2022年11月15日 VOA慢速英語：以色列科學(xué)家為野生作物建立基因庫

 

Could the key to securing the world's food supply for the future be hidden in the DNA of wild crops?
確保未來世界糧食供應(yīng)的關(guān)鍵是否隱藏在野生作物的DNA中？
 
Scientists in Israel are creating a gene bank from the seeds of local wild crops. Some of these crops have survived for thousands of years since the birth of agriculture. The seeds may help farmers deal with a severe climate in the coming years.
以色列的科學(xué)家正在利用當(dāng)?shù)匾吧魑锏姆N子創(chuàng)建一個(gè)基因庫。自農(nóng)業(yè)誕生以來，其中一些作物已經(jīng)存活了數(shù)千年。這些種子可能會(huì)幫助農(nóng)民應(yīng)對(duì)未來幾年的惡劣氣候。
 
Alon Singer, a plant expert, recently collected seeds from several plants discovered near a new building project.
植物專家阿隆·辛格 (Alon Singer) 最近從一個(gè)新建筑項(xiàng)目附近發(fā)現(xiàn)的幾種植物中收集了種子。
 
The seeds, including different kinds of water mint, will be frozen and stored at a gene bank of the Volcani Institute. It is the national agricultural research and development center in Israel.
種子，包括不同種類的水薄荷，將被冷凍并儲(chǔ)存在火山研究所的基因庫中。它是以色列的國家農(nóng)業(yè)研發(fā)中心。
 
Singer and several other people are now exploring the country in search of wheat, barley and other wild crops. The goal is to save and study their genetic makeup before the crops are lost to growing deserts and more buildings.
辛格和其他幾個(gè)人現(xiàn)在正在探索這個(gè)國家，尋找小麥、大麥和其他野生作物。目標(biāo)是在農(nóng)作物被沙漠和更多建筑物淹沒之前保存和研究它們的基因構(gòu)成。
 
Singer said, "The plants here are very unique. They are the ancestors of many of the cultivated plants used today."
辛格說：“這里的植物非常獨(dú)特。它們是今天使用的許多栽培植物的祖先。”
 
Information from the wild crops could be used to genetically modify farmed crops so they can better deal with disease or lack of water.
來自野生作物的信息可用于對(duì)農(nóng)作物進(jìn)行基因改造，使它們能夠更好地應(yīng)對(duì)疾病或缺水。
 
Tens of thousands of different kinds of seeds are stored in Israel's gene bank. It may be smaller than some collections elsewhere in the world but the gene pool here is one of a kind. The crops come from an area known as the birthplace of crop cultivation.
數(shù)以萬計(jì)的不同種類的種子儲(chǔ)存在以色列的基因庫中。它可能比世界其他地方的一些收藏品要小，但這里的基因庫是獨(dú)一無二的。這些農(nóng)作物來自一個(gè)被稱為農(nóng)作物種植發(fā)源地的地區(qū)。
 
"This is where agriculture started about 10,000 years ago," said Einav Mayzlish-Gati, director of the gene bank. "Species that were domesticated here are still in the wild adapting along the years to the changes in the environment."
“這是大約 10,000 年前農(nóng)業(yè)開始的地方，”基因庫主任 Einav Mayzlish-Gati 說。“這里馴化的物種仍在野外，多年來一直在適應(yīng)環(huán)境的變化。”
 
The research has already brought good results. For example, scientists have engineered different kinds of wheat with a very short life. It may not be able to compete today, but it could be helpful in a hotter climate with reduced growing seasons.
研究已經(jīng)取得了很好的效果。例如，科學(xué)家們?cè)O(shè)計(jì)了不同種類的壽命很短的小麥。它可能無法在今天競爭，但在氣候變熱且生長季節(jié)減少的情況下可能會(huì)有所幫助。
 
The World Bank warns that climate change will likely harm worldwide agriculture. Harmful effects, it says, are already being felt with hotter temperatures, more frequent extreme weather events, and invasive crops and pests.
世界銀行警告說，氣候變化可能會(huì)損害全球農(nóng)業(yè)。它說，有害影響已經(jīng)體現(xiàn)在更熱的溫度、更頻繁的極端天氣事件以及入侵的農(nóng)作物和害蟲中。