VOA慢速英语--科学家培育出拯救濒危白犀牛的人工胚胎

Researchers say they have successfully created another embryo¹ of the northern white rhino². The animal risks disappearing forever. Just two remain, and both are female.

This new, viable³ embryo is the third of its kind.

To make the embryo, scientists used eggs from one of the surviving females. They inseminated the eggs with frozen cells from dead males.

The embryos⁴ are stored in a cool liquid that protects them. They will be put into a surrogate mother — a southern white rhino — in the coming months.

The Kenya Wildlife Service and officials from Kenya, the Czech Republic, Germany and Italy made a statement about the success. Kenya's wildlife minister, Najib Balala, called the ability to stop the loss of the northern rhino "amazing."

The goal is to create a group of at least five animals that could return to their natural environment. This process could take many years.

The two remaining female northern white rhinos⁵, Najin and Fatu, live in Kenya. Fatu's eggs made all three viable embryos.

Thomas Hildebrandt is with the Leibniz Institute for Zoo & Wildlife Research in Germany. "Now the team will make every effort to achieve the same result for the 30-year-old Najin before it is too late for her," he said.

The operation is safe and can be performed regularly before the animals become too old, the statement said.

The next step is to choose female southern white rhinos among those at Kenya's Ol Pejeta Conservancy to serve as a surrogate mother, Kenya's wildlife minister said.

Years of humans killing⁶ the animals illegally have severely⁷ reduced the number of rhinos.

The last male northern white rhino was a 45-year-old named Sudan. In 2017, Sudan became famous when he appeared on an online service that connects possible romantic partners. The service, called Tinder, listed the rhino as "The Most Eligible⁸ Bachelor in the World." The title was part of a fundraising effort.

Sudan, named for the country where he was born, died in 2018.

Words in This Story

viable – adj. technical : capable of living or of developing into a living thing

inseminate – v. technical: to put semen into (a woman or a female animal) in order to cause pregnancy⁹

surrogate – adj. always used before a noun a person or thing that takes the place or performs the duties of someone or something else

eligible – adj. suitable and desirable for marriage

bachelor – n. a man who is not married

fundraising – n. activity done to collect money for a political party, charity, school, etc.

1 embryo   

n.胚胎，萌芽的事物

参考例句：

• They are engaging in an embryo research.他们正在进行一项胚胎研究。
• The project was barely in embryo.该计划只是个雏形。

2 rhino   

n.犀牛，钱, 现金

参考例句：

• The rhino charged headlong towards us.犀牛急速地向我们冲来。
• They have driven the rhino to the edge of extinction.他们已经令犀牛濒临灭绝。

3 viable   

adj.可行的，切实可行的，能活下去的

参考例句：

• The scheme is economically viable.这个计划从经济效益来看是可行的。
• The economy of the country is not viable.这个国家经济是难以维持的。

4 embryos   

n.晶胚；胚，胚胎( embryo的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Somatic cells of angiosperms enter a regenerative phase and behave like embryos. 被子植物体细胞进入一个生殖阶段，而且其行为象胚。 来自辞典例句
• Evolution can explain why human embryos look like gilled fishes. 进化论能够解释为什么人类的胚胎看起来象除去了内脏的鱼一样。 来自辞典例句

5 rhinos   

n.犀牛（rhino的复数形式）

参考例句：

• There are many reports of people taming and even training Indian rhinos. 有许多关于人们驯养甚至训练印度犀牛的记载。 来自辞典例句
• The rhinos had fed during the night in the rice fields of these villagers. 犀牛夜里在这些村民的庄稼地里也已吃饱了。 来自辞典例句

6 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

7 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

8 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

9 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。