Gut feelings
肠里乾坤
Faecal transplants are just the start of a new sort of medicine
粪菌移植只是一种新型疗法的开始
Microbiome treatments are taking off
微生物组疗法正在兴起
IN A SMALL laboratory at Guy’s and St Thomas’ hospital in London, Désirée Prossomariti is processing donations. Each is weighed, tested for pathogens, filtered, centrifuged and then freeze-dried, before being turned into a powder to be encapsulated and given to patients. The process takes a strong stomach, for the donations are of fresh faecal matter. “I don’t smell it any more,” says Dr Prossomariti.
在伦敦的盖伊和圣托马斯医院（Guy’s and St Thomas’）的一个小型实验室里，德西里·普罗索马里蒂（Désirée Prossomariti）正在处理捐献物。它们每一份都要经过称重、病原体检测、过滤、离心等步骤，然后冷冻干燥，再制成粉末、装入胶囊，最后送到患者手里。这个过程需要很强的忍耐力，因为捐献物是新鲜粪便。“现在我已经闻不出它的味道了。”普罗索马里蒂说。
- pathogen 英 [ˈpæθədʒən] 美 [ˈpæθədʒən] 病原体
- centrifuge 离心机、离心分离机、离心过滤机
- encapsulate 简述；概括；压缩
- 拓展学习：熟词僻义 | stomach 是一种怎样的接受？
- faecal 粪便的、排泄物的、与粪便有关的
The lab workers are not interested in the faeces themselves, but the tiny organisms they carry. Scientists have long known that the guts of animals, including humans, are full of bacteria, viruses and other micro-organisms. But it is only recently that they have come to understand just how important they are. Far from a collection of mere passengers, the microbiome is a vital part of a healthy body. Its members help break down food, produce chemicals that regulate the body within which they live, and repress the growth of other, harmful species of bacteria.
实验人员感兴趣的并不是粪便本身，而是它们所携带的微生物。科学家们早就知道，包括人类在内的动物的肠道中充满了细菌、病毒和其他微生物。但直到不久前，科学家们才意识到它们的重要性。肠道微生物组绝不是些碌碌无为的寄生物，而是健康身体不可或缺的一部分。其成员帮助分解食物、生成能调节宿主身体机能的化学物质，以及抑制其他有害细菌的生长等。
- faeces 【正式用语】粪便（美式英语中也拼作 feces ）
- organism 有机体；生物；（尤指）微生物
- repress 克制、压抑、抑制
