经济学人73:历史上的首次细胞赛跑

 　　Science and Technology Cell biology On your marks...

　　科技 细胞生物学 各就各位…

　　The first cell race in history may further knowledge about how cancers spread

　　历史上的首次细胞赛跑，可能增进了解有关癌症如何扩散的知识

　　IT WILL not come with garden parties, large hats or eager bookies.

　　这次比赛将不会与花园招待会，高职位或急切的赌注登记经纪人一起到来。

　　And the contestants¹ will be too small to see with the naked eye.

　　并且，参赛者也会因过于细小而肉眼无法看到。

　　But the World Cell Race, due to begin at the end of this month, will be the sporting event of the year for cell biologists.

　　但是预计将于本月底举行的世界细胞竞赛将是今年细胞生物学家的体育盛会。

　　The idea of the race is simple. Labs from around the world send the runners—whatever sort of mammalian cell they think will do well—to one of six testing sites.

　　竞赛的想法很简单。世界各地的实验室将把他们的参赛者---无论哪一种他们认为将表现不错的哺乳动物细胞---送到6个测试点之一。

　　There, the cells will be injected onto plates striped with tracks of a chemical they like to adhere to.

　　在这些测试点，细胞将被注入他们喜欢粘附的一种化学制品跑道的条纹板里。

　　Progress will be watched through a microscope, by time-lapse photography.

　　显微镜通过延时摄影可以观察到它们的进展情况。

　　And whichever cell covers a tenth of a millimetre fastest (probably taking about an hour to do so) will be declared the winner.

　　然后无论哪种细胞，只要先跑过十分之一毫米的跑道（可能需要花一小时左右）就将被宣布为赢家。

　　The field is wide open. Unlike horse-racing, the contest is not restricted to thoroughbreds.

　　该领域的大门敞开着。不像赛马，该竞赛并不局限于纯种动物。

　　In fact the organisers, Matthieu Piel, Ana-Maria Lennon-Duménil and Manuel Théry, who all work in France, are particularly encouraging the entry of genetically³ modified cells, as these are likely to be the most successful—and most instructive—competitors.

　　事实上，该次竞赛的组织者---都在法国工作的马修·彼尔（Matthieu Piel）， 安娜 - 玛丽·列侬-邓内尔（Ana-Maria Lennon-Duménil）和曼奴埃尔· 西里（Manuel Théry）特别鼓励转基因细胞的参选，因为这些细胞很可能是最成功的---而且是最有意义的---竞争者。

　　That is because a lot of research on cell movement uses genetic² modification⁴ to silence or amplify⁵ genes⁶ thought to be involved in the process.

　　这是因为很多细胞运动的研究使用遗传改造来抑制或增强基因表达。

　　Many of these genes have been found by looking at cancerous cells.

　　这些改造过的基因被认为参与了这个过程。

　　Metastatic tumour⁷ cells—those which have spread from the site of the original tumour—migrate faster than other cells.

　　许多基因可以通过观察癌细胞找到。转移性肿瘤细胞---那些已从原发部位扩散开的细胞---比别的细胞移动得要快。

　　If the genes that cause this mobility⁸ could be turned off, it would slow a cancer’s spread.

　　如果导致这种流动性的基因能被关掉，这将减缓癌症的扩散速度。

　　More positively⁹, cell migration¹⁰ is the driving force of embryo¹¹ development and is, in adults, essential to the immune response and to the healing of wounds.

　　更加肯定的是，细胞迁移是胚胎发育的原动力，而且对成年人来讲，细胞迁移对免疫反应以及伤口愈合非常重要。

　　Understanding cell movement, then, is important. Hence the idea of the race, which Dr Piel and Dr Lennon-Duménil (who both work at the Curie Institute in Paris) and Dr Théry (at the Atomic Energy Research Centre in Grenoble) came up with at last year’s meeting of the American Society for Cell Biology.

　　于是，理解细胞运动非常重要。因此，彼尔博士（Piel）和列侬-邓内尔（ Lennon-Duménil）（两人在巴黎的居里研究所工作）和西里(Théry)博士（在格勒诺布尔的原子能研究中心工作）在去年的美国细胞生物学学会的会议上提出这次竞赛的想法。

　　So far their competition has attracted 30 entrants.

　　到目前为止，他们的竞争已经吸引了30名参赛者。

　　The heats will take place throughout August.

　　整个八月份都将是预赛。只有八月底才有视频来分析决定赢家。

　　Only at the end of the month will the videos be analysed to name the winners.

　　组织者说他们也正在考虑给最慢的细胞一个奖项，因为呆滞的细胞对癌症治疗来说将是非常有用的。

　　The organisers say they are also considering giving a prize to the slowest cell, since lethargic¹² cells would be a boon¹³ for cancer therapy.

　　对细胞生物学家来说，这次竞赛应该是一次令人兴奋的比赛。

　　For cell biologists it should be an exciting contest. But a word of advice to sports fans: maybe just catch the highlights.

　　但是我要给体育爱好者提个建议：或许恰好碰上最重要的时刻了。

1 contestants   

n.竞争者，参赛者( contestant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The competition attracted over 500 contestants representing 8 different countries. 这次比赛吸引了代表8个不同国家的500多名参赛者。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency. 两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。 来自《简明英汉词典》

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 genetically   

adv.遗传上

参考例句：

• All the bees in the colony are genetically related. 同一群体的蜜蜂都有亲缘关系。
• Genetically modified foods have already arrived on American dinner tables. 经基因改造加工过的食物已端上了美国人的餐桌。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 基因与食物

4 modification   

n.修改，改进，缓和，减轻

参考例句：

• The law,in its present form,is unjust;it needs modification.现行的法律是不公正的，它需要修改。
• The design requires considerable modification.这个设计需要作大的修改。

5 amplify   

vt.放大，增强；详述，详加解说

参考例句：

• The new manager wants to amplify the company.新经理想要扩大公司。
• Please amplify your remarks by giving us some examples.请举例详述你的话。

6 genes   

n.基因( gene的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• You have good genes from your parents, so you should live a long time. 你从父母那儿获得优良的基因，所以能够活得很长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Differences will help to reveal the functions of the genes. 它们间的差异将会帮助我们揭开基因多种功能。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 生物技术的世纪

7 tumour   

n.(tumor)(肿)瘤，肿块

参考例句：

• The surgeons operated on her for a tumour.外科医生为她施行了肿瘤切除手术。
• The tumour constricts the nerves.肿瘤压迫神经。

8 mobility   

n.可动性，变动性，情感不定

参考例句：

• The difference in regional house prices acts as an obstacle to mobility of labour.不同地区房价的差异阻碍了劳动力的流动。
• Mobility is very important in guerrilla warfare.机动性在游击战中至关重要。

9 positively   

adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实

参考例句：

• She was positively glowing with happiness.她满脸幸福。
• The weather was positively poisonous.这天气着实讨厌。

10 migration   

n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙

参考例句：

• Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
• He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。

11 embryo   

n.胚胎，萌芽的事物

参考例句：

• They are engaging in an embryo research.他们正在进行一项胚胎研究。
• The project was barely in embryo.该计划只是个雏形。

12 lethargic   

adj.昏睡的，懒洋洋的

参考例句：

• He felt too miserable and lethargic to get dressed.他心情低落无精打采，完全没有心思穿衣整装。
• The hot weather made me feel lethargic.炎热的天气使我昏昏欲睡。

13 boon   

n.恩赐，恩物，恩惠

参考例句：

• A car is a real boon when you live in the country.在郊外居住，有辆汽车确实极为方便。
• These machines have proved a real boon to disabled people.事实证明这些机器让残疾人受益匪浅。