职称英语卫生类b级_2017年职称英语卫生类C级阅读复习讲义(8)

　　分子生物学家帝恩·哈默长着一双蓝眼睛，一头浅棕色的头发，并且很有幽默感。他抽香烟，把大量的时间都用在了美国国家卫生研究院的一间旧实验室里，闲暇时，他攀岩和滑雪。他恰巧还是公开的、确确实实的同性恋者。

　　究竟什么使哈默成为他现在这个样子?究竟什么才能解释构成一个人个性的天资和特点呢?哈默不仅仅满足于提出这些问题他还要尽量回答它们。作为一名分子心理学领域的先驱，哈默在探索基因在决定我们的个性核心中所起的作用。在很大程度上，他对那些可称之为同性恋的，引起兴奋的和戒烟的基因的研究反映了癖性是自身遗传的。

　　他的研究成果，原来主要刊登在科学期刊上，现已被收集在哈默的一本新书中，书名为《基因在生活中》，该书的形式易懂，且具有可读性。“在你性格的某些方面你也可自行选择，正如同你可以选择鼻子的形状或脚的大小一样，”哈默和本书的另一位作者彼得·考布兰在前言中这么说。

　　一直到最近，对行为遗传学的研究主要是由精神病学家和心理学家进行的。他们有关基因的重要性的结论是以对同狼双胞胎的研究为基础的。比如西北大学的精神病学家迈克·贝利的一个的论证是如果同卵双胞胎中的一个是同性恋者，另一个是同性恋的可能性为50%。七年前，哈默继续对双胞胎进行了研究，这次研究的中心是看来能影响从人的情绪到性倾家荡产向的一切方面的特定的脱氧核糖核酸带。

　　哈默从基础研究转向了行为基因学。在哈佛大学获得了博士学位后，他花了十多年的时间研究蛋白质的生物化学性，这些蛋白质是细胞用来代谢重金属，如铜和锌的。当他年近40岁时，他却突然意识到他已了解他想了解的关于这种蛋白质的一切情况。他回忆道：“坦率地说，我套倦了，我想试点新的东西。”

　　现在，研究同性恋行为的时机已成熟了，因为过去很少有科学家敢涉足一个情感上和政治上负荷都很重的课题。“我是同性恋者，”哈默耸耸肩说，“但这并不是主要的动机。这是因为知识分子的好奇心，事实上从没有人从事过这种研究。”

A Gay Biologist

　　Molecular biologist Dean Hammer has blue eyes, light brown hair and a good sense of humor. He smokes cigarettes, spends long hours in an old laboratory at the US National Institute of Health, and in his free time climbs up cliffs and points his skis down steep slopes. He also happens to be openly, matter-of-factly gay.

　　What is it that makes Hammer who he is? What, for that matter, accounts for the talents and traits that make up anyone’s personality? Hammer is not content merely to ask such questions; he is trying to answer them as well. A pioneer in the field of molecular psychology, Hammer is exploring the role genes play in governing the very core of our individuality. To a remarkable extent, his work on what might be called the gay, thrill-seeking and quit-smoking genes reflects how own genetic predispositions.

　　That work, which has appeared mostly in scientific journals, has been gathered into an accessible and quite readable form in Hammer’s creative new book, Living with Our Genes. “you have about as much choice in some aspect of your personality.” Hamer and co-author Peter Copeland write in the introductory chapter, “as you do in the shape of your nose or the size of your feet.”

　　Until recently, research into behavioral genetics was dominated by psychiatrists and psychologists, who based their most compelling conclusions about the importance of genes on studies of identical twins. For example, psychologist Michael Bailey of Northwestern University famously demonstrated that if one identical twin is gay, there is about a 50% likelihood that the other will be too. Seven years ago, Hamer picked up where the twin studies left off, homing in on specific strips of DNA that appear to influence everything from mood to sexual orientation.

　　Hamer switched to behavioral genetics from basic research, after receiving his doctorate from Harvard, he spent more than a decade studying the biochemistry of a protein that cells use to metabolize heavy metals like copper and zinc. As he was about to turn 40, however, Hamer suddenly realized he had learned as much about the protein as he cared to. “Frankly, I was bored, “he remembers, “and ready for something new.”

　　Homosexual behavior, in particular, seemed ripe for exploration because few scientists had dared tackle such an emotionally and politically charged subject. “I’m gay,” Hamer says with a shrug, “but that was not a major motivation. It was more of a question of intellectual curiosity—and the fact that no one else was doing this sort of research”

本文来源：https://www.wddqw.com/zcKx.html