华盛顿邮报 什么是病毒猎人？(2)

 

    The caves typically are, you know -- they host the insect-eating bats, which are really small little palm-sized bats.

    洞穴里通常栖息着以昆虫为食的蝙蝠，它们体型小，只有手掌大小。

    The other virus hunting goes on with bats that roost in trees, and these typically are the fruit-eating bats, much larger.

    另一项病毒搜寻工作则是寻找栖息在树上的蝙蝠，这些蝙蝠通常以水果为食，体型要大得多。

    The flying foxes are 16 inches long and their wingspan is orders of magnitude greater than that.

    飞狐（果蝠）身长16英寸，它们的翅膀展开还要比现在大几个数量级。

    How are they actually -- They get to the animals, but then what's the virus part of it?

    工作人员实际上如何接触蝙蝠的？蝙蝠身上的病毒怎么办？

    In the caves, there's a scraping of guano off the floor. That's bat feces.

    洞穴里，地上有提取粪便的痕迹。那是蝙蝠的粪便。

    It's also a source of DNA¹, genetic² material, so it can be scraped there, but then the real nitty-gritty comes to handling the bats.

    可以从蝙蝠粪便中找到遗传物质DNA，因此，可以提取这些粪便，但真正的关键是处理蝙蝠。

    They try to anesthetize them so they're not wriggling³ so fast.

    他们试图麻醉蝙蝠，这样它们就不会扭动得那么快。

    I mean, these bigger bats, they've got these razor-sharp fangs⁴ and they don't like being handled.

    这些体型更大的蝙蝠，满嘴锋利的毒牙，它们不愿被操控，通常会咬你。

    So they typically will try to bite you, and so to avoid potential infection, thick rubber gloves should be used, but that poses some challenge for handling the bats.

    因此，为了避免潜在的感染，应该使用厚橡胶手套，但这给处理蝙蝠带来了一些挑战。

    Anyone who's ever had to put a pair of gloves on and try and --任何人必须戴上手套试着--

    Do anything.

    做任何事。

    Makes a minor⁵ affair, yeah.

    微不足道的事情，是。

    Yeah, let alone a bat.

    是啊，更别说蝙蝠了。

    Exactly, so that's the beginning process.

    没错，这就是开始的过程。

    So David, what you're describing is how these virus hunters actually try to get the DNA from bats that contain the virus DNA, but I'm curious about why do virus hunters generally do this sort of work?

    大卫，你刚刚描述的是，这些病毒猎人如何从含有病毒DNA的蝙蝠身上获取DNA，但我很好奇为什么病毒猎人愿意做这种工作?

    Like, can you walk me through what the intention and the point is behind, for example, going into caves and going into a precarious⁶ situation handling bats, why do they do this sort of work?

    你能告诉我背后的意图与本质吗？打个比方，进入洞穴、进入危险环境处理蝙蝠，他们为什么要做这种工作?

    Well, virus hunting has been going on for at least a couple of decades and there have been differing objectives.

    嗯，病毒搜寻工作已经进行了至少几十年了，而且目的各不相同。

    I guess the promise of virus hunting in general across the board is to better understand the pathogens that are out there and to use that information ultimately, it is hoped, to develop a vaccine⁷ or therapeutics that could stop an outbreak in its tracks and therefore prevent a pandemic.

    我认为，全面搜寻病毒是为了更好地了解已存的病原体，希望最终利用这些信息，开发出一种能阻止病原体传播进而防止疫情爆发的疫苗或疗法。

    That is, I think, the sort of historical basis and to the present, the highest objective of the work.

    我认为，这是一种历史根基，也是目前工作的最高目标。

1 DNA   

(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸

参考例句：

• DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。

2 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

3 wriggling   

v.扭动，蠕动，蜿蜒行进( wriggle的现在分词 )；（使身体某一部位）扭动；耍滑不做，逃避（应做的事等）；蠕蠕

参考例句：

• The baby was wriggling around on my lap. 婴儿在我大腿上扭来扭去。
• Something that looks like a gray snake is wriggling out. 有一种看来象是灰蛇的东西蠕动着出来了。 来自辞典例句

4 fangs   

n.（尤指狗和狼的）长而尖的牙( fang的名词复数 )；（蛇的）毒牙；罐座

参考例句：

• The dog fleshed his fangs in the deer's leg. 狗用尖牙咬住了鹿腿。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Dogs came lunging forward with their fangs bared. 狗龇牙咧嘴地扑过来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

6 precarious   

adj.不安定的，靠不住的；根据不足的

参考例句：

• Our financial situation had become precarious.我们的财务状况已变得不稳定了。
• He earned a precarious living as an artist.作为一个艺术家，他过得是朝不保夕的生活。

7 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。