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Autism affects people's social behaviour and communication, and may impair their ability to learn things. All this is well known.
孤獨癥會影響人們的社會行為和溝通，也可能會損害患者學習事物的能力。這些都是眾所周知的。
Less familiar to most, though, are the gastrointestinal problems associated with the condition.
多數人所不熟悉的是和這種疾病相關聯的胃腸問題。
The intestines of children with autism often harbour bacteria different from those in the guts of the neurotypical.
孤獨者兒童的腸道經常藏匿著細菌，而這些細菌和非自閉癥人群腸道的那些是不同的。
As a consequence, such people are more than three times as likely as others are to develop serious alimentary canal disorders at some point in their lives.
因此，和其他人相比，他們一生中患上嚴重消化道疾病的可能性是前者的三倍。
Unfortunate though this is, the upset gut floras of autistic people are seen by some investigators as the key to the condition and to treating it.
雖然很不幸，但是一些調查人員將孤獨癥患者的腸道菌群視為該疾病的關鍵，也是治愈它的關鍵。
Recent research has shown that altering animals' intestinal bacteria can have dramatic effects on their nervous systems.
近期研究表明改變動物體內的腸道細菌可以對它們的神經系統有著明顯效果。
Ameliorating autism by tinkering with the ecology of the gut might thus be a fruitful line of inquiry.
通過鼓搗腸道生態學改善孤獨者或許是一次富有成效的調查。
A study just published in Neuron suggests that it is. In it, Mauro Costa-Mattioli of Baylor College of Medicine, in Texas,
《Neuron》剛剛刊登了一項研究。在該研究中，德州貝勒醫學院的Mauro Costa-Mattioli
and his colleagues demonstrate that introducing a particular bacterium into the guts of mice that display autistic symptoms can abolish some of those symptoms.
以及他的同事證明將一種特別的細菌注入有孤獨癥癥狀表現的老鼠的腸道中可以消除它的一些癥狀。
The bug in question is Lactobacillus reuteri. It is commonly found in healthy digestive systems and helps regulate acidity levels.
這種疾病的漏洞就是羅伊氏乳桿菌。其普遍存在于健康的消化系統中，并幫助調節酸度。
And it is also easily obtainable for use as a probiotic from health-food shops.
并且作為一種益生菌，很容易在保健食品店中買到。
Dr Costa-Mattioli and his team first reported L. reuteri's effects on autism in 2016, after conducting experiments with obese female mice.
Costa-Mattioli博士和他的團隊于2016年首次報告了羅伊氏乳桿菌對孤獨癥的效果，之前他們對過度肥胖的雌性老鼠進行過試驗。
These animals have a tendency to give birth to offspring with autistic traits familiar from people—unwillingness to socialise,
這些動物更容易生出患有孤獨癥特質的后代，有這些特質的人會出現不愿社交、
repetitive behaviour and unwillingness to communicate (in the case of mice, via ultrasonic squeaking).
重復性行為以及不愿交流的行為（而老鼠則是通過超聲尖叫表現出來）。
The researchers noted that the guts of both the obese mothers and their young were bereft of L. reuteri.
研究人員注意到肥胖母親和它們后代的腸道中都沒有了羅伊氏乳桿菌。
They wondered what effect transplanting these bugs into the animals might have.
他們想知道將這些羅伊氏乳桿菌移植到動物體內會有什么影響
They found, when they did so to the offspring, that the youngsters' autism-like traits vanished.
他們發現，當他們將羅伊氏乳桿菌移植到后代體內時，它們類似孤獨癥的特質消失了。
That led to the latest experiments, on mice that have autistic symptoms induced in four other, different ways. Some were genetically edited to be autistic.
因此才有了近期的試驗，以四種其他不同的方式誘發老鼠體內的孤獨癥癥狀。一些老鼠是經過基因編輯形成孤獨癥。
Some were exposed to valproic acid, a drug used to treat bipolar disorder and migraines that is known to induce autism in fetuses.
一些是被暴露于丙戊酸中，這種藥物被用于治療躁郁癥和偏頭痛，已知這種疾病會誘發胎兒的孤獨癥。
Some had their guts cleared of all bacteria. And some belonged to a strain called BTBR, individuals of which display autism-like traits that have no known cause.
一些是清除掉它們腸道中的所有細菌。一些屬于BTBR品系的小老鼠，它們有類似孤獨癥的特質，但起因未知。
Martina Sgritta, one of Dr Costa-Mattioli's colleagues, analysed the bacteria in the guts of all of these animals.
Costa-Mattioli博士的一名同事Martina Sgritta對所有這些動物體內的腸道細菌進行了分析。
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