今天只有大概1/10的人可以过节

今天（8月13日）是国际左撇子日（International Left-Handers Day），据了解，每10个人中约有1个人是左撇子。

听说，莫扎特（Mozart）、普希金（Pushkin）、爱因斯坦（Einstein）、牛顿（Newton）、毕加索（Picasso）、卓别林（Chaplin）、马克·吐温（Mark Twain）、丘吉尔（Churchill）、奥巴马（Barack Obama）、达芬奇（Leonardo Da Vinci）......都是左撇子。

听说，LR也是，哈哈哈哈哈哈哈哈哈哈哈。

Left-handed DNA found - and it changes brain structure

BBC

Scientists have found the first genetic instructions hardwired into human DNA that are linked to being left-handed.

The instructions also seem to be heavily involved in the structure and function of the brain - particularly the parts involved in language.

The team at the University of Oxford say left-handed people may have better verbal skills as a result.

But many mysteries remain regarding the connection between brain development and the dominant hand.

What does this tell us?

About one in 10 people is left handed.

Studies on twins have already revealed genetics - the DNA inherited from parents - has some role to play.

However, the specifics are only now being revealed.

The research team turned to the UK Biobank - a study of about 400,000 people who had the full sequence of their genetic code, their DNA, recorded.

Just over 38,000 were left-handed.

And the scientists played a giant game of spot-the-difference to find the regions of their DNA that influenced left-handedness.

The study, published in the journal Brain.

"It tells us for the first time that handedness has a genetic component," Prof Gwenaëlle Douaud, one of the researchers, told BBC News.

But how does it work?

The mutations were in instructions for the intricate "scaffolding" that organises the inside of the body's cells, called the cytoskeleton.

Similar mutations that change the cytoskeleton in snails have been shown to lead to the molluscs having an anticlockwise or "lefty" shell.

Scans of participants in the UK Biobank project showed the cytoskeleton was changing the structure of the white matter in the brain.

"For the first time in humans, we have been able to establish that these handedness-associated cytoskeletal differences are actually visible in the brain," Prof Douaud, who is herself left handed, said.

In the left-handed participants, the two halves of the brain - the left and right hemispheres - were better connected and more co-ordinated in regions involved in language.

The researchers speculate left-handed people may have better verbal skills, although they do not have the data from this study to prove it.

The study also showed slightly higher risks of schizophrenia, and slightly lower risks of Parkinson's disease, in left-handed people.

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注：中文文本为机器翻译仅供参考，并非一一对应

含注释全文：

Left-handed DNA found - and it changes brain structure

BBC

Scientists have found the first genetic instructions hardwired into human DNA that are linked to being left-handed.

科学家们发现了第一个与左撇子有关的基因指令。

表示“（能力、方法、活动类型等）基本固定的；本能的（指不可改变的）”，英文解释为“If an ability, approach, or type of activity is hardwired into the brain, it is a basic one and cannot be changed.”举个🌰：

Others think that the rules for what is "musical" are hardwired into our brains to some degree.

其他人认为，我们的大脑对什么东西是“悦耳的”在某种程度上有其内在的标准。

Humans are hardwired to love fattening foods.

人会本能地喜欢那些令人发胖的食物。

🎬电影《女性思维》（The Female Brain）中的台词提到：So our brains are hardwired to produce dopamine. 所以我们的大脑天生产生多巴胺。

🎬还是电影《女性思维》（The Female Brain）：But even though we're hardwired to avoid danger, 但即便天性要我们避免危险，

表示“左撇子的”，英文解释为“Someone who is left-handed uses their left hand rather than their right hand for activities such as writing and sports and for picking things up.”举个🌰：

There is a shop in town that supplies practically everything for left-handed people.

镇上有一家商店，出售左撇子用品。

还有几个说法：

📍lefty/lefties：a person who uses their left hand to write, hit a ball, etc. 左撇子

📍southpaw /ˈsaʊθˌpɔː/：a person who prefers to use their left hand rather than their right, especially in a sport such as boxing （尤指拳击等运动中）惯用左手的人，左撇子

📍handedness：the tendency to use one hand more skilfully or in preference to the other 左右撇子倾向；一只手比另一只更灵巧的习惯；相对于一只手更喜欢用一只的倾向。

The instructions also seem to be heavily involved in the structure and function of the brain - particularly the parts involved in language.

这些指令似乎还与大脑的结构和功能密切相连，尤其是与语言有关的区域。

The team at the University of Oxford say left-handed people may have better verbal skills as a result.

牛津大学的研究团队表示，左撇子可能因此拥有更好的语言能力。

1）表示“口头的”，英文解释为“You use verbal to indicate that something is expressed in speech rather than in writing or action.”举个🌰：

They were jostled and subjected to a torrent of verbal abuse.

他们被推来搡去，并受到了潮水般的辱骂。

2）表示“词语的；文字的”，英文解释为“You use verbal to indicate that something is connected with words and the use of words.”举个🌰：

The test has scores for verbal skills, mathematical skills, and abstract reasoning skills.

该项测试对文字表达技能、数学技能和抽象推理技能进行记分。

🎬电影《旗鼓相当》（Grudge Match）中的台词提到：And I say, "Well, women are more verbal than men." 然后我说"女人比男人更善于言辞"。

But many mysteries remain regarding the connection between brain development and the dominant hand.

但关于大脑发育与左右手之间的联系，仍有许多谜团。

1）作可数名词，表示“迷”，英文解释为“A mystery is something that is not understood or known about. ”举个🌰：

The source of the gunshots still remains a mystery.

枪弹来自何处依然是一个迷。

2）作可数名词，表示“悬疑（推理）故事”，英文解释为“A mystery is a story in which strange things happen that are not explained until the end.”举个🌰：

His first novel is a murder mystery.

他的第一部小说是一个凶杀疑案。

3）作不可数名词，表示“神秘（性）”，英文解释为“If you talk about the mystery of someone or something, you are talking about how difficult they are to understand or know about, especially when this gives them a rather strange or magical quality.”举个🌰：

She's a lady of mystery.

她是一个神秘的女人。

4）作形容词，表示“来历不明的”，英文解释为“A mystery person or thing is one whose identity or nature is not known.”举个🌰：

The mystery hero immediately alerted police after spotting a bomb.

那个不知名的英雄发觉炸弹后马上报了警。

1）表示“首要的；占支配地位的；占优势的；显著的”，英文解释为“more important, powerful or noticeable than other things”举个🌰：

The firm has achieved a dominant position in the world market.

这家公司在国际市场上占有举足轻重的地位。

2）表示“（基因）显性的，优势的”，英文解释为“a dominant gene causes a person to have a particular physical characteristic, for example brown eyes, even if only one of their parents has passed on this  gene”。

🎬电影《王牌特工：特工学院》（Kingsman: The Secret Service）中的台词提到：but a Kingsman wears it on which ever hand happens to be dominant. 但王牌特工都戴在惯用手上。

What does this tell us?

About one in 10 people is left handed.

大约每10个人中有1人是左撇子。

Studies on twins have already revealed genetics - the DNA inherited from parents - has some role to play.

对双胞胎的研究已经揭示了遗传学--从父母那里继承的DNA--发挥了一定的作用。

However, the specifics are only now being revealed.

但是，具体细节现在才被揭示出来。

表示“细节”，英文解释为“The specifics of a subject are the details of it that need to be considered.”举个🌰：

Things improved when we got down to the specifics.

情况在我们开始认真讨论细节时有了改善。

🎬电影《告密者》（The Informant）中的台词提到：What are they accusing me of? I want the specifics. 他们指控我们什么罪名 说具体一点。

The research team turned to the UK Biobank - a study of about 400,000 people who had the full sequence of their genetic code, their DNA, recorded.

研究团队求助于英国生物样本库（UK Biobank）--一项记录了约40万人遗传密码、DNA完整序列的研究。

1）表示“一系列；一连串”，英文解释为“a set of events, actions, numbers, etc. which have a particular order and which lead to a particular result”举个🌰：

He described the sequence of events leading up to the robbery.

他描述了抢劫案发生前的一系列有关情况。

2）表示“顺序；次序”，英文解释为“the order that events, actions, etc. happen in or should happen in”举个🌰：

The tasks had to be performed in a particular sequence.

这些任务必须按一定次序去执行。 

🎬电影《侏罗纪公园》（Jurassic Park）中的台词提到：they used frog DNA to fill in the gene sequence gaps. 他们用青蛙的DNA来弥补基因序列缺失。

Just over 38,000 were left-handed.

只有38000多人是左撇子。

And the scientists played a giant game of spot-the-difference to find the regions of their DNA that influenced left-handedness.

科学家们玩起了大找茬的游戏，找出他们DNA中影响左撇子的区域。

The study, published in the journal Brain.

该研究发表在《大脑》（Brain）杂志上。

"It tells us for the first time that handedness has a genetic component," Prof Gwenaëlle Douaud, one of the researchers, told BBC News.

研究人员之一格温娜·杜奥德（Gwenaëlle Douaud）教授对英国广播公司新闻说：“它第一次告诉我们左右撇子倾向具有遗传成分。”

表示“组成部分”，英文解释为“The components of something are the parts that it is made of.”举个🌰：

The management plan has two main components. 

该管理计划有两个主要组成部分。

But how does it work?

The mutations were in instructions for the intricate "scaffolding" that organises the inside of the body's cells, called the cytoskeleton.

1）表示“（基因的）变异，突变”，英文解释为“the way in which genes change and produce permanent differences”举个🌰：

It is well known that radiation can cause mutation.

众所周知，辐射可能造成基因突变。

2）表示“（生物体的）变异，突变；突变生物体”，英文解释为“a permanent change in an organism, or the changed organism itself”举个🌰：

These plants carry the mutation for red flowers.

这些植物携带红花变种。

🎬电影《X战警：第一战》（X-Men: First Class）中的台词提到：Mutation you know, took us from single cell organisms, to the dominate form... 变异就是 把我们从单细胞生物 变成了占主导地位的人类...

表示“错综复杂的”，英文解释为“containing many small parts or details that all work or fit together”，如：intricate patterns 繁复的图案。

scaffolding /ˈskæfəldɪŋ/ 原意表示“脚手架；建筑架； 鹰架”，英文解释为“Scaffolding consists of poles and boards made into a temporary framework that is used by workers when they are painting, repairing, or building high parts of a building, usually outside.”此处可以理解为形状像脚手架的“支架”，举个🌰：

Workers have erected scaffolding around the base of the tower below the roadway.

工人们已经在车行道下的塔基四周竖起了脚手架。

cytoskeleton /ˈsaɪtəʊˌskɛlɪtən/ 表示“细胞骨架，细胞支架”，英文解释为“a network of fibrous proteins that governs the shape and movement of a biological cell”。

Similar mutations that change the cytoskeleton in snails have been shown to lead to the molluscs having an anticlockwise or "lefty" shell.

表示“蜗牛”，英文解释为“a small soft creature with a hard round shell on its back, that moves very slowly and often eats garden plants. Some types of snail can be eaten.”

单数mol·lusc /ˈmɒləsk/ 表示“软体动物”，英文解释为“A mollusc is an animal such as a snail, clam, or octopus which has a soft body. Many types of mollusc have hard shells to protect them.”

anticlockwise = counterclockwise 表示“逆时针方向（地）”，英文解释为“If something is moving anticlockwise, it is moving in the opposite direction to the direction in which the hands of a clock move.”举个🌰：

Rotate the head clockwise and anticlockwise.

使头顺时针转转，再逆时针转转。

📺美剧《新闻编辑室》（The Newsroom）第二季中的台词提到：You can't turn your arm clockwise and turn your leg counterclockwise at the same time. 顺时针转胳膊的同时逆时针转腿 是行不通的。

表示“（动物的）甲壳”，英文解释为“The shell of an animal such as a tortoise, snail, or crab is the hard protective covering that it has around its body or on its back.”如：the spiral form of a snail shell 蜗牛壳的螺旋形状。

Scans of participants in the UK Biobank project showed the cytoskeleton was changing the structure of the white matter in the brain.

英国生物样本库项目参与者的扫描检查结果显示，细胞骨架正在改变大脑中白质的结构。

表示“（身体）扫描检查”，英文解释为“A scan is a medical test in which a machine sends a beam of X-rays over a part of your body in order to check that it is healthy.”举个🌰：

A brain scan revealed the blood clot. 

脑部扫描检查发现了那个血块。

表示“白质（见于大脑和脊髓的淡色组织，内含丝状的神经纤维结构）”，英文解释为“the pale tissue containing nerve fibres (= structures like threads) found in the brain and spinal cord”。

📍还有一个grey matter，表示“（大脑和脊髓中的）灰质”，英文解释为“the darker tissue containing nerve fibres (= structures like threads) found in the brain and spinal cord”。

📍grey matter还可以表示“智力；大脑”，英文解释为“You can refer to your intelligence or your brains as grey matter.”如：an unsolved equation which has caused his grey matter to work overtime 一个让他的大脑超时工作的未解方程式。

📺美剧《犯罪心理》（Criminal minds）第十季中的台词提到：night owls show reduced integrity of white matter in the brain compared to early risers. 与早起者相比夜猫子的脑白质退化得更严重.

"For the first time in humans, we have been able to establish that these handedness-associated cytoskeletal differences are actually visible in the brain," Prof Douaud, who is herself left handed, said.

杜奥德教授自己就是左撇子，她说：“这是我们人类第一次能够确定这些与左右撇子倾向相关的细胞骨架差异实际上在大脑中是可见的。”

In the left-handed participants, the two halves of the brain - the left and right hemispheres - were better connected and more co-ordinated in regions involved in language.

在左撇子的参与者中，大脑的两半部分--左半脑和右半脑--在涉及语言的区域中具有更紧密的连接性和协调性。

hemisphere /ˈhɛmɪˌsfɪə/ 表示“半球”，英文解释为“A hemisphere is one half of the earth.”如：the northern hemisphere 北半球，the southern hemisphere 南半球，the depletion of the ozone layer in the northern hemisphere 北半球臭氧层的消耗。

The researchers speculate left-handed people may have better verbal skills, although they do not have the data from this study to prove it.

研究人员推测左撇子可能有更好的语言能力，不过他们还没有数据能够证明这一点。

The study also showed slightly higher risks of schizophrenia, and slightly lower risks of Parkinson's disease, in left-handed people.

研究还表明，左撇子患精神分裂症的风险略高，患帕金森病的风险略低。

schizophrenia /ˌskɪtsəʊˈfriːnɪə/ 表示“精神分裂症”，英文解释为“a mental illness in which a person becomes unable to link thought, emotion and behaviour, leading to withdrawal from reality and personal relationships”。

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