2025考研英语同源外刊:肥胖未必是坏事
They rose to fame as the world’s fattest mice. At about 130 grams, the rodents were “the equivalent of 600 pounds in humans,” says diabetes researcher Philipp Scherer. They were born to genetically engineered mouse parents in his lab at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. One set of parents lacked the hormone leptin, an appetite suppressant that signals when it’s time to stop eating. The other parents overproduced the hormone adiponectin, churned out by fat cells, which is thought to support metabolic health, protecting against obesity-linked diseases such as type 2 diabetes.
它们成为了世界上最胖的老鼠。糖尿病研究人员 philipp scherer 说，大约130克时，这些啮齿动物“相当于人类的600磅”。它们是在德克萨斯大学西南医学中心的实验室里由基因工程小鼠父母所生。有一对父母缺乏瘦素激素，这是一种食欲抑制剂，在该停止进食时发出信号。其他父母过度分泌脂联素激素，脂肪细胞大量产生脂联素，脂联素被认为可以支持新陈代谢健康，预防肥胖相关疾病，如2型糖尿病。
Scherer’s mouse pups melded their parents’ traits. They ate constantly and became obese. But unlike other leptin-deficient mice (and people), the animals had healthy cholesterol and blood glucose levels and didn’t develop metabolic illnesses such as type 2 diabetes. “ They were exceptionally quote-unquote healthy,” Scherer says, though he wonders whether it’s possible to be truly well while carrying such a considerable fat burden. Despite their metabolic health, the mice didn’t live a normal life span: Their weight left them so off balance that they often flipped over and got stuck, causing dehydration and death.
舍勒的老鼠幼崽融合了它们父母的特征。他们不停地吃，变得肥胖。但与其他瘦素缺乏的老鼠(和人类)不同，这些动物有健康的胆固醇和血糖水平，不会发展成2型糖尿病等代谢疾病。“他们非常健康，”谢勒说，尽管他怀疑在承受如此沉重的脂肪负担的同时，是否可能真的很健康。尽管它们的新陈代谢健康，老鼠并没有过上正常的生活: 它们的体重使它们失去平衡，以至于它们经常翻转并被卡住，导致脱水和死亡。
Still, to Scherer, who described the animals in 2007 and continues to study them, the rodents sharpened an emerging message for people as well as mice: Weight and health can be uncoupled. Many researchers and doctors—and broader societies—take it as a given that obesity means ill health. In fact, says Ruth Loos, who studies the genetics of obesity at the University of Copenhagen, “We can be obese but remain healthy.” Scherer, Loos, and other researchers worldwide are examining genes, animal models, and humans to understand how factors such as the distribution of fat in the body and the nature of fat itself can blunt or compound any health impacts of extra weight. The researchers are also working to define metabolically healthy obesity (MHO) and examine how common it is and how long it persists.
不过，对于2007年描述并继续研究这些动物的谢勒来说，这种啮齿动物给人类和老鼠传递了一个新的信息: 体重和健康是可以分开的。许多研究人员和医生以及更广泛的社会都认为，肥胖意味着健康状况不佳。事实上，在哥本哈根大学研究肥胖遗传学的 ruth loos 说”我们可以肥胖但是保持健康”谢勒、洛斯和世界各地的其他研究人员正在研究基因、动物模型和人类，以了解脂肪在体内的分布和脂肪本身的性质等因素是如何减弱或加剧额外体重对健康的影响的。研究人员还致力于定义新陈代谢健康型肥胖(mho) ，并研究其普遍程度和持续时间。
Beyond the research lies a knotty practical question: what the science means for people with obesity and the doctors they see. Undoubtedly, “There are subtypes of obesity,” with some more harmful than others, says Sadaf Farooqi at the University of Cambridge. “You’ve got this massive variation that must be driven by other underlying factors.” At the same time, Farooqi suggests, people who qualify as overweight or obese should generally try to lose weight. “There is a clear correlation between gaining weight and increased risk of type 2 diabetes,” she says, “even if you don’t get it right now.” Furthermore, she and others say, obesity is associated with health problems well beyond metabolic abnormalities, including various cancers and wear and tear on joints.
除了这项研究，还有一个棘手的实际问题: 科学对于肥胖者和他们看的医生意味着什么。剑桥大学的萨达夫 · 法鲁奇说，毫无疑问，“有很多种类的肥胖” ，其中一些比另一些更有害。”这种巨大的变化必然受到其他潜在因素的驱动”同时，farooqi 建议，符合超重或肥胖标准的人通常应该尝试减肥。“体重增加和2型糖尿病风险增加之间有明显的相关性，”她说，“即使你现在还不明白。”此外，她和其他人说，肥胖与健康问题有关，远不止代谢异常，包括各种癌症和关节磨损。
Others, particularly advocates concerned about discrimination against fat people, make a different argument: Hammering people with advice to “lose weight!” is misguided. “It’s very clear that there are a lot of people in that category called obese [who] don’t have any signs of disease and live long, healthy lives,” says Lindo Bacon, a physiologist, author, and advocate for body positivity affiliated with the University of California, Davis. Bacon says a relentless focus on weight loss can come at the expense of vital medical care. For example, “My father and I both went to orthopedic surgeons because we were having bad knee pain.” Bacon, whose weight qualified as normal, was offered surgery after physical therapy failed, but Bacon’s father was told only to lose weight. “My father went to his death with knee problems. … He could have benefited from stretching, strengthening, knee surgery,” Bacon asserts with frustration. “He didn’t get that.”
其他人，尤其是那些关心对胖人歧视的人，提出了不同的观点: 给人们提出“减肥”的建议都是误入歧途。生理学家、作家、加州大学戴维斯分校(university of california，davis)身体积极性倡导者林多•培根(lindo bacon)表示: “很明显，有很多人属于肥胖类别，他们没有任何疾病迹象，健康长寿。”。培根说，对减肥的无情关注可能会以牺牲重要的医疗保健为代价。比如”我父亲和我都去看了整形外科医生，因为我们膝盖疼得厉害”培根的体重符合正常标准，在物理治疗失败后，他接受了手术，但培根的父亲只被告知要减肥。”我父亲因为膝盖问题去世了。… 他本可以从伸展，强化，膝盖手术中受益，”培根沮丧地断言。”他不明白。”
重点词汇翻译及例句：
Genetically Engineered (基因工程)
Example: The mice were born to genetically engineered parents in the laboratory.
Leptin (瘦素)
Example: One set of parents lacked the hormone leptin, which regulates appetite.
Adiponectin (脂联素)
Example: The other parents overproduced the hormone adiponectin, associated with metabolic health.
Matabolic Health (新陈代谢健康)
Example: The mice exhibited metabolic health despite their obesity.
Uncoupled (分开)
Example: The research suggests that weight and health can be uncoupled in certain cases.
长难句翻译：
To Scherer, who described the animals in 2007 and continues to study them, the rodents sharpened an emerging message for people as well as mice: Weight and health can be uncoupled.（对于在2007年描述并继续研究这些动物的谢勒来说，这种啮齿动物给人类和老鼠传递了一个新的信息: 体重和健康是可以分开的。）
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