VOA标准英语2011--Science: 2011 Breakthrough of the Year

Science: 2011 Breakthrough of the Year

 

The journal Science has named an AIDS study as its 2011 Breakthrough of the Year. The clinical trial found that antiretroviral drugs can be used to dramatically lower the risk of transmitting HIV.

The clinical trial is known as HPTN 052. It proved that giving the drugs to HIV infected people sooner made them 96 percent less likely to transmit the virus to their uninfected partners.

The research team was led by Dr. Myron Cohen. He said while the results were announced in May, preliminary work actually began 20 years ago.

“We had a strong suspicion based on all the biological studies we had done that when we treat people and lower the concentration of HIV in the blood and secretions¹, we were rendering² them less contagious³. But we didn’t understand the magnitude of the benefit,” he said.

Cohen is director of the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases at the University of North Carolina at Chapel⁴ Hill.

Dr. Myron Cohen, Director, Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases at the University of North Carolina.

“Suppose we had found that as we treat people they’re rendered 50 percent contagious. That’s a lot different than saying we’ve rendered people completely non-contagious. And so, the result, while it takes a long time, has attracted so much attention because it inspires the aspiration⁵ to aggressively prevent transmission. It blows a gigantic wind behind the idea that treatment will serve as prevention,” he said.

Follow through

Data from the study has already been put to use on many levels.

“This particular 052 study in the last six months has generated policy changes at the level of the United States and the World Health Organization and UNAIDS. And it’s inspired new community-based clinical trials that are just about to be launched that apply the scientific discovery. So when you do a single study and it receives so much recognition and then seems to inform policy in a dramatic way you think, ok, this was 20 years well spent,” said Cohen.

Those policy changes include treating HIV-infected people when their immune systems are still relatively⁶ healthy. The study also encouraged President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to say an end to HIV/AIDS is possible.

Seize the day

However, Cohen said the study results will be wasted unless they are linked to other aspects of HIV treatment and prevention.

“So the 052 study kind of lends itself to understanding that if we don’t know who’s positive and negative there’s no benefit. If people aren’t linked to care, there’s no benefit. If they aren’t provided drugs, there’s no benefit. If they receive the drugs but don’t take the pills, there’s no benefit. So this cascade⁷ is now the focus of our attention,” he said.

Cohen is well aware the study results were announced amid a global recession when many donors⁸ were reducing spending. Nevertheless, he said he remains⁹ optimistic about the future.

“So, as the world recession goes forward, it would seem insensible to ignore this disease, just as it would be insensible to ignore tuberculosis¹⁰. You either pay now or pay later,” he said.

Praise for HPTN 052

Among those who celebrated¹¹ the study results was Mitchell Warren, head of the AIDS advocacy group AVAC.

“Treatment is prevention. And that becomes a fundamentally different conversation because for many years debates have waged whether we should do treatment or prevention. And the results of the HPTN 052 study actually affirm once and for all that treatment is prevention,” he said.

He said the last 12 to 18 months brought other encouraging news as well. This includes successful microbicide studies, proof that antiretroviral drugs can prevent initial HIV infection and advances in vaccine¹² research. Warren agrees the end of the HIV/AIDS epidemic¹³ is within reach.

“We know it’s possible, now we just need to do it,” he said.

The HPTN 052 study was sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy¹⁴ and Infectious Diseases. Director Dr. Anthony Fauci says the recognition by the journal Science is a credit to researchers and the more than 3,000 study participants.

1 secretions   

n.分泌（物）( secretion的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Lysozyme is an enzyme found in egg white, tears, and other secretions. 溶菌酶是存在于卵白、泪和其他分泌物中的一种酶。 来自辞典例句
• Chest percussion and vibration are used with postural drainage to help dislodge secretions. 在做体位引流时要敲击和振动胸部帮助分泌物松动排出。 来自辞典例句

2 rendering   

n.表现，描写

参考例句：

• She gave a splendid rendering of Beethoven's piano sonata.她精彩地演奏了贝多芬的钢琴奏鸣曲。
• His narrative is a super rendering of dialect speech and idiom.他的叙述是方言和土语最成功的运用。

3 contagious   

adj.传染性的，有感染力的

参考例句：

• It's a highly contagious infection.这种病极易传染。
• He's got a contagious laugh.他的笑富有感染力。

4 chapel   

n.小教堂，殡仪馆

参考例句：

• The nimble hero,skipped into a chapel that stood near.敏捷的英雄跳进近旁的一座小教堂里。
• She was on the peak that Sunday afternoon when she played in chapel.那个星期天的下午，她在小教堂的演出，可以说是登峰造极。

5 aspiration   

n.志向，志趣抱负；渴望；(语)送气音；吸出

参考例句：

• Man's aspiration should be as lofty as the stars.人的志气应当象天上的星星那么高。
• Young Addison had a strong aspiration to be an inventor.年幼的爱迪生渴望成为一名发明家。

6 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

7 cascade   

n.小瀑布，喷流；层叠；vi.成瀑布落下

参考例句：

• She watched the magnificent waterfall cascade down the mountainside.她看着壮观的瀑布从山坡上倾泻而下。
• Her hair fell over her shoulders in a cascade of curls.她的卷发像瀑布一样垂在肩上。

8 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

10 tuberculosis   

n.结核病，肺结核

参考例句：

• People used to go to special health spring to recover from tuberculosis.人们常去温泉疗养胜地治疗肺结核。
• Tuberculosis is a curable disease.肺结核是一种可治愈的病。

11 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

12 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。

13 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

14 allergy   

n.(因食物、药物等而引起的)过敏症

参考例句：

• He developed an allergy to pollen.他对花粉过敏。
• The patient had an allergy to penicillin.该患者对青霉素过敏。