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CarolynBertozzi_2016X-_包裹在你细胞外面的糖试图告诉你什么资讯？_
This is a talk about sugar and cancer . 这是一场关于糖和癌症的演说。
cancer:n.癌症;恶性肿瘤;
I became interested in sugar when I was in college. 我在大学时对糖产生了兴趣。
Not this kind of sugar. 不是这种糖。
It was the sugar that our biology professors taught us about in the context of the coating of your cells. 是生物学教授上课时教的那种糖, 包裹着你的细胞的那种糖。
biology:n.(一个地区全部的)生物;生物学; context:n.环境;上下文;来龙去脉;
Maybe you didn't know that your cells are coated with sugar. 也许你不知道你的细胞 被糖所包裹着。
And I didn't know that, either, until I took these courses in college, but back then -- and this was in, let's just call it the 1980s -- people didn't know much about why our cells are coated with sugar. 我本来也不知道, 到大学时修了这些课程才学到。 但是当时── 那时是……我们姑且 就说是 1980 年代吧── 人们并不知道为什么 我们的细胞会被糖所包裹。
And when I dug through my notes, what I noticed I had written down is that the sugar coating on our cells is like the sugar coating on a peanut M&M. 而当我翻阅我的笔记时, 我发现我记下的是: 细胞上所包裹的糖, 就像是花生 M&M 豆 外面的糖衣。
peanut:n.花生;微不足道的人;adj.微不足道的;
And people thought the sugar coating on our cells was like a protective coating that somehow made our cells stronger or tougher. 人们认为,包裹着我们细胞的糖衣 就像是一层保护涂层, 以某种方式让我们的细胞 更强壮或更坚韧。
protective:adj.防护的;关切保护的;保护贸易的; somehow:adv.以某种方法;莫名其妙地;
But we now know, many decades later, that it's much more complicated than that, and that the sugars on our cells are actually very complex . 但几十年之后的现在, 我们知道答案并没有这么简单, 包裹我们细胞的糖其实非常复杂。
complicated:adj.复杂的;难懂的;v.使复杂化;(complicate的过去分词和过去式) complex:adj.复杂的;合成的;n.复合体;综合设施;
And if you could shrink yourself down to a little miniature airplane and fly right along the surface of your cells, it might look something like this -- with geographical features. 如果你把自己缩小成一架迷你飞机, 然后沿着你的细胞表面飞行, 你可能会看到这样的景象── 有着地理特征。
shrink:v.收缩;减少;退缩;畏缩;n.精神病学家;心理学家; miniature:adj.微型的,小规模的;n.缩图;微型画;微型图画绘画术;vt.是…的缩影; airplane:n.飞机; geographical:adj.地理的;地理学的;
And now, the complex sugars are these trees and bushes -- weeping willows that are swaying in the wind and moving with the waves. 复杂的糖就像这些树和灌木── 随风摇动、随波移动 的垂柳,
bushes:n.灌木;荒野;林区;(bush的复数) weeping:adj.有下垂枝条的;v.哭泣,流泪;流出,渗出(液体);(weep的现在分词) willows:n.杨柳;棒球球棒(willow的复数); swaying:v.使摇动;支配;偏向一边(sway的ing形式); in the wind:即将发生;在进行;
And when I started thinking about all these complex sugars that are like this foliage on our cells, it became one of the most interesting problems that I encountered as a biologist and also as a chemist . 当我开始思考这些复杂的糖, 它们就像是我们细胞上的叶子, 对于我这个生物学家兼化学家来说, 它变成了我遇过最有趣的问题之一。
foliage:n.植物;叶子(总称); encountered:v.遭遇,遇到;偶然碰到;意外地遇见;(encounter的过去分词和过去式) biologist:n.生物学家; chemist:n.化学家;药剂师;药房;化学师;
And so now we tend to think about the sugars that are populating the surface of our cells as a language. 现在我们倾向将布满在 细胞的表面上的糖视为 是一种语言。
populating:v.居住于…中;构成…的人口;占据(populate的ing形式);
They have a lot of information stored in their complex structures . 有大量的讯息储存在 它们复杂的结构中。
structures:n.结构; v.建造(structure的第三人称单数形式);
But what are they trying to tell us? 但它们想要告诉我们什么呢？
I can tell you that we do know some information that comes from these sugars, and it's turned out already to be incredibly important in the world of medicine. 我可以告诉各位,我们确实知道一些 来自这些糖的讯息, 且这些讯息对于医学界的重要性 也已经被证明。
incredibly:adv.难以置信地;非常地;
For example, one thing your sugars are telling us is your blood type . 例如,你的糖能告诉 我们的其中一项资讯 是你的血型。
blood type:abbr.(=bloodgroup);
So your blood cells, your red blood cells, are coated with sugars, and the chemical structures of those sugars determine your blood type. 你的血细胞,你的红血球细胞, 是被糖所包裹住的, 而这些糖的化学结构 决定了你的血型。
chemical:n.化学制品,化学药品;adj.化学的; determine:v.决定;确定;测定;查明;形成;影响;裁决;安排;
So for example, I know that I am blood type O. 比如,我知道我的血型是 O 型。
How many people are also blood type O? 有多少人也是 O 型？
Put your hands up. 请举手。
It's a pretty common one, so when so few hands go up, either you're not paying attention or you don't know your blood type, and both of those are bad. 这种血型很常见, 举手的人这么少, 若不是你们没认真听, 就是你们不知道自己的血型, 两种情况都不太好。
(Laughter) （笑声）
But for those of you who share the blood type O with me, what this means is that we have this chemical structure on the surface of our blood cells: three simple sugars linked together to make a more complex sugar. 不过如果你和我一样是 O 型, 这意味着我们的血细胞表面的 化学结构是这样的: 三个单醣连在一起, 形成一个更复杂的糖。
And that, by definition , is blood type O. 这就是 O 型的定义。
definition:n.定义;清晰度;(尤指词典里的词或短语的)释义;解释;
Now, how many people are blood type A? 有多少人的血型是 A 型？
Right here. 在这里。
That means you have an enzyme in your cells that adds one more building block , that red sugar, to build a more complex structure. 这意味着你的细胞里有一种酶, 它会增加一块积木, 也就是那红色糖, 来建立更复杂的结构。
enzyme:n.[生化]酶;
And how many people are blood type B? 有多少人的血型是 B 型？
Quite a few . 还不少。
Quite a few:不少,相当多;
You have a slightly different enzyme than the A people, so you build a slightly different structure, and those of you that are AB have the enzyme from your mother, the other enzyme from your father, and now you make both of these structures in roughly equal proportions . 你们的酶和 A 型的人略有不同, 所以建出来的结构也略有不同, 至于 AB 型的人, 则有分别来自母亲和父亲的酶, 你所建立的这两种结构, 在比例上是大约各半。
slightly:adv.些微地,轻微地;纤细地; roughly:adv.粗糙地;概略地; proportions:n.[数]比例;大小(proportion的复数形式);
And when this was figured out, which is now back in the previous century, this enabled one of the most important medical procedures in the world, which, of course, is the blood transfusion . 直到上个世纪,这个现象 才被发现, 因为它,才会有世界上 最重要的医疗手术之一, 当然,也就是输血。
previous:adj.以前的;早先的;过早的;adv.在先;在…以前; enabled:v.使得;授予…权力;(enabled是enable的过去式) procedures:n.程序;规程(procedure的复数); blood transfusion:n.输血;
And by knowing what your blood type is, we can make sure, if you ever need a transfusion, that your donor has the same blood type, so that your body doesn't see foreign sugars, which it wouldn't like and would certainly reject . 知道了自己的血型, 当你需要输血时,我们就可以确保 你的捐血者和你有同样的血型, 这样你的身体才不会发现 有外来的糖进入, 它不喜欢外来的糖,一定会排斥。
donor:n.捐赠者;供者;赠送人;adj.捐献的;经人工授精出生的; reject:v.排斥;拒收;拒绝接受;不予考虑;n.废品;次品;不合格者;被剔除者;
What else are the sugars on the surface of your cells trying to tell us? 你细胞表面的糖, 还能告诉我们什么资讯？
Well, those sugars might be telling us that you have cancer. 那些糖还可能还可以 告诉我们你得了癌症。
So a few decades ago, correlations began to emerge from the analysis of tumor tissue . 几十年前, 针对肿瘤组织所做的分析, 开始发现了相关性。
correlations:n.统计,[数]相关(correlation复数形式);相互关系; emerge:v.浮现;显现;暴露;露出真相; analysis:n.分析;分解;验定; tumor:n.肿瘤;肿块;赘生物; tissue:n.纸巾,手巾纸;(人、动植物细胞的)组织;
And the typical scenario is a patient would have a tumor detected , and the tissue would be removed in a biopsy procedure and then sent down to a pathology lab 最典型的情况是: 当一名患者被檢测出肿瘤, 会进行活组织切片来切除组织, 该组织接着会被送到病理实验室,
typical:adj.典型的;特有的;象征性的; scenario:n.方案;情节;剧本; patient:adj.有耐心的,能容忍的;n.病人;患者; detected:v.发现;查明;侦察出;(detect的过去分词和过去式) biopsy:n.活组织检查;切片检查法;v.活组织检查;切片检查法; pathology:n.病理(学);(比喻)异常状态;
where that tissue would be analyzed to look for chemical changes that might inform the oncologist about the best course of treatment . 在那里进行分析,寻找化学变化, 这些变化或许能幫助 肿瘤学家断定最适合的疗程。
analyzed:v.分析(analyze的过去式和过去分词);检讨; inform:v.通知;告诉;报告;告发;告密; oncologist:n.肿瘤学家;肿瘤医师; treatment:n.治疗;疗法;对待;处理;讨论;
And what was discovered from studies like that is that the sugars have changed when the cell transforms from being healthy to being sick. 这类研究的发现是, 当细胞由健康转成病态时, 糖也会发生变化。
transforms:v.[数][电]变换; n.语法转化规则;
And those correlations have come up again and again and again. 而这些相关性一而再、 再而三地出现。
again and again:adv.再三地,反复地;
But a big question in the field has been: Why? 但实做上的一个大问题是:为什么？
Why do cancers have different sugars? What's the importance of that? 为何癌症会有不同的糖？ 其重要性何在？
cancers:n.癌; (Cancers是cancer的复数)
Why does it happen, and what can we do about it if it does turn out to be related to the disease process ? 它为何发生？若它真的和疾病的进程有关, 我们又能做什么呢？
disease:n.病,[医]疾病;弊病;vt.传染;使…有病; process:v.处理;加工;列队行进;n.过程,进行;方法,adj.经过特殊加工(或处理)的;
So, one of the changes that we study is an increase in the density of a particular sugar that's called sialic acid. 我们所研究的各项变化之一, 就是一种特定糖的密度增加, 这种糖叫「唾液酸」。
density:n.密度;
And I think this is going to be one of the most important sugars of our times, so I would encourage everybody to get familiar with this word. 我认为它将是我们这个时代 最重要的糖其中的一种, 所以我建议大家都熟悉一下这个词。
familiar:adj.熟悉的;常见的;亲近的;n.常客;密友;
Sialic acid is not the kind of sugar that we eat. 唾液酸不是我们吃的那种糖。
Those are different sugars. 那些是不同的糖。
This is a kind of sugar that is actually found at certain levels on all of the cells in your body. 实际上,在你体内的所有细胞上, 都可找到一定量的这种糖。
It's actually quite common on your cells. 它在你的细胞上其实很常见。
But for some reason, cancer cells, at least in a successful, progressive disease, tend to have more sialic acid than a normal, healthy cell would have. 但由于某种原因, 癌细胞……至少在疾病 成功进展的情况下, 癌细胞的唾液酸量通常会多于 正常健康细胞的唾液酸量。
progressive:adj.进步的;先进的;开明的;稳步的;n.进步人士;开明人士;改革派;
And why? 为什么呢？
What does that mean? 这意味着什么？
Well, what we've learned is that it has to do with your immune system . 我们所知道的是, 这和你的免疫系统有关。
immune system:n.免疫系统;
So let me tell you a little bit about the importance of your immune system in cancer. 所以,让我先告诉各位 免疫系统在癌症中的重要性。
And this is something that's, I think, in the news a lot these days. 我想,这阵子在新闻中 也有不少相关报导。
You know, people are starting to become familiar with the term "cancer immune therapy ." 人们开始越来越熟悉这个词: 「癌症免疫治疗」。
therapy:n.治疗,疗法;
And some of you might even know people who are benefiting from these very new ways of treating cancer. 甚至在座可能就有人认识 这些新式癌症疗法的受益者。
treating:v.以…态度对待;把…看作;处理;讨论;(treat的现在分词)
What we now know is that your immune cells, which are the white blood cells coursing through your bloodstream , protect you on a daily basis from things gone bad -- including cancer. 我们现在知道,你的免疫细胞, 也就是在你血液中 流动的白血球细胞, 每天保护着你,避免坏事发生── 包括癌症。
bloodstream:n.[生理]血流,血液的流动;
And so in this picture, those little green balls are your immune cells, and that big pink cell is a cancer cell. 在这张图片中, 这些绿色的球体就是你的免疫细胞, 而那个粉红色大细胞则是个癌细胞。
And these immune cells go around and taste all the cells in your body. 这些免疫细胞四处巡逻, 品尝你体内的所有细胞。
That's their job. 那是它们的职责。
And most of the time, the cells taste OK. 大多数情况下,细胞尝起来没问题。
But once in a while , a cell might taste bad. 但偶尔,某个细胞 可能尝起来不太对。
once in a while:偶尔;有时;
Hopefully, that's the cancer cell, and when those immune cells get the bad taste, they launch an all-out strike and kill those cells. 但愿那就是癌细胞, 当这些免疫细胞尝到不对的味道, 它们会倾巢而出,杀死这些细胞。
launch:v.发射(导弹,火箭等); n.发射; all-out:adj.全部的;竭尽全力的;毫无保留的;
So we know that. 我们知道这些。
We also know that if you can potentiate that tasting, if you can encourage those immune cells to actually take a big old bite out of a cancer cell, you get a better job protecting yourself from cancer every day and maybe even curing a cancer. 我们也知道,如果你能 赋与那种品尝行为力量, 如果你能鼓励那些免疫细胞狠狠地咬 癌细胞一大口, 你每天就更能保护自己免于癌症, 甚至还可能治愈癌症。
potentiate:vt.加强;赋与力量;n.统治者;
And there are now a couple of drugs out there in the market that are used to treat cancer patients that act exactly by this process. 目前市面上有几种用来 治疗癌症病人的药, 正是利用这个过程来产生作用。
patients:n.接受治疗者,病人;(patient的复数)
They activate the immune system so that the immune system can be more vigorous in protecting us from cancer. 它们会活化免疫系统, 让免疫系统更强而有力, 保护我们免于癌症。
activate:vt.刺激;使活动;使活泼;使产生放射性;vi.激活;有活力; vigorous:adj.有力的;精力充沛的;
In fact, one of those drugs may well have spared President Jimmy Carter's life. 事实上,这些药物的其中一种, 很可能救了总统吉米卡特的命。
spared:v.抽出;留出;免去;放过;使逃脱(spare的过去分词和过去式)
Do you remember, President Carter had malignant melanoma that had metastasized to his brain, and that diagnosis is one that is usually accompanied by numbers like "months to live." 记得吗,卡特总统 得了恶性黑色素瘤, 癌细胞转移到他的脑部, 那种诊断通常还会带着一个数字, 「剩几个月可活」。
malignant:adj.[医]恶性的;有害的;有恶意的;n.保王党员;怀恶意的人; melanoma:n.[肿瘤]黑素瘤;胎记瘤; metastasized:v.(癌)转移;扩散;(metastasize的过去分词和过去式) diagnosis:n.诊断; accompanied:v.陪同;陪伴;与…同时发生;为…伴奏;(accompany的过去式和过去分词)
But he was treated with one of these new immune-stimulating drugs, and now his melanoma appears to be in remission , which is remarkable , considering the situation only a few years ago. 但是他接受了一种 免疫系统刺激药物的治疗, 现在他的黑色素瘤显然已经缓解, 这结果很了不起, 毕竟他几年前的状况还是非常糟的。
treated:v.以…态度对待;把…看作;(treat的过去分词和过去式) remission:n.缓解;宽恕;豁免; remarkable:adj.卓越的;非凡的;值得注意的;
In fact, it's so remarkable that provocative statements like this one: "Cancer is having a penicillin moment," people are saying, with these new immune therapy drugs. 事实上,这结果了不起到 引发了这段陈述: 「癌症也有了盘尼西林的时刻」, 人们对于这些新的 免疫治疗药物如是说。
provocative:adj.刺激的,挑拨的;气人的;n.刺激物,挑拨物;兴奋剂; statements:n.说明; v.(英国)对儿童进行特殊教育评估认定; (statement的第三人称单数和复数) penicillin:n.盘尼西林(青霉素);
I mean, that's an incredibly bold thing to say about a disease which we've been fighting for a long time and mostly losing the battle with. 用这样的方式形容一种我们长年对抗 且通常都打不赢的疾病, 是相当大胆的。
bold:adj.大胆的,英勇的;黑体的;厚颜无耻的;险峻的;
So this is very exciting. 所以这很让人兴奋。
Now what does this have to do with sugars? 那么,这与糖有什么关系呢？
have to do with:与…有关;
Well, I'll tell you what we've learned. 让我告诉各位我们目前所知道的。
When an immune cell snuggles up against a cancer cell to take a taste, it's looking for signs of disease, and if it finds those signs, the cell gets activated and it launches a missile strike and kills the cell. 当一个免疫细胞靠向一个 癌细胞,去品尝它的味道时, 它是在寻找疾病的征兆, 如果它能找到这种征兆, 这细胞就会被活化, 发动飞弹攻击,杀死癌细胞。
snuggles:依偎(snuggle的第三人称单数); activated:v.使活动;激活;使活化;(activate的过去式和过去分词) launches:n.汽艇(launch的复数);v.[航]发射;下水;投入(launch的单三形式); missile:n.导弹;发射物;投掷物;
But if that cancer cell has a dense forest of that sugar, sialic acid, well, it starts to taste pretty good. 但若癌细胞上覆盖了一层由那种糖, 也就是唾液酸,所组成的茂密树林, 那它尝起来的味道就会是好的。
dense:adj.稠密的;浓厚的;愚钝的;
And there's a protein on immune cells that grabs the sialic acid, and if that protein gets held at that synapse between the immune cell and the cancer cell, it puts that immune cell to sleep. 在免疫细胞上有个蛋白质 会抓住唾液酸, 如果那蛋白质被卡在免疫细胞 和癌症细胞之间的突触上, 就会让免疫细胞进入睡眠。
protein:n.蛋白质; grabs:n.链钩(grab的复数);v.抓取;捕获(grab的第三人称单数); synapse:n.突触;
The sialic acids are telling the immune cell, "Hey, this cell's all right. Nothing to see here, move along. 如果唾液酸告诉免疫细胞说: 「嘿,这个细胞没问题。 没什么好看的,走开。
Look somewhere else." 去看其他地方。」
So in other words, as long as our cells are wearing a thick coat of sialic acid, they look fabulous , right? 换言之, 只要我们的细胞覆盖着 很厚一层的唾液酸, 它们看起来就很好,对吗？
as long as:conj.只要;长达;如果;既然; fabulous:adj.难以置信的;传说的,寓言中的;极好的;
It's amazing. 那很惊人。
And what if you could strip off that coat and take that sugar away? 如果你能够剥除包裹的外层, 把糖给去除掉呢？
what if:如果…怎么办? strip:n.带; v.夺; adj.脱衣舞的;
Well, your immune system might be able to see that cancer cell for what it really is: something that needs to be destroyed. 那么,你的免疫系统 就有可能看见癌症细胞的真面目: 该被摧毁的目标。
And so this is what we're doing in my lab. 我们在我的实验室中就在做这个。
We're developing new medicines that are basically cell-surface lawnmowers -- molecules that go down to the surface of these cancer cells and just cut off those sialic acids, 我们正在开发新的药, 基本上可以说是 细胞表面用的除草机, 分子会前往这些癌症细胞的表面, 把那些唾液酸通通除掉,
basically:adv.主要地,基本上; lawnmowers:n.[建]剪草机; molecules:n.[化学]分子,微粒;[化学]摩尔(molecule的复数);
so that the immune system can reach its full potential in eliminating those cancer cells from our body. 这么一来,免疫系统就能发挥全力, 消灭掉我们身体中的癌症细胞。
potential:n.潜能;可能性;[电]电势;adj.潜在的;可能的;势的; eliminating:v.排除;清除;消除;淘汰;(eliminate的现在分词)
So in closing, let me just remind you again: your cells are coated with sugars. 最后结尾, 让我再次提醒各位: 你们的细胞都被糖所包裹着。
remind:v.提醒;使想起;
The sugars are telling cells around that cell whether the cell is good or bad. 糖会告诉那细胞附近的其他细胞 那细胞是好的或是坏的。
And that's important, because our immune system needs to leave the good cells alone. 那很重要, 因为我们的免疫系统 得要放过好的细胞。
Otherwise, we'd have autoimmune diseases . 不然我们就会有自体免疫疾病了。
autoimmune:adj.自身免疫的;自体免疫的; diseases:n.[医]病(disease的复数);[医]疾病;[植保]病害;疾病种类;
But once in a while, cancers get the ability to express these new sugars. 但偶尔,癌症有能力可以 展现出这些新的糖。
express:v.表达; adj.特快的; n.特快列车; v.使用快速服务;
And now that we understand how those sugars mesmerize the immune system, we can come up with new medicines to wake up those immune cells, tell them, " Ignore the sugars, eat the cell and have a delicious snack , on cancer." 现在我们知道 那些糖是如何迷惑免疫系统的, 我们就能做出新的药 来唤醒那些免疫细胞, 告诉它们:「别理会那些糖, 去吃那细胞, 在癌症上面吃顿美味的点心。」
mesmerize:vt.施催眠术;迷住;以魅力迫使; come up with:提出;想出;赶上; Ignore:v.驳回诉讼;忽视;不理睬; snack:n.点心;小吃;快餐;易办到的事;v.吃点心(或快餐、小吃);
Thank you. 谢谢大家。
(Applause) （掌声）