VOA常速英语2013--海洋微生物产生未知抗生素

 

Marine¹ Microbe Produces Unknown Antibiotic² 海洋微生物产生未知抗生素

Next time you hit the beach, dig your feet into the sand. And consider that your toes might be mingling³ with the wonder drug of the future: an antibiotic strong enough to combat MRSA, even anthrax. That's what researchers may have found when they dug a few feet into beach sand at Gaviota State Park, near Santa Barbara: a previously⁴ undescribed species of Streptomyces bacteria, which pumps out an antibiotic called anthracimycin.

下次你去了海滩，将你的脚埋在沙里。想想下，你的脚趾或许会混有未来某些奇特的药物，一种强大到可以与耐甲氧西林金黄色葡萄球菌，甚至炭疽病做抗争的抗生素。这就是研究者们，在圣巴巴拉市附近的嘉威达州立公园的沙滩上挖了几英尺的沙时发现的抗生素：一种以前未描述的链霉菌，从中抽取出叫anthracimycin的抗生素。

As you might have guessed, the old-school antibiotic streptomycin also comes from a strain of Streptomyces bacteria. But researchers say this newly discovered compound is structurally⁵ and chemically unique from that other mycin and from all other antibiotics⁶—meaning it could launch a whole new class of drugs.

或许你已经猜到，老式的抗生素链霉菌源于链霉菌的菌株，但是研究者说这种新发现的复合物的结构和化学性不同于别的霉菌以及别的抗生素，这意味着他完全可以成为一种新的药物。

Early tests suggest anthracimycin is 25 to 40 times more potent⁷ than today's antibiotics at killing⁸ anthrax and other germs, in petri dishes at least. And it wiped out MRSA in 90 percent of infected mice. The results appear in the journal Angewandte Chemie. [Kyoung Hwa Jang et al, Anthracimycin, a Potent Anthrax Antibiotic from a Marine-Derived Actinomycete]

早期的测试显示anthracimycin在培养皿中杀死炭疽病和别的致病菌效力比目前的抗生素强25到40倍。它歼灭了被感染的老鼠体内百分之九十的耐甲氧西林金黄色葡萄球菌。这个结果刊登于一月的《应用化学》上。 [京华杨等，Anthracimycin，一种来自于海洋的放射菌强力炭疽病抗生素]

There's still no evidence the drug works in humans, and this study’s researchers say they won't be involved in human trials. But they're hoping pharmaceutical⁹ investigators¹⁰ won't be resistant¹¹ to the idea.

目前仍然没有证据显示这种药会对人类起作用，这个研究的研究者说他们不会参与人体实验。但是他们希望制药人员不会抵制这种新的想法。

—Christopher Intagliata

--因塔格利亚塔

1 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

2 antibiotic   

adj.抗菌的；n.抗生素

参考例句：

• The doctor said that I should take some antibiotic.医生说我应该服些用抗生素。
• Antibiotic can be used against infection.抗菌素可以用来防止感染。

3 mingling   

adj.混合的

参考例句：

• There was a spring of bitterness mingling with that fountain of sweets. 在这个甜蜜的源泉中间，已经掺和进苦涩的山水了。
• The mingling of inconsequence belongs to us all. 这场矛盾混和物是我们大家所共有的。

4 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

5 structurally   

在结构上

参考例句：

• The house roof was (structurally) unsound. 这屋顶（结构）不牢固。
• Pinhole on shot-hole damage is never structurally significant. 针孔和蛀洞所造成的危害对结构的影响不大。

6 antibiotics   

n.（用作复数）抗生素；（用作单数）抗生物质的研究；抗生素，抗菌素( antibiotic的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• the discovery of antibiotics in the 20th century 20世纪抗生素的发现
• The doctor gave me a prescription for antibiotics. 医生给我开了抗生素。

7 potent   

adj.强有力的，有权势的；有效力的

参考例句：

• The medicine had a potent effect on your disease.这药物对你的病疗效很大。
• We must account of his potent influence.我们必须考虑他的强有力的影响。

8 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

9 pharmaceutical   

adj.药学的，药物的；药用的，药剂师的

参考例句：

• She has donated money to establish a pharmaceutical laboratory.她捐款成立了一个药剂实验室。
• We are engaged in a legal tussle with a large pharmaceutical company.我们正同一家大制药公司闹法律纠纷。

10 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》

11 resistant   

adj.(to)抵抗的，有抵抗力的

参考例句：

• Many pests are resistant to the insecticide.许多害虫对这种杀虫剂有抵抗力。
• They imposed their government by force on the resistant population.他们以武力把自己的统治强加在持反抗态度的人民头上。