piece together jigsaw puzzle, Tangram

Key Jigsaw Piece in Cancer Discovered

Tuesday 6 January

Scientists have discovered a crucial piece in the cancer jigsaw, identifying one key enzyme responsible for allowing cancer to spread, according to a study published in Cancer Cell.

Cancer metastasis, the spreading of cancer from its original location, is responsible for 90 per cent of cancer related deaths.

Lead researcher Dr Janine Erler from The Institute of Cancer Research has discovered that the LOX enzyme is crucial in promoting metastasis and says:

“This research has identified how to prevent a cancer from establishing itself in a new area of the body. This is the crucial missing piece in the jigsaw that scientists have been searching for and is the first time one key enzyme has been identified as being responsible for effectively allowing the cancer to spread.

“LOX works by sending out signals to prepare a new area of the body for the cancer to set up camp. Without this preparation process the new environment would be too hostile for the cancer to grow. If we can interrupt the body’s ability to prepare new locations for the cancer to spread to, we can effectively prevent cancer metastasis.”

The paper looked specifically at how LOX enables the spread of breast cancer, but researchers have evidence that the enzyme is also crucial in the metastasis of other common cancers.

The Institute of Cancer Research hopes to use the discovery of how LOX works to aid the spread of cancer to develop new drug treatments to prevent cancer metastasis.

“Cancer metastasis is very difficult to treat and this new discovery provides real hope that we can develop a drug which will fight the spreading of cancer,” Dr Erler said.

Ends

最新科學研究顯示，用人的免疫系統來幫助人體自身對抗癌症，已經向成功又邁進了一步。

英國癌症研究院的科學家發現了一種他們稱之為"危險受體"的細胞，這種細胞也許能刺激人體免疫系統對癌細胞作出反應。

人活著的時候，體內的細胞總是在不斷的死亡，同時又不斷生出新的細胞來接替死去的。

有時候，比如受了傷的時候，細胞就會產生非正常的死亡。

科學家在對一組叫作"受體"的人體細胞進行研究時發現，當這種細胞受刺激後，它們會向大腦發出信號，而大腦會隨即作出反應。

"危險受體"

這一研究確認，受體細胞能夠阻止非正常的細胞死亡。所以研究人員把這種細胞叫作"危險受體"。

領導這一研究的索薩博士說，科學家已經知道，諸如細菌和病毒這樣的污染性有機體，能直接觸發人體免疫系統的反應。

索薩博士說，如果研究發現受傷信號也能刺激免疫系統的話，也許能讓科學家在治療癌症的疫苗和療法方面找到新的路子。

事實上癌症也是可能觸發免疫系統的反應的，因為惡性腫瘤中經常有非正常死亡的集束細胞。

科學家認為，對"危險受體"這種細胞有了更多瞭解後， 也許能夠在利用人體免疫系統對抗自身癌症的研究方面有 很大幫助。

{鏡子和七巧板} 是楊周翰先生的一篇比較文學的英文論文的中文（王寧）翻譯：The Mirror and the Jigsaw: A Major Difference Between Current Chinese and Western Critical Attitudes, Representations, 4, University of California, Berkeley

問題是：jigsaw 一般指很複雜得拼圖A jigsaw puzzle is a picture, which is adhered to a thin and stiff background, like wood or cardboard, and then cut into multiple pieces. The pieces are assembled by the user to reform the original picture. Although the origin of the word puzzle is unknown, it is known that the first jigsaw puzzles were made in the 1760s by European cartographer John Spilbury. In 1762, Spilbury hit upon the idea of gluing maps onto thin mahogany and cedar panels and cutting them up with a fine marquetry saw.

七巧板 的英文為Tangram (Chinese: 七巧板; Pinyin: qī qiǎo bǎn; literally "seven boards of cunning") is a Chinese puzzle, and a type of dissection puzzle. 'A tangram consists of 7 pieces, called tans, which fit together to form a shape of some sort. The objective is to form a specific shape with seven pieces.

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jigsaw (puzzle) noun
1 [C] a picture stuck onto wood or cardboard and cut into irregular pieces which must be joined together correctly to form the picture again:
We spent all evening doing a 1000-piece jigsaw.

2 [S] a complicated or mysterious problem which can only be solved or explained by connecting several pieces of information:
The police are trying to the jigsaw of how the dead man spent his last hours.