VOA慢速英語:Designing an Alternative to Antibiotics

This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

這里是美國之音慢速英語健康報道。

In nineteen twenty-eight a British scientist made a "chance observation." He noticed that some mold had grown in bacteria in a culture plate in his laboratory. Molds can do that. But this mold that had somehow gotten into the plate had the ability to kill the bacteria around it.

1928年，一名英國科學(xué)家做了一次“偶然的觀測”。他注意到，一些霉菌在他實(shí)驗(yàn)室的培養(yǎng)皿里的細(xì)菌中生長出來。霉菌可以做到這點(diǎn)。但這種不知何故進(jìn)入培養(yǎng)皿的霉菌具有殺死周圍細(xì)菌的能力。

The scientist, Alexander Fleming, found that the mold was a member of a common group known as Penicillium. Fleming and two other scientists -- Ernst Boris Chain and Howard Walter Florey -- went on to win the Nobel Prize in nineteen forty-five. They were honored "for the discovery of penicillin and its curative effect in various infectious diseases."

這名名為亞歷山大·弗萊明(Alexander Fleming)的科學(xué)家發(fā)現(xiàn)，這種霉菌是青霉素的一種。弗萊明和另外兩名科學(xué)家，恩斯特·鮑利斯·錢恩(Ernst Boris Chain)以及霍華德·瓦爾特·弗洛里(Howard Walter Florey)隨后獲得了1945年的諾貝爾獎。他們因?yàn)榘l(fā)現(xiàn)青霉素及其在各種感染性疾病中的療效而獲得表彰。

Other powerful antibiotics have been discovered since penicillin. But many antibiotics have become less and less effective as the germs they are designed to kill develop resistance.

自青霉素之后，其它療效顯著的抗生素相繼被發(fā)現(xiàn)。但許多抗生素效果越來越差，這是由于它們被設(shè)計(jì)用于殺死的細(xì)菌產(chǎn)生了耐藥性。

So scientists are searching for new ways to treat infections. Now, researchers in Australia say they have made a important discovery. Scientists at Monash University in Melbourne believe an antibacterial viral protein called PlyC could be used as an alternative to antibiotics.

因此科學(xué)家們正在尋找新的方法來治療感染。現(xiàn)在澳大利亞的研究人員表示他們?nèi)〉昧酥匾l(fā)現(xiàn)。墨爾本莫納什大學(xué)的科學(xué)家認(rèn)為，一種被稱為PlyC的抗菌病毒蛋白質(zhì)可以作為抗生素的替代品。

This protein was first identified as a possible treatment for infections in nineteen twenty-five. But the research ended following the discovery of antibiotics.

1925年，這種蛋白質(zhì)首次被視為感染的可能治療方案。但隨著抗生素的發(fā)現(xiàn)這一研究終止了。

Now, scientists have spent six years studying the structure of the protein. They have found how it kills the bacteria that cause sore throats, pneumonia and streptococcal toxic shock syndrome.

現(xiàn)在，科學(xué)家已經(jīng)花了6年時間研究這種蛋白質(zhì)的結(jié)構(gòu)。他們已經(jīng)發(fā)現(xiàn)這種蛋白質(zhì)是如何殺死會引起喉嚨痛、肺炎和鏈球菌中毒性休克綜合征的細(xì)菌。

Australian researchers worked with scientists at the Rockefeller University in New York and the University of Maryland. Their findings appear in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

澳大利亞研究人員與紐約洛克菲勒大學(xué)以及馬里蘭大學(xué)的科學(xué)家一起合作。他們的研究成功發(fā)表在《美國國家科學(xué)院學(xué)報》上。

Dr. Sheena McGowan from Monash University describes the protein as a powerful bacterial killing machine. She says it looks like a flying saucer carrying a pair of warheads. It connects to the surface of the bacterium and then cuts through the outside to destroy it.

莫納什大學(xué)的希娜·麥高恩(Sheena McGowan)博士稱這種蛋白質(zhì)是一種強(qiáng)大的殺菌機(jī)器。她說，這種細(xì)菌看上去像攜帶了一對彈頭的飛碟，它連接到細(xì)菌表面，然后洞穿外部摧毀細(xì)菌。

Sheena McGowan says it could be highly valuable when conditions like pneumonia do not respond to traditional treatments.

麥高恩表示，在一些情況下，這種蛋白質(zhì)具有極高價值，像肺炎對傳統(tǒng)療法不響應(yīng)這種情況。

SHEENA MCGOWAN: "There's antibiotics at the moment for those particular types of diseases. We sort of see that there's a bit of resistance being built up in the bacterial community almost, and some of our antibiotics aren't quite as effective as they used to be. So this kind of ground route, basic research needs to be done quite early so that we have some time to develop them as safe human therapeutic over the timeframe when the antibiotics can keep working."

麥高恩：“目前對這些特定類型的疾病都有相應(yīng)的抗生素。我們稍微看到細(xì)菌菌群正在產(chǎn)生一些耐藥性，而有些抗生素沒有以前那么有效。所以這種基礎(chǔ)研究需要比較早進(jìn)行，這樣我們才能在抗生素還有效的這樣一段時期，有時間將這種蛋白質(zhì)開發(fā)成安全的人類療法。”

The researchers have been studying PlyC's atomic structure to try to develop a drug. They say they have had success in treating streptococcal infections in mice. But an effective human treatment in the form of a pill or nasal spray may be at least ten years away.

研究人員一直在研究這種抗菌病毒蛋白質(zhì)的原子結(jié)構(gòu)，以試圖開發(fā)一種藥物。他們表示，他們已經(jīng)成功治療了小老鼠的鏈球菌感染。但藥丸或鼻腔噴霧形式的人類有效療法可能至少還需十年。