評論
打印
But sometimes drug companies
不過有時候 制藥公司
are not the first people to see that.
并不是最先意識到這一點的人
In the UK, one third of all women
在英國 三分之一的育年齡婦女
of reproductive age take the contraceptive pill.
都會服用避孕藥物
Worldwide, a hundred million rely on it,
全世界 約有一億人依賴這種藥物
but it almost never reached the market.
但最初 它差一點未能進入市場
In the 1950s, research into contraception was illegal
在20世紀50年代 研發避孕藥
in many parts of the world and where it was legal,
在許多國家是非法的 即便在合法國家
pharmaceutical firms feared a moral backlash.
制藥公司也害怕遭遇道德問題
Despite this, independent researchers did discover
除此之外 獨立研究人員也發現了
how to synthetically create female hormones.
合成制造女性荷爾蒙的方法
They realised giving these to women as a pill
他們意識到 給女性服用藥物
would change their fundamental biology
可以改變她們的生理狀態
and stop them ovulating,
使其停止排卵
preventing them from getting pregnant.
從而避免懷孕
Pharmaceutical companies were reluctant
制藥公司當時對于這一項目的支持
to back the project,
并不情愿
so when one did get behind it,
所以當一個制藥公司著手支持該項目時
the pill was brought to the market
這種藥物只是作為
as a drug for heavy periods,
治療月經過多的藥劑進入市場
but women soon cottoned on to its real potential.
不過女人們很快發現了它的真實作用
