《那些古怪又让人忧心的问题》第50期:消失的DNA(3)

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The frightening thing about Amanita poisoning is the “walking ghost” phase-the period where you seem to be fine (or getting better), but your cells are accumulating irreversible and lethal damage.

白毒伞中毒最吓人的是病程进入“行尸走肉”阶段,在这个阶段你似乎感觉不错(甚至感觉病情有所好转),但此时你身体中的细胞正在累积不可逆的致命损害。

This pattern is typical of DNA damage, and we 8217;d likely see something like it in someone who lost their DNA.

这是典型的DNA损伤症状,从中我们可以一窥丢失所有DNA的人的悲惨后果。

The picture is even more vividly illustrated by two other examples of DNA damage: chemotherapy and radiation.

如果再看看化疗和放疗这两种DNA损害的例子,你就会有更真实的认识。

Radiation and chemotherapy

放疗和化疗

Chemotherapy drugs are blunt instruments. Some are more precisely targeted than others, but many simply interrupt cell division in general. The reason that this selectively kills cancer cells, instead of harming the patient and the cancer equally, is that cancer cells are dividing all the time, whereas most normal cells divide only occasionally.

化疗药物非常粗暴。虽然一些药物的靶向性比其他一些药物要好,但许多药物就是粗暴地干扰一切细胞分裂。这种药物能够选择性地杀死癌细胞,而不是给病人和癌细胞以相同伤害的原因在于,癌细胞每时每刻都在分裂,而绝大多数正常的细胞都只是间歇性地分裂。

Some human cells do divide constantly. The most rapidly dividing cells are found in the bone marrow, the factory that produces blood.

一些人体细胞确实会时常分裂。分裂最频繁的细胞位于骨髓这个人体造血工厂内。

Bone marrow is also central to the human immune system. Without it, we lose the ability to produce white blood cells, and our immune system collapses. Chemotherapy causes damage to the immune system, which makes cancer patients vulnerable to stray infections.

骨髓对于人类免疫系统也是至关重要。没有了骨髓,我们就失去了制造白细胞的能力,我们的免疫系统也会随之崩溃。化疗会对免疫系统造成损害,使得癌症病人无法抵御游离感染。

There are other types of rapidly dividing cells in the body. Our hair follicles and stomach lining also divide constantly, which is why chemotherapy can cause hair loss and nausea.

我们体内还有其他几种频繁分裂的细胞。我们头发的发囊和胃黏膜都在持续分裂,这也是为什么化疗会造成脱发和恶心。

Doxorubicin, one of the most common and potent chemotherapy drugs, works by linking random segments of DNA to one another to tangle them. This is like dripping superglue on a ball of yarn; it binds the DNA into a useless tangle.The initial side effects of doxorubicin, in the few days after treatment, are nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea-which makes sense, since the drug kills cells in the digestive tract.

阿霉素是最常用也是最强力的化疗药物之一,它可以随机把DNA不同片段连接到一起,缠住它们,这就像你往一个毛线球上滴超级胶水一样,它能把DNA粘成无用的一团。阿霉素在使用几天后就会表现出早期副作用,包括恶心、呕吐以及腹泻,这也不难理解,因为这种药物杀死了消化道中的细胞。

A loss of DNA would cause similar cell death, and probably similar symptoms.

全身DNA丢失也会类似地造成细胞死亡,症状也很有可能和上面说的相似。

标签:   发布日期:2024-03-05 08:02:00  投稿会员:Aucao