Plants metabolise pollutants; and they literally clean the air we breathe."

而植物能使污染物分解并产生变化，可以说它们就是我们所呼吸的空气的清洁工。"

||1: Although medical science’s favourite critters relish temperatures of a little over 30°C, laboratories routinely keep them at five or ten degrees below that. ||2: This is not in order to torture the beasts but, rather, because when kept warm they are unmanageably aggressive. ||3: The downside is that they have to eat more than they otherwise would, in order to keep their bodies warm. ||4: That changes their physiology. And that in turn alters the way they metabolise drugs, with possibly confusing results.

||1:虽然老鼠这种医学实验最喜欢使用的啮齿动物偏爱呆在稍高于30摄氏度的环境里，但实验室却常被控制在比这低5到10摄氏度的温度上。||2:这并不是要存心虐待这些动物，而是因为当环境暖和了，它们会变得十分好斗，很难应付。||3:而这样做的弊端是动物们为了保持体温，要比平常吃得更多。||4:这样动物的生理机能就会有所改变，因此会影响到药物在动物体内的代谢，出来的实验结果也可能会很费解。

Until recently social norms favoured moderate consumption. Most people quaffed only with meals; solitary boozing was rare. Few women drank and young Chinese mostly abstained. Biology encouraged moderation, too. About a third of the population finds it hard to metabolise alcohol. Those affected rarely drink.

此前，社会民众的酒类消费比较适度。大部分人只在吃饭时大量饮酒；独自买醉的情况更是少见。在中国，喝酒的女性很少，总体而言孩子们也被禁止喝酒。生理上，他们也比较适合温和些的饮酒方式。大约三分之一的人口难以代谢酒精。这部分人绝少喝酒。

And that in turn alters the way they metabolise drugs, with possibly confusing results.

从而改变它们对药物的代谢情况，以至于产生令人困惑的实验结果。

But infected mice fed a version of glucose that they could not metabolise lived.

但当感染细菌的老鼠被喂食一类无法参与新陈代谢的葡萄糖时反而存活。

In addition, some individuals appear to metabolise gluten poorly with high levels of opioid protein fragments appearing in their urine.

此外，一些人似乎代谢面筋的能力差，尿液中有高水平阿片蛋白质。

And if less choline were available, that would limit a dog’s ability to metabolise fats, and thus restrict its metabolic rate.

而如果这样的话，狗对脂肪的新陈代谢的能力就会受到局限，最终也就降低了新陈代谢速率。

Micro-organisms able to metabolise sulphur and nitrogen have the potential to achieve the same endpoint under more normal conditions.

而在较为正常的环境下，能使硫和氮变形的微生物却有可能达到同样的目的。

Oysters metabolise oil poorly, and molluscs, being filter feeders, run a high risk of exposure.

牡蛎很难分解石油，作为滤食性动物的软体动物面临很大的风险。

Last year, his research group used these profiles to predict how individuals would metabolise paracetamol.

去年，他的研究小组应用新陈代谢特性预测个人服用扑热息痛药的反应。