An 'eternal summer' created by home heating and lighting1 may be disrupting seasonal2 rhythms in the human body with the risk of illness or even premature3 death, researchers say.
研究人员指出，由家庭供暖和照明设备创造的“永恒夏日”可能会扰乱人体内部的季节节律，有着导致人们患病甚至过早死亡的风险。
Scientists fear that the prevalence of warm houses and sustained contact with bright lights could supress important
genes4 which have evolved to
activate5 at different times of the year.
They think perpetually warm
dwellings6 may be a recipe for disaster as the sensitive proteins – some of which kick in during the winter to fight off common diseases like flu – are fooled into thinking it is still the summer and do not activate.
Scientists at the University of Cambridge have
previously7 found that a quarter of human genes display seasonal variation, including the protection against various infectious diseases.
Now a study says that the efficacy of these genes could be
hampered8 by modern western lifestyles.
Dr Tyler Stevenson, a senior lecturer at the University of Aberdeen, said: "The real take home message is that seasonal rhythms are
pervasive9.
"Just like daily rhythms which tell us to sleep at night, a similar thing is happening
seasonally10.
"But over time these seasonal signals are dampening down.
"Seasonal changes in environmental variables play a significant role in the regulation of many
physiological11 and behavioural processes.
"Presently many of us no longer live in accordance with the naturally occurring variation in geophysical rhythms."
收听单词发音 
