希臘偏遠村莊的村民是如何保持心臟健康的?

Scientists have pinpointed one reason why people living in isolated villages in Greece may enjoy long and healthy lives.

日前，科學家們查明瞭居住在希臘偏遠的村莊的人們可以健康長壽的一個原因。

They found a new genetic variant, common among villagers, which appears to protect the heart by lowering levels of "bad" fats and cholesterol.

他們發現了一種新的、在村民中常見的遺傳變異，這種變異似乎通過降低“壞”脂肪和膽固醇的水平，以保護心臟。

Despite a diet rich in animal fat, the people of Mylopotamos in northern Crete do not suffer from cardiovascular disease. And they really love their cheese.

儘管飲食中含有豐富的動物脂肪，但住在克利特北部的買諾斯人卻不會患心血管疾病。而且，他們真的很喜歡當地的奶酪。

The villagers do get type 2 diabetes at the same rate as the general Greek population, but they don't seem to suffer from the usual consequences, such as diabetic kidney disease.

村民確實與希臘一般人民一樣有可能患2型糖尿病，但似乎並沒有導致像腎病這樣常見的併發症。

Was there something in the villagers' genetic make-up that protected their hearts against disease?

在村民的遺傳基因中有什麼可以保護他們的心臟免受疾病嗎？

Their research, published in Nature Communications, identified a new genetic variant which has heart-protecting qualities.

在《自然通訊》上發表的研究發現了一種具有保護心臟的功能的新遺傳變異體。

Out of thousands of Europeans who have undergone genome sequencing, only one other person in Italy possesses this variant, the researchers said.

研究人員表示，在歐洲進行的成千上萬的基因組測序中，只有意大利的一個人擁有這種變體。

To solve the puzzle, they sequenced the entire genome of 250 villagers.

爲了搞清楚爲什麼，他們對250個村民的整個基因組進行了排序。

Then they used the results to get a more detailed view of more than 3,000 villagers who had already been through genotyping (a shortcut to acquiring some genetic information).

然後，他們利用這些結果，對已經通過基因型分析（基因型分析是獲取一些遺傳信息的捷徑）的3000多名村民進行了更詳細的瞭解。

This discovery isn't a reason to go out and eat your weight in animal fat and cheese. That wouldn't be recommended at all - because the rest of us don't possess this genetic variant.

這個發現不會成爲吃動物脂肪和奶酪的一個理由。我們其他人不擁有這種遺傳變異，所以這也沒什麼好推薦的。

But scientists say they can use their discovery to work out which genetic variants play a role in causing complex diseases.

但是科學家們表示，他們可以利用這些發現找出什麼樣的遺傳變異會在患上覆雜疾病的機理中發揮作用。

This can give clues as to why some people develop heart disease and some don't.

這可以爲說明爲什麼有些人會得心臟病，而有些人不會提供一些線索。