2016年新托福閱讀材料：青蛙體內(nèi)的天然抗生素

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2016年新托福閱讀材料：青蛙體內(nèi)的天然抗生素

青蛙，這種看似不起眼的小生物，在地球上已經(jīng)生活了2億多年。而它們能健康存活的重要法寶之一就是它們體內(nèi)含有的一種天然抗生素。近來(lái)專家們正積極研究如何提煉這種抗生素為人類健康造福。

Frogs protect themselves by secreting chemicals that kill germs on their skin. So the theory is that some of these chemicals could be used as antibiotics.

To find out, researchers in the United Arab Emirates asked colleagues across the world to swab any frogs they found and send them their secretions. They received samples from more than six thousand different species and identified more than a hundred germ-killing chemicals.

Because they've not been used to combat human diseases before, it's hoped that they might be able to kill bacteria that had become drug-resistant.

One problem though is that many of these newly-identified chemicals are toxic. So the next step will be to adapt them to make them benign to patients but lethal to bacteria.

The researchers point out that their work highlights the importance of preserving frog diversity. They say that many species whose skin might contain potentially valuable medicinal substances may become extinct soon because of a loss of habitat and water pollution.

Notes：

to secrete something(指動(dòng)物或植物器官)分泌

germs細(xì)菌

antibiotics抗生素

to swab something(醫(yī)學(xué)檢驗(yàn))涂片

sample采樣

species物種

to combat something與…斗爭(zhēng)

drug-resistant抗藥的，耐藥的

toxic有毒的

benign有益的，良性的

bacteria(復(fù)數(shù))細(xì)菌

to highlight something強(qiáng)調(diào)，突出

to preserve something保護(hù)

diversity多樣性

extinct滅絕 habitat棲息處

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