1 . On January 7, David Bennett went into the operating room at the University of Maryland Medical Center for a surgical procedure never performed before on a human. The 57-year-old Maryland resident had been hospitalized for months due to a life threatening disease. His heart was failing him and he needed a new one.
Bennett’s condition left him unresponsive to treatment and ineligible (不合格) for the transplant list or an artificial heart pump. The physician-scientists at the center, however, had another-also risky- option: transplant (移植) a heart from a genetically-modified pig.
“It was either die or do this transplant,” Bennett had told surgeons a day before the operation. “I want to live. I know it’s a shot in the dark, but it’s also my last choice.”
It took the medical team eight hours to finish the operation, making Bennett the first human to successfully receive a pig’s heart. “It’s working and it looks normal. We are thrilled, but we don’t know what tomorrow will bring us. This has never been done before,” Barkley Griffith, who led the transplant team, told the New York Times.
While it’s only been five days since the operation, the surgeons say that Bennett’s new pig heart was, so far, functioning as expected and his body wasn’t rejecting (排斥) the organ. They are still monitoring his condition closely.
“I think it’s extremely exciting,” says Robert Montgomery, transplant surgeon and director of the NYU Langone Transplant Institute, who was not involved in Bennett’s operation. The result of the procedure was also personally meaningful for Montgomery, who received a heart transplant in 2018 due to a genetic disease that may also affect members of his family in the future. “It’s still in the early days, but still the heart seems to be functioning. And that in and of itself is an extraordinary thing. Up to now most experimental heart transplant procedures have been done between pigs and other animals. This is the first time that surgeons have taken it into a living human.”
1. What do the words “a shot in the dark” underlined in Paragraph 3 mean?| A．Something that costs a fortune. |
| B．Something impossible to succeed. |
| C．Something drawing public attention. |
| D．Something with an uncertain outcome. |
| A．Negative. |
| B．Cautious. |
| C．Optimistic. |
| D．Uncaring. |
| A．The heated debate over the pig heart transplant. |
| B．David Bennett’s contribution to medical research. |
| C．The first experimental pig heart transplant in the world. |
| D．The first successful pig heart transplant into a living human. |
| A．Political Affairs. |
| B．Global Entertainment. |
| C．Sci-Tech Front. |
| D．Financial Window. |
2 . Researchers say a new electrical device placed in three paralyzed patients has helped them walk again. The lower bodies of the three patients were left paralyzed after they suffered spinal (脊柱的) cord injuries. But a device implanted in the spinal cord was able to send electrical signals to the muscles to permit them to stand, walk and exercise.
Scientists have discovered that neurons—which receive and send signals for muscle movements—often still work in injured patients with serious spinal cord injuries. However, past research into spinal cord injuries has centered on the stimulation of neurons. Now in the latest experiment led by Gregoire Courtine and Jocelyne Bloch of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, three paralyzed men were implanted a new electrical device designed to copy an action of the brain, in which it sends signals to the spinal cord that result in muscle movement. When the spinal cord receives the brain signals, it stimulates a collection of nerve cells that can activate different muscles.
The researchers reported that all three patients who got the spinal cord implants were able to take their first steps within an hour after receiving them. Over the next six months, the patients regained the ability to take part in more advanced walking activities, the study found. They were also able to ride bicycles and swim in community settings.
Unlike other attempts to help paralyzed patients walk by stimulating nerves through the back of the spine, Courtine said that his team redesigned the devices so signals would enter the spine from the sides. This method permits more direct targeting and activation of spinal cord areas, he said.
The team then developed artificial intelligence (AI) systems linked to the device. The AI controls electrodes on the device to send signals to stimulate individual nerves that control muscles needed for walking and other activities. However, because the patients’ muscles were weak from not being used, they needed help with supporting their weight, the researchers said. It also took some time for them to learn to work with the technology. Still, Bloch said, “The more they train, the more they start lifting their muscles, the more fluid it becomes.”
1. What can be inferred from paragraph 2?| A．Courtine and Bloch have found that neurons in paralyzed patients still work. |
| B．The new electrical device can imitate the brain to send signals to the spinal cord. |
| C．Three paralyzed men recovered with the help of a new electrical device. |
| D．Stimulating the neurons is the focus of the latest research into spinal .cord injuries. |
| A．By stimulating nerves through the back of the spine. |
| B．By using the AI system. |
| C．By making signals enter the spine from the sides. |
| D．By sending the signals to the brain. |
| A．Every garden has its weeds. |
| B．Put the cart (运货马车) before the horse. |
| C．It's hard to please all. |
| D．Practice makes perfect. |
| A．To report the consequence of spinal cord injuries. |
| B．To introduce the findings of a recent research. |
| C．To compare a recent research with other previous researches. |
| D．To recommend a treatment for paralyzed patients. |
3 . Metin Sitti at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Stuttgart, Germany, and his colleagues have developed tiny robots called “microrollers” that can carry cancer drugs and selectively target human breast cancer cells. The team drew inspiration for the design of the robots from white blood cells in the human body, which can move along the walls of blood vessels (血管) against the direction of blood flow.
The microrollers are round and made from glass microparticles. One half of the robot was coated with a thin magnetic nanofilm (磁性纳米膜) made from nickel and gold. The other half was coated with the cancer drug doxorubicin as well as molecules that recognize cancer cells.
The team tested the robots using mouse blood and artificial channels lined with human endothelial cells—the kind of cells that line the inner walls of our blood vessels. The robots were exposed to a mixture of cancerous and healthy tissue. The microrollers selectively attached to the cancer cells and were activated using UV light to release the doxorubicin.
By applying magnetic fields, the team was able to control the movement of the microrollers, both with and against the flow of blood. The microrollers can reach a speed of up to 600 micrometers per second. “If you come to a spot where you need to take the right path and if you miss it, then you could go back and go to the right one,” says Setti.
In future, the researchers want to use other methods to start the drug release, such as heat or near-infrared light. They also plan to try making microrollers out of materials that would break down in the body over a few weeks or months.
The team hopes to test the microrollers in animals soon. “The rollers need to carry enough cancer drugs, which is why we need to have them in large numbers,” says Setti. “But since we can locally take drugs to the right target, we don’t need huge dosages (剂量).”
1. What can the microrollers be used for?| A．Repairing blood cells. | B．Delivering drugs. | C．Improving blood flow. | D．Performing operations. |
| A．Their shape. | B．Their advantage. | C．Their design. | D．Their application. |
| A．Their direction can be adjusted. | B．They might miss the target cells. |
| C．They might get stuck in the blood. | D．Their speed can change automatically. |
| A．Put the microrollers to clinical use. | B．Sell the microrollers in large quantities. |
| C．Tear the microrollers down in the body. | D．Experiment with the microrollers further. |
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is gaining more
“Chinese medicine actually has
Traditional Chinese medicine usually uses skills like acupuncture (针刺), cupping and specialized massage
The doctor may also ask the patient about stress at work or home and any difficulties
In recent years, the World Health Organization
Imagine for a moment that your unborn child has a rare genetic disorder. Not
Would you, when your child is born, want to know about it? If effective treatments were available, you probably would. But if not? If the outcome were fatal, would your interest in knowing about it depend on whether your newborn had five years of life
Today these questions are mostly hypothetical. Precisely because they are rare, such disorders are seldom noticed at birth. They manifest (显现) themselves only gradually, and often with unpredictable severity. But that may soon change. Twenty years after the first human genome
Early diagnosis brings with it the possibility of early treatment. Moreover, sequencing the genomes of newborns could offer a lifetime of returns. A patient’s genome may reveal
Such a powerful new technology create new dangers. Widespread screening for thousands of potentially harmful genes may be counterproductive: some results may worry parents unnecessarily, because some genetic variations,
6 . Personalized medicine changes conventional medicine which typically offers blanket recommendations and offers treatments designed to help more people than they bam but that might not work for you. The approach recognizes that we each possess unique characteristics, and they have an out size impact on our health.
Around the world, researchers are creating precision tools unimaginable just a decade ago: superfast DNA sequencing(排序); tissue engineering, cell reprogramming, gene editing, and more. The science and technology soon will make it possible to predict your risk of cancer, heart disease, and countless other illnesses years before you get sick. The work also offers prospects for changing genes in removing some diseases.
Last spring, researchers at the National Cancer Institute reported the dramatic recovery of a woman with breast cancer, Judy Perkins. The team, led by Steven Rosenberg, an immune(免疫的) treatment pioneer, had sequenced her cancer cells’ DNA to analyze the sudden change. The team also removed a sampling of immune cells and tested them to see which ones recognized her cancer cells' genetic faults. The scientists reproduced the winning immune cells by the billions and put them into Perkins to attack her cancer cells. More than two y cars later. Perkins, a retired engineer from Florida, shows no signs of cancer.
Thirty years ago, scientists thought that it would be impossible to understand our genetic rules and sequence the 3.2 billion pairs of different elements in our DNA. “It was like you were talking fairytales,” Kurzrock said. “The conventional wisdom was that it would never happen. Never And then in 2003, never was over.”
It took the Human Gene Project 13 years, roughly one billion dollars, and scientists from six countries to sequence one gene complex. Today sequencing costs about a thousand dollars. The latest machines can produce the results in a day. The technology, combined with advanced cell analysis, clarifies the astonishing biochemical variations that make every human body unique.
1. What can we know about personalized medicine?| A．It has emerged a decade before. |
| B．It offers blanket recommendations. |
| C．It uses genetic information to help patients. |
| D．It administers treatment intended for most people. |
| A．Promising. | B．Highly risky. | C．Fruitless. | D．Strictly confidential. |
| A．Sequencing her immune cells. |
| B．Reprogramming her cancer cells |
| C．Analysis of her life style changes. |
| D．Identification of cancer-fighting cells. |
| A．Its wide applications. | B．Its recent advances. |
| C．Its major disadvantages. | D．Its attractive prospects. |
7 . “Going wireless is the future for just about everything!” That is a quote from scientist Sreekanth Chalasani, and we can’t help but agree. Realizing this, a team of scientists has made a breakthrough toward wirelessly controlling human cells using sound, in a technique called “sonogenetics (声遗传学).” This concept may seem strange but let us explain.
Basically, the term “sonogenetics” means using ultrasound (超声波) to change the behavior of cells in a non-invasive manner. “We already know that ultrasound is safe, and that it can go through bone, muscle and other tissues, making it the ultimate tool for controlling cells deep in the body,” says Chalasani.
Low-frequency ultrasound waves can target a particular protein that is sensitive to the signal. This research, published in Nature Communications, focused on TRPA1. When this protein is stimulated through the ultrasound waves, it also stimulates the cells which carry it. What type of cell is being stimulated depends on the outcome. For example, a muscle cell may contract with stimulation, or a neuron (神经元) in the brain will fire. In this experiment, scientists genetically marked cells with an increased concentration of TRPA1, making them the key targets of the ultrasound waves.
Currently, treating conditions like Parkinson’s disease requires scientists to implant electrodes (电极) in the brain which stimulate certain disordered cells. Researchers hope that sonogenetics can one day replace these invasive treatments.
In the future, the team wants to adjust the placement and amount of TRPAI around the body using the gene treatment. Gene delivery techniques have already been shown to be successful in humans, such as in treating blindness. Therefore, it’s just a case of adjusting this theory to a different sound-based setting.
“Gene delivery techniques already exist for getting a new gene—such as TRPA1—into the human heart,” Chalasani says. “If we can then use an external ultrasound device to activate those cells, that could really change pacemakers.” There is still a while to go before this treatment can become a reality. The future for sonogenetics, though, looks bright.
1. What’s working principle for sonogenetics?| A．Using medicine interventional therapies. |
| B．Changing cells’ shape with new equipment. |
| C．Controlling cells in a non-invasive manner. |
| D．Using a kind of unique medical composition. |
| A．Change the concentration of the protein. |
| B．Find target cells for treatment precisely. |
| C．Analyze the protein sensitive to the sign. |
| D．Choose the type of cell to be stimulated. |
| A．It can be applied to other fields besides medicine. |
| B．It may replace some traditional medical therapies. |
| C．It will totally transform gene delivery techniques. |
| D．It has succeeded in curing diseases like blindness. |
| A．Can cells be controlled by sound? |
| B．How is sonogenetics clinically used? |
| C．Are gene delivery techniques available? |
| D．What are applications of sonogenetics? |
8 . Desperately ill and seeking a miracle, David Bennett Sr. took the last bet on Jan. 7. when be became the first human to be successfully transplanted with the heart of a pig. “It creates the beat; it creates the pressure; it is his heart,” declared Bartley Griffith, director of the surgical team that performed the operation at the University of Maryland Medical Center.
Bennett, 57, held on through 60 tomorrows, far longer than any previous patient who’d received a heart from another species. His remarkable run offered new hope that such procedures, known as xenotransplantation (异种移植), could help relieve the shortage of replacement organs, saving thousands of lives each year.
The earliest attempts at xenotransplantation of organs, involving kidneys from rabbits, goats, and other animals, occurred in the early 20th century, decades before the first successful human-to-human transplants. Rejection, which occurs when the recipient’s body system recognizes the donor organ as a foreign object and attacks it, followed within hours or days. Results improved after some special drugs arrived in the 1960s, but most recipients still died after a few weeks. The record for a heart xenotransplant was set in 1983, when an infant named Baby Fae survived for 20 days with an organ from a baboon (狒狒).
In recent years, however, advances in gene editing have opened a new possibility: re-edit some genes in animals to provide user-friendly spare parts. Pigs could be ideal for this purpose, because they’re easy to raise and reach adult human size in months. Some biotech companies. including Revivicor, are investing heavily in the field. The donor pig was offered by Revivicor from a line of animals in which 10 genes had been re-edited to improve the heart’s condition. Beyond that, the pig was raised in isolation and tested regularly for viruses that could infect humans or damage the organ itself.
This medical breakthrough provided an alternative for the 20% of patients on the heart transplant waiting list who die while waiting or become too sick to be a good candidate.
1. What does the underlined word “run” in paragraph 2 refer to?| A．Donating his heart to a patient. |
| B．Performing the heart operation. |
| C．Living for 60 days after the operation. |
| D．Receiving a new heart from a pig. |
| A．Its history. | B．Its procedure. | C．Its consequence. | D．Its significance. |
| A．Their growth rate and health condition. |
| B．Their life pattern and resistance to viruses. |
| C．Their easiness of keeping and rapid growth. |
| D．Their investment value and natural qualities. |
| A．It introduced new medications to prevent organ rejection. |
| B．It proved the potential for using organs from various animals. |
| C．It guaranteed a sufficient supply of donor pigs for transplants. |
| D．It offered a prospect of replacement organs through gene editing. |
9 . A walk in the park may be just what the doctor ordered. A new program launched last month in Canada gives some doctors the option of providing patients with a free annual pass to the country's national parks as part of an effort to increase access to nature and the health benefits.
PaRx, a health initiative launched by the BC Parks Foundation in 2019, partnered with Parks Canada to provide doctors across four provinces with an initial run of 100 passes that can be prescribed (开处方). The program allows doctors to write more general prescriptions for time spent out in nature; two hours a week, at least 20 minutes at a time, is what PaRx director Dr. Melissa Lem suggests.
“Given the growing body of evidence that indicates nature time can improve all kinds of different physical and mental health conditions, we’re hoping that our PaRx program not only improves patient health, but reduces costs to the health-care system, and helps to grow the number of people who are more engaged environmental advocates,” said Prama Rahman, a coordinator for the BC Parks Foundation.
Doctors have been catching on, instructing their patients to turn to nature to improve their health and they're getting creative in how they do it. Dr. Robert Zarr, a doctor based in Washington, began prescribing accessible outdoor activities for his young patients and even created a searchable online database of local parks to make it easier.
But getting outside isn’t always as easy as it might sound. Income can affect one’s access to nature, an issue that PaRx is trying to address in Canada. Doctors utilizing the new national parks pass program are urged to prioritize patients who might not otherwise be able to afford these passes.
While only 100 adult passes, which give holders access to more than 80 national parks, historic sites and nature reserves, have initially been made available, organizers plan to routinely reassess this number as the program grows, the BC Parks Foundation told NPR
1. What is PaRx intended to do?| A．Qualify doctors to prescribe. | B．Give patients free access to parks. |
| C．Promote free admission to parks. | D．Advocate 20 minutes’ walk a day. |
| A．Financing. | B．Setting up. | C．Evaluating. | D．Carrying out. |
| A．The BC Parks Foundation is expanding rapidly. |
| B．The program has signed up 80 national parks. |
| C．More people will benefit from the program. |
| D．Those living close to parks can gain priority. |
| A．PaRx, a Nature Prescription Program. | B．BC Parks Foundation in Canada |
| C．Year-long Passes to National Parks | D．A New Study on Benefits of Walk |
10 . When delivering medications to patients, one of the most effective methods is direct injection (注射) into the bloodstream using a needle. But this can be an uncomfortable experience, especially for kids or adults with a fear of needles. While patients do have the option to take oral pills instead, drugs containing large molecules (分子) are not absorbed effectively this way.
Now, inspired by octopus suckers (章鱼吸盘), researchers from China and Switzerland have designed a needle-free alternative: a tiny, drug-filled, cup-like patch (贴片) that sticks to the inside of the cheeks. The device is easily accessible, and it can be removed at any time and the drug gets absorbed through the lining of the inner cheek, the team reports in a paper in Science Translational Medicine.
To test the design, the team 3D printed the suckers. They loaded each with the drug and stuck them inside the cheeks of three beagles, a kind of dog which has a similar inner cheek lining to humans. For comparison, they also delivered the drug to beagles via a pill. After three hours, the team found that drug blood concentrations in dogs with the patch were more than 150 times higher than in the dogs that took a tablet. They also found patches worked effectively for drugs with large molecules.
40 healthy human volunteers self-applied water-filled patches to see how well they would stay on while talking and moving their mouths. After 30 minutes, only five of the 40 patches had fallen off, which was because of improper placement. Most volunteers said they would prefer a patch over injections for daily applications.
Still, the team only tested the patch for a short time so they would need to find out what would happen if it was used repeatedly. They’d also need to determine which drugs would work with the technology: the target is large molecules, such as those used to treat obesity or osteoporosis, but they can’t be too large to fit in the cup.
1. Why do the researchers develop the patch?| A．To help patients overcome the fear of needles. |
| B．To enable kids to swallow tablets smoothly. |
| C．To offer a better way of drug delivery. |
| D．To guarantee the efficiency of oral pills. |
| A．It is technologically possible to 3D print the patches. |
| B．The cheek lining of dogs is similar to that of humans. |
| C．Patches fall easily with their mouth movement. |
| D．Drugs are absorbed better through patches than pills. |
| A．Innovative and profitable. |
| B．Effective and user-friendly. |
| C．Affordable and accessible. |
| D．Flexible and long-lasting. |
| A．The related issues to be solved. |
| B．The risk of using patches repeatedly. |
| C．The way to identity large molecules. |
| D．The trouble of improving the technology. |
