評(píng)論
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Help from the animal kingdom
萌萌的美洲駝?wù)郊尤肟埂耙摺睉?zhàn)斗
While the situation may be improving, much of the world is still under the shadow of COVID-19 and its associated containment measures. But according to a study published in the scientific journal Cell, an unlikely friend could help defeat the virus.
盡管局勢(shì)有所好轉(zhuǎn)，但全球許多地方仍籠罩在新冠肺炎疫情以及相關(guān)限制措施的陰影之下。不過(guò)，科學(xué)期刊《細(xì)胞》中刊登的一項(xiàng)研究表明，一位意想不到的朋友或許能夠幫助我們擊退病毒。
Known for their long legs and beautiful eyelashes, llamas – specifically their antibodies – are believed to play an important role in the fight against the virus.
擁有大長(zhǎng)腿和長(zhǎng)睫毛的美洲駝——尤其是它們身上的抗體——被認(rèn)為將在抗“疫”戰(zhàn)斗中發(fā)揮重要作用。
Having experimented with antibodies from a llama called Winter years ago, a small lab at Ghent University in Belgium had a eureka moment earlier this year. They found that llama antibodies were able to neutralize both the MERS and SARS viruses – two strains of the coronavirus that caused previous outbreaks in 2012 and 2003, respectively.
比利時(shí)根特大學(xué)的一個(gè)小型實(shí)驗(yàn)室數(shù)年前曾使用來(lái)自美洲駝“冬季”的抗體進(jìn)行實(shí)驗(yàn)，今年年初，實(shí)驗(yàn)室有了一個(gè)重大發(fā)現(xiàn)。他們發(fā)現(xiàn)美洲駝抗體能夠中和中東呼吸綜合癥（曾于2012年暴發(fā)）和非典型性肺炎（曾于2003年暴發(fā)）這兩種冠狀病毒。
Done in cooperation with the University of Texas, US, studies showed their effectiveness against COVID-19.
與美國(guó)德克薩斯大學(xué)合作的這份研究體現(xiàn)了抗體對(duì)于新冠病毒的有效性。
Jason McLellan, from the University of Texas at Austin and co-author of the study, said in a statement, "This is one of the first antibodies known to neutralize SARS-CoV-2."
該研究的聯(lián)合作者、來(lái)自美國(guó)奧斯汀德克薩斯大學(xué)的杰森·麥克萊倫在一份聲明中表示：“這是已知的首批能夠中和新冠病毒的抗體之一。”
Antibodies are like your body's defense system. Similar to tiny soldiers, they seek foreign substances that invade your body and destroy them before they can spread. But what makes llama antibodies so special is their small size, which enables them to better fight the virus by binding to its spikes more easily.
抗體就是身體的防御系統(tǒng)。它們就像微型戰(zhàn)士，尋找入侵你身體的外來(lái)物質(zhì)，并在這些物質(zhì)擴(kuò)散之前消滅它們。但美洲駝抗體的與眾不同之處就在于其體積小巧，這令抗體能夠更好地抗擊病毒，更容易與病毒的尖峰蛋白緊密結(jié)合。
Speaking to the New York Times, PhD student Daniel Wrapp explained, "The binding is able to prevent attachment and entry, which effectively neutralizes the virus."
博士研究生丹尼爾·雷普在接受《紐約時(shí)報(bào)》采訪時(shí)解釋道：“這種結(jié)合能夠阻止病毒附著或者進(jìn)入細(xì)胞，從而有效中和病毒。”
The encouraging results have prompted rapid development and testing of the antibodies so that they can be tested on humans as soon as possible. However, the study's co-author, Xavier Saelens, from Ghent University noted that "there is still a lot of work to do to bring this into the clinic".
這些振奮人心的結(jié)果加速了抗體的研發(fā)與試驗(yàn)，從而能夠盡快進(jìn)入人體試驗(yàn)。但該研究的聯(lián)合作者、來(lái)自根特大學(xué)的澤維爾·塞倫斯指出，“進(jìn)入臨床前還有很多工作要做”。
But he added that "if it works, llama Winter deserves a statue".
但他補(bǔ)充道：“如果這成功了，我們欠美洲駝‘冬季’一座雕像”。
