VOA常速英语:科学家更接近治愈艾滋病

For almost a quarter of a century, scientists around the world have been trying to find a cure for the disease that has so far killed millions.The UN estimates that more than 2 million people were newly infected with the AIDS virus last year, more than half in sub-Saharan Africa.Researchers have developed a range of medicines that can substantially prolong the life of HIV-positive patients,but their high price is keeping them outside of reach of many.
在将近四分之一个世纪以来，全世界的科学家们一直在试图找到一种方法，来治疗这种迄今为止已经夺走数百万人生命的疾病。联合国估计，去年新增艾滋病病毒感染者超过200万人，其中超过一多半是在撒哈拉以南的非洲。研究人员已经开发出了一系列药物，可以大大延长艾滋病毒阳性患者的生命，但是高昂的价格使得能够得到这些药物治疗的人少之又少。

So scientists at the University of Miami are taking a different approach to attacking the virus.
因此迈阿密大学的科学家们正在采取一种不同的策略来消灭这种病毒。

In 2008, a patient in Berlin, Germany, was cured of HIVwhen he received a mutated gene during a bone marrow transplant from a donor naturally resistant to HIV.
2008年，德国柏林一位病人被治愈了艾滋病，在一次骨髓移植中，他从天生对艾滋病病毒有免疫力的捐赠者那里获得了一种变异基因。

Director of the Center for AIDS Research at the University of Miami, Mario Stevenson,says researchers are now trying to find a way to deliver the mutated gene on a large scale.
迈阿密大学艾滋病研究中心主任马里奥·史蒂文森表示说，研究人员们正在试图寻找一种方法在更大范围传播这种变异基因。

“Although we can’t use bone marrow transplant to eradicate HIV, it has given us clues on how we would approach a cure strategy.It’s given us a better understanding of what the virus is doing in the individuals who are on therapy,and it has given us the sort of the obstacles that we need to overcome in order to eradicate the virus.”
“虽然我们不能用骨髓移植来根除艾滋病，但是它给了我们一条找出治疗办法的线索。它使我们更好地了解这种病毒在接受治疗的人身体内起了些什么反应，它给了我们某种障碍，而为了消灭这种病毒我们需要将其克服。”

Stevenson says an effective method would be to develop a harmless virus that could transfer the mutated gene directly into the HIV virus.With this approach, he says, the scientists are beginning to see a possible cure.
史蒂文森表示说一种有效的方法可能是开发一种无害的病毒，可以将这种突变的基因直接转移到艾滋病毒上。史蒂文森指出，用这种方法，科学家们开始看到一种可行的治疗方法。

“The basic science efforts that many of us have been engaged in have started to reveal what the ingredients of a cure would look like,what the obstacles to a cure look like, and what a success story might look like.”
“我们许多人所从事的基础科学工作已经开始揭示一种可能的治疗方法都有哪些成分、治疗艾滋病的障碍是什么、以及如果治愈成功应该是怎么样的。”

Scientists have to make sure that the delivery virus will be absolutely harmless, but (they) say the approach looks very promising.They predict it’s just a matter of time before there is a victory in the war against AIDS.
科学家们必须确保这种传递病毒是绝对无害的，但是他们表示说这种方法看起来很有希望。他们预测说在这场对抗艾滋病的战争中获胜只是时间问题了。