【经济学人】新发现！科莫多龙血液可治病！丨2017.03.02丨总第831期

MYTHOLOGY is rich with tales of dragons and the magical properties their innards possess. One of the most valuable bits was their blood. Supposedly capable of curing respiratory and digestive disorders, it was widely sought. A new study has provided a factual twist on these fictional medicines. Barney Bishop and Monique van Hoek, at George Mason University in Virginia, report in The Journal of Proteome Research that the blood of the Komodo dragon, the largest living lizard on the planet, is loaded with compounds that could be used as antibiotics.

神话中有许多关于龙的传说，以及它们体内器官所具有的奇妙功效的故事。它们的血液是最有价值的部分之一。据称可以治愈呼吸和消化系统疾病，因此被广泛追捧。一项新的研究为这些虚构的药物提供了一个真实依据。弗吉尼亚乔治梅森大学的Barney Bishop和Monique van Hoek，在《蛋白质组学研究》杂志中谈到，地球上最大的蜥蜴，科莫多龙，它的血液中富含可以作为抗生素的混合物，。

• mythology  n.神话

• innards  n.内脏

Komodo dragons, which are native to parts of Indonesia, ambush large animals like water buffalo and deer with a bite to the throat. If their prey does not fall immediately, the dragons rarely continue the fight. Instead, they back away and let the mix of mild venom and dozens of pathogenic bacteria found in their saliva finish the job. They track their prey until it succumbs, whereupon they can feast without a struggle. Intriguingly, though, Komodo dragons appear to be resistant to bites inflicted by other dragons.

科莫多龙，源于印度尼西亚的部分地区，通过攻击咽喉的方式伏击如水牛和鹿这样的大型动物。如果它们的猎物没有立刻倒下，科莫多龙很少继续战斗。相反的，它们退后，让混合的轻度毒液和它们唾液中的几十种致病菌完成捕杀。他们追踪着猎物直到它屈服，之后，它就可以轻松地享受大餐。不过有趣的是，科莫多巨蜥似乎对其他蜥蜴的叮咬伤具有抵抗力。

• ambush  v.埋伏

• water buffalo  [畜牧]水牛

• prey  n.捕食，被捕食的动物

• venom  n.毒液

• saliva  n.唾液

• succumb  v.屈服

• whereupon 之后，随后

• Intriguingly  adv.有趣地

Most animals—not just Komodo dragons—carry simple proteins known as antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) as general-purpose weapons against infection. But if the AMPs of Komodo dragons are potent enough to let them shrug off otherwise-fatal bites from their fellow animals, they are probably especially robust. And that could make them a promising source of chemicals upon which to base new antibiotics.

大多数动物，不只是科莫多巨蜥，都携带着被称为抗菌肽（AMPS）的简单蛋白质，这可以作为通用抵抗感染的药物。但如果科莫多巨蜥的抗菌肽足够强大，可让他们免受其他致命咬伤的伤害，因此其格外强健，很有希望成为新抗生素的化学药品来源。

• antimicrobial peptides  抗菌肽

• potent  adj.有效的，强有力的

• shrug off  摆脱；不屑

• robust  adj.强健的，健康的

With that in mind, and working with the St Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park in Florida, Dr Bishop obtained fresh Komodo dragon blood. He examined the blood for peptides with molecular weights, lengths, electrical charges and chemical characteristics that were similar to those from known AMPs. He then analysed the peptides using a mass spectrometer and a combination of commercial and home-brewed software to identify which of the newly discovered peptides were likely to have medicinal potential.

带着这个想法，Bishop博士与佛罗里达州的圣奥古斯丁鳄鱼农场动物公园合作，获得了新鲜的科莫多巨蜥血。他对血液中多肽的分子量，长度，电荷和化学特性进行检测发现与已知AMP相应指标相类似。随后他利用质谱仪，并将商用与家用软件结合，对这些多肽进行分析，来确定哪些新发现的多肽可能有药用潜力。

• a mass spectrometer  质谱仪
  

• peptides  n.多肽类

The team identified 48 potential AMPs that had never been seen before. Their initial tests were equally promising. Dr Van Hoek exposed two species of pathogenic bacteria, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus, to eight of the most promising peptides they had identified. The growth of both species of bacteria was severely hampered by seven of the eight; the remaining peptide was effective against only P. aeruginosa.

研究小组发现了48种之前从未发现的潜在抗菌肽。他们的初步测验也是很有希望的。Van Hoek博士将绿脓杆菌和金黄色葡萄球菌这两种病原菌放置在他们鉴定中的8种最有医用前景的多肽中。8种多肽中，有7种能够有效抑制这两种细菌的生长，另外那种多肽只对绿脓杆菌有效。

• Pseudomonas aeruginosa  绿脓杆菌

• Staphylococcus aureus  金黄色葡萄球菌

• hamper  v.阻碍

There results are noteworthy. Antibiotic-proof bacteria are an increasing problem in hospitals. Such bugs are now thought to kill some 700,000 people each year around the world, and P. aeruginosa and S. aureus are parental strains for some of the most menacing types. On February 27th the World Health Organisation named both in its first-ever list of “priority pathogens”, for which drug-resistance is a serious problem. Dr Bishop’s findings hint that the blood of dragons may yet prove to be as useful against disease as myths suggest.

他们的研究成果值得注意。细菌的耐药性是医院日益严重的问题。（期待您的翻译，明天会有针对这句话的长难句解析哟~）2月27日，鉴于病菌的耐药性是一个严重的问题，世界卫生组织在 “优先病原体”这一前所未有的名单中加入了这两种细菌。Bishop博士的发现可能表明，蜥蜴的血液可能会被证实能用来治疗疾病，正如同传说中的那样。

• menace  v.威胁，恐吓

• first-ever史无前例的

翻译 ▍hua外音

审核 ▍云图

编辑 ▍毛毛