本集内容

Discovering the code of all life 探寻地球所有生命的密码

学习要点

有关 “life（生命）” 的词汇

边看边答

What living things’ DNA is the project aiming to identify?

文字稿

"So now we're just taking a sample of water from the pond so we can see what living things are in there."

“现在我们正从池水里取样，这样就能看到里面有哪些生物。”

Even the most cutting-edge global science can start with a pond and a selfie stick.

即使是最尖端的全球科学也能始自一片池塘和一个自拍杆。

I'm assuming that's teeming with life. But I can't see anything in it.

我猜想这里面充满了生命。但我凭肉眼却什么也看不到。

"No, but once you look under the microscope, you will see."

“是什么也看不到，但只要你在显微镜下观察样本，就会看到里面的东西。”

This is a tiny part of one of the most ambitious scientific projects ever - to read the DNA of all non-human life on Earth.

这是迄今规模最大的一个科学项目当中的一小部分 —— 解读地球上所有非人类生命的脱氧核糖核酸（DNA）。

That's every plant, animal, fungi and single-cell organism, including the ones in the pond where these guys work.

这涵盖所有的植物、动物、真菌和单细胞生物，包括池塘里的生物，也正是这些工作人员研究的对象。

Dr Iain Macaulay, Technical Development Group Leader, Earlham Institute
It's really exciting. Over the last ten years or so, a lot of techniques have been developed in biomedical sciences for doing single-cell sequencing… so, to analyse the DNA of individual cells from humans or mice. And what we're doing is adapting those technologies.

伊恩·麦考利博士     技术开发组组长  厄尔汉姆研究所
“这真的很激动人心。在过去的十多年间，生物医学领域内已经发展了许多用来做单细胞测序的技术……以分析人类或老鼠单个细胞的 DNA。我们正在做的事情就是调整这些技术以适应需要。”

So there's [there're] things in here that don't have a name, let alone having their DNA sequence. They don’t even have a name yet.

这里的生物，有的没有名字，更别说它们的 DNA 序列了。它们甚至连名字都没有。

Dr Iain Macaulay, Technical Development Group Leader, Earlham Institute
It's entirely possible, yeah.

伊恩·麦考利博士     技术开发组组长   厄尔汉姆研究所
“这是完全有可能的。”

By studying DNA from wild species, they hope to find answers to global problems. Like how to breed crops to withstand disease and climate change.

通过研究野生物种的 DNA，他们希望找到解决影响全球的问题的答案。比如，怎样培育农作物，使其能抵御疾病和气候变化。

Over the next decade, ten UK partners will decipher the genetic code of sixty-six thousand species. [It's] part of a global effort to sequence one and a half million living things - with the results free for all to use.

在未来十年间，英国的十家合作伙伴将破译 6.6 万个物种的遗传密码。这是测序全球 150 万个生物工作当中的一部分，研究结果可供所有人使用。

词汇

teeming with life 充满生命

biomedical sciences 生物医学

DNA sequence 脱氧核糖核酸（DNA）序列

breed crops 培育农作物

decipher the genetic code 破译遗传信息密码

问题答案

The DNA of all non-human life, such as plants, animals, fungi and single-cell organisms.