分娩、監(jiān)禁、疾病：人類牙齒上有生命事件的記錄

分娩、監(jiān)禁、疾?。喝祟愌例X上有生命事件的記錄

Scientists have found that our teeth can provide a record of human life, much like the rings of a tree.

科學家發(fā)現，我們的牙齒可以記錄人類的生活，就像樹木的年輪一樣。

The discovery that our teeth are an "archive of life" could allow us to better understand menopause, birth patterns and child-rearing among early humans, according to a new paper by a team of researchers from New York University.

根據紐約大學的一組研究人員的一篇新論文，我們發(fā)現牙齒是“生命的檔案”，這一發(fā)現可以讓我們更好地了解早期人類的更年期、生育模式和育兒方式。

"Our results make clear that the skeleton is not a static organ, but rather a dynamic one," study lead author Paola Cerrito, a doctoral candidate in NYU's Department of Anthropology and College of Dentistry, said in a press release.

“我們的研究結果表明，骨骼不是一個靜態(tài)的器官，而是一個動態(tài)的器官，”該研究的主要作者、紐約大學人類學系和牙科學院的博士生保拉·塞里托在新聞發(fā)布會上說。

Cerrito told CNN that the team were pleasantly surprised by the implications of their research, which they had originally designed as a way of investigating the reproductive patterns of extinct human ancestors such as Homo erectus.

塞里托告訴CNN，這個團隊對他們的研究結果感到驚喜，他們最初設計這個研究是為了研究已經滅絕的人類祖先，比如直立人的生殖模式。

"We weren't expecting these results," she said.

“我們沒想到會有這樣的結果，”她說。

The so-called biological archive in our teeth shows the effect of reproduction, systemic illnesses and imprisonment on our bodies, say the study's authors, who focused their research on cementum, a kind of dental tissue that covers the roots of our teeth.

這項研究的作者說，我們牙齒中所謂的生物檔案顯示了生殖、系統性疾病和監(jiān)禁對我們身體的影響。他們的研究重點是牙骨質，一種覆蓋我們牙齒根部的牙齒組織。

From the moment a tooth emerges from the gum, cementum starts to form annual layers, similar to a tree's rings.

從牙齒從牙齦中長出來的那一刻起，牙骨質就開始形成一年生的層，類似于樹木的年輪。

"The discovery that intimate details of a person's life are recorded in this little-studied tissue, promises to bring cementum straight into the center of many current debates concerning the evolution of human life history," said co-author Timothy Bromage, a professor of at NYU's College of Dentistry.

紐約大學牙科學院教授蒂莫西·布羅馬奇是該研究的共同作者之一，他說:“一個人的生活的私密細節(jié)被記錄在這個很少被研究的組織中，這一發(fā)現有望將牙骨質直接帶入當前關于人類生活史進化的許多爭論的中心。”

For example, the paper shows that there will be permanent changes in the microstructure of cementum in someone who has suffered systemic illness, and this can be accurately dated.

例如，這篇論文表明，患有系統性疾病的人的牙骨質的微觀結構會發(fā)生永久性的變化，這可以被準確地確定年代。

Cerrito told CNN that the method could be used in archeology, for example to piece together information on human remains from ancient civilizations, and forensic archeology, by helping investigators to find out more details about unidentified human remains, such as those found on the US-Mexico border.

塞里托告訴CNN，這種方法可以用于考古學，例如拼湊來自古代文明的人類遺骸信息，以及法醫(yī)考古學，幫助調查人員找到更多關于不明身份的人類遺骸的細節(jié)，比如在美墨邊境發(fā)現的那些。

The team looked at almost 50 human teeth from people with known medical history and lifestyle data, using imaging techniques to reveal cementum bands.

研究小組觀察了近50顆人類牙齒，這些牙齒來自已知病史和生活方式的人，他們使用成像技術來揭示牙骨質帶。

They then linked these bands to life stages, and discovered connections between life events and tooth formation.

然后他們將這些帶與生命階段聯系起來，發(fā)現生命事件和牙齒形成之間的聯系。

"Just like tree rings, we can look at 'tooth rings': continuously growing layers of tissue on the dental root surface," Cerrito said in the press release.

塞里托在新聞發(fā)布會上說:“就像樹的年輪一樣，我們可以看到‘牙齒年輪’:在牙根表面不斷生長的組織層。”

"These rings are a faithful archive of an individual's physiological experiences and stressors from pregnancies and illnesses to incarcerations and menopause that all leave a distinctive permanent mark."

“這些“年輪”忠實地記錄了一個人的生理經歷和壓力，從懷孕、生病、監(jiān)禁到更年期，所有這些都留下了獨特的永久印記。”

The full paper appears in the journal Scientific Reports.

全文發(fā)表在《科學報告》雜志上。

Next, Cerrito and the team are working on how to differentiate life events by studying changes in levels of specific minerals, such as zinc and copper.

接下來，塞里托和他的團隊正在研究如何通過研究鋅和銅等特定礦物質含量的變化來區(qū)分生命事件。

This will provide an even more detailed picture of the life of a tooth.

這將提供一幅關于牙齒壽命的更詳細的圖片。

The researchers are also working with high-resolution CT scans to develop a non-destructive method of studying cementum.

研究人員還利用高分辨率CT掃描，開發(fā)了一種非破壞性的研究牙骨質的方法。

This would allow them to study samples from Neanderthals and other creatures that, for conservation reasons, can't be physically cut.

這將使他們能夠研究尼安德特人和其他生物的樣本，出于保護的原因，這些生物不能被物理切割。