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Science and technology
科学技术
Cell biology
细胞生物学
On your marks...
各就各位…
The first cell race in history may further knowledge about how cancers spread
历史上的首次细胞赛跑，可能增进了解有关癌症如何扩散的知识
IT WILL not come with garden parties, large hats or eager bookies.
这次比赛将不会与花园招待会，高职位或急切的赌注登记经纪人一起到来。
And the contestants will be too small to see with the naked eye.
并且，参赛者也会因过于细小而肉眼无法看到。
But the World Cell Race, due to begin at the end of this month, will be the sporting event of the year for cell biologists.
但是预计将于本月底举行的世界细胞竞赛将是今年细胞生物学家的体育盛会。
The idea of the race is simple.
竞赛的想法很简单。
Labs from around the world send the runners—whatever sort of mammalian cell they think will do well—to one of six testing sites.
世界各地的实验室将把他们的参赛者—无论哪一种他们认为将表现不错的哺乳动物细胞—送到6个测试点之一。
There, the cells will be injected onto plates striped with tracks of a chemical they like to adhere to.
在这些测试点，细胞将被注入他们喜欢粘附的一种化学制品跑道的条纹板里。
Progress will be watched through a microscope, by time-lapse photography. And whichever cell covers a tenth of a millimetre fastest will be declared the winner.
显微镜通过延时摄影可以观察到它们的进展情况。然后无论哪种细胞，只要先跑过十分之一毫米的跑道就将被宣布为赢家。
The field is wide open.
该领域的大门敞开着。
Unlike horse-racing, the contest is not restricted to thoroughbreds.
不像赛马，该竞赛并不局限于纯种动物。
In fact the organisers, Matthieu Piel, Ana-Maria Lennon-Dumenil and Manuel Thery, who all work in France, are particularly encouraging the entry of genetically modified cells,
事实上，该次竞赛的组织者—都在法国工作的马修?彼尔， 安娜 - 玛丽?列侬-邓内尔和曼奴埃尔? 西里特别鼓励转基因细胞的参选，
as these are likely to be the most successful—and most instructive—competitors.
因为这些细胞很可能是最成功的—而且是最有意义的—竞争者。
That is because a lot of research on cell movement uses genetic modification to silence or amplify genes thought to be involved in the process.
这是因为很多细胞运动的研究使用遗传改造来抑制或增强基因表达。这些改造过的基因被认为参与了这个过程。
Many of these genes have been found by looking at cancerous cells.
许多基因可以通过观察癌细胞找到。
Metastatic tumour cells—those which have spread from the site of the original tumour—migrate faster than other cells.
转移性肿瘤细胞—那些已从原发部位扩散开的细胞—比别的细胞移动得要快。
If the genes that cause this mobility could be turned off, it would slow a cancer's spread.
如果导致这种流动性的基因能被关掉，这将减缓癌症的扩散速度。
More positively, cell migration is the driving force of embryo development and is, in adults, essential to the immune response and to the healing of wounds.
更加肯定的是，细胞迁移是胚胎发育的原动力，而且对成年人来讲，细胞迁移对免疫反应以及伤口愈合非常重要。
Understanding cell movement, then, is important.
于是，理解细胞运动非常重要。
Hence the idea of the race, which Dr Piel and Dr Lennon-Dumenil and Dr Thery came up with at last year's meeting of the American Society for Cell Biology.
因此，彼尔博士和列侬-邓内尔和西里博士在去年的美国细胞生物学学会的会议上提出这次竞赛的想法。
So far their competition has attracted 30 entrants.
到目前为止，他们的竞争已经吸引了30名参赛者。
The heats will take place throughout August.
整个八月份都将是预赛。
Only at the end of the month will the videos be analysed to name the winners.
只有八月底才有视频来分析决定赢家。
The organisers say they are also considering giving a prize to the slowest cell, since lethargic cells would be a boon for cancer therapy.
组织者说他们也正在考虑给最慢的细胞一个奖项，因为呆滞的细胞对癌症治疗来说将是非常有用的。
For cell biologists it should be an exciting contest.
对细胞生物学家来说，这次竞赛应该是一次令人兴奋的比赛。
But a word of advice to sports fans: maybe just catch the highlights.
但是我要给体育爱好者提个建议：或许恰好碰上最重要的时刻了。
