夜雨聆风人工智能正在从“辅助工具”走向“科学创造者”。BBC报道显示，英国剑桥大学团队首次利用AI设计出疫苗核心成分，并已在人类身上完成试验。这不仅可能改变疫苗研发方式，也可能彻底重塑未来人类应对疫情的逻辑——从“被动应对”走向“提前预防”。
From BBC News
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Artificial intelligence has been used to develop a "fundamentally new" type of vaccine that could protect against large swathes of viruses and prevent pandemics, say researchers.
The team at the University of Cambridge say it is the first time a vaccine's key component has been designed entirely by AI and then trialled in people.
The vaccine was engineered to work on all coronaviruses which would include all Covid variants as well as viruses that currently infect animals yet have the potential to start the next pandemic.
The work is still in the early stages, but the team is already developing separate vaccines that could tackle flu and Ebola.
Vaccines teach our bodies how to spot an infection to increase our chances of fighting it off.
But some viruses are adept at changing their appearance – or mutating– so vaccines can quickly go out of date. It's why Covid and winter flu vaccines need to be regularly updated.
"We're always behind," said Prof Jonathan Heeney, from the University of Cambridge, adding "what we're trying to do is get ahead of the curve" and so far ahead they could protect against new outbreaks or pandemics.研究人员表示，人工智能已被用于开发一种“根本性的新型”疫苗，该疫苗可抵御大量病毒并预防大流行病。剑桥大学团队表示，这是首次由人工智能完全设计疫苗的关键成分并在人类身上进行试验。该疫苗被设计用于覆盖所有冠状病毒，包括新冠变种以及可能从动物传播并引发下一次大流行的病毒。目前研究仍处于早期阶段，但团队已经在开发可应对流感和埃博拉的疫苗。疫苗的作用是帮助人体识别感染，但病毒会不断变异，因此疫苗需要持续更新。“我们始终处于落后状态，”来自剑桥大学的乔纳森·亨尼教授表示。他补充道:“我们正努力走在时代前沿。”而且已经领先到足以防范新的疫情或大流行病的程度。高频词汇：
artificial intelligence 人工智能 ；vaccine 疫苗 ；develop 开发 ；protect 保护 ；pandemic 大流行病 ；engineer 设计/工程化 ；variant 变种 ；mutate 变异 ；infection 感染 ；update 更新 ；Trialled试用过；separate分离；pandemic大流行病；curve趋势 ；ahead在前；outbreak爆发
长难句分析
The vaccine was engineered to work on all coronaviruses which would include all Covid variants as well as viruses that currently infect animals yet have the potential to start the next pandemic.
句子主干：The vaccine was engineered to work on all coronaviruses；which 引导定语从句修饰 coronaviruses；从句内 that 引导定语从句修饰 viruses。
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How does it work?
Normally vaccines are designed using a current strain of a virus.
The Cambridge researchers took known genetic codes – the instruction manuals of life – from a range of coronaviruses that had been recorded by surveillance programmes hunting for potential viral threats.
These genetic codes were analysed by an artificial intelligence. It then designed a "super-antigen" that could train the immune system in such a way it gave protection against the whole family of viruses – even if they mutated or a new infection jumped from animals to people.
Antigens are the critical components of vaccines as this is what the immune system learns to attack.
Heeney said this was the first time an antigen designed by AI had been trialled in people. He said the technology was "surprising all of us" and it was "amazing what we can do with it for the good of humanity".
Heeney told BBC News: "This is about making vaccines that protect us, not just from today's viruses, but protect us from what can cause the next outbreak or disease.
"This is a fundamental shift in how we prepare for pandemics."The trials, in 39 people, were designed to assess if such vaccines were safe. A second study – involving around 200 people – will give a greater understanding of how well it is training the immune system.
通常疫苗是利用病毒的当前毒株设计的。剑桥大学的研究人员从一系列已被监控项目记录下来的冠状病毒中提取了已知的基因编码一一这些编码是生命的“说明书”。监控项目旨在追踪潜在的病毒威胁。这些基因代码被人工智能进行了分析。随后，它设计出一种“超级抗原”，这种抗原能够以训练免疫系统的方式提供保护，使其能够抵御整个病毒家族的侵袭一一即便病毒发生变异或新的感染从动物传播到人类。抗原是疫苗的关键组成部分，因为这是免疫系统学会攻击的目标。这是首次由AI设计的抗原在人类身上进行试验。研究团队表示，该技术令人惊讶，有望让疫苗不仅针对当前病毒，还能提前应对未来可能爆发的疾病。这标志着疫情防控模式的根本转变。目前已有39人参与安全性试验，后续约200人的研究将进一步评估免疫效果。
高频词汇：
genetic 基因的 ；code 编码 ；strain 毒株 ；immune system 免疫系统 ；antigen 抗原 ；virus病毒；coronaviruses冠状病毒；surveillance 监控；mutated 突变的；trial 试验 ；assess 评估 ；immune 免疫 ；shift 转变 ；outbreak 爆发 ；fundamental 基本的；technology技术
长难句分析
These genetic codes were analysed by an artificial intelligence. It then designed a "super-antigen" that could train the immune system in such a way it gave protection against the whole family of viruses – even if they mutated or a new infection jumped from animals to people.
句子主干：It designed a "super-antigen"；that 引导定语从句修饰 super-antigen；in such a way 后省略 that 引导结果状语从句；even if 引导让步状语从句。
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Prof Saul Faust, who performed some of the trials at the University of Southampton, said the AI design "definitely has potential" and was "really exciting".
He told the BBC: "What's really interesting is the technology is an awful lot better at designing vaccines for potential pandemics when viruses are changing."
The Cambridge team are already performing animal research on universal seasonal flu vaccines that would not need to be adapted every year and an H5N1-bird flu vaccine, in case the virus that is currently devastating bird populations became a human pandemic.
They are also looking at a vaccine for viral haemorrhagic fevers, which would include Ebola species. The current outbreak in the Democratic Republic Congo is being caused by a species that does not have a vaccine developed for it yet.
Prof Andy Pollard said:"It's fascinating data and people wouldn't have predicted they'd be able to generate these immune responses," he told BBC News.
The real test, he says, is what happens in the human trials as our immune systems are different to laboratory mice as ours have been shaped by years of infections.
More broadly he said artificial intelligence was going to be a "game changer" for vaccine research and that AI tools had the potential to predict how the immune system would respond to a vaccine making development much faster and would "save lives".
Prof Marian Knight said: "The remarkable success of this AI-designed 'super-antigen' trial marks a pivotal leap forward in our ability to deliver broad, lasting viral protection."
Science Minister Lord Vallance said: "Another British science success story... this work could help speed up the roll out vaccines to benefit people all over the world for the long-term."专家表示，该AI疫苗设计技术具有潜力，尤其适用于病毒快速变化的情况。研究团队还在推进通用流感疫苗、禽流感疫苗以及埃博拉相关疫苗研发，以应对潜在的人类大流行风险。专家指出，真正的考验在于人体试验，因为人类免疫系统比实验动物更复杂。整体来看，AI可能成为疫苗研发的“游戏规则改变者”，显著加速研发进程并挽救生命。英国政府也认为这是AI与科研结合的重要突破，有望长期造福全球健康。
高频词汇：
potential 潜力 ；adapt 适应 ；species 物种 ；vaccine 疫苗 ；performed执行；definitely 肯定的；awful糟糕的；research研究；flu流感；currently 目前；devastating毁灭性；predict 预测 ；response 反应 ；development 研发 ；shaped形状的；generate 生成；remarkable 显著的；leap飞跃
长难句分析The Cambridge team are already performing animal research on universal seasonal flu vaccines that would not need to be adapted every year and an H5N1-bird flu vaccine, in case the virus that is currently devastating bird populations became a human pandemic.
句子主干：The Cambridge team are performing animal research；that 引导定语从句修饰 flu vaccines；in case 引导条件状语从句；从句中 that 引导定语从句修饰 the virus。
这项研究标志着疫苗研发进入“AI驱动设计”阶段。相比传统基于单一病毒的疫苗模式，AI有望帮助人类提前预测病毒演化方向，实现跨病毒、跨变种的广谱防护。这不仅是医学技术的进步，更可能重塑全球公共卫生体系的底层逻辑。
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参考链接
https://www.bbc.com/news/health
