章节大纲

  • A black-and-white portrait of Frederick Sanger, a British biochemist and Nobel laureate.

    How has chemistry made contributions to medicine?

    ::化学如何为医学做出贡献?

    Diabetes mellitus is a disease characterized by the body’s inability to use glucose (a component of table sugar).  Glucose is needed to provide biochemical energy for all the cells of the body.  When the body cannot make energy using glucose, it begins to break down fat and to provide the needed energy, eventually leading to death.  Diabetes is the result of the pancreas losing the ability to make insulin, a protein that helps glucose enter the cells and be used for biochemical energy.  A key piece of the puzzle surrounding our understanding of diabetes came when Frederick Sanger, a British biochemist, carried out experiments that gave him the structure of the insulin molecule.  Sanger used basic chemistry techniques and reactions and took twelve years to complete his .  Today, automated instruments based on his approach can perform the same analysis in a matter of days.  Sanger was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1958 for his insulin research.
    ::糖尿病是一种疾病,其特征是身体无法使用甘蔗糖(食糖的一部分),需要葡萄糖来为身体的所有细胞提供生化能量。当身体不能用甘蔗糖制造能量时,它开始分解脂肪,提供所需的能量,最终导致死亡。糖尿病是胰岛素丧失制造胰岛素的能力的结果,胰岛素是一种蛋白质,有助于葡萄糖进入细胞,并用于生物化学能源。 围绕我们对糖尿病的理解的难题中的一个关键部分是英国生物化学家弗雷德里克·桑杰尔(Frederick Sanger)进行了实验,给他提供了胰岛素分子的结构。 桑杰使用了基本的化学技术和反应,并花了12年时间来完成他的工作。 今天,基于他的方法的自动化仪器可以在几天内进行同样的分析。 桑杰在1958年获得诺贝尔化学奖,因为他的胰岛素研究。

    Chemistry in Medicine
    ::医学化学

    Major contributions to health care have been made by chemistry.  The development of new drugs involves chemical analysis and synthesis of new compounds.  Many recent television programs advertise the large number of new drugs produced by chemists.
    ::化学对保健作出了重大贡献,研制新药涉及化学分析和合成新化合物,许多最近的电视节目宣传化学家生产的大量新药。

    The development of a new drug is long and complicated.  The chemistry of the disease must be studied, as well how the drug affects the human body.  A drug may work well in animals, but not in humans.  Out of a hundred drugs that look like they help treat a disease, only a small handful actually turn out to be both safe and effective.
    ::一种新药的研发是漫长而复杂的。 必须研究该病的化学成分,以及该药对人体的影响。 一种药物在动物身上可能效果良好,但在人类身上却不会。 一百种药物似乎有助于治疗一种疾病,但只有一小部分药物实际上证明既安全又有效。

     

     

    Chemistry contributes to the preparation and use of materials for surgery (sutures, artificial skin, and sterile materials). The sutures used in many surgeries today do not have to be removed, because they simply dissolve in the body after a period of time.  Replacement blood vessels for heart and other types of surgery are often made of chemicals that do not react with the tissues, so they will not be rejected by the body.  Artificial skin can be used to replace human skin for burn patients.
    ::化学有助于为手术准备和使用材料(缝纫、人造皮肤和消毒材料),今天许多手术中使用的缝合无需去除,因为它们只是经过一段时间后在身体中溶解,心脏换血管和其他类型的外科手术往往用与组织不发生反应的化学品进行,因此不会被身体拒绝,人工皮可以用来代替烧伤病人的人体皮肤。

    Surgeons in surgical attire collaborating during an operation in an operating room.

    Surgical procedure.
    ::外科手术

    Clinical laboratory testing uses a wide variety of chemical techniques and instrumentation for analysis. Clinical laboratory testing allows us to answer commonly asked questions such as "is your cholesterol too high?" and "do you have diabetes?" Some of the laboratory tests use simple techniques.  Other processes involve complex equipment and computer analysis of the data in order to perform measurements on large numbers of patient samples.
    ::临床实验室测试使用多种化学技术和仪器进行分析。临床实验室测试使我们能够回答常见问题,如“你的胆固醇过高吗?” 和“你有糖尿病吗?” 一些实验室测试使用简单技术。其他流程包括复杂的设备和对数据进行计算机分析,以便对大量病人样本进行测量。

    A gloved hand holding multiple blood collection tubes for laboratory testing.

    Blood samples for laboratory testing.
    ::用于实验室检测的血液样本。

    Laboratory testing has come to the local drug store or grocery store because of developments in chemistry.  You can test your blood glucose using a simple portable device that runs a chemical test on the blood sample and tells you how much glucose is present, allowing a diabetic patient to regulate how much insulin to administer (chemistry is also used to produce the insulin and the disposable syringe that administers the drug).
    ::当地药店或杂货店由于化学的发展而进行了实验室测试。 您可以使用简单的便携式设备对血液样本进行化学测试, 测试血液中的葡萄糖, 并告诉你有多少葡萄糖存在, 让糖尿病患者管理多少胰岛素( 化学也用来生产胰岛素和一次性注射器)。

    Various blood glucose testing devices used for monitoring diabetes.

    Blood glucose testing device.
    ::血糖测试装置

     

     

    Science Friday: The Medical Wonders of Worm Spit
    ::科学星期五:虫虫病的医学奇迹

    How useful is worm spit? It turns out that worm spit, also known as silk, is a very useful material in medicine. In this video by Science Friday, Dr. David Kaplan describes how silk is used in a variety of medical applications.
    ::蠕虫唾液有多么有用? 事实证明,蠕虫唾液(又称丝绸)是医学上非常有用的材料。 在科学周五的这段影片中,大卫·卡普兰博士讲述了丝绸在各种医疗应用中是如何使用的。

     

     

    Summary
    ::摘要

    • Chemistry finds many applications in the healthcare field.
      ::化学在保健领域有许多应用。
    • Development of medicines involves many complicated chemistry processes.
      ::药品开发涉及许多复杂的化学过程。
    • Chemistry is used to create materials used in surgery.
      ::化学用于制造手术材料。
    • Much laboratory testing is based on chemistry techniques.
      ::大量实验室测试以化学技术为基础。

    Review
    ::回顾

    1. What chemical is missing in the diabetic patient?
      ::糖尿病患者体内缺少什么化学物质?
    2. Who discovered the structure of insulin?
      ::谁发现了胰岛素的结构?
    3. What two things need to be studied to develop a new drug?
      ::为了开发新药,需要研究哪些东西?
    4. List two areas where chemistry has helped surgical patients
      ::列出化学帮助外科病人的两个领域
    5. What blood test can be performed using material purchased from your local drugstore?
      ::使用从本地药店购买的材料可以进行何种血液测试?