科学家利用昆虫致命毒液研制新药
时间：2018-12-16 作者：英语课 分类：VOA标准英语2016年(八月)
Turning Deadly Insect Venom 1 into Drugs 科学家利用昆虫致命毒液研制新药
There are many secrets yet to be discovered in the world of insects, especially the deadly ones. A group of scientists in Great Britain is trying to create a ‘chemical library’ of peptides contained in the venom of some deadly insects, hoping to find a powerful drug against drug-resistant 2 ‘superbugs’.
Many of the plastic living quarters of the 400 or so insects in the Venomtech laboratory bear the ominous 3 skull 4 and crossbones, meaning that their bite can be anything from painful to downright deadly.
Their venom contains hundreds of chemical components 6, each with a different target and effect, and that makes them interesting to medical researchers, like Venomtech managing director Steven Trim.
“Some of them we found can kill bacteria, bacteria like E.Coli and staphylococcus, so very relevant at the moment where modern medicines are failing. And we're also finding venoms 7 that are modifying and killing 8 cancer cells,” said Trim.
Finding new ways to kill bacteria is vital since the excessive use of antibiotics 9 has created some 'superbugs' like tuberculosis 10 that have grown resistant to the medicines we've historically used against them.
Animal venom has already been used in medicines, but with about 100,000 different venomous animals in the world, there is much more to discover.
Trim says Venomtech researchers are trying to isolate 11 and catalogue those components, looking for the ones that could be turned into new drugs.
“The principle of Venomtech is separating venoms out into their component 5 parts and targeting them to the right disease area. So this is the experience of the team in drug discovery of putting the right venom for the right drug target so we maximize the hits - and a hit is an interesting peptide that might make it to a drug,” said Trim.
The insects are well-fed in order to produce as much venom as possible, which is extracted in a way that doesn't harm the animal.
“We anaesthetize the invertebrates 12, just put them to sleep, it makes it safer for us because if they're immobile they can't bite us. But also it's better for the animals as well. And using a very tiny electrical stimulation 13, just to contract the muscle and squeeze the gland 14 we get a small amount of venom produced,” said Trim.
Components are separated through a two-phase process called high pressure liquid chromatography that yields about a hundred proteins per venom. Each protein contains between one and five different molecules 15 that may someday be turned into powerful new drugs.
- The snake injects the venom immediately after biting its prey.毒蛇咬住猎物之后马上注入毒液。
- In fact,some components of the venom may benefit human health.事实上，毒液的某些成分可能有益于人类健康。
- Many pests are resistant to the insecticide.许多害虫对这种杀虫剂有抵抗力。
- They imposed their government by force on the resistant population.他们以武力把自己的统治强加在持反抗态度的人民头上。
- Those black clouds look ominous for our picnic.那些乌云对我们的野餐来说是个不祥之兆。
- There was an ominous silence at the other end of the phone.电话那头出现了不祥的沉默。
- The skull bones fuse between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five.头骨在15至25岁之间长合。
- He fell out of the window and cracked his skull.他从窗子摔了出去，跌裂了颅骨。
- Each component is carefully checked before assembly.每个零件在装配前都经过仔细检查。
- Blade and handle are the component parts of a knife.刀身和刀柄是一把刀的组成部分。
- the components of a machine 机器部件
- Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。
- Spider venoms are exquisitely refined to interfere with the nervous systems of insects. 蜘蛛的毒液非常微妙，专门损坏昆虫的神经系统。 来自百科语句
- Venoms (especially upgraded) are the ideal unit for taking out husks. 毒液（特别是升级后的）是消灭外壳的理想单位。 来自互联网
- 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。
- the discovery of antibiotics in the 20th century 20世纪抗生素的发现
- The doctor gave me a prescription for antibiotics. 医生给我开了抗生素。
- 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。
- 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。
- Insects and worms are all invertebrates. 昆虫和蠕虫都是无脊椎动物。 来自辞典例句
- In the earthworm and many other invertebrates, these excretory structures are called nephridia. 在蚯蚓和许多其它无脊椎动物中，这些排泄结构称为肾管。 来自辞典例句
- The playgroup provides plenty of stimulation for the children.幼儿游戏组给孩子很多启发。
- You don't get any intellectual stimulation in this job.你不能从这份工作中获得任何智力启发。