科学美国人60秒 SSS 3D打印珊瑚能保护珊瑚礁（在线收听）

This is Scientific American's 60-second Science, I'm Annie Sneed.

这里是科学美国人——60秒科学系列，我是安妮·斯尼德。

Coral reefs are among the most productive ecosystems in the world.

珊瑚礁是世界上生产力最强的生态系统之一。

They're also in serious danger—climate change and other threats are killing them off.

但珊瑚礁也处于严重危险之中——气候变化和其他威胁可能会使其灭绝。

But researchers have come up with an invention they think could help the reefs: 3-D-printed corals.

但是研究人员想出了他们认为可以帮助珊瑚礁的发明：3D打印珊瑚。

At the heart of reef ecosystems lies a symbiosis between corals and algae.

珊瑚礁生态系统的核心是珊瑚虫和藻类的共生关系。

"Corals use light, they're photosynthesizing, so they have microscopic algae inside their tissues.

“珊瑚虫利用光进行光合作用，因此微型藻类会进入它们的组织内。

And these use light to generate energy, and that energy is then transferred to the coral animal host.

这些藻类用光产生能量，之后能量被转移到珊瑚虫宿主身上。

And that animal host, in return, transfers certain by-products to the algae, so they have a symbiosis going on."

珊瑚虫宿主又反过来将某些副产品转移给藻类，这样它们就形成了共生关系。”

Daniel Wangpraseurt, a coral reef scientist at the University of Cambridge.

剑桥大学的珊瑚礁科学家丹尼尔·旺普拉修特说到。

This tight-knit bond between algae and corals is what makes reefs so incredibly productive.

藻类和珊瑚虫之间的这种紧密联系，就是珊瑚礁生产力如此惊人的原因所在。

And because of this symbiosis, corals have evolved sophisticated skeletal and tissue structures for collecting sunlight.

由于这种共生关系，珊瑚进化出复杂的骨架和组织结构来收集阳光。

"So usually, you would have this rapid light attenuation.

“通常情况下，这种光会迅速衰减。

But through the skeleton, light is pumped and guided into deeper, otherwise shaded areas.

但通过珊瑚骨架后，光会被抽送并引导到更深的阴暗区域。

So there's a lot of tricks that corals use. And in our work, we copied some of them."

珊瑚用了很多技巧。我们的研究工作借用了其中一些。”

Wangpraseurt and his colleagues imaged corals to analyze their skeletal and tissue makeup.

旺普拉修特为同事为珊瑚成像，分析它们的骨架和组织结构。

They then used a 3-D bioprinter to build an intricate structure that mimics real corals.

他们随后用3D生物打印机打造了一个复杂结构，模仿真实的珊瑚。

The printed corals were made of biomaterials like cellulose and had algae embedded in them.

打印珊瑚由纤维素等生物材料制成，有藻类植入其中。

And because the researchers were able replicate coral structure so well, the algae grew tremendously—

由于研究人员能够很好地复制珊瑚结构，使得藻类疯狂生长，

up to 100 times more densely than they normally grow in the lab.

其生长密度大大超过了实验室正常情况的100倍。

Wangpraseurt says their 3-D-printed creation could be used as a medium to grow algae to produce bioenergy

旺普拉修特表示，他们的3D打印产物可用作媒介，来种植产生生物能源的藻类，

and also as a tool for studying the coral-algae symbiosis.

也可以作为研究珊瑚-藻类共生关系的工具。

"At the same time, of course, there are many other ways this technology can be further scaled and improved to create something like artificial corals in the future.

“当然，与此同时，有许多其他方法可以进一步测量和改进这项技术，以便在未来创造出类似人工珊瑚的东西。

So this is just the first step, where we created the animal host, but we're now continuing to further replicate this animal-algal symbiosis.

因此这只是我们创造动物宿主的第一步，但我们会继续进一步复制这种动物-藻类共生关系。

And we're developing model systems. And eventually, of course, it would be nice that this can have direct applications in coral reef restoration."

我们计划开发模型系统。当然，最终，这项技术能够直接应用于珊瑚礁的修复就更好了。”

Thanks for listening for Scientific American's 60-second Science. I'm Annie Sneed.

谢谢大家收听科学美国人——60秒科学。我是安妮·斯尼德。