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Alpaca Helps to Make COVID-19 Vaccine

羊驼帮助科学家开发新冠肺炎疫苗

By Anna Matteo
14 June 2020

From VOA Learning English, this is the Health & Lifestyle report.
这里是美国之音慢速英语健康和生活报道。

In Sweden, scientists are looking to a farm animal to help them find a treatment or vaccine against the new coronavirus.
瑞典的科学家希望一种家畜可以帮助他们找出针对新冠病毒的治疗办法或疫苗。

Researchers from the Karolinska Institute, a medical university near Stockholm, are putting their hope in a 12-year-old alpaca from Germany. Alpacas belong to the camel family.
斯德哥尔摩附近的卡洛林斯研究所的研究人员将希望寄托在了来自德国的12岁羊驼身上。羊驼属于骆驼家族。

The scientists started by recreating the so-called "spike" protein that permits the coronavirus to infect human cells. They then injected the spike protein into the alpaca, whose name is Tyson.
科学家们首先重建了让新冠病毒可以感染人类细胞的所谓刺突蛋白。然后，他们将这种刺突蛋白注入这只名为泰森的羊驼体内。

The team is collecting blood samples to see whether the alpaca can develop antibodies against the spike protein. Extremely small antibodies, known as nanobodies, stick to the same part of the virus as human antibodies.
该研究小组正在收集血液样本，以观察羊驼是否能够产生针对这种刺突蛋白的抗体。这种被称为纳米抗体的极小抗体与人类抗体一样黏附在该病毒的同一部分。

In a statement to the press, the researchers called them "neutralizing antibodies." If you neutralize something harmful, you take away its ability to cause harm.
在向新闻界发表的声明中，研究人员称其为中和抗体。如果可以中和有害的东西，就能消除它造成伤害的能力。

The head of the research team in Sweden is Gerald McInerney. He said the hope is that the neutralizing antibodies will be able to effectively block the virus protein -- and thereby the coronavirus -- from entering cells and spreading.
该瑞典研究团队的负责人是杰拉尔德·麦金纳尼。他说，希望这种中和抗体能够有效阻断病毒蛋白，从而阻止新冠病毒进入细胞并扩散。

The results could be used to develop drug treatments or possibly a vaccine for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. While the scientific work is still at an early stage, McInerney said his team has seen evidence it could work in people.
该研究结果可用于开发药物疗法或者开发可针对冠状病毒引发的新冠肺炎的疫苗。麦金纳尼表示，虽然这项科学工作仍然处于初期阶段，但是他的团队已经看到了它可在人体内起到作用的证据。

In a Reuters interview McInerney said, "In principle, all the evidence would suggest it will work very well in humans." He added however, that "it is a very complex system."
麦金纳尼在接受路透社采访中表示：“原则上，所有证据都表明它将在人体内很好地起到作用。”但是他还说：“这是一个非常复杂的系统。”

McInerney noted that the coronavirus mutates "quite easily." So, researchers need to be prepared to develop several different kinds of antibodies.
麦金纳尼指出，冠状病毒很容易变异。所以研究人员需要准备开发几种不同类型的抗体。

COVID-19 has killed more than 400,000 people around the world.
新冠肺炎已经导致全球超过40万人死亡。

McInerney explained that his team began its research back in January. At that time, they say they believed the coronavirus could become a serious pandemic. The researchers also knew it would take a long time to develop a vaccine, as well as drugs to slow the progression of the disease and save lives, he added.
麦金纳尼解释说，他的团队从1月份开始研究。当时，他们认为新冠病毒可能会成为严重的大流行病。他还说，研究人员也早知道，开发疫苗以及减缓疾病进程并挽救性命会需要很长时间。

But why use an alpaca?
为何采用羊驼？

Studies have shown that alpacas and other members of the camel family are known to produce nanobodies. Nanobodies are easier for scientists to work with. Sharks have also been found to produce nanobodies. But sharks are not as easy to work with as alpacas.
研究表明，人们知道羊驼和骆驼家族其它成员会产生纳米抗体。纳米抗体更容易被科学家研究利用。人们发现鲨鱼也会产生纳米抗体，但是鲨鱼不像羊驼那么好打交道。

When will we have a vaccine?
疫苗何时面世？

Scientific experts say it will likely take some time to develop a vaccine for COVID-19.
科学专家表示，开发新冠肺炎疫苗可能需要一段时间。

The team in Sweden is moving on to the next step, which could involve testing with other animals, such as mice or hamsters. The scientists say they hope their results can be used as a model for future COVID-19 research.

瑞典的研究小组正在迈入下一步，这可能包括对诸如老鼠或仓鼠之类的其它动物进行测试。科学家说，希望他们的研究结果可以用作未来新冠肺炎研究的模型。

As for Tyson the alpaca, the researchers say his job is done.
至于羊驼泰森，研究人员称其使命已经完成。

"Tyson is 12 years old, I believe, and he may be looking at retirement soon," McInerney told Reuters. "So, he'll live out his life on his farm back in Germany."
麦金纳尼表示：“泰森12岁了，我认为它可能很快就要退休了。所以，他将回到德国的农场度过它的余生。”

And that's the Health & Lifestyle report ... I'm Anna Matteo.
以上就是本期健康和生活的全部内容。我是安娜·马特奥。

Words in This Story

antibody – medical n. a substance produced by the body to fight disease

principle – n. a basic truth or theory : an idea that forms the basis of something : a law or fact of nature that explains how something works or why something happens

mutate – v. to cause (a gene) to change and create an unusual characteristic in a plant or animal : to cause mutation in (a gene)

pandemic – n. occurring over a wide geographic area and affecting an exceptionally high proportion of the population

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