那个细胞永不死亡的伟大女性
The woman whose cells never die
Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I'm Rob.
大家好。这里是BBC教学英语的《六分钟英语》节目。我是罗伯。
And I'm Georgina.
我是乔治娜。
What do Vincent Van Gogh and Galileo Galilei have in common, Georgina?
文森特·梵高和伽利略·伽利雷有什么共同点，乔治娜？
Hmm… their first name and last names both start with the same letter?
他们的姓和名都是以同一个字母开头？
Well, that's true…
呃，没错……
but another similarity is their amazing contributions – to art and science - were only recognised after their death.
但另一个相似之处是，他们对艺术和科学的惊人贡献在他们死后才得到认可。
I know another person whose huge contribution to science went unrecognised during her lifetime, Rob,
我知道另一个人，她活着的时候，她对科学的巨大贡献没有得到认可，罗伯，
but unlike Van Gogh or Galileo, you probably haven't heard of her.
但与梵高或伽利略不同，你可能没听说过她。
She's the subject of this programme.
她就是本期节目的主题。
Henrietta Lacks was a young, black, American mother who died of cancer in Baltimore in 1951.
亨丽埃塔·拉克斯是美国一位年轻的黑人母亲，1951年她在巴尔的摩因癌症去世。
Although she never consented to her tissues being used for medical research,
虽然她从未同意将自己的身体组织用于医学研究，
doctors at the time found her cells to have an extraordinary ability to replace themselves endlessly.
但当时的医生发现她的细胞具有无限增殖的非凡能力。
Named 'HeLa cells' after her initials,
组织中的细胞以她姓名的首字母被命名为“海拉细胞”，
Henrietta Lacks' tissue helped make possible all sorts of medical breakthroughs,
亨丽埃塔·拉克斯的这种组织帮助实现了各种医学突破，
from the polio vaccine to cancer drugs, to HIV and IVF treatments.
从小儿麻痹症疫苗到抗癌药物，再到艾滋病治疗和体外受精治疗。
Born one hundred years ago, in 1920, the great-great-granddaughter of slaves,
亨丽埃塔出生于100年前的1920年，她是一个奴隶的曾曾孙女，
Henrietta and her cells continue to provide medical discoveries to this day…
亨丽埃塔及其细胞至今仍在提供多种医学发现。
…most recently, of course, in the race for a coronavirus vaccine.
当然，最近是关于冠状病毒疫苗的竞相研究。
But before we go on, Georgina, it's time for my quiz question.
但在我们继续之前，乔治娜，是时候回答我的问题了。
I mentioned that Henrietta Lacks was born one hundred years ago,
我提到亨丽埃塔·拉克斯出生于一百年前，
but do you know what other medical breakthrough happened in 1921?
但你知道1921年还有什么医学突破吗？
Was it: a) the discovery of insulin, b) the discovery of penicillin or c) the discovery of vitamin E?
是：a）胰岛素的发现，b）青霉素的发现，还是c）维生素E的发现？
I'll say, a) the discovery of insulin.
我会选a）胰岛素的发现。
OK, Georgina, we'll find out if that's right later on.
好的，乔治娜，我们稍后再揭晓你的答案是否正确。
Now, it was Henrietta's biography by science writer, Rebecca Skloot,
正是科学作家瑞贝卡·斯克鲁为亨丽埃塔撰写的传记，
that brought her remarkable story to the world's attention a decade ago.
在十年前让亨丽埃塔的非凡故事引起了全世界的关注。
Here is Rebecca Skloot, explaining Henrietta's importance to BBC World Service programme, The Forum:
瑞贝卡·斯克鲁向BBC全球服务节目广播节目The Forum解释了亨丽埃塔的重要性：
So much of science is based on growing cells in culture which started with her cells.
很多科学都建立在由她的细胞增殖而产生的培养细胞上。
In vitro fertilization – that started with the ability to grow embryos in culture which you can do in part thanks to her cells,
体外受精，从使胚胎培养细胞生长入手，这在某种程度上要归功于她的细胞，
so the list just goes on and on, and right now people are often asking how are HeLa cells helping with Covid.
所以这样的例子不胜枚举，现在人们经常问，“海拉细胞”如何帮助解决新冠肺炎。
Scientists worked that out very quickly using her cells…
科学家们用她的细胞很快就找到了解决之法……
they figured out what the receptor looks like and they did the same thing with HIV…
他们弄清楚了受体的样子，他们也是用同样方法处理艾滋病的。
you know so her cells are just this incredible workhorse that is at the base of so much science.
她的细胞就是这个难以置信的主力军，是众多科学研究的基础。
Doctors used Henrietta's cells to figure out – or understand, how cells reproduce and divide
医生们利用亨丽埃塔的细胞来弄清楚——或理解——细胞是如何繁殖和分裂的，
– knowledge that was vital in developing in vitro fertilization, or IVF,
该知识对体外受精（简称IVF）的发展至关重要。
a technique for women who cannot become pregnant naturally,
体外受精这种技术针对的是不能自然怀孕的女性，
in which an egg is fertilized outside the body.
在这个过程中卵子在体外受精。
Our bodies are made of millions and millions of cells and to understand how they work we need to grow them in a lab.
我们的身体是由数以百万计的细胞组成的，要了解它们如何工作，我们需要在实验室中培养它们。
No-one had succeeded in doing this until Henrietta's extraordinary cells which just grew and grew.
没有人成功做到了这一点，直到亨丽埃塔非同寻常的细胞出现，它们不断增殖。
This resulted not only in new fertility treatments, but later in AIDS and cancer breakthroughs,
这不仅带来了新的不孕治疗方法，而且后来使艾滋病和癌症方面也取得了突破，
which is why Rebecca refers to HeLa cells as a workhorse,
这就是为什么瑞贝卡将“海拉细胞”称为“主力军”，
meaning someone who does a lot of work.
意思是完成大量工作的人。
But perhaps Henrietta's greatest legacy of all was the vaccine for polio.
但也许亨丽埃塔最伟大的遗产就是小儿麻痹症疫苗。
Here's professor of genetics, Sir John Burn, talking to BBC World Service's, The Forum:
这是遗传学教授约翰·伯恩爵士在BBC全球服务节目The Forum上的讲话：
Henrietta would have particularly liked the announcement this year that polio vaccine had led to the eradication of polio in Africa
亨丽埃塔会特别喜欢今年宣布的一个消息——小儿麻痹症疫苗已经根除了非洲的小儿麻痹症
– so the centenary of her birth it seems rather symbolic that her unwitting contribution to medicine eventually eradicated that scourge of mankind.
——因此，在她诞辰一百周年之际，她不知情的情况下对医学的贡献最终根除了这一人类祸害，这似乎相当具有象征意义。
John Burn calls polio a scourge, meaning something causing much pain and suffering.
约翰·伯恩称小儿麻痹症是一种祸害，意思是某种会造成很多痛苦和折磨的东西。
Henrietta's role in eradicating this terrible disease is all the more remarkable
亨丽埃塔在根除这种可怕疾病方面所起的作用尤为显著，
as she was never asked permission to use her cells for research,
虽然从未有人征得她的允许来使用她的细胞进行研究。
and it's taken decades for the Lacks family to win their grandmother the recognition she deserves.
拉克斯家族花了几十年的时间为他们的祖母赢得了她应得的认可。
That's why John Burn calls Henrietta's contribution unwitting
那就是为什么约翰·伯恩称亨丽埃塔的贡献是在不知情的情况下做出的
– it was made without her knowledge or consent.
——它是在她不知情或不同意的情况下做出的。
And with the eyes of the world now focused on vaccines for the coronavirus,
现在全世界的目光都集中在新冠病毒疫苗上，
this year is a symbolic time to celebrate her centenary
今年是庆祝她诞辰一百周年的标志性时刻
- the one hundredth anniversary of an important event.
——一百周年是一件重要事件的第一百个周年纪念日。
Henrietta Lacks - a remarkable woman whose name is finally making its way into the history books.
亨丽埃塔·拉克斯——一位杰出的女性，她的名字终于被载入史册。
But something else remarkable happened one hundred years ago, didn't it, Rob?
但是一百年前发生了另一件不寻常的事，不是吗，罗伯？
Ah yes, you mean my quiz question.
啊，是的，你是指我的测试问题。
I asked you which important medical breakthrough occurred one hundred years ago, in 1921.
我问你哪个重要的医学突破发生在一百年前的1921年？
I said, a) the discovery of insulin.
我说是a）胰岛素的发现。
Which was… the correct answer!
那是正确答案！
Discovered by Canadian doctor Frederick Banting, insulin saved the lives of millions of diabetics.
由加拿大医生弗雷德里克·班廷发现的胰岛素挽救了数百万糖尿病患者的生命。
And on that healthy note, let's recap the vocabulary from this programme,
说到健康方面，让我们回顾一下本期节目中的词汇，
starting with in vitro fertilization, or IVF
从体外受精或IVF开始，
– a medical technique for women who cannot become pregnant naturally.
这种医疗技术针对的是不能自然怀孕的女性。
Henrietta's HeLa cells helped doctors figure out - or understand - a lot about how cells grow and led to so many medical discoveries.
亨丽埃塔的“海拉细胞”帮医生们弄清楚——或者理解了很多东西——细胞的繁殖方式以及许多医学发现。
We might call them a workhorse – something which works extremely hard.
我们可以称它们是“主力军”——工作非常努力的事物。
A scourge means something that causes much pain and suffering,
祸害是指会造成许多痛苦和折磨的事物，
like the terrible diseases which Henrietta's unwitting, or unknowing, contribution helped eradicate.
就像亨丽埃塔在不知情的情况下帮助根除的可怕疾病。
Making 2021 a year of hope and the perfect time to celebrate the centenary of her birth – its one hundredth anniversary!
使2021年成为充满希望的一年，也是庆祝她诞辰一百周年的完美时机——一百周年是第一百个周年纪念日！
We hope this upbeat programme has been just what the doctor ordered.
我们希望这期乐观的节目正是医生所想要的。
Remember to join us again soon at 6 Minute English.
记得下次继续收听我们的《六分钟英语》。
Bye for now!
再见了！
Goodbye!
再见！