万物简史 第531期:丰富多彩的生命(27)

 Even now nearly a quarter of all prescribed medicines are derived¹ from just forty plants, with another 16 percent coming from animals or microbes, 即使现在，差不多四分之一的全都处方药来自仅仅40种植物，还有l6%来自动物或微生物，

so there is a serious risk with every hectare of forest felled of losing medically vital possibilities. 因此每砍伐l0万平方米森林，失去重要的药用发展前途的风险就增加一分。

Using a method called combinatorial chemistry, 化学家们使用一种名叫组合化学的方法，

chemists can generate forty thousand compounds at a time in labs, but these products are random² and not uncommonly³ useless, 在实验室里一次可以产生出4万种化合物，但这些产品是规格不一的，没有多大用处，

whereas any natural molecule⁴ will have already passed what the Economist⁵ calls 而自然界的每个分子都已经经过《经济学家》杂志所说的

"the ultimate screening programme: over three and a half billion years of evolution." “最终的审查过程：35亿多年的进化”。

Looking for the unknown isn't simply a matter of traveling to remote or distant places, however. 然而，寻找未知的东西不完全是一件要去偏僻或遥远地方的事情。

In his book Life: An Unauthorised Biography, 在《生命：一部未经授权的传记》一书中，

Richard Fortey notes how one ancient bacterium⁶ was found on the wall of a country pub "where men had urinated for generations", 理查德·福泰指出，有一种古老的细菌是在一家乡村酒店的墙上发现的，“世世代代的男人都在那儿撒尿”，

a discovery that would seem to involve rare amounts of luckand devotion and possibly some other quality not specified⁷. 这一发现似乎包含几个因素：罕见的运气和专心，可能再加上某种别的没有明确的因素。

There aren't enough specialists. 专门人才不足。

The stock of things to be found, examined, and recorded very much outruns the supply of scientists available to do it. 需要发现、研究和记录的东西实在太多，干这活儿的科学家供不应求。

Take the hardy⁸ and little-known organisms known as bdelloid rotifers. 以名叫吸螨的那种生命力很强而又鲜为人知的微生物为例，

These are microscopic⁹ animals that can survive almost anything. 那种微生物几乎可以在任何环境里生存。

When conditions are tough, they curl up into a compact shape, switch off their metabolism¹⁰, and wait for better times. 条件恶劣的时候，它们就缩成一团，关闭新陈代谢系统，等待好的年景。

 

1 derived   

vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取

参考例句：

• Many English words are derived from Latin and Greek. 英语很多词源出于拉丁文和希腊文。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He derived his enthusiasm for literature from his father. 他对文学的爱好是受他父亲的影响。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。

3 uncommonly   

adv. 稀罕(极，非常)

参考例句：

• an uncommonly gifted child 一个天赋异禀的儿童
• My little Mary was feeling uncommonly empty. 我肚子当时正饿得厉害。

4 molecule   

n.分子，克分子

参考例句：

• A molecule of water is made up of two atoms of hygrogen and one atom of oxygen.一个水分子是由P妈̬f婘̬ 妈̬成的。
• This gives us the structural formula of the molecule.这种方式给出了分子的结构式。

5 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

6 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。

7 specified   

adj.特定的

参考例句：

• The architect specified oak for the wood trim. 那位建筑师指定用橡木做木饰条。
• It is generated by some specified means. 这是由某些未加说明的方法产生的。

8 hardy   

adj.勇敢的，果断的，吃苦的；耐寒的

参考例句：

• The kind of plant is a hardy annual.这种植物是耐寒的一年生植物。
• He is a hardy person.他是一个能吃苦耐劳的人。

9 microscopic   

adj.微小的，细微的，极小的，显微的

参考例句：

• It's impossible to read his microscopic handwriting.不可能看清他那极小的书写字迹。
• A plant's lungs are the microscopic pores in its leaves.植物的肺就是其叶片上微细的气孔。

10 metabolism   

n.新陈代谢

参考例句：

• After years of dieting,Carol's metabolism was completely out of whack.经过数年的节食，卡罗尔的新陈代谢完全紊乱了。
• All living matter undergoes a process of metabolism.生物都有新陈代谢。