万物简史 第433期:小生物的世界(4)

 With this ability to evolve rapidly goes another, even scarier advantage. 有了这种能力，另一种更加吓人的优势会很快产生。

Bacteria share information. Any bacterium¹ can take pieces of genetic³ coding from any other. 细菌能共享信息，任何细菌都能从任何别的细菌那里接到几条遗传密码。

Essentially⁴, as Margulis and Sagan put it, all bacteria swim in a single gene² pool. 正如马古利斯和萨根所说，实际上，所有的细菌都在同一基因池里游泳。

Any adaptive change that occurs in one area of the bacterial⁵ universe can spread to any other. 在细菌的宇宙里，一个区域发生的适应性变化，很快会扩展到任何别的区域。

It's rather as if a human could go to an insect to get the necessary genetic coding to sprout⁶ wings or walk on ceilings. 这就好像人可以从昆虫那里获得长出翅膀或在天花板上行走所必需的遗传密码一样。

It means that from a genetic point of view bacteria have become a single superorganism—tiny, dispersed⁷, but invincible⁸. 从遗传角度来看，这意味着细菌已经成为一种超级生物——又小，又分散，但又不可战胜。

They will live and thrive on almost anything you spill, dribble⁹, or shake loose. 无论你吐出，滴下或泼出任何东西，细菌几乎都能在上面生活和繁殖。

Just give them a little moisture—as when you run a damp cloth over a counter—and they will bloom as if created from nothing. 你只要给它们一点儿水汽——比如用湿抹布擦一擦柜子——它们就能滋生，仿佛从无到有。

They will eat wood, the glue in wallpaper, the metals in hardened paint. 它们会浸蚀木头、墙纸里的胶水、干漆里的金属。

Scientists in Australia found microbes known as Thiobacillus concretivorans that lived in, 澳大利亚科学家发现，有一种名叫蚀固硫杆菌的细菌生活在浓度高得足以溶解金属的硫酸里，

indeed, could not live without—concentrations of sulfuric acid strong enough to dissolve metal. 实际上，它们离开了浓硫酸就活不成。

A species called Micrococcus radiophilus was found living happily in the waste tanks of nuclear reactors¹⁰, 据发现，有一种名叫嗜放射微球菌的细菌在核反应堆的废罐里过得怪舒服的，

gorging¹¹ itself on plutonium and whatever else was there. 吃着钚和别的残留物过日子。

Some bacteria break down chemical materials from which, as far as we can tell, they gain no benefit at all. 有的细菌分解化学物质，而据我们所知，它们从中捞不到一点儿好处。

1 bacterium   

n.(pl.)bacteria 细菌

参考例句：

• The bacterium possibly goes in the human body by the mouth.细菌可能通过口进入人体。
• A bacterium is identified as the cause for his duodenal ulcer.一种细菌被断定为造成他十二指肠溃疡的根源。

2 gene   

n.遗传因子，基因

参考例句：

• A single gene may have many effects.单一基因可能具有很多种效应。
• The targeting of gene therapy has been paid close attention.其中基因治疗的靶向性是值得密切关注的问题之一。

3 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。

4 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

5 bacterial   

a.细菌的

参考例句：

• Bacterial reproduction is accelerated in weightless space. 在失重的空间，细菌繁殖加快了。
• Brain lesions can be caused by bacterial infections. 大脑损伤可能由细菌感染引起。

6 sprout   

n.芽，萌芽；vt.使发芽，摘去芽；vi.长芽，抽条

参考例句：

• When do deer first sprout horns?鹿在多大的时候开始长出角？
• It takes about a week for the seeds to sprout.这些种子大约要一周后才会发芽。

7 dispersed   

adj. 被驱散的, 被分散的, 散布的

参考例句：

• The clouds dispersed themselves. 云散了。
• After school the children dispersed to their homes. 放学后，孩子们四散回家了。

8 invincible   

adj.不可征服的，难以制服的

参考例句：

• This football team was once reputed to be invincible.这支足球队曾被誉为无敌的劲旅。
• The workers are invincible as long as they hold together.只要工人团结一致，他们就是不可战胜的。

9 dribble   

v.点滴留下，流口水；n.口水

参考例句：

• Melted wax dribbled down the side of the candle.熔化了的蜡一滴滴从蜡烛边上流下。
• He wiped a dribble of saliva from his chin.他擦掉了下巴上的几滴口水。

10 reactors   

起反应的人( reactor的名词复数 )； 反应装置； 原子炉； 核反应堆

参考例句：

• The TMI nuclear facility has two reactors. 三哩岛核设施有两个反应堆。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• The earliest production reactors necessarily used normal uranium as fuel. 最早为生产用的反应堆，必须使用普通铀作为燃料。

11 gorging   

v.（用食物把自己）塞饱，填饱( gorge的现在分词 )；作呕

参考例句：

• They had been gorging fruit in the forest. 他们方才一直在森林里狼吞虎咽地大嚼野果。 来自辞典例句
• He saw roses winding about the rain spout; or mulberries-birds gorging in the mulberry tree. 他会看到玫瑰花绕在水管上，或者是看到在桑树枝头上使劲啄食的小鸟。 来自辞典例句