SSS 2008-08-06
时间：2019-01-08 作者：英语课 分类：Scientific American(八)月
This is Scientific American’s 60-Second Science, I’m Cynthia Graber. This’ll just take a minute.
Clues about modern-day tuberculosis 1 could be found in some 6,000 year old bones. Israeli, Palestinian and German scientists have teamed up to investigate the remnants of diseases in bones excavated 2 from the ancient city of Jericho. It’s an exercise in paleoepidemiology, the study of ancient diseases in mummified bodies and other human remains 3. The Jericho bones were unearthed 4 by Dr. Kathleen Kenyon half a century ago. The DNA 5 in the samples will be tested for tuberculosis, leprosy,leishmania and malaria 6. But the focus is on tuberculosis, which is the biggest killer 7 today. Scientists believe that tuberculosis originated in the Fertile Crescent 9-10,000 years ago. And Jericho is one of the earliest cities on earth, about 11,000 years old. So there’s a good chance TB could have gotten a start there. Researchers will be studying how early cities—the first time people lived in crowds—affected the DNA of microbes and their human hosts. They’ll also be looking at the remains of animals, which could have been disease vectors. Scientists on the team believe there’s sufficient DNA in the samples to provide new information about the origin and evolution of TB, which could help us combat it today.
Thanks for the minute. For Scientific American’s 60-Second Science, I’m Cynthia Graber.
- 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。
- The site has been excavated by archaeologists. 这个遗址已被考古学家发掘出来。
- The archaeologists excavated an ancient fortress. 考古学家们发掘出一个古堡。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- 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。
- Many unearthed cultural relics are set forth in the exhibition hall. 展览馆里陈列着许多出土文物。
- Some utensils were in a state of decay when they were unearthed. 有些器皿在出土时已经残破。
- 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。
- He had frequent attacks of malaria.他常患疟疾。
- Malaria is a kind of serious malady.疟疾是一种严重的疾病。