VOA标准英语2011--Scientists Gather for AIDS Vaccine 2011

Scientists Gather for AIDS Vaccine¹ 2011

The largest conference on AIDS vaccine development is being held in Bangkok, Thailand FROM September 12th to the 15th. Researchers will discuss how to build on recent advances in a time of tight budgets.
Organizers of the conference, known as AV-2011, say a “safe and effective AIDS vaccine would be one of the greatest public health advances ever.” But they also admit it’s one of the “greatest scientific challenges.”
“This year’s meeting is particularly important in that the field’s at a very interesting place scientifically and institutionally in many respects. And this becomes a meeting where we will really get a sense of the enthusiasm that is clearly in the scientific community right now,” said
Mitchell Warren, head of AVAC, the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition², who’s attending the Bangkok conference.
Getting back in the spotlight³
Much of the public attention on AIDS vaccine research has been diverted in recent months to what’s happening in prevention. Studies show that antiretroviral drugs – when taken by an infected person – can prevent HIV transmission to a non-infected person. They also show that non HIV infected people can take the drugs as a preventive measure known as pre-exposure prophylaxis.
But while there have been prevention advances, vaccine researchers are beginning new work to find what are called broadly neutralizing⁴ antibodies. If successful, these antibodies would be able to block the many, many different strains of HIV that now exist.
And Warren said there was the success in 2009 of the RV-144 trial in Thailand. It proved that an AIDS vaccine is possible. It was the largest AIDS vaccine trial ever, with thousands of participants.
“We got the result two years ago, but it’s not as if that trial ended. For the last two years, an international team of collaborators has been looking at the samples that were collected during the course of that trial to try to assess why that vaccine worked at all. When we got the result two years ago the community was excited, but kind of not sure why that vaccine worked. And many vaccines⁵ that we use in our public health systems, we actually don’t know why they work or how they work,” he said.
Working together
In the early days of AIDS vaccine research, collaboration⁶ was not as common as it is today. In fact, many believed the sharing of data could hurt a researcher’s chances of publishing the work and receiving credit for it.
Warren said, “One of the things that has most excited me as an advocate for AIDS vaccines over the last couple of years is not only the scientific progress, but I think even more than that (is) the level of collaboration and coordination⁷. For example, the collaborators coming out of RV-144 include over a hundred investigators⁸ in labs all over the world. People who might be seen as competitors in some ways are all collaborating⁹ to try to understand why we got the signal in RV-144 that we did.”
Warren is hopeful that collaboration and momentum¹⁰ can continue as budgets get tighter and tighter.

1 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。

2 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

3 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

4 neutralizing   

v.使失效( neutralize的现在分词 )；抵消；中和；使（一个国家）中立化

参考例句：

• This juice-about a quart a day--pours into my duodenum, neutralizing acids. 这种消化液（每天约分泌1品脱）流入我的十二指肠，把酸中和了。 来自辞典例句
• AIM: To verify the role of a synthetic peptide in neutralizing endotoxins. 目的：检验一条合成肽在中和内毒素活性方面的作用。 来自互联网

5 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。

6 collaboration   

n.合作，协作；勾结

参考例句：

• The two companies are working in close collaboration each other.这两家公司密切合作。
• He was shot for collaboration with the enemy.他因通敌而被枪毙了。

7 coordination   

n.协调，协作

参考例句：

• Gymnastics is a sport that requires a considerable level of coordination.体操是一项需要高协调性的运动。
• The perfect coordination of the dancers and singers added a rhythmic charm to the performance.舞蹈演员和歌手们配合得很好，使演出更具魅力。

8 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 collaborating   

合作( collaborate的现在分词 )； 勾结叛国

参考例句：

• Joe is collaborating on the work with a friend. 乔正与一位朋友合作做那件工作。
• He was not only learning from but also collaborating with Joseph Thomson. 他不仅是在跟约瑟福？汤姆逊学习，而且也是在和他合作。

10 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。