病毒和細菌對人有益的10個方面(下)

ines

5.疫苗

Beginning in the 1790s, when Edward Jenner developed the world's first vaccine against smallpox using a less virulent strain called cowpox to inoculate patients, vaccines have saved countless millions of lives. Since then, several different types of vaccines have been developed.

1790年，愛德華·詹納發明了世界上第一支用"牛痘"的微毒菌株合成的疫苗。從那時起，人們開始注射疫苗來預防天花，芸芸衆生也因此得到了拯救。隨着時間的推移，各種疫苗也陸續得以面世。

Attenuated or "live" vaccines use live viruses that have been weakened or altered so that they do not cause illness, while inactivated or "killed" vaccines contain dead microorganisms or toxins that are usually used against bacterial infections. Some vaccines—including subunit and conjugate vaccines, as well as recombinant and genetically engineered vaccines—only use a segment of the infectious agent. When a vaccine is injected, the pathogen goes to work, but there is not enough of it to replicate at the rate it needs to in order to take hold. The body mounts an immune response, killing the pathogen or breaking down the toxin responsible for disease. The body's immune system now knows how to fight the disease and will "remember" if it comes across it again. In other words, scientists have figured out how to get a pathogen to help its own target defend itself against it. They have even taken the first steps toward developing vaccines for several forms of cancer, with three vaccines approved by the FDA for the hepatitis B virus (which causes liver cancer), human papillomavirus types 16 and 18 (which cause cervical cancers), and metastatic prostate cancer in some ks to vaccines, several diseases have been driven to virtual extinction. Smallpox is the most famous example, but polio, though not totally eradicated, comes in at a close second. Several other diseases might be gone by now if vaccines weren't so hard to come by in the underdeveloped nations that still struggle with them. Things are getting worse instead of better, with diseases coming in from an unexpected source: affluent, educated Westerners who should know rtunately, the anti-vaccination movement is making a comeback in regions where these diseases were once under control. Before the introduction of the measles vaccine in 1963, approximately 500,000 people per year were infected in the US, 500 of whom—mostly children—ended up dead. By 1983, there were only 1,497 cases reported, and after a brief resurgence in the '80s and '90s, reported cases were down to just 37 in 2004. After the anti-vaccination movement began gaining traction, 118 cases were reported in the US alone in 2011. That number keeps growing, fed by travelers coming in from areas with higher rates and finding less resistance. Whooping cough, once thought to be gone forever in the US, is also on the rise.

減毒活疫苗能對病毒進行改變或者減毒，因此，疫苗病毒並不會對人體健康產生威脅。另外，那些被殺滅了毒素的滅活疫苗則經常被運用到細菌感染的治療中。而亞單位疫苗、合成疫苗、重組疫苗、基因工程疫苗則是利用病原體的一部分來製作疫苗。當人們接受完疫苗注射後，病原體便開始在體內發揮作用了。但是，人體內注射的病毒並不足以使它們有足夠高的繁殖率以致在人體內紮根，隨着少量病毒進入體內，人體的免疫反應也會增強，免疫系統會積極消滅病原體或者削弱毒物的致病機率。在經過一番"演習"後，人體免疫系統便有了與此類病毒的"作戰經驗"，並且能牢牢記住"敵人"面孔，在下一次同樣的病毒"入侵"時便可以輕易"擊敗"它們。換句話說，科學家們弄明白瞭如何運用病原體幫助人類防禦病毒的道理。科學家們甚至已經開始了癌症疫苗的初步研究，其中，已有三種疫苗得到了美國食品藥品管理局的支持，這三種疫苗分別是：乙型肝炎病毒疫苗（該病毒通常導致肝癌）、乳頭狀瘤病毒16型和18型疫苗（該病毒通常導致宮頸癌）和針對男性的轉移性前列腺癌疫苗。多虧了疫苗，很多疾病才被徹徹底底地消滅掉，天花就是一個典型的例子，另外，脊髓灰質炎這種疾病即使至今沒有完全根除，但是它也離末日不遠了。如果當初疫苗進入發展中國家更加順利一些的話，許多其他疾病在當今也已不復存在了。但是，事情並沒有那麼樂觀，病毒總是在人們意想不到的地方出現，因此，人們不該放鬆警惕，尤其是經濟富裕、受教育程度高的西方國家的人們更應該重視這一問題。不幸的是，反疫苗接種運動使部分病情曾得到快控制的地區再次爆發疫情。在1963年麻風疫苗問世之前，美國每年大約有500,000人感染麻風病，其中大約500人是兒童，並且大多死亡。到了1983年，僅僅有1497例麻風病例被報道。在20世紀80年代到90年代間，除了一次短暫的爆發，2004年麻風病降低到僅僅37例。然而，在反疫苗接種運動受到追捧後的2011年，僅僅美國就報道了118例麻風病例。並且這個數字仍在持續增長，來自於各個地區的旅行者由於對病毒的抵抗力較弱，總是更容易感染上病毒。就連一度被認爲在美國已經絕跡的百日咳也在逐漸出現。

erial Waste Breakdown

4.細菌分解廢物

Some of the smallest and simplest of creatures on Earth play some of the most important roles in safeguarding all of life. Bacteria have perhaps the most important role of all: breaking down and recycling waste.

地球上存在着一些十分簡單而微小的生物，它們均在保護生命健康方面起着某些至關重要的作用。細菌可以分解廢物並使其循環再利用，因此，細菌也許在這些生物身上扮演着最重要的角色。

The dead remains of animals and plants, along with the excrement of all organisms, contain vital nutrients and stored energy. Without a way to reclaim these nutrients, though, the available sources would be quickly depleted. Luckily, many bacterial species feed upon these energy sources, breaking them down to their smallest molecules and returning them to the soil, where they reenter the food helpful as this process already is, humans have found many ways to exploit it for a variety of even more advantages. Bacteria are used in sewage treatment, industrial waste management, and the clean-up of oil spills, leaked pharmaceuticals, and wastewater. They have also been useful in the development of aqua-farming, algae control, and waterless toilets. Researchers and engineers are currently looking into their potential use in the production of environmentally friendly bioplastics, glues, and building materials. They may even be used to break down plastic waste.

動植物的殘餘物，有機體的排泄物當中，都含有重要的營養物質，它們儲存着大量的能量。但是，如果無法對這些營養物質進行回收再利用，這些可用資源就會很快枯竭。值得慶幸的是，許多細菌都靠這些能源才能得以生存，它們可以把這些能源分解成微粒，然後使其回到土壤裏，以便它們再次進入食物鏈的循環系統裏。這個過程十分值得借鑑，人類已經發現了許多方法利用這一過程來得到更多的益處。如今，細菌用於污水處理，工業廢水處理，淨化油溢出物、廢水和泄露的藥品。細菌也已經成功地用於淡水養殖，抑制藻類生長，還有無水馬桶的使用。最近，研究人員和工程師們正在尋求細菌在環境友好型生物塑料、膠粘物以及建築材料的進一步可用價值。細菌也許可用於分解塑料垃圾。

Would Quickly die Without Our Gut Bacteria

3.腸道細菌的缺失威脅我們的生命

Poorly understood until recently (and there is still quite a bit of research to be done), the natural bacteria that lives in our guts works with our immune system to drive out pathogens, produce vitamin K, stimulate peristalsis, and perhaps most importantly, digest our food. Without our gut bacteria, we wouldn't be able to perform any of these functions, and we would quickly die.

腸道中的生物細菌同我們的免疫系統一起發揮作用：驅除病原體，產生維生素k，促進腸道蠕動，還有最重要的一點，幫助消化食物，而這一點直到現在才被人們發現（儘管我們仍知之甚少還有待大量研究）。沒有腸道細菌，這些功能都無法正常發揮作用，我們甚至會很快喪失生命。

The more we learn about beneficial strains of gut bacteria, the more we can incorporate that knowledge into healthy living. After it was determined that certain gut bacteria can play a role in obesity, probiotics became all the rage. Probiotics are the bacteria that reside in fermented foods and are now sold as supplements. Bacteria like some species of bifidobacteria, found in most yogurts, can create a highly acidic environment in which less-beneficial microorganisms cannot survive. Fatty foods and stress can also play a role in the health of our stomach flora, killing beneficial bacteria while favoring the more harmful kind that cause gas, bloating, and "leaky gut syndrome."In a huge breakthrough in the study of our gut bacteria and what they do, a team of Chinese and Danish researchers have recently developed a new way to identify these microorganisms using DNA sequence data. They identified over 500 species of benign bacteria and 800 new species of viruses that could live off them, providing hope for new ways to treat diseases associated with them, such as diabetes, obesity, and asthma.

我們關於腸道細菌中益菌菌株瞭解的越多，就能最大限度地用於健康生活。在確定了某些腸道細菌能有效針對肥胖之後，益生菌就風靡起來。益生菌是寄生於發酵食品中的一種細菌，人們將其當做補充食物銷售。大多數酸奶中含有雙歧桿菌，像這樣的細菌菌種能創造一個酸性極高的環境，無益的微生物就不能存活。高脂肪食物和壓力有害我們的腸道菌羣，因爲它們能夠殺死益菌，那些有害的細菌便侵入身體，導致脹氣，腫脹和"腸漏症候羣"。研究腸道細菌以及它們的用處已經取得巨大進展，中國和丹麥組成了一支研究隊伍，研究人員們發現了一種使用DNA序列數據的新方法來認證這些微生物。有500多種良性細菌已經被確定，還確定了800種人類賴以生存的新類病毒，這些發現給與其相關的疾病的治療帶來福音，比如糖尿病，肥胖症和哮喘的治療。

Bacteria Serve As Our First Line Of Immune System Defense

2.皮膚細菌作爲我們的免疫系統的第一道防線

The moment you emerged from your mother's womb, you were set upon. They ambushed you in mere moments and colonized every inch of your skin, and they have been with you ever since. They are prokaryotes and other bacteria, and without the evolutionary partnership humans forged with them millions of years ago, you would have been dead soon after being born.

當我們的生命從母體受孕那一刻開始，就會遭受皮膚細菌的攻擊。它們片刻之間便伏擊了你，把你身體的每一寸肌膚變成它們的殖民地, 此後始終陪伴在你的左右。它們是原核生物和其他細菌，如果沒有數百萬年來，人類與它們之間產生的進化關係，你一出生便會夭折。

One of the most common skin bacteria is Staphlococcus epidermis, a bug that we now know plays a role in fighting off Leishmania major, the cause of a nasty disease called leishmaniasis that results in skin boils and open sores that don't heal. The good bug triggers an immune response called IL-1 that the body can't produce on its own, making Staphlococcus a necessary part of the human body, as vital to our existence as any aryotes, which also colonize the digestive tract, cover every exterior surface on the skin. Along with the rest of our beneficial skin microbiota, they became a part of us when they started competing against less-benevolent microorganisms for real estate. Along with the immune cells in our skin, they protect us against both pathogenic bacteria and opportunistic fungi that try to invade. This allows our bodies to spend less energy defending our exteriors and focus more on things like fighting viruses and precancerous cells.

最常見的一種皮膚細菌是表皮葡萄球菌, 它是一種現在衆所周知的在對抗利什曼原蟲上扮演了很重要角色的小蟲,這種討厭的疾病叫做利什曼病,它會導致皮膚癤和開放性潰瘍。這種益蟲會引發一種叫做IL-1的人類自身不能產生的免疫應答物質, 使得葡萄球菌成爲如同對於人類生存同等重要的器官一般的人體至關重要的組成部分。原核生物在消化道開拓殖民地,覆蓋每一寸皮膚外表面。連同剩下的一部份有益的皮膚菌羣, 當它們開始與那些"不太友善"的微生物競爭領地時,它們成爲了我們的一部分。連同我們皮膚的免疫細胞,它們保護我們免受病原菌和機遇性致病真菌的入侵。這使得我們的身體花費更少的精力保護我們的外部，把更多精力放在諸如如何對抗病毒和癌前細胞等上。

As We Know It Wouldn't Be Here Without Cyanobacteria

1.衆所周知沒有藍藻細菌也就沒有生命

Cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae, are possibly the oldest still-living species on Earth, with fossils dating back 3.5 billion years. They are unicellular bacteria that grow in colonies, and if it weren't for them, you wouldn't be here, and neither would nearly every other form of life.

藍藻細菌、藍藻很有可能是地球上僅存的最古老的物種,通過化石可以追溯到35億年前。它們是聚居的單細胞細菌,要不是它們,你就不會在這裏,幾乎所有生命的形態也不復存在。

Cyanobacteria were the world's first photosynthesizers. They used energy from the sun along with chemicals in primordial oceans and inert nitrogen in the atmosphere to make their food. As a waste product, they generated oxygen, a poison to virtually every other form of life at that time and the cause of early mass extinction events. Over a period of roughly 300 million years, all this oxygen generation helped form the atmosphere as we know it, during the Archaean and Proterozoic wasn't the only way this bacteria kick-started life as we know it. Sometime during the Proterozoic or early Cambrian era, they formed a symbiotic relationship with certain eukaryote cells, making food for the cell in return for a stable environment to call home. These were the first plants, as well as the origin of eukaryotic mitochondria, which is essential for animal life. This truly titanic event is now known as e several forms of cyanobacteria are toxic, a species named Spirulina was an important food source for the Aztecs and eaten regularly by many Asian nations. Today, it is often sold in powder or tablet form as a health food supplement.

藍藻是世界上第一個光合作用系統，它們利用來自太陽的能源和原始的海洋的化學物質和大氣中的惰性氮合成它們的食物。至於廢料,它們將其生成氧氣——對於當時幾乎每一個其它的物種生命來說相當於毒藥,也是最早期大規模物種滅絕事件的成因。大約3億年前的一段時間內, 在太古代和元古代時期所有這些氧氣製造有助於形成我們所知道的大氣層。這不是我們所知道的這種細菌開啓生活的唯一途徑。在元古代和早寒武紀時期的某個時候,它們與某些真核生物細胞形成了一種共生關係,它們爲細胞提供食物以換取一個稱之爲家的穩定環境。這些真核線粒體的鼻祖是最初的植物,這對於動物生命是至關重要的。然而有一些形式的藍藻是有毒的,一個命名爲阿茲特克螺旋藻的物種是阿茲特克人重要的食物來源，被許多亞洲國家的人經常食用。如今,它經常以粉末還有片劑的形式作爲健康的食品保健品。

翻譯:murphy 來源:前十網