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研究：母乳能杀死癌细胞

She said human breast milk contained a protein called alpha-lactalbumin, which is transformed into a cancer-fighting agent when in the gut.

凯斯琳娜教授称，母乳中含有一种叫做α-乳白蛋白的蛋白质，这种蛋白质能够在肠道中转化为抗癌成分。

Prof Svanborg, an immunologist at Lund University in Sweden, made the chance discovery that the substance kills tumour cells when working on antibiotics.

斯万伯格教授是瑞典隆德大学免疫系统专家，她是在研究抗生素时，偶然发现这种物质能够杀死癌细胞的。

She said: ‘We were looking for novel antimicrobial agents, and new breast milk is a very good source of these. During one experiment we needed human cells and bacteria to be present, and we chose human tumour cells for practical reasons.

斯万伯格教授说道：“我们当时正在寻找新的抗菌剂，而新鲜的母乳是个很好的 ‘To our amazement, when we added this compound of milk, the tumour cells died. It was a totally serendipitous discovery.’

“令我们大吃一惊的是，我们加入母乳中的这一成分后，肿瘤细胞就死亡了。这完全是意料之外的发现。”

The substance attacks cancer cells in numerous ways – first evading the cell’s outer defences, then targeting the ‘power station’ mitochondria and the ‘instruction manual’ nucleus. These actions cut off the cell’s energy source and ‘programme’ it to commit suicide, in a process called apoptosis.