Around 1820, the German doctor Justinus Kerner described botulin toxin as "sausage poison", because the deadly Clostridium botulinum bacterium is often found in meat products. The medical name for the food poisoning it can cause is "botulism", from the Latin word botulus, meaning "sausage". Which brings us to Nicole Kidman.
大约在1820年，德国医生杰斯丁尼斯·肯纳用“腊肠毒素”来描述肉毒杆菌毒素，因为这种致命的肉毒梭菌经常在肉制品中被发现。它所导致的食物中毒的医学术语叫“波特淋菌中毒”。这个词来自拉丁语botulus，意为“腊肠”。正是它把我们的话题带到了妮可·基德曼这儿。

Born on 20 June 1967, she may be the most highly paid acctress in Hollywood. Her skin is so perfect, so smooth, that some people say she uses "cosmetic skin treatment" to stay so youthful-looking. When people say "cosmetic skin treatment", they often mean "anti-wrinkle therapy". In a word: Botox.
妮可生于1967年6月20日，她或许是好莱坞身价最高的女演员了。她的皮肤实在太完美太光滑了，有人说她的年轻容貌是靠“皮肤整形术”来维持的。当人们说到“皮肤整形术”时，他们指的通常是“除皱疗法”，即用肉毒素。

Botox, the commercial name of botulinum toxin type A, is a neuro-toxin produced by Clostridium botulinum. It can block the signals that make your muscles move.

肉毒素是A型肉毒杆菌的商业名称。它是一种由肉毒梭菌产生的神经毒素，能阻止是肌肉活动的神经信号。
 

So? Well, if the muscles that cause those frown lines on your forehead could be prevented from moving, you too, could have skin like Nicole Kidman's. If part of your face can't move, it can't wrinkle. That's how Botox works.
所以呢？试想一下，如果那些引起抬头纹的肌肉运动能被阻止的话，你就也能拥有像妮可·基德曼那样的皮肤了。假如你的脸上有些部分动不了，也就不会产生皱纹了，这就是肉毒素的工作原理。

Business has never been better for Allergan, the maker of Botox. It had more that $1 billion in sales of the toxin in 2008 and, what's more important, it is the only chemical anti-wrinkle therapy allowed in the US. The only drug that's more profitable is Pfizer's Viagra, which had $1.8 billion in sales in 2009.
肉毒素的制造商爱力根公司的生意从来没有这么红火过。2008年，它售出了超过10亿美元的肉毒素。更重要的是，这是唯一一种被允许在全美经销的化学抗皱疗法。比它更赚钱的药品只有辉瑞制药公司出品的伟哥，其在2009年的销售额达到了18亿美元。

But the success of Viagra and Botox cannot hide the worry lines on the face of the pharmaceutical industry. The old strategy of finding chemical solutions to diseases is in trouble. Despite huge increases in spending, "Big Pharma" is finding it increasingly difficult to create successful drugs, or "blockbusters".
但是伟哥和肉毒素的成功并不能掩盖制药业面临的忧患。使用化学药剂治疗疾病的老办法行不通了。尽管支出大幅增加，“制药巨头们”还是发现要研发出成功的“灵丹妙药”是越来越难了。

The future lies in biotechnology. Unlike traditional drug development based on chemicals, biotechnology can create entire proteins, often similar to those found in the human body.
未来是生物科技的天下。和基于化学物质的传统制药方法不同，生物科技能够创造出所有蛋白质类而且通常和人体内发现的蛋白质相似。

Pfizer and Novartis have formed their own biotech divisions, and Allergan will surely follow. In the meantime, managers at the firm may develop a few frown lines themselves, now that the French pharmaceutical group Ipsen and its American parter Medicis have applied to the US Food and Drug Administration for approval of Reloxin, a botulinum toxin type A product. 辉瑞和诺华制药已经设立了各自的生物科技部门，爱力根也一定会紧跟其后。与此同时，这家公司的管理人员们的脸上可能会增添几条皱纹，因为法国制药集团易普森和它的美国合作伙伴梅迪西斯公司已经向美国食品和药物管理局申请批准Reloxin——一款A型肉毒杆菌制品。

Move over, Botox.

该让位了，肉毒素。