Tried everything and still got the flu this year? While some friends and colleagues always seem to avoid it. Well, they may have more than luck on their side. Scientists have discovered that however hard you try to avoid it; flu is in your genes。
A study on British volunteers shows that some people are genetically predisposed to stave off the illness, while others are struck down year after year。
Researchers inoculated 17 healthy people with the flu virus and monitored their progress for five days。
Of the sample, nine became ill and the rest showed no symptoms at all。
Using technology usually employed in satellite imaging, they examined the genes in the subjects’ blood samples every eight hours。
Those who became sick developed an acute inflammation on certain genes 36 hours before the symptoms set in. This "genetic signature" was most marked in those who were suffering the worst。
Meanwhile, those who remained fine were found to have activated a totally different genetic signature。
The scientists interpreted this signature as an "anti-stress response" that showed their bodies were actively fighting off the virus. This discovery raises the possibility that experts could find a way to detect flu early, and take preventative action before the worst effects develop。
Professor Peter Openshaw, of the Centre for Respiratory Infection at Imperial College, said: "This is a very important science. It has very big implications for many infectious diseases, not only flu。
据英国《每日邮报》8月26日报道，今年你是否用尽一切办法却依然难以避免感冒？而你的一些朋友和同事却似乎从来不会得这种病。这不仅仅是运气问题，科学家发现，流感就在人的基因里，无论人们如何努力都避免不了。
在对英国一些志愿者进行的研究表明，一些人天生就不易感冒，而另外一些人则每年都会被流感侵袭。
研究人员给17位身体健康的人注射了流感病毒，并对他们接下来5天的病情进行了监测。
这些人中，有9人得了流感，其它人则完全没有感冒的症状。每8小时，研究人员就会利用卫星图像的技术检测被试者血液样本中的基因。
那些得了感冒的人在感冒症状显现的36小时之前，他们的某些特定基因就出现了急性炎症。病情越严重，这种“基因信号”体现的就越明显。
同时，(经过检测)那些未受流感影响的人，(研究人员)发现，这些人可以激活一种完全不同的基因信号。
科学家把这种信号解释为一种“抗压力反应”，表示人体正积极地与病毒做斗争。这一发现为专家提早检测到流感病毒、在病情恶化之前采取预防措施提供了可能。
英国帝国理工学院呼吸道感染病中心的彼得•奥本肖教授说：“这项科学发现非常重要。不仅对于流感，它对许多其他的传染性疾病都有重要的意义。”