A Laboratory Turns Deadly Insect Venom into Medicine
一家實驗室將致命昆蟲毒液轉化為藥物
To most of us, medicine comes from a drugstore. But originally, much of the medicine developed in the last century came from natural sources: plants, bacteria and fungi.
對我們大多數(shù)人來說，藥物來自于藥店。但最初，大部分上世紀開發(fā)的藥物來自于天然來源：植物、細菌和真菌。
Now, a group of scientists in Great Britain are hoping to develop a medicine from poisonous insects. They are researching whether the deadly venom of some insects can work against bacteria that make people sick.
英國一群科學家目前希望從毒蟲中開發(fā)藥物。他們正在研究一些昆蟲的致命毒液是否可以抵抗讓人生病的細菌。
Venomtech laboratory
毒液科技實驗室
About 400 insects live in plastic containers in the Venomtech laboratory. Each container has an image of a skull and crossbones. The images warn that a bite from the insects inside can be anything from painful to downright deadly.
大約有400種昆蟲生活在毒液科技實驗室的塑料容器里。每個容器上都貼著骷髏圖。該圖片是在警告，讓這些容器里的昆蟲咬上一口會非常痛苦甚至致命。
The venom from these insects contains hundreds of chemical components. Each component has a different target and effect.
來自這些昆蟲的毒液含有數(shù)百種化學成分。每種成分都有不同的指標和效果。
Medical researchers, such as Venomtech managing director Steven Trim, separate the venom into its component parts. Then they create a library of those components, looking for the ones that could be turned into new drugs.
毒液科技總裁斯蒂芬·特瑞姆(Steven Trim)等醫(yī)學研究人員將這些毒液分離成各自的組成成分，然后創(chuàng)建一個成分資料庫，看哪些成分可以被轉化為新藥。
"Some of them we found can kill bacteria, bacteria like E.Coli and staphylococcus, so they're very relevant at the moment where modern medicines (are) failing. And we're also finding venoms that are modifying and killing cancer cells."
“我們發(fā)現(xiàn)其中一些成分可以殺死像大腸桿菌和葡萄球菌一類的細菌。因此它們在這種現(xiàn)代藥物失效的情況下非常有意義。而且我們正在尋找可以改造和殺死癌細胞的毒液?！?BR> Finding new ways to kill bacteria is important to researchers. One reason is because people have used antibiotics so much that some bacteria can now resist it.
尋找殺死細菌的新方法對研究人員來說非常重要。原因之一是因為人們?yōu)E用抗生素導致一些細菌現(xiàn)在已經有了抗藥性。
一家實驗室將致命昆蟲毒液轉化為藥物
To most of us, medicine comes from a drugstore. But originally, much of the medicine developed in the last century came from natural sources: plants, bacteria and fungi.
對我們大多數(shù)人來說，藥物來自于藥店。但最初，大部分上世紀開發(fā)的藥物來自于天然來源：植物、細菌和真菌。
Now, a group of scientists in Great Britain are hoping to develop a medicine from poisonous insects. They are researching whether the deadly venom of some insects can work against bacteria that make people sick.
英國一群科學家目前希望從毒蟲中開發(fā)藥物。他們正在研究一些昆蟲的致命毒液是否可以抵抗讓人生病的細菌。
Venomtech laboratory
毒液科技實驗室
About 400 insects live in plastic containers in the Venomtech laboratory. Each container has an image of a skull and crossbones. The images warn that a bite from the insects inside can be anything from painful to downright deadly.
大約有400種昆蟲生活在毒液科技實驗室的塑料容器里。每個容器上都貼著骷髏圖。該圖片是在警告，讓這些容器里的昆蟲咬上一口會非常痛苦甚至致命。
The venom from these insects contains hundreds of chemical components. Each component has a different target and effect.
來自這些昆蟲的毒液含有數(shù)百種化學成分。每種成分都有不同的指標和效果。
Medical researchers, such as Venomtech managing director Steven Trim, separate the venom into its component parts. Then they create a library of those components, looking for the ones that could be turned into new drugs.
毒液科技總裁斯蒂芬·特瑞姆(Steven Trim)等醫(yī)學研究人員將這些毒液分離成各自的組成成分，然后創(chuàng)建一個成分資料庫，看哪些成分可以被轉化為新藥。
"Some of them we found can kill bacteria, bacteria like E.Coli and staphylococcus, so they're very relevant at the moment where modern medicines (are) failing. And we're also finding venoms that are modifying and killing cancer cells."
“我們發(fā)現(xiàn)其中一些成分可以殺死像大腸桿菌和葡萄球菌一類的細菌。因此它們在這種現(xiàn)代藥物失效的情況下非常有意義。而且我們正在尋找可以改造和殺死癌細胞的毒液?！?BR> Finding new ways to kill bacteria is important to researchers. One reason is because people have used antibiotics so much that some bacteria can now resist it.
尋找殺死細菌的新方法對研究人員來說非常重要。原因之一是因為人們?yōu)E用抗生素導致一些細菌現(xiàn)在已經有了抗藥性。