Level 4 Reading 10A

Reading 10A

读数10A

LIVING LONGER When it comes to longer lifespans, could genes play a more important role than diet and exercise? Scientists have begun looking at the genes of small, isolated communities to better understand the illnesses of old age and how they might be avoided. In Italy, Ecuador, and the United States, studies are revealing information related to genes that may one day help everyone reach their old age in good health. Taste for Life On a cool January morning in 2013, Giuseppe Passarino drove on a mountain road through orange trees into Calabria, in the far south of Italy. Passarino, a geneticist at the University of Calabria, was headed for the small village of Molochio, a remote town with four centenarians and four 99-year-olds among its 2,000 inhabitants. Soon after, he found 106-year-old Salvatore Caruso in his home. Caruso told the researcher that he was in good health, and his memory seemed excellent. He recalled the death of his father in 1913, when Salvatore was a schoolboy; how his mother and brother had nearly died during the great flu epidemic of 1918-1919; and how he'd been dismissed from the army in 1925 after accidentally falling and breaking his leg in two places. When asked about the reasons for his long life, the centenarian smiled and said in Italian, "No drinking, no smoking, no women." He added that he'd eaten mostly figs and beans while growing up and hardly ever any red meat. Passarino heard much the same from 103-year-old Domenico Romeo, who described his diet as "a little bit, but of everything." Passarino is working to understand the reasons that Calabrians live such long lives. In the dim, cool hallway outside his university office stand several freezers full of blood taken from elderly Calabrians. The DNA from this blood has revealed that people who live into their 90s and beyond may have such long lives owing to a gene that affects their sense of taste. This gene gives people a taste for bitter foods like broccoli and field greens— vegetables that promote cellular health and aid digestion.

活得更久 在延长寿命方面，基因是否比饮食和运动发挥更重要的作用？ 科学家们已经开始研究小型孤立群落的基因 更好地了解老年疾病以及如何避免老年疾病。 在意大利、厄瓜多尔和美国，研究正在揭示与基因相关的信息 也许有一天，这会帮助每个人健康地活到老年。 品味生活 2013年1月一个凉爽的早晨， Giuseppe Passarino在一条穿过橘子树的山路上开车进入意大利最南部的卡拉布里亚。 卡拉布里亚大学的遗传学家帕萨里诺正前往莫洛基奥的小村庄， 一个偏远的小镇，2000名居民中有4名百岁老人和4名99岁老人。 不久之后，他在家中发现了106岁的Salvatore Caruso。 卡鲁索告诉研究人员，他身体健康，记忆力似乎很好。 他回忆起1913年父亲去世的情景，当时萨尔瓦多还是一名小学生； 他的母亲和兄弟在1918-1919年的大流感疫情中差点死亡； 1925年，他意外摔倒并摔断了双腿，随后被军队开除。 当被问及长寿的原因时，这位百岁老人微笑着用意大利语说：， “不准喝酒，不准抽烟，不准女人。” 他补充说，他在成长过程中主要吃无花果和豆子，几乎从不吃红肉。 帕萨里诺从103岁的多梅尼科·罗密欧（Domenico Romeo）那里听到了同样的话，他将自己的饮食描述为“一点点，但包罗万象” 帕萨里诺正在努力了解卡拉布里亚人长寿的原因。 在他大学办公室外昏暗凉爽的走廊里，放着几个装满卡拉布里亚老人血液的冷冻柜。 从血液中提取的DNA表明，活到90多岁及以上的人 由于一种影响味觉的基因，它们的寿命可能很长。 这种基因让人喜欢西兰花和野菜等苦味食物-- 促进细胞健康和帮助消化的蔬菜。

Size Matters The quest to understand more about genetic influences on aging has brought scientific attention to people like Nicolas Afazco, known as "Pajarito"—Little Bird in Spanish. Nicolas, 17, said he became aware of the reason for his nickname at age six, when he looked around at his classmates: "I realized that I was going to be smaller than them." Because of a single gene, Nicolas looks like an eight-year-old and is 115 centimeters tall. That gene causes a condition called Laron syndrome; it is due to this rare condition that he is so small. Nicolas is one of Ecuador's Laron people, descendants of Europeans who traveled to Ecuador in the 16th century. These travelers carried a gene that sometimes causes short stature; the same genetic mutation has been discovered in other places where these Europeans relocated. In Ecuador, the Laron people settled in small towns and villages scattered across the countryside. Because of a lack of roads, phones, and electricity, the area remained isolated until the 1980s. Over the centuries, the genetic mutation was passed down through the generations. In an interview, Little Bird and some friends—all with Laron syndrome—talked about their lives. Victor Rivera, now 23, was the subject of a famous photograph shown at many scientific meetings, taken when he was four. He was so small that the ear of corn he was holding was slightly larger than his arm. Luis Sanchez, an elder among the group, laughed along with his friends when someone asked if they knew the latest scientific reports about their condition. "We are laughing," he explained, "because we know we are immune to cancer and diabetes." Indeed, he is partly right. Researchers have found that people with Laron syndrome have a good chance of living a long life. A 2006 study revealed that no one from a group of people with Laron syndrome developed diabetes, and only one person developed cancer. In a control group of people without Laron syndrome, 5 percent developed diabetes and 20 percent died of cancer. The same gene that causes short stature may also protect people with Laron syndrome from disease. The Gene Hunt Protective genes have also attracted the attention of researchers in the United States. In one study of an isolated, homogeneous population, University of Hawaii researchers have found a gene related to long life in Japanese-American men on the island of Oahu. In yet another study, in La Jolla, California, physician Eric Topol and colleagues are searching through the DNA of about a thousand people they call "the wellderly"— people over the age of 80 who have no chronic diseases such as high blood pressure, heart disease, or diabetes, and have never taken prescription drugs. "There must be modifying genes that explain why these individuals are protected from the deleterious genes that affect the aging process," Topol says. "The hunt is on." But genes alone are unlikely to explain all the secrets of living to 100. As geneticist Passarino explains, "It's not that there are good genes and bad genes... It's certain genes at certain times. And in the end, genes are probably responsible for only 25 percent of living a long and healthy life. It's the environment, too, but that doesn't explain all of it either. And don't forget chance." This brought to mind Salvatore Caruso, still going strong at 106 years old. Because he broke his leg 88 years ago, it wasn't mandatory for him to go to Russia with the other soldiers and fight in the war. "Not a single one of them came back," he said. It's another reminder that while genes may be an important factor in living longer, a little luck doesn't hurt.

尺寸很重要 探索更多关于遗传对衰老的影响 已经引起了科学界对尼古拉斯·阿法兹科（Nicolas Afazco）等人的关注，他在西班牙语中被称为“Pajarito”——小鸟。 17岁的尼古拉斯（Nicolas）说，他六岁时环顾同学们，才意识到自己取这个绰号的原因： “我意识到我会比他们小。” 由于单一基因，尼古拉斯看起来像一个八岁的孩子，身高115厘米。 该基因导致一种名为拉隆综合征的疾病；正是由于这种罕见的情况，他才这么小。 尼古拉斯是厄瓜多尔拉隆人之一，是16世纪前往厄瓜多尔的欧洲人的后裔。 这些旅行者携带的基因有时会导致身材矮小； 在这些欧洲人迁移的其他地方也发现了同样的基因突变。 在厄瓜多尔，拉隆人定居在分散在农村的小城镇和村庄。 由于缺乏道路、电话和电力，该地区一直处于孤立状态，直到20世纪80年代。 几个世纪以来，基因突变代代相传。 在一次采访中，小鸟和一些朋友——都患有拉隆综合征——谈到了他们的生活。 现年23岁的维克托·里维拉是许多科学会议上展出的一张著名照片的主题，这张照片拍摄于他四岁的时候。 他太小了，手里拿着的玉米穗比他的手臂稍大。 路易斯·桑切斯（Luis Sanchez）是这群人中的一位老人，他和朋友们一起笑了 当有人问他们是否知道关于他们病情的最新科学报告时。 “我们笑了，”他解释道，“因为我们知道我们对癌症和糖尿病免疫。” 事实上，他有一部分是对的。 研究人员发现，患有拉隆综合征的人很有可能长寿。 2006年的一项研究表明，Laron综合征患者中没有人患糖尿病， 只有一个人患上了癌症。 在没有Laron综合征的对照组中， 5%的人患上糖尿病，20%的人死于癌症。 导致身材矮小的同一基因也可能保护拉隆综合征患者免受疾病侵害。 基因狩猎 保护性基因也引起了美国研究人员的关注。 在一项针对孤立、同质人群的研究中，夏威夷大学的研究人员 在瓦胡岛的日裔美国男性中发现了一种与长寿有关的基因。 在加利福尼亚州拉霍亚的另一项研究中， 医生埃里克·托波尔和他的同事们正在对大约一千名他们称之为“井冈山人”的人的DNA进行搜索-- 80岁以上没有慢性病的人 例如高血压、心脏病或糖尿病，并且从未服用过处方药。 Topol说：“必须有修饰基因来解释为什么这些人受到保护，免受影响衰老过程的有害基因的影响。”。 “狩猎开始了。” 但仅靠基因不太可能解释活到100岁的所有秘密。 正如遗传学家帕萨里诺所解释的那样， “这并不是说有好基因和坏基因。。。 这是特定时间的特定基因。 最终，基因可能只对25%的长寿和健康生活负责。 环境也是如此，但这也不能解释一切。 别忘了机会。" 这让我想起了萨尔瓦托雷·卡鲁索，他在106岁时仍然很强壮。 因为他88年前摔断了腿， 他没有义务和其他士兵一起去俄罗斯参加战争。 “他们一个也没回来，”他说。 这再次提醒我们，虽然基因可能是延长寿命的重要因素，但一点运气并没有坏处。

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