【54】科学家称：左撇子都是基因在作怪

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Left-handed DNA found

科学家发现 “左撇子基因”

Around one in ten of us is left-handed - but why? A team at the University of Oxford analysed 400,000 people's DNA. They then compared lefties and righties in a giant game of genetic spot-the-difference.

每十个人中就有一个人是左撇子，但这是为什么呢？牛津大学的一个研究小组分析了 40 万人的 DNA（脱氧核糖核酸）。然后，他们通过一个基因 “找不同” 游戏对左撇子和习惯用右手的人进行了比较。

They found four genetic instructions that influenced left-handedness. These seem to work by altering how the brain develops. They're involved in building the intricate "scaffolding", known as the cytoskeleton that organises the inside of our body's cells and culminate in a brain that is wired differently in left-handed people. Scans showed regions of the brain involved in language were better connected and more coordinated as a result.

他们发现了影响左撇子的四种基因指令。这些指令似乎是通过改变大脑的发育来起作用的。指令参与构建复杂的 “脚手架”，即细胞骨架，它组织我们体内的细胞，最终形成一个构造有别于惯用右手的人的左撇子大脑。扫描结果显示，左撇子的大脑中与语言有关的区域连接得更好，也更协调。

The researchers speculate the findings may give left-handed people greater verbal skills. The study also showed slightly higher risks of schizophrenia and slightly lower risks of Parkinson's disease in left-handed people.

研究人员推测，这些发现可能证实左撇子拥有更强的语言能力。此项研究还显示，左撇子患精神分裂症的风险略高，患帕金森病的风险略低。

词汇

left-handed

惯用左手的

lefties

惯用左手的人

righties

惯用右手的人

genetic

基因的，遗传信息的

spot-the-difference

找不同

instructions

（基因）指令

intricate

错综复杂的

scaffolding

脚手架（这里指细胞组建）

cytoskeleton

细胞骨架

culminate in

以……告终

wired

（大脑的）构造

coordinated

协调的

verbal skills

言语技能

schizophrenia

精神分裂症

Parkinson's disease

帕金森病