英语听力文摘 English Digest 469、克隆宠物

Cloning Pets
 

Is animal cloning for real? I want to have my cat cloned.

Well, animal cloning technology exists, but pet cloning isn’t quite there yet. And it may never be. 

Why not? I could think lots of people could want to have copies of their pets.

That’s just a problem. A clone isn’t a copy. It’s a separate, individual organism. The only thing clone of Mr. Wolfs and Mr. Wolfs of themselves have in common is their genetic¹ sequence.

The only thing? Isn’t that everything? 

Apparently² not! As cloning technology has improved, more and more evidence has come out of clones that don’t look alike or act alike. For example, Ted³ Friend and Greg Archer⁴, both at Texas A & M, have cloned piglets.

They report that there is just as much variation in appearance among the clones as among the non-clones. Some have bristly coats, others not; some have more teeth, some fewer.

But wouldn’t a clone of Mr. Wolf at least have its charming personality?

Maybe not. The world’s first cloned cat was made by Duane Kraemer, also at Texas A & M. He reports that the clone has a different personality altogether than its clone mother–it’s much more friendly, in fact.

动物真的可以克隆吗？我想克隆家里的猫。

动物克隆确实存在，但是，宠物克隆现在还没有。估计以后也不会有。

为什么不呢？我觉得有不少人想克隆宠物吧？

因为你得考虑这样一个问题：克隆并非复制。克隆是独立的生物个体。沃夫先生的克隆产物（对话人中的宠物名字）和生物体本身唯一的共同点在于基因序列。

只是基因序列吗？不是所有的都相同？

当然不是！随着克隆科技的不断发展，越来越多的证明显示克隆并非看起来一样或行为一样。比如，德州农工大学的Ted Friend 和Greg Archer教授克隆了一批小猪。

报告显示在克隆猪和正常繁殖的猪并无二致，都存在生物变异。有的鬓毛较多，有的没有鬓毛。有的有的牙齿更多；有的牙齿更少。

克隆的宠物猫至少保留了讨人喜欢的个性吧？

也许不会哦！同是德州农工大学的Duane Kraemer研究出了世界上第一只克隆猫。克隆猫的性情和原来那只猫的性情大不同——友善了不少。

for real: 真的

clone：克隆

 

1 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

2 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

3 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

4 archer   

n.射手，弓箭手

参考例句：

• The archer strung his bow and aimed an arrow at the target.弓箭手拉紧弓弦将箭瞄准靶子。
• The archer's shot was a perfect bull's-eye.射手的那一箭正中靶心。