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Bananas are often called the perfect food.
香蕉被称之为完美食品。 They are nutritious, a good source of all kinds of vitamins and minerals. They can help fight depression and ward off muscle cramps. They can lower blood pressure and protect against heart attacks.
香蕉营养丰富，是各种维生素和矿物质的一种良好来源。香蕉可以帮助抵抗抑郁症并防止肌肉痉挛，它们还可以降低血压并防止心脏病发作。 To most people, bananas taste great. They add natural sweetness to some baked goods and health drinks. And bananas come in their own protective, biodegradable packaging.
对大多数人来说，香蕉很好吃。它们给一些烘培食品以及保健饮品增添了自然的甜味。而且香蕉有着能起到保护作用并且可以生物降解的表皮。 So, there are many reasons to eat bananas.
因此，吃香蕉有很多种理由。 And now there is another.
而现在又有了另一种理由。 Bananas, it turns out, have a secret weapon. And this secret weapon could protect against viruses.
事实证明香蕉有一种秘密武器，这种秘密武器可以防御病毒。 Scientists are now taking a protein found in bananas and turning it into a drug that may someday fight viral infections.
科学家们现在正在将香蕉中发现的一种蛋白质变成可能某天可以对抗感染的药物。 The secret weapon is called banana lectin, or BanLec. BanLec is a protein that attaches to sugar molecules and keeps viruses out of cells. A virus cannot infect what it cannot enter.
这种秘密武器被称之为香蕉凝集素（BanLec）。香蕉凝集素是一种附着于糖分子并防止病毒进入细胞的蛋白质。病毒无法感染它们无法进入的目标。 The team of researchers published their study in the journal Cell. In their article, the researchers say it could be one of the first antiviral agents to treat a wide-range of viruses. These viruses include HIV, hepatitis and even the common flu virus.
这组研究人员在《细胞》杂志上发表了他们的研究结果。这些研究人员在文章中表示，它可能是第一种治疗各种各样病毒的抗病毒剂。这些病毒包括HIV、肝炎，甚至是普通流感病毒。 Senior co-author of the study is David Markovitz at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. He warns that you can't get the benefits of BanLec simply by eating a bunch of bananas.
密歇根大学安娜堡分校的大卫·马科维茨(David Markovitz)是这项研究的高级合著者。他警告说，光是吃香蕉无法享受到香蕉凝集素的好处。 Stomach acids, he explains, will chew up the protein before it has a chance to fight infections in the body. BanLec is a modified, or changed, protein.
他解释说，胃酸将会在这种蛋白质有机会对抗体内感染之前消耗掉它们。香蕉凝集素是一种改良过的蛋白质。 Markovitz explains.
马科维茨解释道： "Remember, when you are eating the banana, then the protein which, by the way, is not our modified protein, it is an actual protein; it is probably going to be chewed up by the stomach acid. So, we very much doubt that eating bananas will help you."
“记住，当你吃香蕉时，这种蛋白质并非我们改良过的蛋白质，它是一种真正的蛋白质。它可能会被胃酸消耗掉。所以，我们很怀疑吃香蕉会有所帮助。” Discovery by accident
意外地发现 Markovitz says researchers investigated the banana protein for a very special use. Women could use a type of the protein before sex to protect them against HIV infection. But the researchers found that the protein fought off a number of viruses. Viruses simply die if they can't infect cells.
马科维茨表示，研究人员研究这种香蕉蛋白质是用于一种特殊用途。女性可以在性生活前使用这种蛋白质来防止艾滋病毒感染。但是研究人员发现，这种蛋白质消灭了一些病毒。病毒如果无法感染细胞就会死亡。 At this point, Markovitz says, there are no plans to test the BanLec protein on humans. He says he and the other researchers are ambitious, meaning they want to be successful with this drug.
马科维兹表示，目前还没有计划对人类测试香蕉凝集素蛋白质。他说，他和其他研究人员都雄心勃勃，这意味着他们希望这种药物可以获得成功。 But, Markovitz adds, they also need to be careful, or be cautious, to avoid doing any harm. It's early days, he says.
但是马科维兹补充说，他们也需要小心谨慎防止造成任何伤害。他说，现在还是初级阶段。 "We're trying to help people with their health, not harm them. And so it's good to be cautious about where we are going. You know, we're also very ambitious to make things work well, but we're not there. You know, we're early on still."
“我们正在试图帮助保护人们的健康而不是伤害他们。因此我们需要谨慎。你知道，我们有雄心取得成功，但是我们尚未成功，目前还是初级阶段。” It may be early on, but these researchers may want to hurry. The world's banana supply in currently in serious trouble.
这可能还是早期阶段，但是这些研究人员可能想要快点。全球香蕉供应目前处于大麻烦中。 A deadly fungus, now called Tropical Race 4, has been killing banana crops around the world. TR4 started in Malaysia in the 1990s and in 2013 moved across Southeast Asia and into Australia. Now the fungus has moved into Africa and is killing banana crops in Mozambique.
一种被称之为“黄叶病热带第4型(Tropical Race 4)”的致命真菌一直在摧毁世界各地的香蕉作物。黄叶病热带第4型于上世纪90年代在马来西亚爆发，并于2013年席卷整个东南亚并进入澳洲。目前这种真菌已经进入了非洲并且正在摧毁莫桑比克的香蕉作物。 Today, bananas are grown in more than 100 countries.
如今有超过100个国家种植香蕉。 As of 2013, many websites rank India as the world's top producer of bananas.
截至2013年，许多网站将印度列为全球最大的香蕉生产国。 Bananas are ranked fourth among the world's food crops in monetary value.
香蕉被列为全球最值钱粮食作物的第四位。 Mozambique officials say bananas bring in more than $70 million per year.
莫桑比克官员表示，香蕉每年带来超过7千万美元的收入。 We Americans eat more bananas than apples and oranges combined.
我们美国人食用的香蕉超过了苹果与桔子之和。
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