.寄生的

参考例句：

• Will global warming mean the spread of tropical parasitic diseases?全球变暖是否意味着热带寄生虫病会蔓延呢？
• By definition,this way of life is parasitic.从其含义来说，这是种寄生虫的生活方式。

7 eradicate   

v.根除，消灭，杜绝

参考例句：

• These insects are very difficult to eradicate.这些昆虫很难根除。
• They are already battling to eradicate illnesses such as malaria and tetanus.他们已经在努力消灭疟疾、破伤风等疾病。

8 parasite   

n.寄生虫；寄生菌；食客

参考例句：

• The lazy man was a parasite on his family.那懒汉是家里的寄生虫。
• I don't want to be a parasite.I must earn my own way in life.我不想做寄生虫，我要自己养活自己。

9 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。

10 modification   

n.修改，改进，缓和，减轻

参考例句：

• The law,in its present form,is unjust;it needs modification.现行的法律是不公正的，它需要修改。
• The design requires considerable modification.这个设计需要作大的修改。

11 infertile   

adj.不孕的；不肥沃的，贫瘠的

参考例句：

• Plants can't grow well in the infertile land.在贫瘠的土地上庄稼长不好。
• Nobody is willing to till this infertile land.这块薄田没有人愿意耕种。

12 ecological   

adj.生态的，生态学的

参考例句：

• The region has been declared an ecological disaster zone.这个地区已经宣布为生态灾难区。
• Each animal has its ecological niche.每种动物都有自己的生态位.

13 valid   

adj.有确实根据的；有效的；正当的，合法的

参考例句：

• His claim to own the house is valid.他主张对此屋的所有权有效。
• Do you have valid reasons for your absence?你的缺席有正当理由吗？