Viruses--The aliens among us（part-3）

Viruses cause pandemics. They also shape the world

Evolution’s most enthralling?insight is that breathtaking complexity can emerge from the sustained, implacable?and nihilistic?competition within and between organisms. The fact that?the blind watchmaker has equipped you with the capacity to read and understand these words is in part a response to the actions of swarms of tiny, attacking replicators?that have been going on, probably, since life first emerged on Earth around 4bn years ago. It is a startling example of that principle in action—and viruses have not finished yet.

Enthralling??/?n?θr??l??/ holding the attention completely; fascinating; spellbinding 引人入勝的; 迷人的

implacable??/?m?pl?k?bl/ adj. 不能安撫的；難和解的；不能緩和的

nihilistic??/?na???l?st?k/ ?adj. 虛無主義的；無政府主義的

swarms of tiny：微小物的蜂擁?指的是病毒的入侵? ?Replicator?/?repl?ke?t?(r)/ n. 復(fù)制器；復(fù)制基因

Startling ?adj. /?stɑ?tl??/ ?

1.extremely unusual and surprising 驚人的；讓人震驚的?2.( of a colour 顏色 ) extremely bright 極鮮亮的

the blind watchmaker 盲眼鐘表匠， 特指大自然

英國著名生物學(xué)家理查德·道金斯(Richard Dawkins)出版經(jīng)典《the blind watchmaker》中文名為《盲眼鐘表匠:生命自然選擇的秘密》

"鐘表匠"的觀點(diǎn)最先由18世紀(jì)的神學(xué)家培里提出，他以創(chuàng)造論支持者的身份提出這個(gè)有名的論點(diǎn):就像手表這樣精密、復(fù)雜的東西絕不可能無中生有、突然出現(xiàn)一樣，對所有的生物而言，其復(fù)雜程度遠(yuǎn)超過手表，勢必更是經(jīng)由巧手特意創(chuàng)造出來的。而道金斯的天才發(fā)現(xiàn)挑戰(zhàn)了創(chuàng)造論者的觀念。他以"生物適應(yīng)的起源"為核心，用穩(wěn)健的文筆，詳細(xì)闡釋了生物適應(yīng)是任何演化理論家不可回避的問題，而天擇說是唯一可信的理論。天擇說指出:物種的演化并沒有特殊的目的。大自然是一位手巧的拼湊匠，而不是神乎其技的發(fā)明家。物種的演化并沒有特殊的目的，如果我們還是要把大自然比喻成鐘表匠的話，只能說它是一位"盲眼"的鐘表匠。"鐘表"也是"世界運(yùn)行模式"的隱喻，象征自然運(yùn)行的機(jī)制是環(huán)環(huán)相扣、一絲不茍。

Humanity’s unique, virus-chiselled consciousness opens up new avenues to deal with the viral threat and to exploit it. This starts with the miracle of vaccination, which defends against a pathogenic attack?before it is launched. Thanks to vaccines, smallpox is no more, having taken some 300m lives in the 20th century. Polio?will one day surely follow. New research prompted?by the covid-19 pandemic will enhance the power to examine the viral?realm and the best responses to it that bodies can muster—taking the defence against viruses to a new level.

Chiselled??/?t??zld/ adj. 鑿過的；形如鑿刀的；輪廓鮮明的

pathogenic attack?致病攻擊? ? ? ? ?Polio??/?p??li??/ 小兒麻痹癥

Prompt??/pr?mpt/?v. 提示，鼓勵(lì)；促進(jìn)；激起；導(dǎo)致；（給演員）提白 ?adj. 敏捷的，迅速的；立刻的，及時(shí)的；準(zhǔn)時(shí)的；（商品）即期要送的n. 提示，提詞；（電腦屏幕上的）提示符；鼓勵(lì)；催促；付款期限 adv. 準(zhǔn)時(shí)地?

realm /relm/?領(lǐng)域，范圍；王國?·in the realm of literature 在文學(xué)領(lǐng)域內(nèi)·the defence of the realm 王國的防衛(wèi)

mustervt. ??/?m?st?(r)/

1.~ sth (up) to find as much support, courage, etc. as you can 找尋，聚集，激起（支持、勇氣等）??We mustered what support we could for the plan. 我們極盡所能為這項(xiàng)計(jì)劃尋求支持。2.集合，召集，集結(jié)（尤指部隊(duì)）·The troops mustered. 部隊(duì)集結(jié)起來。3. 趕攏（牛、羊）?4.聚集的人群；（尤指）集結(jié)的兵力??muster stations 集結(jié)站

Another avenue for progress lies in the tools for manipulating organisms that will come from an understanding of viruses and the defences against them. Early versions of genetic engineering relied on restriction enzymes—molecular scissors?with which bacteria cut up viral genes and which biotechnologists?employ to move genes around. The latest?iteration?of biotechnology, gene editing letter by letter, which is known as?CRISPR, makes use of a more precise antiviral mechanism.

enzyme /?enza?m/酶??

restriction enzyme：限制性內(nèi)切酶（根據(jù)柯林斯英文釋義解釋--細(xì)菌中一些抵抗病毒感染的酶，通常用作基因工程或者診斷來剪輯DNA）

molecular /m???l?kj?l?/ 分子的? ? ???molecular scissor?分子剪刀

Biotechnologist：bio-technologist生物技術(shù)專家? ?Iteration ?/??t??re??n/ ?迭代；（計(jì)算機(jī)）新版軟件

?CRISPR：基因編輯技術(shù)

The natural world is not kind. A virus-free existence is an impossibility so deeply unachievable that its desirability?is meaningless. In any case, the marvellous?diversity of life rests on viruses which, as much as they are a source of death, are also a source of richness and of change. Marvellous, too, is the prospect of a world where viruses become a source of new understanding for humans—and kill fewer of them than ever before.

Desirability /d??za??r??b?l?ti/ ?n. 愿望；有利條件；值得向往的事物；合意

marvellous /?mɑ?v?l?s/ ?( US mar·vel·ous ) extremely good; wonderful 極好的；非凡的

原文：經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)人九月刊