青霉素：打开医学新世界Penicillin: breaking the mould

Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English. I’m Alice…
大家好，欢迎收听六分钟英语，我是爱丽丝。
And I’m Neil. [rattles a bottle of pills]
我是尼尔。(拿出一瓶药）
What have you got there, Neil?
你在吃什么？
Antibiotics. I had a blister on my big toe, and it got infected.My whole toe swelled up like a balloon! The swelling has gone down now with these little wonder drugs.Look, I’ll show you.
抗生素。我的脚趾起水泡了，感染了。我的整个脚趾当时肿的像个气球！吃了这些神奇的药片，现在已经消肿了。可以给你看看。
No, Neil. Please keep your socks on.Thank you.Now, the subject of today’s show is penicillin, which was one of the first antibiotics to be discovered.So, Neil, can you tell me how many lives penicillin has saved since its first use as a medicine in 1942?Is it…a) 20 million?b) 200 million?Or c) 2 billion?
不用了，尼尔。把你的袜子穿上。谢谢。今天节目的主题是青霉素，它是首批被发现的抗生素之一。尼尔，你能告诉我自1942年青霉素首次作为药物使用以来拯救了多少生命吗？a) 两千万？b) 两亿？还是c) 20亿？
Well, I’ll say b) 200 million.That sounds like a good number.
我选b) 两亿。听起来是个好数字。
OK, well, we’ll see if you’re right or wrong later on in the show. Now, penicillin is a common antibiotic – or substance that kills microorganisms – that acts very effectively against certain bacteria.And it was discovered in 1928 by a Scottish scientist called Alexander Flemingwho noticed some mould growing on a petri dish of bacteria in his lab,which had a halo – or circle – around it where no bacteria were growing.
好的，节目的最后我们再看你回答的是否正确。青霉素是一种常见的抗生素，可以杀死微生物，有效对抗某些细菌。1928年苏格兰科学家Alexander Fleming发现了青霉素，他注意到实验室里细菌培养皿中长霉了。霉周围一圈都没有细菌在生长。
Mould, by the way, is the soft green fuzzy stuff that grows…for example, in the bottom of my coffee cups when I forget to wash them up, Alice.
顺便说一下，霉是指软软的绿色带绒毛的物质，会生长……例如，当我忘记洗咖啡杯时，杯底就会长霉。
We didn’t need to know that, Neil.
我们不想知道这个，尼尔。
OK, well, moving on, it took decades before scientists learned how to successfully manufacture penicillin. But they got there just in time to treat huge numbers of soldiers in World War Two where so many men were dying from infected wounds.
好的，我们继续说，几十年后科学家们才学会如何使用青霉素。但是他们很及时地将青霉素用于治疗二战中受伤的士兵。二战中很多人都死于伤口感染。
And you could have died from your infected toe, Neil, before penicillin!
没有青霉素，你也可能死于你感染的脚趾。
That is a sobering thought, isn’t it Alice?Let’s listen now to Christopher Tang, Professor of Cellular Pathology at the University of Oxford, talking about how penicillin has been a game changer in the field of medicine.
这种观点很严重，不是吗？现在我们听听牛津大学细胞病理学教授 Christopher Tang的看法，他将讲述青霉素如何改变医药学领域。
The sort of cancer chemotherapy which we currently use, which immunosuppress people,we couldn’t possibly consider that without the use of antibiotics.So not only has penicillin opened the door for treating people with infection,it’s also essentially paved the way for modern medicine, modern interventional medicine that we benefit from now.
进行癌症化疗时，会抑制人体的免疫系统，没有青霉素，我们真的不敢去采取化疗。所以青霉素不仅可以治愈感染的病患，也为现代医学，以及如今受益的现代介入性药物打下重要基础。
Chemotherapy is a chemical treatment used to kill cancer cells that also suppresses – or stops – the body’s immune system from working.The immune system is our body’s defence against infection and disease. So cancer patients have to take antibiotics to prevent infections that the body can’t fight off by itself.
化疗是一种杀死癌症细胞的化学疗法，也会抑制人体免疫系统。免疫系统是人体抵御感染和疾病的系统。所以癌症病人必须服用青霉素来预防感染，因为身体已经不能自己抵抗感染了。
So the discovery of penicillin paved the way for chemotherapy and other types of medical treatment– and to pave the way means to make something possible.But surely, Alice, there are some bacteria that penicillin doesn’t kill?
所以青霉素的发现为化疗和其他类型的药物治疗铺平了道路。铺平道路是指使某事成为可能。但，还有一些细菌是青霉素杀不死的，不是吗？
You’re right.It only works against bacteria with proteins that are sensitive to penicillin.Other types are less sensitive,and also have systems built into the structure of the cell that sweep out harmful compounds, such as penicillin.
没错。它只能作用于对青霉素敏感的，含有蛋白质的细菌。其他细菌不敏感，而且内部体系含有清除有害化合物的细胞，就会清除掉青霉素。
And what about that superbug, what’s it called… MS… MR…MSR…?
那超级病菌呢，叫MS… MR…还是MSR来着？
MRSA, Neil. This bacterium was sensitive to penicillin but has developed a resistance to it, and to other antibiotics, meaning the drugs can’t harm it any more.
是MRSA，尼尔。这种细菌对青霉菌敏感，但是已然对青霉素产生抗性，对其他抗生素也产生了抗性，也就是说药物无法摧毁它。
Are we returning to the past, then, Alice, where people like me might die from an infected toe?
所以如果回到过去，像我一样脚趾感染的人有可能死去？
Well, it’s possible, Neil.But drug-resistance isn’t new. Here’s Professor Steve Jones to tell us more.
有可能。但抗药性也不是新鲜事。接下来Steve Jones教授会进一步说明的。
Penicillin is not new.It’s been around for millions, probably hundreds of millions of years in the soil. And it’s because the moulds protect themselves with it. And in fact you find resistance to penicillin in the most unlikely places.You find it for example in corpses from before Columbus in the New World.
青霉素不是一个新事物。几百万乃至几千万年前它就存在于土壤之中。因为霉可以抵御青霉素。所以事实上在很多不可能的地方你都能发现对青霉素产生抗性的东西。例如在哥伦布发现新大陆前，那段时间的尸体上就发现了抗青霉素性。
Professor Steve Jones. So penicillin was discovered in 1928 but it’s actually been around for hundreds of millions of years.
上述是Steve Jones教授的讲话。所以青霉素于1928年被发现，但已经存在了几千万年。
Yes. And scientists have been able to test bacteria present in very old corpses – or dead bodies – discovered in the New World– that’s North and South America – and found that some of it was resistant to penicillin.
没错，科学家们在新大陆，也就是南北美洲发现的非常古老的尸体上测试了细菌。发现一些尸体对青霉素产生抗性。
But penicillin resistance is growing, isn’t it?
但青霉素抗性也会发展，不是吗？
Yes. These days we overuse penicillin both in agriculture and human medicine,which has given bacteria the chance to adapt and fight back. So it’s now up to scientists to adapt penicillin to extend its lifespan, and to search for new types of antibiotics.
没错，如今我们在农业和人类药物上滥用青霉素，使得一些细菌有机会去适应并对青霉素进行回击。所以现在轮到科学家去扩大青霉素的寿命，寻找其他新的抗生素。
But prevention is better than cure, isn’t it?We should all wash our hands more – it’s a fantastic way of killing bacteria.
但预防比治疗更有效，不是吗？我们要勤洗手，这是杀死细菌的最好方法。
Yes. Good point, Neil, but washing your hands didn’t cure your toe, did it?Now, remember I asked you earlier:How many lives has penicillin saved since its first use as a medicine in 1942?Was it… a) 20 million, b) 200 million or c) 2 billion?
很好，但尼尔，洗手也不能治愈你的脚趾。好了，还记得之前问你的问题吗？自1942年青霉素首次作为药物使用以来，拯救了多少生命？a) 两千万, b) 两亿， 还是c) 20亿?
And I said b) 200 million.
我选b) 两亿。
And you were right!Penicillin became the most effective life-saving drug in the world,conquering diseases such as tuberculosis, gangrene, pneumonia, diphtheria, and scarlet feverand made Alexander Fleming an international hero for discovering it.
你答对了！青霉素成为世界上最有效的救命药，可以治疗肺结核、坏疽、肺炎、白喉和猩红热，也使得发现青霉素的Alexander Fleming成为世界英雄。
Now, let’s hear the words we learned today.
现在我们听听今天学到的单词。
They are:
分别有：
antibiotic
抗生素
halo
光圈
mould
霉
chemotherapy
化疗
suppresses
抑制
immune system
免疫系统
pave the way
铺平道路
resistance
抗性
corpses
尸体
Well, that’s the end of today’s 6 Minute English. And join us again soon!
今天的六分钟英语就到这里。下期再会！
Bye!
再见！