TED演讲:个体DNA检测的时代来了(4)

 You would have thought, "Wow! I can now call my Aunt Glenda from the car and wish her a happy birthday. 你一定会想：“哇喔！我现在可以在车里打电话给我姨妈Glenda，祝她生日快乐了。

I can call anyone, anytime. This is the future!" 我现在能给任何人在任何时间打电话了。这就是未来！”

Little did you know, you would tap on that phone to make dinner reservations for you and Aunt Glenda to celebrate together. 你还并不知道，你会拨通电话来预订晚餐，让你和Glenda姨妈一起庆祝。

With another tap, you'd be ordering her gift. 拨打另一通电话，你将订好她的礼物。

And yet one more tap, and you'd be "liking¹" Auntie Glenda on Facebook. 而且每多一次拨号，你将会被Glenda姨妈在Facebook上“点赞”。

And all of this, while sitting on the toilet. 而你可以坐在马桶上做完这所有的事。

It is notoriously hard to predict where new technology might take us. 新技术将把我们带往何处，谁都说不准。

And the same is true for personal DNA² technology today. 对如今的个人DNA技术来说，情况也是一样。

For example, I could never have imagined that a truffle farmer, of all people, would use personal DNA machines. 举个例子，我从来没想过一个种松露的农民，怎么会需要用到个人DNA检测设备。

Dr. Paul Thomas grows truffles for a living. Paul Thomas博士以种植松露为生。

We see him pictured here, holding the first UK-cultivated truffle in his hands, on one of his farms. 我们可以看到，在这张照片里，他在他的一个农场里，手里拿着第一个尿激酶培养的松露。

Truffles are this delicacy³ that stems from a fungus⁴ growing on the roots of living trees. 松露如此美味，源于一种在活的树根生长的真菌。

And it's a rare fungus. Some species may fetch 3,000, 7,000, or more dollars per kilogram. 这是一种罕见的真菌。一些种类每公斤能卖到3000、7000美元，甚至更多。

I learned from Paul that the stakes for a truffle farmer can be really high. 我从保罗那了解到种松露的农民的收益可以很高。

When he sources new truffles to grow on his farms, he's exposed to the threat of knockoffs 当保罗获得生长在他的农场的新松露时，他被置于仿冒品的威胁之中

truffles that look and feel like the real thing, but they're of lower quality. 这种松露的外观和感觉很像真的，但是它们的质量很差。

But even to a trained eye like Paul's, even when looked at under a microscope, these truffles can pass for authentic⁵. 不过即使有一双像保罗那样训练有素的眼睛，在显微镜下观察，这些松露都可以通过真品的检测。

So in order to grow the highest quality truffles, the ones that chefs all over the world will fight over, Paul has to use DNA analysis. 为了种植最高质量的松露，那些世界各地的大厨所竞相争夺的松露，保罗必须使用DNA分析。

Isn't that mind-blowing? 这难道不令人大开眼界吗? 

I bet you will never look at that black truffle risotto again without thinking of its genes⁶. 我敢打赌你以后看着黑松露意大利调味饭，都不得不想到它的基因。

1 liking   

n.爱好；嗜好；喜欢

参考例句：

• The word palate also means taste or liking.Palate这个词也有“口味”或“嗜好”的意思。
• I must admit I have no liking for exaggeration.我必须承认我不喜欢夸大其词。

2 DNA   

(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸

参考例句：

• DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。

3 delicacy   

n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴

参考例句：

• We admired the delicacy of the craftsmanship.我们佩服工艺师精巧的手艺。
• He sensed the delicacy of the situation.他感觉到了形势的微妙。

4 fungus   

n.真菌，真菌类植物

参考例句：

• Mushrooms are a type of fungus.蘑菇是一种真菌。
• This fungus can just be detected by the unaided eye.这种真菌只用肉眼就能检查出。

5 authentic   

a.真的，真正的；可靠的，可信的，有根据的

参考例句：

• This is an authentic news report. We can depend on it. 这是篇可靠的新闻报道, 我们相信它。
• Autumn is also the authentic season of renewal. 秋天才是真正的除旧布新的季节。

6 genes   

n.基因( gene的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• You have good genes from your parents, so you should live a long time. 你从父母那儿获得优良的基因，所以能够活得很长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Differences will help to reveal the functions of the genes. 它们间的差异将会帮助我们揭开基因多种功能。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 生物技术的世纪