我们的身体需要产生能量来维持体温、进行运动以及生存，这就需要细胞的发电站——线粒体产生合适的能量。来自Karolinska研究所的科学家最近首次发现了一种充当了能量产生闸的因素。研究小组将这一研究结果发表在刊物《细胞》（Cell）上。
线粒体通过细胞呼吸过程得到能量，这是发生在每个线粒体中的机制，并且最终使细胞得到ATP分子，这是细胞的能量分子。
由于整个细胞呼吸链过程中的重要部分由线粒体DNA（mtDNA）负责编译表达，因此细胞可以通过增加或者减少线粒体DNA的表达来改变能量的产生，以适应不同的需求。但是，在这之前对于这一能量调节过程的机制却知之甚少。
而来自瑞典的Karolinska研究所的两个研究小组在这一方面取得了突破性的进展，这两个小组分别由Claes Gustafsson和Nils-Goran Larsson领导，他们发现了一种全新的线粒体因子——MTERF3，这一因子主要抑制线粒体DNA的表达，从而实现减少细胞能量产生的目的。
发表于Cell上的这些结果在将来可能会带来治疗多种疾病的新方法。线粒体功能被破坏将会导致细胞能量的危机，并且可能在多种常见疾病中起到了重要的作用，这些疾病包括糖尿病、心脏病和帕金森氏症等，甚至普通的衰老也和这一过程密不可分。
原文：
Wasps used to fight soybean aphids
U.S. agricultural scientists are using Chinese wasps to battle infestations of Asian soybean aphids.
University of Minnesota researchers, in an effort to control the damaging crop pest, are field testing a sting-less wasp (Binodoxys communis) imported from China that kills soybean aphids.
The soybean aphid first appeared in Minnesota fields in 2000 and costs soybean growers an estimated $200 million annually in lost crop yields and spraying costs in Minnesota.
"The soybean aphid was imported without any of its natural enemies -- the organisms that keeps aphids in check in China," said University of Minnesota entomologist Dave Ragsdale. "Our researchers and Extension experts are working to provide that check and balance system."
Binodoxys communis was approved for release based upon four years of laboratory safety testing, Ragsdale said. However, researchers said 11 other species and strains of sting-less wasps are also being evaluated and some that have shown promise from both safety and efficacy standpoints might be field tested next year.
The origin of the Asian aphid's entry into the United States remains undetermined, but it's believed Chicago was at the epicenter of the initial distribution in the mid 1990s.
Copyright 2007 by United Press International
"The soybean aphid was imported without any of its natural enemies -- the organisms that keeps aphids in check in China," said University of Minnesota entomologist Dave Ragsdale. "Our researchers and Extension experts are working to provide that check and balance system."
Binodoxys communis was approved for release based upon four years of laboratory safety testing, Ragsdale said. However, researchers said 11 other species and strains of sting-less wasps are also being evaluated and some that have shown promise from both safety and efficacy standpoints might be field tested next year.
The origin of the Asian aphid's entry into the United States remains undetermined, but it's believed Chicago was at the epicenter of the initial distribution in the mid 1990s.
Copyright 2007 by United Press International
