B.O. Gives Up Its Stinky Secrets.doc

B.O. Gives Up Its Stinky Secrets 狐臭存在的原因被发现 Body odor. The smell of B.O. is unmistakable. And the culprit behind that signature stench is a molecule called thioalcohol. Our noses are so attuned to it, we can pick up quantities as small as one part per trillion. But heres the mystery: How does that stinky substance get there in the first place? 狐臭！狐臭的味道十分明显。而这种臭气散发的罪魁祸首就是一种名为“硫醇”的分子。我们的鼻子对这种分子非常敏感，即使是万亿分之一的分量也能捕捉到。但神秘之处就在于：这种散发恶臭的物质为何会呢? Well, it turns out bacteria named Staphylococcus hominis is the major perpetrator, along with a few of its relatives. Their genes code for enzymes that snip the molecules in our sweat to pieces—creating the offensive thioalcohols, along with bits of food for the bacteria. Hey, bacteria gotta eat, too, right? 事实证明，主谋是一种被称为“溶血性葡萄球菌”的细菌，一些与之相关的其他细菌。它们的酶素基因代码将我们汗水中的分子剪成碎片——以此来制造出这种极具攻击性的硫酶，同时还为细菌提供少量食物。细菌也是要吃东西的，? When innocuous E. coli bacteria were given the genes that our B.O. perpetrators have naturally, they, too, could achieve the stank. These findings were presented at the annual meeting of the Society for General Microbiology, in Birmingham, in the U.K. 当无害的大肠杆菌被赋予了狐臭元凶的基因时，它们也会散发出相应的恶臭。这些发现发表于英国伯明翰举行的普通微生物学会的年会上。 Not surprisingly, this work was partially funded by Unilever. Because now that weve identified these microbial targets, the researchers say, it might be possible to design more effective deodorants. Which, instead of crippling all underarm bacteria, dispatch only the most dastardly denizens. Smells like profit to me. 当然联合利华出资赞助这项研究一点也不让人奇怪。研究人员表示，既然我们已经鉴别出这些微生物“元凶”，那么就有可能研发出更有效的香体剂。这样一来，我们就不必灭掉腋下所有的细菌，只需要去除那些最惹人厌的部分即可。至少我感觉。 Body odor. The smell of B.O. is unmistakable. And the culprit behind that signature stench is a molecule called thioalcohol. Our noses are so attuned to it, we can pick up quantities as small as one part per trillion. But heres the mystery: How does that stinky substance get there in the first place? Well, it turns out bacteria namedStaphylococcus hominis is the major perpetrator, along with a few o