美国有线新闻 CNN 科学家计划复活长毛猛玛象

Which of these animals was the last to go extinct? Saber-tooth tiger; Wooly¹ mammoth², Megalodon or Eurasian cave lion.

以下哪种动物是最后灭绝的？剑齿虎，长毛猛犸象，巨齿鲨还是欧亚洞穴狮？

Scientists believe certain wooly mammoths survived until 4,000 years ago, long after these other animals were thought to have gone extinct.

科学家认为，某些长毛猛犸象一直存活到4000年前，而上述其他动物被认为早已灭绝。

Can scientists use genetic³ engineering to bring back the wooly mammoth, and should they?

科学家能用基因工程让长毛猛玛象复活吗？他们应该这样做吗？

This sounds like something out of "Jurassic Park", but scientists can't directly clone a wooly mammoth.

这听起来像是《侏罗纪公园》里的场景，但科学家不能直接克隆长毛猛玛象。

The DNA⁴ they've gotten from these animal's remains⁵ has deteriorated⁶ too much,

他们从这些动物遗骸中提取的DNA已经严重退化，

what they are hoping to do is use genetic engineering to create a hybrid⁷ of an elephant and a mammoth that would look just like the extinct animal.

他们希望利用基因工程创造出一种大象-猛犸象杂交种，看起来和已经灭绝的猛犸象相似。

A biosciences and genetics company has raised $15 million to do this,

一家生物科学和遗传学公司为此筹集了1500万美元，

and it says it hopes to have calves⁸ walking around in four to six years, but there are still a lot of questions about how this would happen.

并表示希望在四到六年内让幼崽四处走动，但关于如何做到这一点还有很多问题。

For one thing, researchers say they'll have to make 50 changes to an elephant's genetic code so it's able to survive in the Arctic.

首先，研究人员表示，他们必须对大象的遗传密码进行50次修改，这样大象才能在北极生存。

And even then, critics say this won't create a mammoth, just a hairier, fatter elephant.

但批评人士表示，即便如此，这创造出的也不是猛玛象，而是一头多毛、肥胖的大象。

They're also concerned that the possibility of using elephant mothers to carry a genetically⁹ engineered baby could be unethical.

他们还担心，利用大象妈妈怀上转基因婴儿这种可能性可能是不道德的。

Supporters hope the project will create a lot of new interest in genetic science. It's just not known whether it will work or what the consequences would be.

支持者希望该项目能引起人们对基因科学的新兴趣。只是不知道这是否会起作用或者会产生什么后果。

1 wooly   

adj.毛茸茸的；糊涂的

参考例句：

• I like the feel of this cloth and it has a warm wooly feel.我喜欢这块布的手感,它摸上去毛茸茸的很暖和。
• He wore a brown t-shirt with jeans and a pair of shoes,with a wooly hat covering his hair.小贝身穿一件棕色t恤，搭配牛仔裤和皮鞋，头戴一顶盖住头发的羊毛帽子。

2 mammoth   

n.长毛象；adj.长毛象似的，巨大的

参考例句：

• You can only undertake mammoth changes if the finances are there.资金到位的情况下方可进行重大变革。
• Building the new railroad will be a mammoth job.修建那条新铁路将是一项巨大工程。

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 DNA   

(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸

参考例句：

• DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。

5 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

6 deteriorated   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Her health deteriorated rapidly, and she died shortly afterwards. 她的健康状况急剧恶化，不久便去世了。
• His condition steadily deteriorated. 他的病情恶化，日甚一日。

7 hybrid   

n.(动，植）杂种，混合物

参考例句：

• That is a hybrid perpetual rose.那是一株杂交的四季开花的蔷薇。
• The hybrid was tall,handsome,and intelligent.那混血儿高大、英俊、又聪明。

8 calves   

n.(calf的复数)笨拙的男子，腓；腿肚子( calf的名词复数 )；牛犊；腓；小腿肚v.生小牛( calve的第三人称单数 )；（冰川）崩解；生（小牛等），产（犊）；使（冰川）崩解

参考例句：

• a cow suckling her calves 给小牛吃奶的母牛
• The calves are grazed intensively during their first season. 小牛在生长的第一季里集中喂养。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 genetically   

adv.遗传上

参考例句：

• All the bees in the colony are genetically related. 同一群体的蜜蜂都有亲缘关系。
• Genetically modified foods have already arrived on American dinner tables. 经基因改造加工过的食物已端上了美国人的餐桌。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 基因与食物