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Dr Krasnow does, however, have high hopes of the medical side.
然而，克拉斯諾博士確實對醫學界寄予厚望。
In particular, as they age, mouse lemurs in captivity sometimes develop the plaques and tangles of abnormal protein seen in human Alzheimer's patients.
特別是，隨著年齡的增長，圈養的鼠狐猴有時會出現人類阿爾茨海默病患者中出現的異常蛋白質斑塊和纏結。
At the same time, they develop behavioural abnormalities, such as forgetfulness.
同時，他們也會出現行為異常，比如健忘。
Nothing similar happens naturally in mice.
在老鼠身上不會發生類似的自然現象。
Nor do mice develop the sorts of heart arrhythmias seen in people.
老鼠也不會患上人類所見的各種心律失常。
But mouse lemurs do.
但是鼠狐猴有。
In fact, he and his colleagues have now identified nine types of arrhythmia in their lemurs, each of which corresponds to one found in people.
事實上，他和他的同事們現在已經在鼠狐猴身上發現了九種類型的心律失常，每種類型都與在人類身上發現的相對應。
Though the animals will not be subjected to invasive sampling while alive, the ability to identify them individually in the wild means that their behaviour can be studied, to see if it changes as they age in ways similar to ageing in people.
雖然這些動物在活著的時候不會受到侵入性的采樣，但在野外單獨識別它們的能力意味著可以研究它們的行為，看看它們是否會隨著年齡的增長而發生類似于人類衰老的變化。
What else might be discovered from this behavioural work remains to be seen, for this is an old-fashioned experiment of the sort that is not testing a specific hypothesis but, rather, searching for leads to pursue.
從這項行為工作中還能發現什么還有待觀察，因為這是一種老式的實驗，它不是在測試特定的假設，而是在尋找要追尋的線索。
Meanwhile, back in the lab, and thanks to a technique called single-cell rna expression profiling, Dr Krasnow and his Stanford colleague Stephen Quake have built a near-complete atlas of lemur cell types—about 750 in all.
與此同時，回到實驗室，借助一種名為單細胞rna表達譜的技術，克拉斯諾博士和他在斯坦福大學的同事斯蒂芬奎克建立了一份近乎完整的狐猴細胞類型圖譜，總共約750種。
This permits a whole new level of investigation.
這使得調查達到了一個全新的水平。
For example, they were able to identify a metastatic cell in the lung of an animal that had had to be put down because it had cancer, as deriving from that animal's uterus.
例如，他們能夠在一只因患癌癥而不得不安樂死的動物的肺中發現一個轉移性細胞，它來自于該動物的子宮。
It could all fall flat on its face, of course.
當然，這一切可能都會一敗涂地。
For one thing, the field data may shed no light on disease-relevant biology after all.
首先，現場數據可能終究無法揭示與疾病相關的生物學。
Most of the illnesses that Dr Krasnow is interested in manifest themselves in later life.
克拉斯諾博士感興趣的大多數疾病都在晚年才顯現出來。
In humans, such diseases are associated with behaviours which evolution did not foresee, such as consuming processed food or sitting at a desk all day.
在人類中，此類疾病與進化沒有預見到的行為有關，比如食用加工食品或整天坐在辦公桌前。
Since being locked up in a cage and fed a reliable supply of food is equally unnatural, that may also be true for lemurs.
由于被關在籠子里并得到可靠的食物供應同樣是不自然的，這對狐猴來說可能也是如此。
It is therefore by no means clear that looking at wild lemurs will add anything.
因此，觀察野生狐猴是否會增加一些東西，還并不清楚。
Moreover, illnesses like Alzheimer's are not exactly life-elongating.
此外，像阿爾茨海默癥這樣的疾病并不能延長壽命。
In the wild, any individual manifesting them would probably get short shrift from natural selection.
在野外，任何表現出這些特征的個體都可能會受到自然選擇的冷落。
Indeed, there is a whole body of theory which suggests the very reason they manifest only in old age is because, in a state of nature, a human being would probably have died or been killed before they had had a chance to appear.
事實上，有許多理論表明，它們只有在晚年才表現出來，正是因為在自然狀態下，一個人可能在有機會出現癥狀之前就已經死亡或被殺害了。
There is also the political side of things.
還有政治方面的事情。
Though researchers on other species are unlikely to be hostile in principle to mouse lemurs joining the model-animal-research party, whether they will co-operate with the group of newcomers in the far corner who are talking animatedly about the critters remains to be seen.
盡管其他物種的研究人員原則上不太可能對鼠狐猴加入“模型生物研究”抱敵意態度，但他們是否會與這群來自遙遠角落、正在熱烈討論這些動物的新來者合作，還有待觀察。
Model animals do, however, require a consensus that that is what they are—and this consensus is best built by lots of people studying lots of different aspects of them.
然而，模型動物確實需要一個共識，那就是它們是什么，而這個共識最好是由許多人研究它們的不同方面建立起來的。
So if not enough people join the mouse-lemur clique, the project will be doomed.
因此，如果沒有足夠的人加入鼠狐猴戰隊，這個項目將注定失敗。
Another potential threat is that, although mouse lemurs do not truly share the mini-me human lookalikeness of monkeys and apes, they are still pretty cute.
另一個潛在的威脅是，盡管鼠狐猴并不像猴子和猿那樣長得像人類一樣，但它們仍然很可愛。
Those opposed to animal experiments of any sort—even the carefully non-invasive work being done by Dr Krasnow and Dr Wright—could probably make something of that.
那些反對任何形式的動物實驗的人，即使是克拉斯諾博士和賴特博士正在進行的謹慎的非侵入性研究，他們可能也會有所作為。
And the very similarity of physiology to humans that makes the lemurs an attractive subject of study might also be used to argue that they should not be used in research.
狐猴與人類在生理上的相似之處使它們成為一個有吸引力的研究對象，這也可能被用來證明它們不應該被用于研究。
Still, it is a bold idea, and certainly worth pursuing.
盡管如此，這仍然是一個大膽的想法，當然值得追求。
Perhaps the cross-fertilisation of laboratory and field studies in this way will, indeed, turn out to be the wave of the future.
或許，以這種將實驗室研究和實地研究相結合的方式，將會成為未來的潮流。
In army terms, mouse lemurs are now at boot camp, undergoing basic training.
用軍隊術語來說，鼠狐猴現在正在新兵訓練營接受基本訓練。
Whether they will pass muster remains to be seen.
他們是否會通過審查還有待觀察。
