Eating 40 per cent less food could extend a person's life by 20 years, according to scientists.

　　科學(xué)家的研究表明，人類若少吃40%的食物，壽命可能會延長20年。

　　Researchers at the Institute of Health Ageing at University College London are developing a treatment they hope will combat the 'disease' of getting older.

　　倫敦大學(xué)學(xué)院健康老齡化研究所的研究人員正在研究一種治療方式，希望可以和變老這種“疾病”做斗爭。

　　They are looking into how genetics and lifestyle can be adapted to offset the effects of ageing and add years, possibly decades, to a person's life.

　　他們正在研究如何利用基因和生活方式來抵消衰老的影響，并把人的壽命延長幾年，甚至幾十年。

　　Age-related diseases such as cardiovascular disease, cancer and neuro degeneration can also be combated, it is claimed.

　　研究人員表示，該研究期望還能治療與年齡有關(guān)的疾病，例如心血管病、癌癥和神經(jīng)退行性疾病。

　　One line of inquiry that the team is developing is how the life of a rat can be increased by up to 30 per cent simply by reducing its food intake.

　　對該研究小組的調(diào)查表明，他們正在研究如何只通過減少食物的攝取量，來把老鼠的壽命延長30%。

　　Lead researcher Dr Piper told the Independent: 'If you reduce the diet of a rat by 40 per cent it will live for 20 or 30 per cent longer. So we would be talking 20 years of human life. This has shown on all sorts of organisms, even labradors.'

　　首席研究員派珀博士對《獨(dú)立報》記者說：“如果你把一只老鼠的食物減少40%，它的壽命會增加20%或30%。對人類而言，相當(dāng)于20年。減少飲食能延長壽命，對各種生物都有效，包括拉布拉多犬。”

　　The scientists are also studying fruit flies, which share 60 per cent of human genes and age in a similar manner, and mice.

　　科學(xué)家們也正在對果蠅和老鼠進(jìn)行研究。 果蠅擁有60%的人類基因，和人類變老的方式也很相似。

　　They have already prolonged the healthy lifespan in both flies and mice by using drug treatments and a modified diet.

　　他們通過藥物治療和改良后的飲食，已經(jīng)延長了果蠅和老鼠的壽命。

　　It is hoped that this combination will also work to extend human life.

　　他們希望藥物治療和飲食也能延長人類的壽命。

　　Dr Piper said: 'If we discover the genes involved with ageing, we should be able to delay ageing itself. This is what we've found.'

　　派珀博士說：“如果我們發(fā)現(xiàn)和變老相關(guān)的基因，我們應(yīng)該能夠延緩衰老的過程。這是我們目前所發(fā)現(xiàn)的。”

　　He added that his team has extended the life of organisms by mutating single genes.

　　他又補(bǔ)充道，他的研究小組通過單基因變異延長了生物體的壽命。

　　The researchers have also lessen the effects of a mutation which can cause Alzheimer's.

　　研究人員也弱化了基因變異可能導(dǎo)致老年癡呆癥這一副作用。

　　However, Dr Piper cautioned that the field of research into extending life is only a decade old, so remains 'theoretical'.

　　然而，派珀博士謹(jǐn)慎地提到，科學(xué)家們對延長壽命的研究僅有十年之余，所以，延長人類壽命目前只是“理論性的”。

　　It is their unique approach to treating all age-related diseases as being caused by the 'disease' of ageing itself that sets their research apart, he said.

　　他們把和年齡相關(guān)的疾病看成是變老所帶來的“疾病”，正是這種獨(dú)一無二的方法讓他們的研究有別于其他研究。