原文標(biāo)題：
Bacteriophages
When viruses are good for you
Bacteria-killing viruses could help avert an antibiotics crisis
噬菌體
病毒有時也對你有好處
殺死細(xì)菌的病毒可以幫助避免抗生素危機(jī)

How to battle superbugs with viruses that “eat” them
As antibiotic resistance spreads, bacteriophages could help avert a crisis
如何用 "吞噬 "超級細(xì)菌的病毒來與細(xì)菌做斗爭
隨著抗生素耐藥性的蔓延，噬菌體可以幫助避免危機(jī)

[Paragraph 1]
ANTIBIOTICS ARE vital to modern medicine. Their ability to kill bacteria without harming the patient has saved billions of lives directly and made everything from caesarean sections to chemotherapy much safer.
抗生素對現(xiàn)代醫(yī)學(xué)至關(guān)重要。它們具有殺死細(xì)菌而不傷害人體的能力，這直接拯救了數(shù)十億人的生命，并使從剖腹產(chǎn)到化療的一切過程變得更加安全。

Life expectancy would drop by a third if they did not exist. But after decades of overuse their powers are fading.
如果沒有抗生素，人類預(yù)期壽命將下降1/3。但是經(jīng)過幾十年的過度使用，它們的功效正在減弱。

Some bacteria have evolved resistance, creating a growing army of “superbugs” against which there is no effective treatment.
一些細(xì)菌已經(jīng)進(jìn)化出了抗藥性，形成了一支不斷壯大的 "超級細(xì)菌 "團(tuán)，目前還沒有有效的治療方法。

Antimicrobial resistance is expected to kill 10m people a year by 2050, up from around 1m in 2019.
預(yù)計到2050年，抗菌素耐藥性每年將導(dǎo)致 1000 萬人死亡，而2019年的數(shù)字約為100萬人。

[Paragraph 2]
It would be unwise to rely on new antibiotics to solve the problem.
依靠新的抗生素來解決這個問題不明智。

The rate at which resistance emerges is accelerating. Some new drugs last only two years before bacteria devise countermeasures.
耐藥性出現(xiàn)的速度正在加快。在病菌產(chǎn)生耐藥性之前，一些新藥的藥效只能持續(xù)2年。

When new antibiotics do arrive, doctors often hoard them, prescribing them only grudgingly and for short periods when faced with the most intransigent infections.
即使有了新的抗生素，醫(yī)生通常也會把它們儲藏起來，只有在面對最頑固的感染時，才勉強(qiáng)開一些短期處方。這有助于限制對新藥耐藥性的傳播。

That helps limit the spread of resistance to new drugs. But it also limits sales, making new antibiotics an unattractive proposition for most pharmaceutical firms.
但它也限制了銷售，使得新抗生素對大多數(shù)制藥公司來說沒有投資吸引力。

[Paragraph 3]
Governments have been trying to fix the problem by funnelling cash into research and taking stakes in drug firms. That has produced only limited improvements.
為了解決這個問題，各國政府一直努力在向相關(guān)研究注入資金和入股制藥公司。但問題改進(jìn)有限。

But there is a promising, if obscure, alternative that is also worth a look.
但是有一個很有前途的（盡管尚不明確）替代方案也值得一看。

Microbiologists have known for decades that disease-causing bacteria can suffer from illnesses of their own.
幾十年來，微生物學(xué)家已經(jīng)知道，致病細(xì)菌自身也會得病。

They are susceptible to attack by bacteriophages (“phages” for short): specialised viruses that infect bacteria, and often kill them.
它們?nèi)菀资艿绞删w（簡寫"phages"）的攻擊：噬菌體是感染細(xì)菌并殺死細(xì)菌的特殊病毒。

[Paragraph 4]
Using one disease-causing organism to fight another has several advantages.
用一種致病生物體對抗另一種生物體有幾個優(yōu)點(diǎn)。

Like antibiotics, phages are picky in their choice of target, leaving human cells alone even as they infect and destroy bacterial ones.
與抗生素相同的是，噬菌體在選擇目標(biāo)時也很挑剔，即使感染和破壞細(xì)菌細(xì)胞，也不會影響人類細(xì)胞。

Unlike antibiotics, phages can evolve just as readily as bacteria can, meaning that even if bacteria do develop resistance, the phages may be able to evolve around it in turn.
與抗生素不同的是，噬菌體可以像細(xì)菌一樣容易進(jìn)化，這意味著即使細(xì)菌產(chǎn)生了抗藥性，反過來噬菌體也會根據(jù)細(xì)菌的進(jìn)化而進(jìn)化。

[Paragraph 5]
That, at least, is the theory. The trouble with phages is that comparatively little is known about them.
這至少在理論上可行。但問題是人們對噬菌體知之甚少。

After the discovery of penicillin, the first antibiotic, in 1928, they were largely ignored in the West.
1928年第一種抗生素（盤尼西林）被發(fā)現(xiàn)后，西方世界基本上忽略了噬菌體的研究。

Only the Soviet Union, powered by research and production facilities in Georgia, continued to use them.
只有蘇聯(lián)在格魯吉亞的研究和生產(chǎn)設(shè)施的支持下，繼續(xù)使用噬菌體。

Given the gravity of the antibiotic-resistance problem, it would be a good idea to find out more.
鑒于抗生素耐藥性問題的嚴(yán)重性，不妨多研究一下噬菌體。

[Paragraph 6]
The first step is to run more clinical trials. Interest from Western firms is growing.
第一步是進(jìn)行更多的臨床試驗。西方公司對此越來越感興趣。

But it is being held back by the fact that phages are an even less appealing investment than antibiotics.
但由于噬菌體是一種比抗生素更沒有吸引力的投資，這一事實(shí)阻礙了它的研究。

Since they are natural organisms there may be trouble patenting them, making it hard to recoup any investment.
由于噬菌體是天然生物，因此可能難以申請專利，投資也難以有回報。

[Paragraph 7]
Governments can help. They could fund basic research into phage therapy, and clarify the law around exactly what is and is not patentable.
政府可以提供幫助。他們可以為噬菌體療法的基礎(chǔ)研究提供資金，并用法律明確規(guī)定什么可申請專利，什么不可申請專利。

In time they could set up phage banks and manufacturing processes, so as to make production cheaper.
隨著時間的推移，他們可以建立噬菌體庫和制造工藝，從而降低生產(chǎn)成本。

And they could spread awareness of the risks of overusing antibiotics, and the potential benefits of phages.
他們還可以普及濫用抗生素的風(fēng)險意識，并宣傳噬菌體的潛在益處。

If you are put off by the thought of ingesting a virus, consider that penicillin was a mould.
如果一想到要攝入病毒你就退縮，那請你想一想青霉素還是一種霉菌呢。

[Paragraph 8]
Going viral
以毒攻毒

The history of antibiotics themselves shows that governments can help nudge the private sector into action.
抗生素本身的歷史表明，政府可以幫助推動私營企業(yè)采取行動。

Penicillin was largely ignored at first by doctors, who regarded it as too difficult to produce.
起初，青霉素在很大程度上被醫(yī)生忽視了，他們認(rèn)為它太難生產(chǎn)了。

It took the tragedy of the second world war, and the intervention of the American and British governments, to kickstart the modern antibiotics industry.
由于第二次世界大戰(zhàn)的悲劇，以及美國和英國政府的干預(yù)，這才啟動了現(xiàn)代抗生素產(chǎn)業(yè)。

Compared with a war, antibiotic resistance is a slow-burning problem. Nonetheless, the time to act is now.
與戰(zhàn)爭相比，抗生素耐藥性并不是一個急需解決的燃眉之急。但現(xiàn)在也是該采取行動的時候了。

（恭喜讀完，本篇英語詞匯量610左右）
原文出自：2023年5月6日《The Economist》Leaders版塊

精讀筆記來源于：自由英語之路

本文翻譯整理: Irene

本文編輯校對: Irene
僅供個人英語學(xué)習(xí)交流使用。

【補(bǔ)充資料】（來自于網(wǎng)絡(luò)）
噬菌體（bacteriophage）是一種可以感染和繁殖于細(xì)菌體內(nèi)的病毒。它們是一類極小的生物，通常只有幾十納米大小。噬菌體在尋找其宿主細(xì)菌時非常敏銳，在許多情況下，它們可以通過檢測特定的化學(xué)信號來發(fā)現(xiàn)自己需要攻擊的細(xì)菌。當(dāng)噬菌體感染了它的宿主細(xì)菌后，它會注入自己的遺傳物質(zhì)到細(xì)胞內(nèi)，并利用細(xì)胞的生物合成機(jī)制來復(fù)制自己的基因組和蛋白質(zhì)。隨著時間的推移，新的噬菌體會在細(xì)胞內(nèi)積累，最終導(dǎo)致細(xì)胞破裂并釋放出許多新的噬菌體到周圍環(huán)境中，這些噬菌體又可以繼續(xù)感染新的細(xì)菌。噬菌體對人類的影響有很多方面。一方面，噬菌體可以被視為一種治療細(xì)菌感染的潛在藥物。例如，使用噬菌體治療耐藥性細(xì)菌感染已被研究多年，并已在一些國家獲得批準(zhǔn)用于治療人類疾病。另一方面，噬菌體對環(huán)境和食品安全也有著廣泛的應(yīng)用。例如，在食品生產(chǎn)和加工過程中，噬菌體可以被用來控制和預(yù)防細(xì)菌污染。噬菌體是一種小而強(qiáng)大的生物，有望成為未來治療和預(yù)防細(xì)菌感染的有力工具。

青霉素（Penicillin）的發(fā)現(xiàn)過程可以追溯到1928年，由蘇格蘭生物學(xué)家亞歷山大·弗萊明（Alexander Fleming）在倫敦大學(xué)醫(yī)學(xué)院工作期間完成。據(jù)傳，1928年9月，弗萊明正在研究一種叫做鏈球菌（Staphylococcus）的細(xì)菌，他將這些細(xì)菌培養(yǎng)在實(shí)驗室中的瓊脂平板上。然而，在某一天，他意外地忘記了清理實(shí)驗室并留下了這個平板，過了幾天之后，他再次檢查平板時發(fā)現(xiàn)其中有一些區(qū)域周圍的細(xì)菌已經(jīng)死亡，并且這些區(qū)域周圍還有一些黃色的斑點(diǎn)。經(jīng)過進(jìn)一步的觀察和分析，弗萊明得出結(jié)論：這些黃色的斑點(diǎn)是由一種被稱為“Penicillium notatum”的真菌產(chǎn)生的。他注意到，這種真菌能夠釋放出一種化合物，可以殺死附近的細(xì)菌，從而使那些區(qū)域周圍的細(xì)菌不能生長繁殖。這種真菌產(chǎn)生的化合物可能有助于對抗細(xì)菌感染。最終，青霉素作為第一個廣泛使用的抗生素被引入到臨床醫(yī)學(xué)中，對人類健康產(chǎn)生了深遠(yuǎn)的影響。

【重點(diǎn)句子】（3個）
Using one disease-causing organism to fight another has several advantages.
用一種致病生物體對抗另一種生物體有幾個優(yōu)點(diǎn)。

Since they are natural organisms there may be trouble patenting them, making it hard to recoup any investment.
由于噬菌體是天然生物，因此可能難以申請專利，投資也難以有回報。

Compared with a war, antibiotic resistance is a slow-burning problem. Nonetheless, the time to act is now.
與戰(zhàn)爭相比，抗生素耐藥性并不是一個急需解決的燃眉之急。但現(xiàn)在也是該采取行動的時候了。