基因检测确定患者病因

短语讲解：

1. Now, genetic science is taking its first steps into medical practice.

take steps采取措施
例句：They took steps to prevent the spread of influenza.
他们采取措施阻止流感的传播。

2. The Beery twins were born in 1996, and were diagnosed with cerebral palsy two years later.

be diagnosed with被确诊患有……（疾病）
例句：He was diagnosed with leukemia.
他经诊断患有白血病。

3. But as the children got older, their symptoms suggested a different diagnosis, a lack of the neurotransmitter dopamine.

a lack of缺乏
例句：They felt a lack of warmth in his exceeding formal congratulatory speech. 
他们感到他那过于刻板的祝词缺乏热情。 

4. Fast forward a decade or so, and new symptoms appeared.

or so大约
例句：We stayed for an hour or so.
我们停留了一小时左右。

5. To see what other factor might be at work, a team at the Baylor College of Medicine in Texas analyzed DNA samples from each of the twins, looking for a mutation that might be responsible.

at work (因素)在起作用；活动着
例句：Unknownforces were at work to overthrow the government. 
有些尚未查明的势力正在活动图谋推翻政府。
look for寻找
例句：Some birds are looking for food.
有些鸟在寻找食物。

6. And so these kids were getting this L-dopa treatment, which helped them with their lack of dopamine, but they weren't getting anything for their serotonin," he says.

help with帮助(某人)做…
例句：She helped me with the translation.
她帮我翻译。

7. A serotonin supplement was added to their medications, and within a month their mother says there were noticeable improvements in Alexis Beery's breathing and in her twin brother Noah's school work.

add to增加, 加强
例句：The office looked exactly the same as before, only some charts were added to the wall.
办公室里还是那个老样子, 只是墙上多了一些图表。

8. It seems almost every week there's a story about scientists who have identified a gene linked to some disease or another.

link to与…连接; 联系
例句：A piston links to a drive shaft by means of a connecting rod.
活塞通过连杆与驱动轴相连。

9. Whole-genome sequencing is still an expensive, specialized activity. But the cost is coming down, and Bainbridge says this individualized approach to diagnosis and treatment may move out of the research lab and into the doctor's office, at least for some conditions, in as little as two to three years.

come down下降，降低
例句：Price will come down soon.
价格不久会下降的。
move out迁出, 搬出
例句：We're moving out of our old house next week.
下星期我们要搬出老房子。