英伦广角 蛇伤咬痕里的DNA有助于鉴定袭击者身份

 

Snakes still kill tens of thousands of people each year. Giving the antidote¹ quickly can be the difference between life and death. But many bite victims cannot identify the species of their slithering assailants. Which leaves health care workers to make educated guesses about treatment.

每年仍有成千上万人死于毒蛇口下。能否迅速给予解毒剂是生死攸关的大问题。但很多被蛇咬伤的的受害者无法辨认袭击他们的蛇的种类。而这导致医护人员只能根据经验推测做出相应治疗。

\Now a first-of-its-kind study finds that it’s possible to analyze² snake DNA³ left in the victim’s wound to identify the snake—and thus the correct antivenom. The preliminary findings were presented November 4th at the annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene⁵ in New Orleans. [Sanjib K. Sharma et al, Use of clinical predictors and molecular⁶ diagnosis⁷ to identify the species responsible for snakebite in rural Nepal]

目前一项史无前例的研究发现，通过分析毒蛇留在受害者伤口内的DNA可鉴定蛇的种类——从而进一步给出正确的抗蛇毒素。这项初步发现于11月4日在新奥尔良召开的美国热带医学与卫生学会上提出。【萨恩基·K·莎玛等：使用临床预测及分子诊断为尼泊尔农村地区被毒蛇咬伤者鉴定毒蛇种类】

Researchers collected samples from fang⁸ wounds from 749 people at three health centers in Nepal. They isolated⁹ snake DNA, sequenced it and compared it to sequences in a snake DNA database. Ultimately they managed to identify snakes responsible for 194 bites, 87 of which had harmful venom⁴.

研究人员从尼泊尔3家卫生院的749名伤者身上提取了毒牙伤口样本。它们从中分离出DNA，为其排序，并与蛇类DNA数据库中的序列进行比较。最终他们成功鉴别出194名伤者被哪种蛇类所伤，而其中87种蛇带有毒液。

Such intricate genetic¹⁰ analysis is still not available in most settings, but could lead to speedier diagnostic methods for bite victims. The research team hopes to devise a fast test that would at least rule out certain common venomous snakes. The test would analyze DNA along bite marks and scan it for telltale signs of specific poisonous predators¹¹.

这种复杂的基因分析在大多数情况中仍是不可用的，但能为蛇伤受害者带来快速的诊断方法。研究小组希望能够设计出一个，至少能帮忙排除某些常见毒蛇的快速测试。这种测试可通过咬痕分析蛇的DNA，对其进行扫描以找到某些特定毒蛇的蛛丝马迹。

1 antidote   

n.解毒药，解毒剂

参考例句：

• There is no known antidote for this poison.这种毒药没有解药。
• Chinese physicians used it as an antidote for snake poison.中医师用它来解蛇毒。

2 analyze   

vt.分析，解析 (=analyse)

参考例句：

• We should analyze the cause and effect of this event.我们应该分析这场事变的因果。
• The teacher tried to analyze the cause of our failure.老师设法分析我们失败的原因。

3 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。

4 venom   

n.毒液，恶毒，痛恨

参考例句：

• The snake injects the venom immediately after biting its prey.毒蛇咬住猎物之后马上注入毒液。
• In fact,some components of the venom may benefit human health.事实上，毒液的某些成分可能有益于人类健康。

5 hygiene   

n.健康法，卫生学 （a.hygienic）

参考例句：

• Their course of study includes elementary hygiene and medical theory.他们的课程包括基础卫生学和医疗知识。
• He's going to give us a lecture on public hygiene.他要给我们作关于公共卫生方面的报告。

6 molecular   

adj.分子的；克分子的

参考例句：

• The research will provide direct insight into molecular mechanisms.这项研究将使人能够直接地了解分子的机理。
• For the pressure to become zero, molecular bombardment must cease.当压强趋近于零时，分子的碰撞就停止了。

7 diagnosis   

n.诊断，诊断结果，调查分析，判断

参考例句：

• His symptoms gave no obvious pointer to a possible diagnosis.他的症状无法作出明确的诊断。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做一次彻底的调查分析。

8 fang   

n.尖牙，犬牙

参考例句：

• Look how the bone sticks out of the flesh like a dog's fang.瞧瞧,这根骨头从肉里露出来，象一只犬牙似的。
• The green fairy's fang thrusting between his lips.绿妖精的尖牙从他的嘴唇里龇出来。

9 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

10 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。

11 predators   

n.食肉动物( predator的名词复数 )；奴役他人者（尤指在财务或性关系方面）

参考例句：

• birds and their earthbound predators 鸟和地面上捕食它们的动物
• The eyes of predators are highly sensitive to the slightest movement. 捕食性动物的眼睛能感觉到最细小的动静。 来自《简明英汉词典》