This mushroom will kill you before you know what’s happening - Michael Beug

翻译人员: Ruizhe Hu 校对人员: Tianyun Liu

It is said that to secure Nero’s succession as fifth emperor of Rome,

据说，为了确保尼禄能够继承 成为罗马的第五任皇帝，

his mother, Agrippina, discreetly assassinated her own husband.

他的母亲阿格里皮娜 暗中毒杀了自己的丈夫。

The murder weapon?

那么谋杀的凶器是什么呢？

A handful of death cap mushrooms.

一把毒鹅膏菌。

Humans have clearly known about the toxicity of death caps for millennia.

几千年来，人类已经清楚地 认识到了毒鹅膏菌的毒性。

Yet these mushrooms continue to pose a significant threat

然而，这些蘑菇依然 对毫无防备的采摘者和

to unsuspecting foragers and mushroom hunters throughout the world.

世界各地的猎菇者构成了严重威胁。

Today, death caps are responsible for more than 90%

如今，毒鹅膏菌导致了超过90%的

of all mushroom related deaths,

与蘑菇相关的死亡事件，

killing upwards of 100 people each year.

每年导致100多人死亡。

So, what makes this one species of mushroom so dangerous?

那么，究竟是什么 让这一种蘑菇如此致命呢？

Despite their danger, death caps, known scientifically as Amanita phalloides,

它们极其危险，毒鹅膏菌， 学名为Amanita Phalloides，

look relatively unassuming.

样貌却不起眼。

它们最初被包裹在一个白色的 蛋形膜中，随着生长膜会破裂，

They emerge enclosed in a white egg-like membrane that ruptures,

leaving a cup-like sac at the stem’s base.

留下一个杯状囊位于蘑菇的茎部底端。

Mature mushrooms are domed with white or greenish yellow caps

成熟的毒鹅膏菌顶部呈拱形， 带有白色或黄绿色的菌盖，

measuring anywhere from 4 to 16 centimeters in width.

菌盖直径在4到16厘米之间。

And just half of a cap can contain enough toxin to kill an adult.

仅半个菌盖就含有足够 能杀死一个成年人的毒素。

While death caps produce several types of toxins,

虽然毒鹅膏菌会产生好几种类型的毒素，

one class, amatoxins, are by far the most dangerous.

但其中一类名为鹅膏毒素的毒素是最危险的。

They’re hearty compounds,

它们是非常顽固的化合物，

not easily destroyed by cooking, freezing, or drying.

即使经过烹饪、冷冻 或干燥也不容易被破坏。

And if ingested, amatoxins easily pass through the intestinal wall

如果摄入，鹅膏毒素 会轻易穿过肠壁进入血液，

to enter the bloodstream and wreak havoc on multiple systems.

并对多个系统造成严重破坏。

Their main method of destruction is blocking the action of enzymes

它们的主要破坏机制是阻止名为

called RNA polymerases.

RNA聚合酶的作用。

These enzymes are essential to the body,

这些酶对身体至关重要，

as they allow the cells to build the proteins they need to function.

因为它们帮助细胞合成 所需的蛋白质维持正常功能。

For example, amatoxins inhibit the production of blood clotting compounds,

比如，鹅膏毒素会抑制血液 凝血化合物的生成，

which can cause a person to bleed out.

这可能导致患者 因无法止血而失血过多。

In the kidneys, they slowly obstruct the body’s ability

在肾脏中， 它们逐渐阻碍身体

to regulate fluids and produce urine.

调节体液和生成尿液的能力。

But they’re perhaps the most damaging to the liver.

但鹅膏毒素对肝脏的破坏是最为严重的。

The liver is where waste products, including toxins,

肝脏这个器官是负责过滤 血液中的废物和毒素的，

are filtered out of the blood, so amatoxins naturally accumulate.

因此鹅膏毒素会自然的在肝脏中积累。

This toxin bombardment blocks the turnover of new proteins,

这种毒素的持续轰击 会阻止新蛋白质的生成，

causing these liver cells to die.

导致肝细胞死亡。

Over time, this can lead to liver failure and eventually death.

随着时间的推移，这可能导致 肝功能衰竭，最终导致死亡。

One puzzling death cap mystery that continues to elude scientists

科学家至今仍未完全解开 一个关于毒鹅膏菌的谜团，

is understanding exactly what benefits poisonous amatoxins

那就是尚不清楚鹅膏毒素

provide to the mushroom.

能为蘑菇带来什么好处。

Amatoxins are secondary metabolites,

鹅膏毒素属于次生代谢产物，

meaning they’re not essential for mushroom growth or survival.

这意味着它们并不是蘑菇生长 或生存的必需物质。

And grazing rabbits, rodents, and humans are often a highly effective mode

而且，对于其他种类的蘑菇来说， 兔子、啮齿动物和人类

of spore dispersal for other mushroom species.

经常是非常有效的孢子传播媒介。

So, what’s the evolutionary advantage of poisoning them?

那么，毒杀它们的 进化优势究竟是什么呢？

And amatoxins aren't exclusive to death caps.

此外，鹅膏毒素 并不仅限于毒鹅膏菌。

They’re also produced by several other species of mushrooms,

它们还由其他几种蘑菇产生，

from the genera Galerina and Lepiota.

例如属Galerina和Lepiota的毒蘑菇

Yet unlike death caps,

然而，与毒鹅膏菌不同，

poisonous Galerina and Lepiota species cause relatively few human deaths.

Galerina和Lepiota的毒蘑菇 引发的人类死亡相对较少。

The reason for this is two-fold.

其原因有两个。

First, these Galerina and Lepiota mushrooms are quite distinguishable,

首先，这些Galerina和Lepiota 蘑菇很容易区分，

whereas death caps, especially young ones,

而毒鹅膏菌， 尤其是年轻的毒鹅膏菌，

can easily be mistaken for other edible mushrooms,

很容易被误认为是其他可食用的蘑菇，

like straw mushrooms or puffballs.

比如草菇或马勃。

Further, death caps have a relatively large range.

此外，毒鹅膏菌的分布范围相对较广。

While native to Europe, they're now found on every continent except Antarctica.

尽管它们原产于欧洲，但现在除了南极洲外， 它们几乎在所有大陆上都有分布。

Death caps form close symbiotic relationships with European hardwoods

毒鹅膏菌与欧洲的硬木和针叶树形成

and conifers.

紧密的共生关系。

Throughout the 20th century,

在整个20世纪，

as these trees were planted in colonized regions around the world,

随着这些树木被移植到 世界各地的殖民地，

death caps covertly tagged along.

毒鹅膏菌也悄然跟随传播。

Thankfully, if a victim of death cap poisoning is properly treated

幸运的是，如果 毒鹅膏菌中毒的受害者在摄入后

soon after ingestion,

得到及时正确的治疗，

up to 90% of patients will survive.

90%以上的患者可以存活。

Treatment doesn’t require any sort of special antidote—

治疗并不需要任何特殊的解毒剂——

a continuous, aggressive IV drip is often enough to flush the toxins from the blood.

持续而强力的静脉注射 通常足以将毒素从血液中冲出。

However, not all doctors know how to properly treat or recognize

然而，并非所有医生都知道 如何正确治疗或识别

death cap poisoning.

毒鹅膏菌中毒。

Initial symptoms can look similar to other types of food poisoning.

它们最初的症状可能与 其他类型的食物中毒相似。

To add to the confusion,

更加干扰判断的是，

because amatoxins build up slowly in the liver,

由于鹅膏毒素会在肝脏中缓慢积累，

the most dire symptoms often don’t appear until days after consumption.

最严重的症状往往在摄入后 好几天才会出现。

Despite growing medical knowledge,

尽管医学知识不断增长，

it’s important that mushroom hunters throughout the world

但全球的采摘者仍需要

learn how to properly recognize and avoid this deadly species.

学习如何正确的识别 和避免这种致命的蘑菇。

So, if you ever find yourself foraging, remember to be on guard,

因此，如果有一天你 去采蘑菇，请务必保持警惕，

and when in doubt, it’s always best to toss it out.

一旦有疑虑， 最好的办法就是直接丢掉它。