人造叶子把阳光变成药物

Our sun is an incredible, abundant source of energy that we’re only just now beginning to learn how to tap. Plants, on the other hand, are masters at exploiting the free energy delivered from the sky, so it’s only natural that scientists look to them for inspiration.

我们的太阳是一个不可思议的、丰富的能量来源，而我们才刚刚开始学习如何利用它。另一方面，植物是利用来自天空的自由能量的高手，所以科学家们从植物身上寻找灵感是很自然的。

Now, an ongoing effort from researchers with the Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands has yielded a promising new type of artificial leaf. Like actual foliage, the faux leaves take in sunlight and use it to create something entirely new, only instead of generating fuel for a living plant, these “mini-reactors” can produce medicine for humans.

现在，荷兰艾恩德霍文科技大学的研究人员正在进行的一项研究已经产生了一种很有前景的新型人工叶子。就像真正的叶子一样，人造叶子吸收阳光，并利用它来创造一些全新的东西，只是这些“微型反应堆”可以为人类生产药物，而不是为活着的植物提供燃料。

The research team has been working on this artificial leaf system for some time, first presenting a prototype back in 2016. Now, the technology has been refined and the researchers say that the colorful fake foliage can be used to create just about any kind of drug imaginable.

研究团队已经在这个人工叶子系统上工作了一段时间，并在2016年首次展示了一个原型。现在，这项技术已经被改进，研究人员说，这些五颜六色的假叶子可以用来制造任何可以想象的药物。

Taking cues from Mother Nature, the tiny reactors utilize intricate channels that flow like veins through the leaves. When sunlight hits certain liquids flowing through the leaves it sparks a chemical reaction. This is a process that would normally require electric power, harsh chemicals or both, but by using sunlight to power the medicine production, it becomes much more sustainable.

这些微型反应器从大自然中汲取灵感，利用复杂的通道，就像树叶上的静脉一样流动。当阳光照射到流经树叶的某些液体时，会引发化学反应。这是一个通常需要电力、刺激性化学物质或两者兼而有之的过程，但通过利用阳光为药品生产提供动力，它变得更加可持续。

The scientists envision such systems being used in places where medicine is in short supply and producing it on-site is difficult. Producing anti-malaria drugs in the jungle without a power grid could become much easier thanks to these advancements.

科学家们设想，这样的系统将被用于药物供应短缺和难以在现场生产的地方。由于这些进展，在没有电网的丛林中生产抗疟疾药物可能变得容易得多。