时差N小时 如何挑选好吃的番茄?(下)

While experimenting with weed genes¹ that turned tomatoes dark green, geneticists accidentally discovered one of the reasons why today’s tomatoes lack taste.

基因学家在对使番茄呈墨绿色的基因进行实验的过程中，意外发现了现今西红柿乏味的另外一大原因。

Modern tomatoes are light green before they turn uniformly red.

现在的西红柿在全部变红之前是呈浅绿色的，

Surprisingly, the mutation² that gives tomatoes uniform red color actually disables some of the ripening³ genes.

令人惊奇的是，让番茄变红的变异却恰恰抑制了成熟基因的作用。

Those genes allow the fruit to make its own sugar which makes the tomato sweeter.

而成熟基因可以使水果产生糖分，从而使番茄变甜。

The genes also increase the amount of carotenoid pigments⁴, which give tomatoes the red color.

同时产生更多的类胡萝卜素，使番茄变红。

When researchers turned the ripening genes back on, their experimental tomatoes had twenty percent more sugar and up to thirty percent more carotenoids.

当研究者们尝试着将成熟基因恢复到原有数量后，他们的实验番茄中所含的糖分增加了20%，类胡萝卜素提高了30%。

Unfortunately, regulations prohibited researchers from tasting their experimental fruits, but you can try eating heirloom tomatoes.

遗憾的是，由于法规的原因，研究者们无法品尝自己的实验番茄，不过你们可以试着尝尝那些纯天然的番茄。

Some varieties might not be pretty looking, but are tasty.

它们不中看，但是很好吃。

1 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

2 mutation   

n.变化，变异，转变

参考例句：

• People who have this mutation need less sleep than others.有这种突变的人需要的睡眠比其他人少。
• So far the discussion has centered entirely around mutation in the strict sense.到目前为止，严格来讲，讨论完全集中于围绕突变问题上。

3 ripening   

v.成熟，使熟( ripen的现在分词 )；熟化；熟成

参考例句：

• The corn is blossoming [ripening]. 玉米正在开花[成熟]。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• When the summer crop is ripening, the autumn crop has to be sowed. 夏季作物成熟时，就得播种秋季作物。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 pigments   

n.（粉状）颜料( pigment的名词复数 )；天然色素

参考例句：

• The Romans used natural pigments on their fabrics and walls. 古罗马人在织物和墙壁上使用天然颜料。 来自辞典例句
• The original white lead pigments have oxidized and turned black. 最初的白色铅质颜料氧化后变成了黑色。 来自辞典例句