万物简史 第441期:小生物的世界(12)

 　　In the early days, this was an exceedingly painstaking¹ process. 早年，这是个极费力气的过程。

　　Work on a single bacterium² could easily consume a year. 研究一个细菌就可能一下子花掉一年时间。

　　At that time, according to Woese, only about 500 species of bacteria were known, 据沃斯说，那个时候，已知的细菌只有大约500种。

　　which is fewer than the number of species you have in your mouth. 这比你嘴巴里的细菌种类还要少。

　　Today the number is about ten times that, though that is still far short of the 26,900 species of algae³, 今天，这个数字大约是那个数字的10倍，虽然还远远比不上26900种海藻、

　　70,000 of fungi⁴, and 30,800 of amoebas and related organisms whose biographies fill the annals of biology. 70000种真菌和30800种变形虫，以及相关的微生物。生物学的编年史上都记载着它们的故事。

　　It isn't simple indifference⁵ that keeps the total low. 细菌总数量那么少，并不完全是因为人们对它们不重视。

　　Bacteria can be exasperatingly⁶ difficult to isolate⁷ and study. 细菌的分离和研究工作有可能极其困难的，

　　Only about 1 percent will grow in culture. 只有大约1%能通过培养繁殖。

　　Considering how wildly adaptable⁸ they are in nature, 考虑到它们在自然环境里强大的适应能力，

　　it is an odd fact that the one place they seem not to wish to live is a petri dish. 有个地方它们似乎不愿意去生活，这是很怪的，那就是在皮氏培养皿里。

　　Plop them on a bed of agar and pamper⁹ them as you will, and most will just lie there, declining every inducement to bloom. 要是你把细菌扔在琼脂培养基上，无论你怎么爱抚它们，其中大多数就躺在那里，怎么也不肯繁殖。

　　Any bacterium that thrives in a lab is by definition exceptional, 任何在实验室里繁殖的细菌都只能说是个例外，

　　and yet these were, almost exclusively, the organisms studied by microbiologists. 而这一些几乎全都是微生物学家们研究的对象。

　　It was, said Woese, "like learning about animals from visiting zoos." 沃斯说，这就“好像是一面在参观动物园，一面在了解动物”。

　　Genes¹⁰, however, allowed Woese to approach microorganisms from another angle. 然而，由于基因的发现，沃斯可以从另一角度去研究微生物。

　　As he worked, Woese realized that there were more fundamental divisions in the microbial world than anyone suspected.  他在研究过程中意识到，微生物世界可以划分成更多的基本部分，

1 painstaking   

adj.苦干的；艰苦的，费力的，刻苦的

参考例句：

• She is not very clever but she is painstaking.她并不很聪明，但肯下苦功夫。
• Through years of our painstaking efforts,we have at last achieved what we have today.大家经过多少年的努力，才取得今天的成绩。

2 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。

3 algae   

n.水藻，海藻

参考例句：

• Most algae live in water.多数藻类生长在水中。
• Algae grow and spread quickly in the lake.湖中水藻滋蔓。

4 fungi   

n.真菌，霉菌

参考例句：

• Students practice to apply the study of genetics to multicellular plants and fungi.学生们练习把基因学应用到多细胞植物和真菌中。
• The lawn was covered with fungi.草地上到处都是蘑菇。

5 indifference   

n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎

参考例句：

• I was disappointed by his indifference more than somewhat.他的漠不关心使我很失望。
• He feigned indifference to criticism of his work.他假装毫不在意别人批评他的作品。

6 exasperatingly   

参考例句：

• But I found the saving exasperatingly slow. 但是我发现这么节约慢得令人恼怒。 来自辞典例句
• Goertz found the IRA exasperatingly amateur. 戈尔兹发现爱尔兰共和国军非常缺乏实战经验。 来自辞典例句

7 isolate   

vt.使孤立，隔离

参考例句：

• Do not isolate yourself from others.不要把自己孤立起来。
• We should never isolate ourselves from the masses.我们永远不能脱离群众。

8 adaptable   

adj.能适应的，适应性强的，可改编的

参考例句：

• He is an adaptable man and will soon learn the new work.他是个适应性很强的人，很快就将学会这种工作。
• The soil is adaptable to the growth of peanuts.这土壤适宜于花生的生长。

9 pamper   

v.纵容，过分关怀

参考例句：

• Don't pamper your little daughter.别把你的小女儿娇坏了！
• You need to pamper yourself and let your charm come through.你需要对自己放纵一些来表现你的魅力。

10 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