VOA标准英语2011--Calfornia Foundation Announces $10 Million Genetics Prize

Calfornia Foundation Announces $10 Million Genetics Prize

 

The X Prize Foundation is offering a $10 million prize to the reseach team that excels at fast, accurate and cheap genetic¹ sequencing.

On Wednesday, the California-based organization, which uses big cash prizes to motivate technological² achievement, announced the competition.

The top prize will be awarded to a research team that can accurately³ sequence the genetic code of 100 centenarians within 30 days, and do it for $1,000 or less per person.

In the past, the X Prize Foundation has sponsored competitions in space exploration and fuel-efficient motor vehicles. Now, it has turned its focus to medical technology.

"The primary goal of this prize is to really get to a point where whole-genomic sequencing has real medical application," says Grant Campany, senior director for the $10 million Archon Genomics X Prize.

Human genome sequencing has become better, faster, and cheaper since it was first achieved a decade ago. But results can be inconsistent from one lab to the next. Consequently, Campany says, it's currently more suitable for research than for diagnosing and treating patients.

Insight into long life is one of the goals of the X Prize Foundation competition, which comes with a $10 million prize.

"A key goal of this prize is to really set a standard for what quality is for whole-genomic sequencing and finally prove to the world that these technologies are truly capable of achieving a quality standard that would have potentially medical applications."

Teams entering the competition will separately work on genetic samples from the same 100 individuals, each of them over 100 years old. When the individual results are combined, X Prize Foundation organizers hope for what they call a "medical-grade" genome that may shed new light on why some people can live for a century in generally good health.

"What we're trying to isolate⁴ here is the real genetic reason for these individuals being able to live long lives and evade⁵ diseases that impair⁶ or kill millions of people much earlier in life," says Campany.

The X Prize Foundation is actively⁷ looking for people willing to contribute their DNA⁸ to the competition. They want a diverse group of healthy people 100 years old, or preferably older. The competition begins in January 2013.

1 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。

2 technological   

adj.技术的；工艺的

参考例句：

• A successful company must keep up with the pace of technological change.一家成功的公司必须得跟上技术变革的步伐。
• Today,the pace of life is increasing with technological advancements.当今， 随着科技进步，生活节奏不断增快。

3 accurately   

adv.准确地，精确地

参考例句：

• It is hard to hit the ball accurately.准确地击中球很难。
• Now scientists can forecast the weather accurately.现在科学家们能准确地预报天气。

4 isolate   

vt.使孤立，隔离

参考例句：

• Do not isolate yourself from others.不要把自己孤立起来。
• We should never isolate ourselves from the masses.我们永远不能脱离群众。

5 evade   

vt.逃避，回避；避开，躲避

参考例句：

• He tried to evade the embarrassing question.他企图回避这令人难堪的问题。
• You are in charge of the job.How could you evade the issue?你是负责人，你怎么能对这个问题不置可否？

6 impair   

v.损害，损伤；削弱，减少

参考例句：

• Loud noise can impair your hearing.巨大的噪音有损听觉。
• It can not impair the intellectual vigor of the young.这不能磨灭青年人思想活力。

7 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

8 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。