Under the Sea 珊瑚可预防晒伤

By Tom Esslemont, BBC News

A survey shows many Britons are still ignoring warnings over sunburn

媒体英语会带大家一起学习 BBC 撰稿人在报道世界大事时常用到的单词和短语。

Background: 英国的研究人员说，他们发现水下珊瑚里的某些化学物质能够用来帮助人们预防晒伤，他们希望能够研制出一种防晒药片。

Coral is an animal that thrives in shallow water, where it can absorb vital sunlight, but that also makes it vulnerable to strong ultraviolet rays.

It's long been known that algae living inside coral produces a sunscreen that protects it. But the team from King’s College in London says this is the first time they have got close to using that chemical to create something similar for humans.

After studying samples from the Great Barrier Reef they found that fish feeding off the coral are also able to withstand powerful ultraviolet rays, leading them to believe that the protective amino acids - the key ingredient - pass up the food chain.

Tests on human skin could take place within two years, though the scientists say it could take them a lot longer to work out whether the protective chemical can be turned into tablet form.