2012年大学英语四级阅读.doc

2012年大学英语四级阅读:与自闭症相关基因突变 Three new studies have uncovered extremely rare genetic mutations that shed new light on the potential environmental and biological roots of autism, a brain disorder that causes social and developmental delays in children, beginning at a young age. Scientists say the DNA glitches found in a small subset of autistic children were not inherited by them, but occurred spontaneously at their conception, increasing their risk for developing the disorder. 三项新的研究发现了极其罕见的基因变异，开启了对自闭症的潜在环境因素和生物学基础的新认识。自闭症是一种因脑部受损而导致儿童社交及发育延迟，它从婴幼儿时期就开始显现出来。科学家说，在一组自闭症儿童身上发现的DNA异常并不是来自遗传，而是在怀孕时自然产生的，这种异常增加了这些儿童发展成自闭症的风险。 One study found that having the rare genetic mutations could increase by 5 to 20 times a childs risk of developing autism spectrum disorders. These disorders range from mild cognitive delays and developmental impairments such as Aspergers syndrome to profound social dysfunctions and repetitive behaviors. Autism is being diagnosed, on average, in one of every 88 children in the United States, according to a recent government estimate. 一项研究发现，罕见的基因突变可能使儿童出现自闭症系列障碍的风险增加5到20倍。这些障碍包括从轻度的认知延迟和发育缺陷，比如阿斯伯格综合症，到严重的社交功能障碍和重复某种固定的行为。根据政府最近公布的一项数据，在美国，每88名儿童中估计就有1名自闭症患者。 Another study turned up biological evidence to support previous observations that the mutations are four times more likely to originate in male DNA than in the female DNA, and are more likely to appear in children of middle-aged and older fathers than in those of fathers younger than 35. Researchers speculate that the frequent turnover in a males sperm cells increases the chance for errors in the genetic copying process. When a parent transmits such a transcription error to his offspring, the result can be a genetic mutation in the child that can cause autism. But researchers stress the risk of getting one of these badly-copied genes is extremely small. 另一项研究发现了支持之前观察所得结论的生物学证据，那就是，男性DNA发生相关变异的可能性比女性高出四倍。而且年龄大于35岁的父亲生出的孩子比小于35岁的父亲生出的孩子更可能发生这种基因突变。研究人员猜测，产生男性精子的细胞经常翻转，使得基因复制过程中出错的可能性增加。当父亲将这样的转录错误传