Three scientists shared the Nobel Prize in medicine Monday for breakthroughs into how the immune system works, just days after the death of one of the researchers, who had adapted his prize-winning insight to treat his own cancer.
三
Bruce Beutler of the U.S. and Luxembourg-born Jules Hoffmann shared half the prize of 10 million Swedish kronor ($1.46 million). The other half was awarded to Canadian-born Ralph Steinman of Rockefeller University in New York, who died of pancreatic cancer Friday at age 68, three days before the winners of the Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology were announced. He died without knowing he was to be honored.
位科学家因其在免疫系统是如何运作的这一领域取得的突破性研究成果，周一分享了本年度的诺贝尔医学奖，其中一位科学家在获奖消息公布前几天刚刚去世，他生前曾用自己此次获得诺贝尔奖的研究成果来治疗自己的癌症。
The Nobel committee's rules say the prizes can't be awarded posthumously. But the committee decided the decision would stand because Dr. Steinman has been selected in good faith, on the assumption he was alive.
美国的布鲁斯•博伊特勒（Bruce Beutler）和卢森堡出生的朱尔斯•霍夫曼（Jules Hoffmann）分享了这笔1,000万瑞典克朗（合146万美元）奖金的一半，另一半奖金授予了加拿大出生的拉尔夫•斯坦曼（Ralph Steinman）。斯坦曼生前就职于纽约洛克菲勒大学（Rockefeller University），他上周五死于胰腺癌，终年68岁，在他去世后的第三天，今年的诺贝尔医学或生理学奖得主名单公布。斯坦曼病逝前不知道自己获奖的消息。
Dr. Steinman was recognized for his 1973 co-discovery of dendritic cells, which play a vital role in helping the immune system destroy intruders. For at least a decade, his findings were brushed aside, as he struggled to attract funding and failed to get his papers into top-flight journals.
诺贝尔奖评审委员会的规则规定，该奖项不能授予已经故世的人。但评审委员会已决定，对斯坦曼的授奖决定维持不变，因为评审委员会在决定授予他此奖时以为他仍然活着。
The research done by the trio of scientists, taken together, laid bare some long-hidden secrets of how the immune system works.
斯坦曼之所以获奖，是因为他在1973年与他人共同发现了树状细胞，这种细胞在帮助免疫系统摧毁入侵者方面扮演着关键性角色。至少在长达10年的时间里，斯坦曼的发现一直遭人漠视，在此期间他一直为获得科研经费而犯愁，他的论文无法在顶级学术刊物上发表。
The body has two lines of defense against invaders such as bacteria, viruses and fungi: innate immunity and adaptive immunity. The first can destroy invaders partly by triggering inflammation that helps block the assault. If germs breach that line of defense, adaptive immunity kicks in.
三位科学家所做的研究工作让长久以来不为人知的免疫系统工作原理大白于天下。
The adaptive system's T and B cells produce antibodies and killer cells that destroy infected cells. Crucially, it also maintains a 'memory' so the body can launch a more ferocious defense the next time the same invader attacks.
人体拥有两道"防线"对抗细菌、病毒和真菌等"入侵者"：先天免疫系统（innate immunity）和后天免疫系统（adaptive immunity）。前者通过引发炎症等手段消灭入侵者。炎症有助于阻挡入侵者的攻击。如果病菌突破这道防线，后天免疫系统就开始发挥作用。
Dr. Hoffmann, born in Luxembourg in 1941 and now based in France, made a breakthrough in 1996 while studying how fruit flies fight infections. He concluded that the product of a certain gene, known as the Toll gene, was involved in how the immune system sensed the presence of harmfulinvaders. The Toll gene also had to be activated to mount a successful defense, Dr. Hoffmann found.
后天免疫系统的T细胞和B细胞能够产生抗体以及能够消灭被感染细胞的杀伤细胞。最重要的是，后天免疫系统还能够保持"记忆"，因此下次当同样的入侵者攻击人体时，体内能组织起效果更强的防线。
Around the same time, Dr. Beutler, born in 1957 in Chicago, was studying the mechanism behind septic shock, a potentially deadly condition involving overstimulation of the immune system. His work at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center led to the discovery of other such immune 'sensors' -- molecules that activate innate immunity when encountering invaders.
霍夫曼1941年出生于卢森堡，目前常住法国。他在1996年研究果蝇如何对抗感染时取得了突破性成果。他的结论是，免疫系统感知有害入侵者存在的过程要用到Toll基因（Toll gene）的产物。霍夫曼发现，人体要想成功地组织起一条"防线"，Toll基因也必须被激活。
'The discoveries of Hoffmann and Beutler triggered an explosion of research in innate immunity,' said a statement from the body that picks the winners.
大约在同一时间，1957年出生于芝加哥的博伊特勒正在研究脓毒性休克（septic shock）背后的机理。脓毒性休克可能致命，休克过程涉及免疫系统的过度反应。他在得克萨斯大学西南医学中心（Southwestern Medical Center）的研究工作发现，人体内的一些分子成分也可起到免疫"感应器"的作用。当这些分子遇到入侵者时，能激活人体的先天免疫系统。
Gautam Naik
- system [´sistəm]
n.系统，体系，制度 (初中英语单词) - cancer [´kænsə] n.癌；毒瘤 (初中英语单词)
- knowing [´nəuiŋ] a.会意的，心照不宣的 (初中英语单词)
- research [ri´sə:tʃ] n.&vi.调查；探究；研究 (初中英语单词)
- partly [´pɑ:tli] ad.部分地；不完全地 (初中英语单词)
- assault [ə´sɔ:lt] vt.袭击；殴打 n.攻击 (初中英语单词)
- invader [in´veidə] n.入侵者；侵袭物 (初中英语单词)
- harmful [´hɑ:mful] a.有害的 (初中英语单词)
- deadly [´dedli] a.致命的 ad.死一般地 (初中英语单词)
- medical [´medikəl] a.医学的；医疗的 (初中英语单词)
- decided [di´saidid] a.明显的；决定的 (高中英语单词)
- assumption [ə´sʌmpʃən] n.掌握；担任；假定 (高中英语单词)
- decade [´dekeid] n.十年(间) (高中英语单词)
- breach [bri:tʃ] n.&v.破坏；违犯 (高中英语单词)
- launch [lɔ:ntʃ] vt.发动 n.发射；汽艇 (高中英语单词)
- explosion [ik´spləuʒən] n.爆炸；爆发；发作 (高中英语单词)
- swedish [´swi:diʃ] a.瑞典人 n.瑞典语 (英语四级单词)
- bacteria [bæk´tiəriə] n.细菌 (英语四级单词)
- chicago [ʃi´kɑ:gəu] n.芝加哥 (英语四级单词)
- mechanism [´mekənizəm] n.机械装置；机制 (英语四级单词)
- insight [´insait] n.洞悉；洞察力；见识 (英语六级单词)
- immunity [i´mju:niti] n.免疫；免除 (英语六级单词)
- ferocious [fə´rəuʃəs] a.凶猛的；残忍的 (英语六级单词)
- southwestern [,sauθ´westən] a.西南的 (英语六级单词)
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