Tiny flecks¹ of gold could be used in the fight against cancer, new research has suggested.

一项最新研究表明，微小的黄金粒子可以用于治疗癌症。

Scientists at Edinburgh University have just completed a study which shows the precious metal increased the effectiveness of drugs used to treat lung cancer cells.

来自英国爱丁堡大学的科学家刚刚完成了一项研究，证明这种贵金属能增强治疗肺癌细胞药物的效果。

Minute fragments, known as gold nanoparticles, were encased in a chemical device by the research team.

黄金纳米粒子被研究人员嵌入了一种化学装置。

While this has not yet been tested on humans, it is hoped such a device could one day be used to reduce side effects of current chemotherapy treatments by precisely² targeting diseased cells without damaging healthy tissue.

虽然该疗法还没有在人体上得到验证，但有一天，人们希望这种装置能够精确作用于病变细胞而不损伤健康组织，它有望减少化疗手段所产生的副作用。

Gold is a safe chemical element and has the ability to accelerate, or catalyse, chemical reactions.

金作为一种安全的化学元素，还能够加速化学反应。

Researchers at the University of Edinburgh discovered properties of the metal that allow these catalytic abilities to be accessed in living things without any side effects.

爱丁堡大学的研究人员发现了金的一些特性，使其催化功能在不产生任何副作用的情况下被用于活体。

The device was shown to be effective after being implanted in the brain of a zebrafish, suggesting it can be used in living animals.

这种装置被植入斑马鱼的大脑后被证实是有效的，以此证明了它可以被用于动物活体。

Dr Asier Unciti-Broceta, from the University of Edinburgh's CRUK Edinburgh Centre, said: "We have discovered new properties of gold that were previously³ unknown and our findings suggest that the metal could be used to release drugs inside tumours⁴ very safely.

英国癌症研究所爱丁堡中心的阿西埃·温西蒂·布罗切塔博士介绍说：“我们发现了以前所未知的金的新特性，我们的发现表明可以通过这种金属安全地在肿瘤内部释放药物。”

"There is still work to do before we can use this on patients, but this study is a step forward. We hope that a similar device in humans could one day be implanted by surgeons to activate⁵ chemotherapy directly in tumours and reduce harmful effects to healthy organs."

“在我们可以用这个方法治疗病人之前，还有很多工作要做，但这项研究是向前迈出的一大步。我们希望，有朝一日，外科医生可以在人类体内植入一个类似的设备，直接激活肿瘤，并减少对健康器官的有害影响。”