TED演讲：细菌是怎样交流的(7)

 　　We also then went to look at what are these molecules² -- these were the red triangles on my slides before. 我们同时也研究了这些小分子，这些就是我刚才幻灯上的小红三角形。

　　And so this is the Vibrio fischeri molecule¹. This is the word that it talks with. 这个是费氏弧菌的小分子。也就是它们用以交谈的文字。

　　So then we started to look at other bacteria, and these are just a smattering of the molecules that we've discovered. 我们开始研究其他细菌，这些是部分我们已发现的小分子。

　　And what I hope you can see is that the molecules are related. 我希望你们看得出来，这些分子之间是有关联性的。

　　So the left-hand part of the molecule is identical in every single species of bacteria. 每种细菌，它们的小分子的左半部都是完全相同的。

　　But the right-hand part of the molecule is a little bit different in every single species. 只是在右半部则因菌种的不同而有少许的不同。

　　And what that does is to confer exquisite³ species specificities to these languages. 这个发现证实细菌的语言有高度的专一性。

　　So each molecule fits into its partner receptor and no other. 每一种分子只能与其相对受器结合，非常专一。

　　So these are private, secret conversations. These conversations are for intraspecies communication. 所以这些交谈是私下的、秘密的。这种交流是只限于同种族内部的沟通。

　　Each bacteria uses a particular molecule that's its language that allows it to count its own siblings⁴. 每一种细菌使用其特殊分子代表它的语言，让它能够计算同类的数量。

　　And so once we got that far we thought we were starting to understand that bacteria have these social behaviors. 一旦我们了解这些，我们也开始了解细菌有所谓的社交行为。

　　But what we were really thinking about is that most of the time bacteria don't live by themselves, 但我们真正思考的问题是，在多数情况下，细菌并不是单独生活的，

　　they live in incredible mixtures, with hundreds or thousands of other species of bacteria. 它们居住的地方是鱼龙混杂的，它们跟其它成百上千种的细菌同居一处。

　　And that's depicted⁵ on this slide. This is your skin. So this is just a picture -- a micrograph of your skin. 这张幻灯可以说明这个情形：这是你的皮肤。这是一张照片，是你皮肤的显微照片。

　　Anywhere on your body, it looks pretty much like this, and what I hope you can see is that there's all kinds of bacteria there. 在你身体的任何地方，看上去都会和这差不多。我希望你能看出，这里有各种不同的细菌。

　　And so we started to think if this really is about communication in bacteria, 因此我们开始思考，如果这真的是细菌间的交流，

　　and it's about counting your neighbors, it's not enough to be able to only talk within your species. 计算与之相邻的同种细菌的数量，只跟同种细菌沟通是不够的，

　　There has to be a way to take a census⁶ of the rest of the bacteria in the population. 它们一定有某种跟周围其他种细菌和平共处的方法。

1 molecule   

n.分子，克分子

参考例句：

• A molecule of water is made up of two atoms of hygrogen and one atom of oxygen.一个水分子是由P妈̬f婘̬ 妈̬成的。
• This gives us the structural formula of the molecule.这种方式给出了分子的结构式。

2 molecules   

分子( molecule的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The structure of molecules can be seen under an electron microscope. 分子的结构可在电子显微镜下观察到。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules. 在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。

3 exquisite   

adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的

参考例句：

• I was admiring the exquisite workmanship in the mosaic.我当时正在欣赏镶嵌画的精致做工。
• I still remember the exquisite pleasure I experienced in Bali.我依然记得在巴厘岛所经历的那种剧烈的快感。

4 siblings   

n.兄弟，姐妹( sibling的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A triplet sleeps amongst its two siblings. 一个三胞胎睡在其两个同胞之间。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She has no way of tracking the donor or her half-siblings down. 她没办法找到那个捐精者或她的兄弟姐妹。 来自时文部分

5 depicted   

描绘，描画( depict的过去式和过去分词 )； 描述

参考例句：

• Other animals were depicted on the periphery of the group. 其他动物在群像的外围加以修饰。
• They depicted the thrilling situation to us in great detail. 他们向我们详细地描述了那激动人心的场面。

6 census   

n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查

参考例句：

• A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
• The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。