医学部を目指し、Natureなど科学・医学記事を英語で読む

basic words --- 5

新学期なので基本的な言葉からはじめましょう。

species, evolution, speciation, extinction, biological diversity(=biodiversity)

上記の語を含む以下の文章を読んでみましょう。生物では基本的な知識なのではないでしょうか。

  The fact that millions of species are in existence today is evidence that speciation has clearly kept well ahead of extinction. In spite of the fact that there have been numerous periods of mass extinction, there is clear evidence that periods of mass extinction have been followed by periods of dramatic increases in new species to fill the void created by the mass extinctions, though it may take 10 million years or more following a mass extinction for biological diversity to be rebuilt through speciation. When the dinosaurs disappeared 65 million years ago, for example, the evolution and speciation of mammals increased spectacularly over the millions of years that ensued.

文法・語法的な問を一つ。上記の文で下線をほどこしたthatはそれぞれどのような役割を果たしているthatですか。

basic words --- 4(The Validity of Cloning Human Cells)

文章は興味深いものですが、設問は最悪なので全部はずしました。

   The group of researchers at Children's (Hospital Boston) is one of only five academic teams in the world with plans to clone human cells, a highly controversial technique. Yet, unlike the other groups, which hope for medical applications down the road, but are geared toward basic science, the team at Children's is focused on making cells to cure patients. Being at this hospital, where doctors sometimes watch helplessly as a young life slips away, makes them feel they do not have a day to waste. "It can be very emotional," said Dr. Leonard Zon, director of a new stem cell program at Children's. "There is a sense of urgency." In pursuit of this goal, Zon and his colleague, Dr. George Daley, have been drawn deeply into an area of science that is looking for a precise answer to a seemingly simple question: where does blood come from?
   Blood is so complex that scientists refer to it as an organ, like the brain or the heart. It includes the red blood cells that carry oxygen, at least five main types of white blood cells that protect the body, doing battle with invaders, as well as other specialized cells. Many things can go wrong with this system, such as leukemia, when blood cells become cancerous, or a long list of genetic diseases, including anemia, where the red blood cells do not form properly. To do bone marrow transplants today, doctors first use a combination of drugs and radiation to kill a patient's blood system. Then they give the patient bone marrow from a donor---often a family member---whose marrow is similar, and unlikely to be rejected by the body. In this bone marrow are a small number of blood stem cells. After they are injected into the patient, these stem cells travel to the patient's bone marrow, take up residence, and then completely rebuild the entire blood and immune systems. These blood stem cells, like every other cell in the body, began as a single fertilized egg cell. Using mice and tiny fish, scientists at Children's and elsewhere have been discovering how cells specialize as an embryo develops and trying to imitate that specialization in the laboratory. While these experiments are under way, the work on cloning human cells has not begun because the team does not yet have permission from the participating institutions, or from an independent board, which by U.S. federal law, reviews all research that involves people.
[2006年　早稲田（教育・部分）]

いくつわかりますか？不明なものは辞書などを引いてみてください。解決できない場合は質問してください。また全文を読みたい場合は連絡してください。
clone human cell
medical application
stem cell
red blood cell
white blood cell
leukemia
cancerous
genetic disease
bone marrow transplant
a combination of drugs and radiation
bone marrow  cf.spinal marrow
donor
blood stem cell
immune system
fertilized egg cell
embryo

なお、この早稲田の教育学部の全問は、こちら

その文の元記事は、こちら
Designer Blood
Children's scientists hope to use cloning to improve bone marrow transplants
By Gareth Cook, Globe Staff  |  May 17, 2005　http://www.boston.com/news/globe/reprints/051705_designerblood/

basic words --- 3

obesityについて

  Surgery should be a last-resort treatment for obesity. Operations involve risk, which is compounded by anesthesia and post-op recovery. But sometimes the last resort is the best option. Surgery is justified when the alternatives pose an even higher risk and when the potential benefits outweigh the dangers. Gastric bypass is getting safer all the time: With experienced surgeons, the mortality rate is much less than 1 percent, and the likelihood of an uneventful recovery is 80 percent or higher. (Research local surgeons to find one who does the procedure often, at a center with a large number of patients and a low complications rate; these statistics should be available upon request.) The risks aren't trivial---they range from mild infection to life-threatening blood clots---but surgery is probably less risky than your brother's current weight.
  After the bypass, diet and exercise will be essential. But before he commits to these changes, your brother should address his depression, since obesity is often a visible symptom of other problems. His overall health will improve only if he attends to his head and his waistline.
(Katz, David, L. "The Way to Eat." The Oprah Magazine Apr 2005: 100.)
[2006 上智（経）]

obesity=the state of being very overweight
post-op(eration)
Gastric bypass　<gaster-「腹部の」＜『ガスター１０』←この薬、テレビのCMでやっているけれど、危険な薬といううわさも

その他の用語
surgery
treatment
anesthesia
mortality rate
complications rate
recovery
symptom

一般的な重要語/句
last-resort
statistics
trivial
likelihood
uneventful
procedure
essential
commit (to)
address
depression
attend (to)

basic words --- 2

A no-fishing zone in the Caribbean appears to be helping both the big fish it was designed to save and, surprisingly, the coral that underlies the ecosystem. That's despite the fact that the large fish chow down on smaller fish that help out the coral.
. . .
... protecting biodiversity is a good defense against destructive changes, ...
. . .
"The benefit of biodiversity is that it gives us redundant players in the system, which can then provide resilience in the face of disturbance,"...
[from [email protected]]

ecosystem=生態系.　＜ecology
the complex of a community of organisms and its environment functioning as an ecological unit

biodiversity=bio+diversity  ｢生…｣｢生物…｣｢生物学の｣+多様性
biological diversity in an environment as indicated by numbers of different species of plants and animals

resilience=回復力
1 : the capability of a strained body to recover its size and shape after deformation caused especially by compressive stress
2 : an ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change

disturbance=撹乱、障害
1 : the act of disturbing : the state of being disturbed

redundant=冗長性をもつ

basic words --- 1

Natureを読む進む上で、基礎となる言葉を受験問題からひろって見ることにします。
[防衛医大（部分）]
Like people, cells die in different ways: accident murder, old age, even suicide. In fact, cellular suicide isn't just a curiosity, it's necessary for the health of the organism. During embryonic development, for example, it helps weed out superfluous nerve cells, as well as immune cells that might attack and damage the body's own tissues. Like a spy plane pilot who carries a little vial of poison under his seat in case he's captured, cells carry in their nuclei a genetic program for suicide that can be set in motion, should the cell receive orders to self-destruct. Now, after years of eluding researchers, the genes that carry out the suicide program are coming into the light.

1. cellular 名詞形では? またcellular phoneは、なぜ'cellular'?
2. organism　この文脈ではどういう意味？
3. embryonic　名詞形は？　in ＋ 名詞形で、「未完成で; 〈計画など〉熟さないで.」
   以下の二つは「大学受験対策ブログ」で扱っているので参照。
4. 4.immune　>immunity
5. tissue
6. nuclei　pl.<nucleus
7. genetic　<gene
8. eluding　<elude 意味上の主語は？

should the cell receive orders to self-destruct
=if the cell should receive orders to self-destruct
いわゆる「仮定法未来」というものです。「万一～」と説明されるけれど、起こる可能性が少ない、あるいは起こらないことを願っている気持ちのあらわれとも言える。しばしばwere toと並列的に説明させるが、こちらは原則的に「話のための仮定」、つまりあくまで話のためのたとえであって、実現が想定されていない。