VOA慢速英语2020 科学家创作音乐来表现冠状病毒的蛋白质结构

Scientists say they have used artificial intelligence (AI) to create music to represent the protein structure of the new coronavirus.

科学家表示，他们用人工智能创作出音乐来表现新型冠状病毒的蛋白质结构。

Researchers used machine-learning methods to make the music, which they say may help them better understand the virus.

研究人员用机器学习方法制作音乐，他们说这可能有助于他们更好地理解这种病毒。

The research team assigned musical notes to amino acids that make up the so-called "spiked¹" protein that infects human cells. Machine learning was then used to turn the protein and structural² information into a nearly two-hour piece of classical music.

研究团队用不同音符代表构成感染人类细胞的“刺突”蛋白结构的不同氨基酸。之后用机器学习将蛋白质和结构信息转化为时长近2小时的古典音乐。

Markus Buehler of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) led the research team. He recently reported the results in a study appearing in the publication APL Bioengineering.

麻省理工学院的马库斯·布勒领导这个研究团队。近日，他在发表于《APL生物工程》期刊上的一篇研究中报告了这一结果。

Buehler told the Reuters news agency that turning the protein data into music lets people gain a better understanding of something they cannot see. "You would need many different images, many different magnifications to see with your eyes, what your ears can pick up with just a couple of seconds of music," he said.

布勒对路透社表示，将蛋白质数据转换成音乐可以让人们更好地理解他们看不到的东西。他说：“你需要很多不同的图像，需要放大很多倍才能用眼睛看到，而只需要几秒钟的音乐，你的耳朵就能听到。”

Buehler added that although the proteins themselves "speak a language we don't understand," music can be a way to improve that understanding. "If we are going to be able to solve that language, we could solve many problems – not only for this disease, but for many other diseases."

布勒还表示，虽然蛋白质本身“说的是我们不懂的语言”，但音乐可以成为提高这种理解的方法。“如果我们能理解这种语言，我们就能解决很多问题，不仅是这种疾病，还能解决其他多种疾病。”

The finished selection was uploaded to the music sharing website SoundCloud for the public to hear.

最终的选择被上传到音乐分享网站SoundCloud上，供公众收听。

Listeners of the early part of the piece described it with words such as "beautiful," "interesting," "calm," and "nature."

听众用“美丽”、“有趣”、“舒缓”和“自然”等词汇来描述音乐开头部分。

Buehler said this part of the music represents the ease at which the spiked protein enters the human cell, making the coronavirus highly contagious³. He noted⁴ that the virus is very good at "tricking the cell to open the doors" to infect someone.

布勒说，这部分音乐代表刺突蛋白能够轻易进入人体细胞，使冠状病毒具有高度传染性。他指出，该病毒非常擅于“诱骗细胞开门”，以感染某人。

As the virus then reproduces and the spiked protein attaches to more cells, the music becomes louder, faster and more intense. One SoundCloud user noted that this part could represent one of the first signs of the virus in humans, a high body temperature. Others described the more intense part of the music as "scary" and "sad."

之后，随着病毒复制、刺突蛋白袭击更多细胞，音乐变得更加喧闹、动荡，节奏也更快。一名SoundCloud用户指出，这部分音乐代表人体感染该病毒的其中一个迹象——体温过高。其他听众将音乐中更加激烈的部分描述为“可怕”和“悲伤”。

The researchers say a possible next step could be to use the musical method to design an antibody to attack the virus.

研究人员表示，下一步可能用音乐方法来设计抗体攻击病毒。

Buehler said the fast spread of the new coronavirus had made it important to "open our brains to other ways of processing information." He noted that the usual antibody design methods require a large number of proteins and a long testing process. In the current crisis, "we don't have the luxury of time," Buehler said.

布勒表示，新冠病毒的迅速蔓延使“开放我们的大脑以接受其他处理信息的方式”变得非常重要。他指出，常规的抗体设计方法需要大量蛋白质，还要进行漫长的测试。布勒说，在当前危机中，“我们没有充裕的时间”。

The study states that musical representations of proteins could also be used as a tool to help design new protein materials for many uses in biology, medicine and engineering.

这项研究指出，蛋白质的音乐表现也可以作为一种工具，帮助设计新的蛋白质材料，应用于生物学、医学和工程等多个领域。

Words in This Story

artificial intelligence – n. the power of a machine to copy intelligent human behavior

classical – adj. representing a high standard or traditional, long-established style

magnification – n. the process of making something look bigger than it is

calm – adj. relaxed and not worried

contagious – adj. having a sickness that can be passed on to someone else

rhythm – n. a regular, repeating pattern of sound

antibody – n. a substance produced in the blood to fight disease

luxury – n. something costly that you enjoy but do not need

1 spiked   

adj.有穗的；成锥形的；有尖顶的

参考例句：

• The editor spiked the story. 编辑删去了这篇报道。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They wondered whether their drinks had been spiked. 他们有些疑惑自己的饮料里是否被偷偷搀了烈性酒。 来自辞典例句

2 structural   

adj.构造的，组织的，建筑（用）的

参考例句：

• The storm caused no structural damage.风暴没有造成建筑结构方面的破坏。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities.北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

3 contagious   

adj.传染性的，有感染力的

参考例句：

• It's a highly contagious infection.这种病极易传染。
• He's got a contagious laugh.他的笑富有感染力。

4 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。