VOA慢速英语20116 实验室将致命毒虫液转换为药物（在线收听）

A Laboratory Turns Deadly Insect Venom into Medicine 实验室将致命毒虫液转换为药物

To most of us, medicine comes from a drugstore. But originally, much of the medicine developed in the last century came from natural sources: plants, bacteria and fungi.

对大多数人来说，药物都来自于药店。但最初，上世纪的大部分药品都来自天然物质，如植物、细菌和真菌。

Now, a group of scientists in Great Britain are hoping to develop a medicine from poisonous insects.They are researching whether the deadly venom of some insects can work against bacteria that make people sick.

如今英国的一组科学家希望从毒虫中研制一种药物。他们在研究一些昆虫的致命毒液能否抵抗让人生病的细菌。

About 400 insects live in plastic containers in the Venomtech laboratory.Each container has an image of a skull and crossbones.The images warn that a bite from the insects inside can be anything from painful to downright deadly.

毒液科技实验室的塑料容器中有400多只昆虫。每一个容器上都贴有骷髅和交叉骨头的图片。该图片是警告人们，被里面的昆虫咬一口会非常痛苦，甚至直接致死。

The venom from these insects contains hundreds of chemical components.Each component has a different target and effect.

这些昆虫的毒液中包含成百上千种化学成分。每种成分有不同的指标和效果。

Medical researchers, such as Venomtech managing director Steven Trim, separate the venom into its component parts.Then they create a library of those components, looking for the ones that could be turned into new drugs.

医学研究员，如毒液科技的总经理Steven Trim将毒液分离成各个成分。然后他们创建了一个成分资料库，寻找哪些成分可以转化为新的药物。

“Some of them we found actually can kill bacteria, and bacteria like E.Coli and staphylococcus, so they’re very relevant at the moment where modern medicines (are) failing. And we’re also finding venoms that are modifying and killing cancer cells.”

“我们发现，有一些成分确实可以杀死大肠杆菌、葡萄球菌等细菌，所以在现代药品失效的情况下，目前这些成分都非常重要。我们还发现有些毒液可以改变甚至杀死癌细胞。”

Finding new ways to kill bacteria is important to researchers.One reason is because people have used antibiotics so much that some bacteria can now resist it.

寻找杀死细菌的新方法对研究人员来说意义重大。一个原因是因为人们使用了太多的抗生素，致使一些细菌产生了抗药性。

For example, tuberculosis used to be curable with antibiotics.Now it is not.

例如之前可以用抗生素治疗肺结核。但如今这种方法已经失效了。

To get as much venom as possible, researchers feed the insects well, then put them to sleep temporarily.

为了获取尽可能多的毒液，研究人员仔细喂养这些昆虫，并让它们暂时沉睡。

Steven Trim of Venomtech says researchers anaesthetize the invertebrates to make removing the venom safer. After all, an immobile insect cannot bite.

毒液科技的Steven Trim说，研究人员麻醉这些无脊椎动物是为了保证提取毒液时的安全性。毕竟，不能活动的昆虫不会咬人。

Anaesthetizing the insect is better for the animals as well, says Trim.

麻醉这些昆虫对它们自身也有好处，Trim说道。

Researchers then electrically stimulate the insect to contract the muscle and squeeze the gland.The pressure produces a small amount of venom.

之后研究人员用电刺激这些昆虫，使它们的肌肉收缩并挤压腺体。这些压力会产生少量的毒液。

Researchers separate the venom into hundreds of proteins.Each protein contains between one and five different molecules.Someday, those tiny molecules might be turned into powerful new drugs.

研究人员将毒液分离为成百上千种蛋白质。每一种蛋白都含有1到5种不同的分子。某一天，这些微小的分子有可能转化为强有力的新型药物。

Words in This Story

venom – n. poison that is produced by an animal and used to kill or injure another animal

drug-resistant – n. the reduction in effectiveness of a drug

downright – adv. completely or totally

maximize – v. to increase something as much as possible

peptide n. a compound containing two or more amino acids in which the carboxyl group of one acid is linked to the group of other

anaesthetize v. – deprive of feeling or awareness

immobile – adj. unable to move

gland – n. an organ in the body that makes a substance which is used by the body