of a brand-new coronavirus in Wuhan,

的一種全新的冠狀病毒在武漢。

its genetic sequence looked like this.

它的基因序列是這樣的。

Three weeks later, researchers sequenced the genome of the same virus

三週後，研究人員對同一病毒的基因組進行了測序。

in a patient in Seattle.

在西雅圖的一個病人。

It had changed here and here and here.

這裡變了，這裡變了，這裡變了。

These changes are happening all over the world.

這些變化正在全世界範圍內發生。

The coronavirus is mutating.

冠狀病毒正在發生變異。

It's changed hundreds of times since January

從1月份開始，已經改了幾百次了

but researchers are concerned about one mutation in particular.

但研究人員特別關注一種突變。

So my question is,

所以我的問題是：

is the coronavirus becoming more dangerous?

冠狀病毒是否變得更加危險？

I'm Cleo Abram, and this is "Answered, by Vox."

我是Cleo Abram 這裡是 "Vox的回答"

Well there's two ways one can think about danger.

嗯，有兩種方式可以考慮危險。

First is that the virus causes a more severe disease

首先是病毒引起的疾病比較嚴重

and that doesn't appear to be the case.

但似乎不是這樣的。

That's professor of immunology Michael Farzan.

那是免疫學教授Michael Farzan。

He says the second way that mutations could make the virus more dangerous

他說，第二種方式，突變可能使病毒更危險

is if it becomes more contagious.

是如果變得更有傳染性。

But before we get there, here's the good news.

但在我們到達那裡之前，這裡有一個好消息。

My understanding is that most mutations,

我的理解是，大多數突變。

in the coronavirus but also in every virus,

在冠狀病毒中，但也在每個病毒中。

don't actually change how it behaves in our bodies

實際上並沒有改變它在我們身體裡的行為方式。

at all, is that right?

完全沒有，是嗎？

Yes, most mutations do not change very much.

是的，大多數突變不會有太大的變化。

They actually are just part of the process

他們其實只是過程的一部分

of sort of selection and they go away.

的排序選擇，他們走了。

A virus, at its most basic, is just a bunch of genetic material

病毒，最基本的，只是一堆遺傳物質而已

packed into a protein shell.

裝入蛋白質外殼中。

In the case of the coronavirus, that genetic material is RNA,

在冠狀病毒的情況下，這種遺傳物質是RNA。

which is made up of four nucleotide bases.

它是由四個核苷酸鹼基組成的。

You might remember the bases A, C, T, G from DNA.

你可能還記得DNA中的鹼基A、C、T、G。

With RNA it's just U, not T.

對於RNA來說，它只是U，而不是T。

When the virus gets into your body, its goal is to copy itself

當病毒進入你的身體時，它的目標是複製自己。

which means it needs to produce more RNA and more proteins.

這意味著它需要產生更多的RNA和更多的蛋白質。

A virus doesn't always make an exact copy of its RNA.

病毒並不總是完全複製其RNA。

And when it makes a random mistake in that copying process,

而當它在這個複製過程中隨機出錯時。

that's a mutation.

這是一個突變。

But it's when it's copying the proteins that things really get interesting.

但當它複製蛋白質的時候，事情才真正變得有趣。

Within that newly copied RNA,

在那新複製的RNA內。

each group of three nucleotides, called a codon,

每組三個核苷酸，稱為一個密碼子。

can instruct your cells to produce one building block of protein

可以訓示你的細胞產生一種蛋白質的構建模塊。

called an amino acid.

稱為氨基酸。

Amino acids all come with letter names too:

氨基酸也都有字母名稱。

D, G, Y, I-- you get the idea.

D, G, Y, I -- 你懂的。

Different amino acid combinations mean different proteins.

不同的氨基酸組合意味著不同的蛋白質。

But as it turns out...

但事實證明...

Several different codons encode for the same amino acid.

幾個不同的密碼子編碼同一個氨基酸。

So, for example, say the nucleotides "ACU"

所以，比如說核苷酸 "ACU"

mutated into "ACG."

變異為 "ACG"。

It's still gonna tell your cell to produce the exact same amino acid, T.

它還是會告訴你的細胞產生完全相同的氨基酸，T。

This mutation doesn't change the protein at all.

這種突變根本不會改變蛋白質。

We call those silent mutations.

我們稱這些無聲的突變為。

But even if it's a non-silent mutation, something that does actually

但即使是非無聲無息的突變，實際上也會有一些

change the amino acid and changes the protein,

改變氨基酸，改變蛋白質。

that doesn't always necessarily change how a virus behaves in our bodies, right?

這並不總是改變 病毒如何表現在我們的身體，對不對？

That's absolutely right. In fact,

這是絕對正確的。事實上，

the genetic code is designed to be conservative.

遺傳密碼的設計是保守的。

Meaning that changes that it's likely to make,

意思是說，它有可能做出的改變。

are likely to have a minor effect on the function

可能對功能影響不大。

of the proteins they encode for.

的蛋白質，它們所編碼的。

So in general, mutations are expected

所以在一般情況下，突變是可以預期的

in the course of an epidemic or pandemic.

在流行病或大流行期間；

Most of these mutations do not have a strong impact

這些突變大多不會產生強烈的影響。

on the severity of the virus or even the transmission of the virus.

對病毒的嚴重性甚至病毒的傳播。

Of course, that's not always the case.

當然，情況也不一定如此。

And for COVID-19,

而對於COVID-19：

scientists are concerned about one mutation in particular

科學家們特別關注一種突變

that might have an impact on how the virus spreads.

這可能會對病毒的傳播方式產生影響。

The formal name is D614G

正式名稱為D614G

and that is a code for the individual amino acids

而這就是單個氨基酸的代碼。

at position 614 of this spike protein that have changed.

在這個穗蛋白的614位置，已經改變。

I see, so it's the 614th amino acid

原來如此，原來是第614種氨基酸啊

- and it changes from D to G? - Correct.

- 就會由D變為G？- 正確。

Unfortunately D614G just so happens to be

不幸的是，D614G剛好是

in the part of the genetic sequence

遺傳序列中

that encodes for the viral spike proteins,

編碼的病毒穗蛋白。

those key proteins that the coronavirus uses to invade cells.

那些冠狀病毒用來入侵細胞的關鍵蛋白。

The red protein that everybody sees

大家看到的紅色蛋白質

on the surface of the pictures of the coronavirus,

在冠狀病毒的圖片表面。

there's more of those on viruses with that change

有更多的那些病毒上的變化。

than on viruses without this change.

比沒有這種變化的病毒上。

Dr. Farzan and his team found that with more spiked proteins,

Farzan博士和他的團隊發現，隨著更多的尖峰蛋白。

the mutated virus is more likely to infect cells

變異的病毒更容易感染細胞。

in culture in their lab.

在他們的實驗室中培養。

But infecting cells in culture is really very different

但在培養中感染細胞真的很不一樣。

from it being more infectious out in the world between people, right?

從它被更多的感染了 在世界上的人與人之間，對不對？

It is certainly more likely to infect a cell in culture.

當然更容易感染培養的細胞。

What the next step is to demonstrate

下一步要展示的是

that our results in cell culture

我們在細胞培養中的結果

translate to human-to-human transmission.

轉化為人與人之間的傳播。

So just to be super clear, we don't know that this mutation

所以，只是為了超級清楚， 我們不知道，這種突變，

causes the virus to pass more easily between humans.

導致病毒更容易在人類之間傳播。

It does seem to be more transmissible between cells in a lab

在實驗室裡，它似乎更容易在細胞之間傳播。

and it also seems to become the dominant form of the virus

而且它似乎也成為了病毒的主要形式。

as it spreads.

隨著它的蔓延。

Where is this mutated version of the coronavirus now?

這種變異版的冠狀病毒現在在哪裡？

Actually, everywhere.

其實，到處都是。

The first detection of this virus might have been in Germany in late January

第一次發現這種病毒可能是在1月下旬在德國發現的

and then you would see that virus sort of grow up in Europe

然後你就會看到這種病毒在歐洲成長起來了

and you would see a mixture of viruses in the United States

你會看到在美國的病毒的混合物

but then over time, you would see more and more virus

但隨著時間的推移，你會看到越來越多的病毒。

with this mutation.

與這種突變。

So what we know right now is that researchers believe

所以我們現在知道的是，研究人員認為

the mutations we're seeing aren't making cases of the coronavirus more severe.

我們看到的突變並沒有使冠狀病毒的病例更加嚴重。

They are concerned that the D614G gene mutation

他們擔心D614G基因突變。

might make the virus more contagious.

可能會使病毒的傳染性增強。

But the research so far is limited to cells in a lab.

但目前的研究還僅限於實驗室裡的細胞。

And scientists just aren't sure yet

而科學家們只是還不確定

how the mutation will affect contagion rates in the real world.

變異將如何影響現實世界的傳染率；

And if you just remember one thing, it's this:

如果你只記得一件事，那就是這個。

does what we know about this mutation

我們對這種突變的瞭解

change anything that people should be doing

改頭換面

in their daily lives to prevent themselves and their loved ones

在他們的日常生活中，防止他們自己和他們的親屬

from getting or transmitting coronavirus?

避免感染或傳播冠狀病毒？

No, it's just a reminder that this is a very transmissible virus.

不，這只是提醒你，這是一種非常容易傳播的病毒。

It always has been.

它一直都是。

It might have gotten a little bit more transmissible

它可能已經得到了一個更多的傳播性一點點

and you should be very careful

而你應該非常小心

at every point to make sure that people are protected.

在每一個點上，確保人民得到保護。

Thanks for watching.

謝謝你的觀看。

That was an episode of Vox's first ever daily show.

那是Vox有史以來第一個日播節目的一集。

It's called Answered

這就是所謂的 "應答

it's on a new streaming app called "Quibi"

它是在一個新的流媒體應用程序叫 "Quibi"

and every day we take on a question about what's happening in the world right now

每天我們都會討論一個關於現在世界上發生的問題。

from the history of curfews to cicada season.

從宵禁的歷史到蟬鳴的季節。

So, if you want to check out more, all you need to do is

所以，如果你想查看更多的內容，你需要做的就是...。

go to the link in the description

進入描述中的鏈接

or download the Quibi app on your phone

或在您的手機上下載Quibi應用程序。

and search for "Vox" or "Answered".

並搜索 "Vox "或 "Answered"。

I'll be there everyday.

我每天都會去的