揭露明星們青春常駐的祕密

Around 1820, the German doctor Justinus Kerner described botulin toxin as "sausage poison", because the deadly Clostridium botulinum bacterium is often found in meat products. The medical name for the food poisoning it can cause is "botulism", from the Latin word botulus, meaning "sausage". Which brings us to Nicole Kidman.
大約在1820年，德國醫生傑斯丁尼斯·肯納用“臘腸毒素”來描述肉毒桿菌毒素，因爲這種致命的肉毒梭菌經常在肉製品中被發現。它所導致的食物中毒的醫學術語叫“波特淋菌中毒”。這個詞來自拉丁語botulus，意爲“臘腸”。正是它把我們的話題帶到了妮可·基德曼這兒。

Born on 20 June 1967, she may be the most highly paid acctress in Hollywood. Her skin is so perfect, so smooth, that some people say she uses "cosmetic skin treatment" to stay so youthful-looking. When people say "cosmetic skin treatment", they often mean "anti-wrinkle therapy". In a word: Botox.
妮可生於1967年6月20日，她或許是好萊塢身價最高的女演員了。她的皮膚實在太完美太光滑了，有人說她的年輕容貌是靠“皮膚整形術”來維持的。當人們說到“皮膚整形術”時，他們指的通常是“除皺療法”，即用肉毒素。

Botox, the commercial name of botulinum toxin type A, is a neuro-toxin produced by Clostridium botulinum. It can block the signals that make your muscles move.
肉毒素是A型肉毒桿菌的商業名稱。它是一種由肉毒梭菌產生的神經毒素，能阻止是肌肉活動的神經信號。

So? Well, if the muscles that cause those frown lines on your forehead could be prevented from moving, you too, could have skin like Nicole Kidman's. If part of your face can't move, it can't wrinkle. That's how Botox works.
所以呢？試想一下，如果那些引起擡頭紋的肌肉運動能被阻止的話，你就也能擁有像妮可·基德曼那樣的皮膚了。假如你的臉上有些部分動不了，也就不會產生皺紋了，這就是肉毒素的工作原理。

Business has never been better for Allergan, the maker of Botox. It had more that $1 billion in sales of the toxin in 2008 and, what's more important, it is the only chemical anti-wrinkle therapy allowed in the US. The only drug that's more profitable is Pfizer's Viagra, which had $1.8 billion in sales in 2009.
肉毒素的製造商愛力根公司的生意從來沒有這麼紅火過。2008年，它售出了超過10億美元的肉毒素。更重要的是，這是唯一一種被允許在全美經銷的化學抗皺療法。比它更賺錢的藥品只有輝瑞製藥公司出品的偉哥，其在2009年的銷售額達到了18億美元。

But the success of Viagra and Botox cannot hide the worry lines on the face of the pharmaceutical industry. The old strategy of finding chemical solutions to diseases is in trouble. Despite huge increases in spending, "Big Pharma" is finding it increasingly difficult to create successful drugs, or "blockbusters".
但是偉哥和肉毒素的成功並不能掩蓋製藥業面臨的憂患。使用化學藥劑治療疾病的老辦法行不通了。儘管支出大幅增加，“製藥巨頭們”還是發現要研發出成功的“靈丹妙藥”是越來越難了。

The future lies in biotechnology. Unlike traditional drug development based on chemicals, biotechnology can create entire proteins, often similar to those found in the human body.
未來是生物科技的天下。和基於化學物質的傳統制藥方法不同，生物科技能夠創造出所有蛋白質類而且通常和人體內發現的蛋白質相似。

Pfizer and Novartis have formed their own biotech divisions, and Allergan will surely follow. In the meantime, managers at the firm may develop a few frown lines themselves, now that the French pharmaceutical group Ipsen and its American parter Medicis have applied to the US Food and Drug Administration for approval of Reloxin, a botulinum toxin type A product. 輝瑞和諾華製藥已經設立了各自的生物科技部門，愛力根也一定會緊跟其後。與此同時，這家公司的管理人員們的臉上可能會增添幾條皺紋，因爲法國製藥集團易普森和它的美國合作伙伴梅迪西斯公司已經向美國食品和藥物管理局申請批准Reloxin——一款A型肉毒桿菌製品。

Move over, Botox.
該讓位了，肉毒素。