中英對照讀新聞》Costa Rican sloth antibiotics offer hope for human medicine哥斯大黎加樹懶抗生素為人類藥物帶來希望

◎林雨萱

The fur of Costa Rican sloths appears to harbor antibiotic-producing bacteria that scientists hope may hold a solution to the growing problem of "superbugs" resistant to humanity’s dwindling arsenal of drugs.

哥斯大黎加樹懶的毛皮似乎藏有產生抗生素的細菌，科學家希望這可能是對人類日益減少的有效藥物庫存具有抗藥性的「超級細菌」問題的一個解決辦法。

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"If you look at the sloth’s fur, you see movement: you see moths, you see different types of insects... a very extensive habitat," Max Chavarria, a researcher at the University of Costa Rica, told AFP.

哥斯大黎加大學學者馬克思．查瓦里拉告訴法新社：「要是你仔細檢查樹懶毛皮，會看到有東西在移動：飛蛾、各種昆蟲…一個非常廣大的棲地。」

"Obviously when there is co-existence of many types of organisms, there must also be systems that control them," he said.

他說：「顯然當許多種生物並存的時候，必定有系統控制它們。」

They found the possible existence of antibiotic-producing bacteria that "makes it possible to control the proliferation of potentially pathogenic bacteria... or inhibit other competitors" such as fungi, according to a study published in the journal Environmental Microbiology.

根據「環境微生物學」期刊刊登的研究，他們發現，可能存在產生抗生素的細菌，進而控制潛在病原菌增生，或是抑制在其他競爭者，例如真菌。

新聞辭典

harbor：動詞，攜帶（細菌）；懷有。例句：Peggy harbors no regrets.（佩琪心中無悔。）

dwindle：動詞，減少。例句：The numbers of wild hedgehogs is dwindling.（野生刺蝟的數量正在減少。）