【BBC Word in the News】The secret to a longer ...

神诶马里

The secret to a longer life
长寿的秘密

                                                                                                                
                           
                                                      
Could this mouse help us to live longer?
Audio Report：

http://club.topsage.com/thread-3257390-1-1.html

Summary
3 May 2013
Scientists believe they have found an area within the brain that controls the ageing process. In a series of experiments on mice, they found that changes to this region could shorten or lengthen the animal's lifespan. The study is published in the journal Nature.
科学家确信已经定位出大脑中控制衰老的的区域。通过对老鼠的一系列实验得出，对这一大脑区域的变动会影响动物寿命的长短。该研究发表于《自然》杂志。

Reporter: Rebecca Morelle

Report

The hypothalamus is a small structure located deep within the brain. It plays a critical role in controlling growth, reproduction and metabolism - but now it could hold the key to ageing too.  

A team of scientists in the US looked at this region of the brain in mice. They found that blocking a chemical in this area increased the animals' lifespan. Healthy mice typically live for between 600 to 1000 days.  

But the rodents in the study were living about a fifth longer without suffering problems that are common in old age, such as muscle loss or memory problems. Conversely, when the scientists boosted the substance in the hypothalamus, the animal's lifespan was shortened.

The researchers now want to fully understand the biological mechanism behind this process. They say the work could provide new insights into age-related diseases - and in the future even raise the prospect of drugs that could increase our lifespan.

Vocabulary

a critical role：a very important part
reproduction：the process of creating new life
metabolism：how your body processes food to give energy and strength
lifespan：time that it lives for
typically：usually, normally
common：frequent, often occurring
conversely：in the opposite way
boosted：increased
biological mechanism：what happens inside the body, the way the body functions
the prospect：the possibility

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mimi99

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