VOA慢速英語:研究人員在18世紀木乃伊身上找到結(jié)核菌株

Researchers have found tuberculosis bacteria in 200-year-old human remains. The researchers say the discovery is surprising. The remains came from a Hungarian church where wealthy Europeans were buried. Today, tuberculosis affects mostly poor people. The finding shows how the deadly lung disease has changed over time.

研究人員在一具200年歷史人類遺體中發(fā)現(xiàn)結(jié)核桿菌。研究人員說，這一發(fā)現(xiàn)是非常令人驚訝的。這些遺體來自一個埋葬富有的歐洲人的匈牙利教堂。當今時代，受結(jié)核病影響的人群主要是貧困人口。這一發(fā)現(xiàn)展現(xiàn)了致命性肺部疾病的時間變化史。

Today, Tuberculosis -- or TB -- mostly affects poor people or those already infected with the AIDS virus. Many TB patients live in the developing world. TB rarely affects wealthy people in developed countries.

今天，肺結(jié)核或者結(jié)核的主要感染人群為貧困人口或者已經(jīng)感染艾滋病毒的人群。許多結(jié)核病患者來自發(fā)展中國家。結(jié)核病很少影響到發(fā)達國家的富人人群。

But the situation was different in Europe 250 years ago. The researchers found that in the 18th century, wealthy Europeans also suffered from TB. Sometimes the Europeans even had more than one kind of the disease.

但是250年前的歐洲地區(qū)情形跟現(xiàn)在卻是不一樣的。研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)在18世紀，歐洲人同樣受結(jié)核病的困擾，有時候歐洲人甚至患有多種結(jié)核病。

A report in the journal "Nature Communications" describes the findings. It says the researchers examined the remains of 26 people. Their bodies were kept at the Dominican Church in Vacs, Hungary. The remains were mummified – that is, they had not broken down.

一份來自《自然通訊》期刊上的報道對這一研究進行了描述。該報道稱研究人員對26具人類遺體進行了檢查。這些遺體以干尸(木乃伊)的方式被保存在匈牙利的多米尼加教堂，從來沒有人打開過。

The researchers say 8 of the 26 bodies had signs of tuberculosis bacteria. In fact, researchers were able to identify 14 different TB genomes among the remains. Five of the mummies were infected with more than one kind of TB.

研究人員說這26具遺體中有8具遺體顯示曾有肺部結(jié)核菌感染跡象。事實上，研究人員能夠在遺體中分辨出14種不同的結(jié)核病的基因組織。其中五具遺體感染了一種以上的結(jié)核病。

One of the researchers was Mark Pallen. He is with the University of Warwick in Britain. He says the new evidence shows people in the 18th century often suffered from several different strains of TB.

其中有一位叫Mark Pallen的研究人員，來自英國華威大學。他說新證據(jù)顯示在18世紀的人們就經(jīng)常受多種不同結(jié)核病類型困擾。

For example, he says, researchers discovered a mother and daughter who were both infected with many TB strains. He says they may have passed the disease to each other.

例如，他說，研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)一名母親和女兒雙方都感染不同結(jié)核病菌株。他說他們之間可能有過病毒傳播。

The discovery makes researchers believe that many people across Europe suffered from TB. The disease spreads easily through a population.

這一發(fā)現(xiàn)使得研究人員相信許多歐洲人也曾患有結(jié)核病。這種疾病很容易通過人群傳播。

Mr. Pallen says the discovery may make doctors think differently about tuberculosis. Researchers today usually expect patients to have only one kind of TB.

Pallen說這一發(fā)現(xiàn)可能會讓醫(yī)生重新認識結(jié)核病。今天的研究人員依然希望患者只患有其中一種結(jié)核病。

"I don't think I can claim single-handedly to have changed the field in any way. But it's just changing the way people think, and it's just making people think more carefully about assumptions about what we do at the moment."

我不認為我可以單槍匹馬改變結(jié)核病領域，但是人們對結(jié)核病的認識正在改變，人們會對更加仔細的考慮假設條件，會仔細考慮我們當下所做的工作。

Today, researchers say a number of TB infections have been discovered in South Africa, where many people have the virus that causes AIDS. Being infected with more than one strain of TB makes treating the disease difficult.

今天，研究人員說在南非地區(qū)發(fā)現(xiàn)了許多感染結(jié)核病疾病的人，南非也有很多人感染艾滋病病毒。同時感染一種以上的結(jié)核菌株會給治療帶來很大的困難。

Mr. Pallen's team studied changes in both old and new TB bacteria samples. He says their research suggests a common ancestor for the current bacterium existed nearly 6,000 years ago -- as far back as ancient Rome.

Pallen的研究小組研究對之前和最新結(jié)核菌株樣本進行了研究，他說他們的研究表明結(jié)合菌株的祖先級菌株早在近6000年前就已經(jīng)存在，可以追溯到古羅馬時期。

I'm Jonathan Evans

VOA's Jessica Berman reported this story. Kelly Jean Kelly wrote it for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

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Words in This Story

mummified – adj. keeping something from breaking down, for instance, by using oils or heat

genomes – n. the genetic material that describes the qualities of an individual

strains – n. kinds or sorts

samples – n. a group taken from a larger group to get information