时间:2019-01-17 作者:英语课 分类:2016年Scientific American(十)月


英语课

 


The 2016 Nobel Prize in Physiology 1 or Medicine goes to Yoshinori Ohsumi of Japan for his discoveries of mechanisms 2 of what’s known as autophagy. Break the word down and you get auto 3 and phagy: from the Greek for self, auto, and eating, phagein. So, self-eating. Autophagy refers to a process in cells whereby they destroy themselves and send the parts out for recycling. Cells do this by enclosing their contents in tiny sacks, called vesicles. Those vesicles then get transported to an organelle within the cell called the lysosome. Where the sacks get degraded and the contents are made available for reuse.


Autophagy had been observed a half-century before Ohsumi’s work in the 1990’s while at the University of Tokyo. But it was his research that made clear its fundamental importance. He did that work with baker’s yeast 4. One way he made his discoveries was to interfere 5 with the process and thus see vesicles involved in autophagy start to build up—this action proved that yeast cells performed autophagy. He went on to identify 15 genes 6 crucial for the process.


Need quick fuel for energy? Autophagy makes that fuel available fast. Need raw materials for maintenance in other cells? Autophagy gets those materials into the system so the body can respond to starvation and other stresses. Infected? Autophagy plays a part in capturing and killing 7 bacteria and viruses. It clears out damaged proteins and organelles, thus helping 8 to fight the effects of aging. At the other end of the life cycle, autophagy is involved in the development of embryos 9. It’s truly a fundamental process.


Ohsumi is 71 years old. He’s currently an emeritus 10 professor at the Tokyo Institute of Technology. The Nobel Prize comes with a monetary 11 award of about $1.2 million.


—Steve Mirsky



n.生理学,生理机能
  • He bought a book about physiology.他买了一本生理学方面的书。
  • He was awarded the Nobel Prize for achievements in physiology.他因生理学方面的建树而被授予诺贝尔奖。
n.机械( mechanism的名词复数 );机械装置;[生物学] 机制;机械作用
  • The research will provide direct insight into molecular mechanisms. 这项研究将使人能够直接地了解分子的机理。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He explained how the two mechanisms worked. 他解释这两台机械装置是如何工作的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车
  • Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
  • The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。
n.酵母;酵母片;泡沫;v.发酵;起泡沫
  • Yeast can be used in making beer and bread.酵母可用于酿啤酒和发面包。
  • The yeast began to work.酵母开始发酵。
v.(in)干涉,干预;(with)妨碍,打扰
  • If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话,可能弊多利少。
  • When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件,棘手的事情就来了。
n.基因( gene的名词复数 )
  • You have good genes from your parents, so you should live a long time. 你从父母那儿获得优良的基因,所以能够活得很长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Differences will help to reveal the functions of the genes. 它们间的差异将会帮助我们揭开基因多种功能。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 生物技术的世纪
n.巨额利润;突然赚大钱,发大财
  • Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
  • Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。
n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的,辅助的
  • The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
  • By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。
n.晶胚;胚,胚胎( embryo的名词复数 )
  • Somatic cells of angiosperms enter a regenerative phase and behave like embryos. 被子植物体细胞进入一个生殖阶段,而且其行为象胚。 来自辞典例句
  • Evolution can explain why human embryos look like gilled fishes. 进化论能够解释为什么人类的胚胎看起来象除去了内脏的鱼一样。 来自辞典例句
adj.名誉退休的
  • "Perhaps I can introduce Mr.Lake Kirby,an emeritus professor from Washington University?"请允许我介绍华盛顿大学名誉教授莱克柯尔比先生。
  • He will continue as chairman emeritus.他将会继续担任荣誉主席。
adj.货币的,钱的;通货的;金融的;财政的
  • The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
  • Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。