It would be the chemical equivalent of piling the last straw on the camel's back. Alan's own analogy was that of a mouse climbing up a pendulum.

这种化学平衡的变化，就像是一根稻草压死骆驼，用图灵自己的比喻来说，就像是"一只老鼠爬上钟摆"。

Here was an idea which might explain something about how the information in the genes could be translated into physiology.

这是图灵的一个想法，以解释基因信息是如何决定生理过程的。

The problem of growth as a whole would be far, far more complicated than this.

有关生物生长的整体问题，要远远比这复杂得多，

But analysis of this moment of creation might yield a clue as to how the harmony and symmetry of biological structures could suddenly appear, as if by magic, out of nothing.

但在对这个过程的分析中，也许蕴含着一条线索，告诉我们生物为什么能凭空形成和谐而对称的结构，仿佛无中生有，就像魔法一样。

To examine this moment of crisis mathematically, one had to approximate over and over again.

要在数学角度上分析这个过程，就必须要进行反复的近似，

He had to ignore the internal structure of the cells, and forget that the cells would themselves be moving and splitting as the patterning process took place.

忽略细胞的内在结构，忽略细胞在形成模式的过程中的自我移动和分裂。

There was also an obvious limitation to the chemical model.

而这个化学模型，还有一个明显的问题无法解释：

How was it that the human heart was always on the left hand side?

为什么人类的心脏总是在左边？

If this symmetry-breaking of the primordial sphere were determined at random, then hearts would be equally distributed between left and right.

如果细胞球的对称分裂是随机的，那么心脏在左边或右边的概率就应该是相等的。

He had to leave this problem on one side, with a conjecture that at some point the asymmetry of the molecules themselves would play a part.

图灵避开了这个问题，他猜想这是因为分子本身的不对称性。

The process of gastrulation, essentially as revealed in Natural Wonders.

这是一个胚胎的形成过程，如《自然奇迹》中讲的那样。

But with these reservations, his approach was to take the model and try it out.

但是有了这些保留，他的方法是采用这个模型并进行试验。