评论
打印
【Designing an Alternative to Antibiotics】
TEXT：This is the VOA Special English Health Report.
这里是美国之音慢速英语健康报道。
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，一名英国科学家做了一次“机遇观察”。他注意到，一些霉菌在他实验室的培养皿里的细菌中生长出来。霉菌可以做到这点。但是，这种不知怎样进入培养皿的霉菌具有杀死周围细菌的能力。
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."
这名科学家， Alexander Fleming发现，这种霉菌是青霉素的一种。Fleming和另外两名科学家， Ernst Boris Chain以及Howard Walter Florey随后获得1945年的诺贝尔奖。他们因为发现青霉素及其在各种感染性疾病中的疗效而获奖。
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，其它强效的抗生素陆续被发现。但是，许多抗生素的疗效变得越来越差，这是由于它们被设计用于杀死的细菌产生了耐药性。
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，科学家们正在寻找新的方法来治疗感染。现在，澳大利亚的研究人员称，他们取得了重要发现。墨尔本莫纳什大学的科学家认为，一种被称为PlyC的抗菌病毒蛋白质可以替代抗生素。
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，该蛋白质首次被视为感染的可能治疗方案。但随着抗生素的发现这一研究终止了。
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.
现在，科学家们花了六年时间研究这种蛋白质的结构。他们已经发现这种蛋白质是如何杀死会引起喉咙痛、肺炎和链球菌中毒性休克综合征的细菌。
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.
澳大利亚研究人员与纽约洛克菲勒大学以及马里兰大学的科学家一起合作。他们的研究刊登在在《国家科学院学报》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 though the outside to destroy it.
莫纳什大学的Sheena McGowan博士称这种蛋白质是一种强大的杀菌机器。她说，这种细菌看上去像携带了一对弹头的飞碟，它连接到细菌表面，然后从外部切断并摧毁它。
Sheena McGowan says it could be highly valuable when conditions like pneumonia do not respond to traditional treatments.
Sheena McGowan称，这种蛋白质是非常宝贵的，像肺炎对传统疗法不响应这种情况。
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."
SHEENA MCGOWAN：“目前对这些特定类型的疾病都有对应的抗生素。我们看到，细菌菌群正在产生一些耐药性，而有些抗生素没有以前那么有效。所以这种基础研究需要比较早进行，这样才能在抗生素还有效的这样一段时期，让我们有时间将这种蛋白质开发成安全的人类疗法。”
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.
研究人员一直在研究PlyC的原子结构，并尝试开发一种药物。他们说，他们已经成功治疗了感染链球菌的小老鼠。但有效治疗人类的药丸或鼻腔喷雾形式可能至少需要十年。
