《经济学人》双语：母乳比配方奶粉有哪些益处（Part 1）？

原文标题：
The motherlode
Breast milk’s benefits are not limited to babies
Some of its myriad components are being tested as treatments for cancer and other diseases
母矿
母乳的益处不仅限于婴儿
母乳中的多种成分正被测试用于治疗癌症和其他疾病

[Paragraph 1]
IN A TALK she gave in 2016, Katie Hinde, a biologist from Arizona State University, lamented how little scientific attention was commanded by breast milk.
在2016年的一次演讲中，亚利桑那州立大学的生物学家凯蒂·海因感叹道，母乳受到科学界的关注太少了。

Up until that point, she said, both wine and tomatoes had been far more heavily studied. Eight years on, alas, that remains true.
她说，直到2016年，葡萄酒和西红柿的研究都比母乳深入得多。遗憾的是，8年过去了，情况依然如此。

[Paragraph 2]
What is also true—and this was the serious point of Dr Hinde’s talk—is that scientists have been neglecting a goldmine.
还有一个不容忽视的事实——这也是海因博士演讲的核心观点——那就是科学家们一直在忽视这座金矿。

Unlike wine or tomatoes, breast milk's physiological properties have been honed by evolution to be healthy.
与葡萄酒或西红柿不同，母乳的生理特性经过进化而变得非常健康。

In babies it can reduce inflammation, kill pathogens and improve the health of the immune system.
在婴儿体内，母乳可以减少炎症，杀死病原体，并提升免疫系统的健康水平。

As a result, some components of breast milk are now being studied as potential treatments for a host of adult conditions, including cancer, heart disease, arthritis and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
因此，母乳中的某些成分目前正在被研究作为治疗多种成人疾病（如癌症、心脏病、关节炎和肠易激综合征）的潜在药物。

Scientists may never look at breast milk in the same way again.
科学家们可能再也不会以之前同样的眼光看待母乳了。

[Paragraph 3]
The exact composition of breast milk remains slightly mysterious.
母乳的确切成分至今仍是个谜。

After water, its most abundant components are lactose; fatty compounds known as lipids; and sugar molecules called human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs).
除了水分之外，母乳中最丰富的成分是乳糖；被称为脂质的脂肪化合物；以及称为人乳寡糖（HMOs）的糖分子。

But it also contains a host of proteins, vitamins, minerals, enzymes, hormones and live cells from the mother’s body.
但母乳中还含有来自母体的多种蛋白质、维生素、矿物质、酶、激素和活细胞。

Its richness continues to surprise: in 2009, for example, more than 250 previously unknown proteins were identified within it; in 2015 it yielded up 300 new microRNA molecules, which regulate gene expression throughout the body.
母乳的丰富程度令人惊叹：例如，2009年，科学家们在其中发现了250多种以前未知的蛋白质；2015年，又发现了300种新的microRNA分子，这些分子能够调节全身范围内的基因表达。

“There is lots of room for discovery”, says Meghan Azad at the University of Manitoba, in Canada.
加拿大曼尼托巴大学的梅根·阿扎德说：“母乳中仍然有大量的未知领域等待我们去探索。”

[Paragraph 4]
The motherlode
母矿

In a recent study of milk from 1,200 mothers on three continents, Dr Azad and her colleagues found roughly 50,000 small molecules, most of them unknown to science.
在最近一项针对来自三大洲的1200位母亲所产母乳的研究中，阿扎德博士及其同事发现了大约5万种小分子，其中大部分成分在科学界尚属未知。

By using artificial-intelligence (AI) models to analyse this list of ingredients, and link them to detailed health data on babies and their mothers, they hope to identify components beneficial for specific aspects of babies’ development.
他们计划使用人工智能（AI）模型来分析这些成分列表，并将母乳与婴儿及其母亲的详细健康数据联系起来，以期望找到对婴儿成长发育特定方面有益的特定成分。

[Paragraph 5]
Such work would add much needed rigour to the field.
这种研究将为该领域带来必要的严谨性。

At present, identifying which of these myriad components to study often occurs at random.
目前，选择哪些成分进行深入研究往往是随机的。

In one case, doctors noticed that preterm babies who are fed breast milk, as opposed to formula, had dramatically lower incidence of necrotising enterocolitis(NEC), an often fatal disease in which intestinal tissue becomes inflamed and dies.
在一个案例中，医生们注意到，与喂食配方奶粉相比，喂食母乳的早产儿患坏死性小肠结肠炎（NEC）的几率显著降低。NEC是一种肠道组织发炎并可能导致死亡的严重疾病。

That observation prompted research on whether any specific components in breast milk could be conferring this protection.
这一发现促使研究人员开始探究母乳中是否存在某种特定的成分，能够赋予婴儿这种保护力。

[Paragraph 6]
HMOs, which are known to have anti-inflammatory effects, may be partly responsible.
已知具有抗炎作用的人乳寡糖（HMOs）可能是原因之一。

That has led to the idea that HMOs could be used as therapeutics for diseases that involve inflammation.
这促使研究人员思考，HMOs或许可以作为治疗炎症相关疾病的药物。

In a study in mice published in 2021, Lars Bode at the University of California, San Diego, and his colleagues reported that one HMO reduced the development of atherosclerosis, the blockage of arteries that leads to heart attack and stroke.
在2021年发表的一项针对小鼠的研究中，加州大学圣地亚哥分校的拉尔斯·博德博士及其团队报告称，一种HMO能够减少动脉粥样硬化的发生。动脉粥样硬化是一种导致心脏病发作和中风的动脉阻塞疾病。

Dr Bode says that in other experiments with mice, the results of which are yet to be published, HMOs have shown promise in treating arthritis and multiple sclerosis.
博德博士还透露，在尚未发表的其他小鼠实验中，HMOs在治疗关节炎和多发性硬化症方面也显示出潜力。

Clinical trials with humans will be far more expensive.
然而，在人类身上进行临床试验将需要更多的资金和资源。

[Paragraph 7]
Other discoveries have come about by happenstance.
其他发现则纯属偶然。

In 1995 scientists at Lund University, in Sweden, reported a discovery they had stumbled upon while studying breast milk’s antimicrobial properties.
1995年，瑞典隆德大学的科学家们在对母乳的抗菌特性进行研究时，意外地有了一个惊人的发现。

They had added some of its constituents to a dish containing lung-cancer cells, hoping to see them fend off bacteria. Instead, remarkably, the cancer cells died off.
当时，他们往含有肺癌细胞的培养皿中加入了一些母乳成分，原本是为了观察这些成分是否能够抵御细菌。然而，令他们惊讶的是，癌细胞竟然凋亡了。

The culprit was a molecule that they named HAMLET, formed when two ingredients in breast milk (alpha-lactalbumin, a protein, and oleic acid) combined.
经过进一步研究，他们发现这一切的“罪魁祸首”是一种他们命名为HAMLET的分子，它是由母乳中的两种成分——α-乳白蛋白（一种蛋白质）和油酸结合而成的。


（恭喜读完，本篇英语词汇598/1141左右）
原文出自：2024年9月14日《TE》Science & technology版块

精读笔记来源于：自由英语之路
本文翻译整理: Irene
本文编辑校对: Irene
仅供个人英语学习交流使用。

【重点句子】（3个）
In babies it can reduce inflammation, kill pathogens and improve the health of the immune system.
在婴儿体内，母乳可以减少炎症，杀死病原体，并提升免疫系统的健康水平。

After water, its most abundant components are lactose; fatty compounds known as lipids; and sugar molecules called human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs).
除了水分之外，母乳中最丰富的成分是乳糖；被称为脂质的脂肪化合物；以及称为人乳寡糖（HMOs）的糖分子。

At present, identifying which of these myriad components to study often occurs at random.
目前，选择哪些成分进行深入研究往往是随机的。