VOA慢速英语(翻译+字幕+讲解):研究人员研究蜘蛛丝以制造新材料
日期:2019-09-05 15:36

(单词翻译:单击)

&tVe^iS.33k^.q(v,Nyuz;!EO0zo4z=E0j

听力文本

9#wa-J~J%gLd]fM

Researchers Study Spiders' Silks to Make New Materials
Cheryl Hayashi began examining the body of a silver garden spider under her microscope.
Using two sets of tweezers, she soon found what she was looking for: hundreds of silk glands, the organs spiders use to make their webs.
Each gland lets a spider produce a different type of silk.
"They (spiders) make so many kinds of silk!" Hayashi said. "That's just what boggles my mind."
Hayashi's lab at the American Museum of Natural History is studying the genes behind each kind of silk. She has collected spider silk glands of about 50 species.
The goal is to make a kind of "silk library," she said. The library could become an important information resource for designing new products from space equipment to clothing.
However, the library's work is far from complete. There are more than 48,000 spider species known worldwide.
Spider silks all start out in the same way: as a wet and sticky substance. It is like rubber cement or thick honey, as Hayashi describes it. Spiders make the substance and store it in a gland until they want to make silk.
Then, a short tube called a spigot opens. As the substance flows out, it changes into a solid silk strand that joins with other strands coming from other spigots.
Nobody knows how many kinds of spider silks exist. But, some species can produce many kinds. Orb-weaving spiders, for example, make seven kinds.

PJ40ddJCh,xV

人造蜘蛛丝.jpeg
Hayashi has been studying spider silk for about 20 years. Only recently has improved technology let scientists quickly study the genetic material, or DNA, of spiders and produce synthetic spider silk in large amounts.
Until recently, scientists had to first cut the glands' DNA into pieces. They then used a computer to try to put the DNA back in order, like a jigsaw puzzle. The task is especially difficult for the DNA of spiders because their genes are very long and repetitive.
That is the problem Sarah Stellwagen from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County faced. She was studying genes, and DNA, related to spider silk. She thought she could do it quickly, but it took almost two years.
Scientists have to recover the full gene to truly copy natural silk, she said. If they try to produce silk from only part of a gene or something produced in a laboratory, "it's not as good as what a spider makes," Stellwagen said.
It was only last year that a research group was able to make a small amount of silk that perfectly matched the kind of silk that an orb-weaving spider dangles from. But that was only one kind of silk from one species.
Hayashi asked: "What about the other 48,000?"
As technology has improved, researchers can now map genes much better without first chopping them up. And companies have gotten closer to successfully recreating spider silks.
Now, the task remains to discover the secrets of the thousands of other spider silks out there, which is not easy.
"But hey, you know, we all have goals," Hayashi said.
I'm John Russell.

RkgARrug8+1

FefV~BqpFADS.

重点解析

),uL72^nCCO*SW!T1n*g

OSo+dYx^YuUXYl%~88iJ

重点讲解:
1. be far from 根本不;远远不;
Research on the matter is far from conclusive.
对这一问题的研究还远远没有定论~@YT5CYZYn
2. start out 起初是…;
You would have to start out differently.
你必须有一个不同的开始yi-SEPPRo,im~fG,b
3. put in order 整齐;井然有序;
The reaction of metals with these substances can be put in order.
金属与这些物质的反应程度可以按顺序排列起来YcwH[7Mt^s89,Gr+
4. chop up 切碎;剁碎;
Chop the carrots up into small pieces.
把胡萝卜切成小块^I%D&@V9J]P

6iz&_A0~R9upwoCbW

参考译文

[7,N^kxLrF%]i

研究人员研究蜘蛛丝以制造新材料
谢丽尔·林开始在显微镜下研究一只银色园蛛的身体4kmgR%7YwAJZHSX
借助两套镊子的帮助,她很快发现了她寻找的东西:数百个丝腺体,这是蜘蛛用来织网的器官.Ri%f3o3%.
每个丝腺体会帮助蜘蛛产生一种不同的丝u]~]-2eaT,h
林表示:“蜘蛛能产生好多种丝!而这就是困惑我的问题vR|afO(jOFByVD。”
林就职的实验室隶属于美国自然历史博物馆,该实验室正在研究每种丝背后的基因YoW)SOQKIRZTqY]Y0。她收集了约50个物种的蜘蛛丝腺VkYq0;-Pztq+75i@
她说,目标是建造一个“蜘蛛丝图书馆”]wKC=hhPI=Hn67,q^oz#。这一图书馆可能成为重要的信息来源,用于设计涵盖从太空设备到服装等各个领域的新产品5iLvbRAuAul*
然而,图书馆的工作远未完成X#d-zV[|,=3;l*lVQD~)。目前全球已知的蜘蛛物种超过4.8万种b2XMve|Q3_
蜘蛛丝的起源都是一样的:一种又湿又黏的物质&6ol~fhZbjXx8,。根据林的描述,这种物质类似于橡胶胶水或黏稠的蜂蜜YC(NI1OmM1A。蜘蛛在丝腺中产生并储存这种物质,直到其想制造蜘蛛丝QDB1pGpKnE!4P2~4
之后,短短的吐丝管开启Zb*h1BZ272N。随着黏性物质的流出,其会变成一条结实的丝线,并与其它吐丝管中流出的丝线交织在一起CdW=OXkb3^
没有人知道世上存在多少种蜘蛛丝HMCdOjgX,sLgt3。但是,有些蜘蛛物种可以产生许多种蜘蛛丝u9,,fBb_w~PR]SCrg6%t。比如,圆网蜘蛛能产生7种蜘蛛丝4Kx3_,il2fQadOpOZ
林研究蜘蛛丝已有20年的时间2F*TxGbYWhI7。直到最近,改进的技术才让科学家得以迅速研究蜘蛛的遗传物质或DNA,并大量生产人造蜘蛛丝MQoOJm*^n4Bxg6X^^-*
直到最近,科学家们还不得不先将丝腺的DNA切成碎片@GYoSD1)28~OX。然后用电脑像拼图一样将DNA重新按序排好jmr79P0J4q。就蜘蛛的DNA而言,这项任务尤其困难,因为蜘蛛的基因非常长,而且具有重复性~cAV1!DGG@f.#52[
这是美国马里兰大学巴尔的摩分校的莎拉·施特尔瓦根面临的问题PO[([i=,*6I[wdRIOtI。她曾研究与蜘蛛丝有关的基因和DNA&6]Pk[zp_pbH+2。她本以为她能很快完成研究,但实际上她花费了近两年的时间%kr#8wr,@FQr0.
她说,科学家必须还原完整的基因才能真正地模仿天然蛛丝F&=wBfn[FfgQXaS0-_B。施特尔瓦根表示,如果他们尝试仅用一个基因的一部分或实验室制造的某种不完全版本来制造人造蜘蛛丝,“那就无法像蜘蛛产的丝那样好”1(6.QLP;UP*fB#M+,[
直到去年,一个研究小组才得以制造出少量与圆网蜘蛛吐出的丝完全吻合的人造蜘蛛丝D71a#b@+6Vv#Vj)U)B。但这只是一种蜘蛛产生的一种蜘蛛丝*b=VrwE-qD%a;
林问道:“那其他4.8万种呢?”
随着技术的进步,现在研究人员可以在不用先将基因切碎的情况下更好地了解基因b8Vm[OsL.cmj2;9Cn|O。多家公司已经离成功重现蜘蛛丝越来越近S|Pd]=QW7ONh
现在的任务依然是:探索其他数千种蜘蛛丝的秘密,而这项任务并不容易oDN+^e+;Bc.ylCWi8
林说:“但是,嘿,我们都有目标[5L4=HUSNpl%2KnOE0#x。”
约翰·拉塞尔报道kK7T&Iw5Qs

0SW39&@Z=d5rBGDe%tk

译文为可可英语翻译,未经授权请勿转载!

U+.QAUo5.K(2acQOlz3s;74vRu]Cl0sv!6x[]gmAFv@[d*o5ZF
分享到
重点单词
  • strandn. (线等的)股,缕,一个部分 vt. 弄断(如绳的)
  • producen. 产品,农作物 vt. 生产,提出,引起,分娩,制片
  • relatedadj. 相关的,有亲属关系的
  • geneticadj. 基因的,遗传的,起源的
  • spidern. 蜘蛛
  • substancen. 物质,实质,内容,重要性,财产
  • speciesn. (单复同)物种,种类
  • rubbern. 橡胶,橡皮,橡胶制品 adj. 橡胶的 n.
  • puzzlen. 谜,难题,迷惑 vt. 使困惑,使为难 vi. 迷
  • cementn. 水泥,纽带,接合剂,牙骨质,补牙物,基石 vt.