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This is Scientific American’s 60-Second Science. I’m Steve Mirsky. Got a minute?

“Only 10 percent of people die from primary tumors. The real problem is when it spreads around the body. The problem of metastases.” Arizona State University’s Paul Davies, speaking at the Penn Club in New York. “I don’t think we need to cure cancer. In fact, I don’t really think of cancer as a disease as much as an alternative form of living matter. We don’t need to cure it; we just need to manage it for long enough that people die of something else.”

The cosmologist was asked to study cancer by the National Cancer Institute. “When cancer cells spread around the body, this is a physics problem. These cells are microscopic¹ bodies being swept along in this raging torrent². They wriggle³ around, they latch⁴ on to surfaces, they drill their way through. This is the sort of language that physicists⁵ and engineers can understand. Cancer research is dominated by genetics and biochemistry. That’s why we have the therapies, genetic⁶ and chemotherapy, as the main approaches. I think that we can open up a whole new frontier just by thinking about the problem in a totally different way.”

Thanks for the minute. For Scientific American’s 60-Second Science, I’m Steve Mirsky.

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1 microscopic
adj.微小的，细微的，极小的，显微的
参考例句：
It's impossible to read his microscopic handwriting.不可能看清他那极小的书写字迹。 A plant's lungs are the microscopic pores in its leaves.植物的肺就是其叶片上微细的气孔。

2 torrent
n.激流，洪流；爆发，(话语等的)连发
参考例句：
The torrent scoured a channel down the hillside. 急流沿着山坡冲出了一条沟。 Her pent-up anger was released in a torrent of words.她压抑的愤怒以滔滔不绝的话爆发了出来。

3 wriggle
v./n.蠕动，扭动；蜿蜒
参考例句：
I've got an appointment I can't wriggle out of.我有个推脱不掉的约会。 Children wriggle themselves when they are bored.小孩子感到厌烦时就会扭动他们的身体。

4 latch
n.门闩，窗闩；弹簧锁
参考例句：
She laid her hand on the latch of the door.她把手放在门闩上。 The repairman installed an iron latch on the door.修理工在门上安了铁门闩。

5 physicists
物理学家( physicist的名词复数 )
参考例句：
For many particle physicists, however, it was a year of frustration. 对于许多粒子物理学家来说，这是受挫折的一年。来自英汉非文学 - 科技 Physicists seek rules or patterns to provide a framework. 物理学家寻求用法则或图式来构成一个框架。

6 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。