時差N小時:好消息!玉米可能是一個新能源

A gene is a gene is a gene. But a single gene oftenhas more than one job in the cell. Scientists workingwith corn genes know that first hand. In thebeginning, they thought the Glossy 15 gene onlygave corn seedlings a waxy coat. Much to theirsurprise, they discovered Glossy 15 did more thanthat. They could use it to make super corn plants.

一個基因是一個基因。但是細(xì)胞內(nèi)的一個單基因通常有更多作用。那些研究玉米基因的科學(xué)家掌握著第一手的資料。一開始，他們認(rèn)為 Glossy 15 基因只能為玉米幼苗提供臘質(zhì)胞壁。但出乎意料的是，他們發(fā)現(xiàn) Glossy 15 的作用遠不止如此。他們可以利用它生產(chǎn)超級玉米。

When additional copies of the Glossy 15 gene were inserted into corn, the maturation processslowed down. This doesn't seem like it would be very helpful. Why would people interested inmaking better corn plants want them to mature more slowly?

當(dāng)把 Glossy 15 基因的復(fù)制本植入玉米時，玉米成熟得更慢。這看起來不太有用。那為什么對生產(chǎn)高質(zhì)量玉米有興趣的人會想要玉米慢點成熟呢?

Because when the plants mature at a slower rate, they become much larger by the end of theseason. Unfortunately, producing bigger corn plants does not mean more corn. It seems thatseed maturation is slowed by the gene also. But corn is grown for more than its seed. Itsbiomass of leaves and stems is used to feed cattle.

因為當(dāng)植物以較慢的速度成熟時，他們于季末時個頭會變得更加大。不幸的是，生產(chǎn)個頭更大的玉米并不代表產(chǎn)量更多。似乎玉米粒也因植入額外的基因而成熟地更慢了。但是種植玉米是為了收獲更多的玉米種子。玉米葉和莖則通常被用來飼養(yǎng)牲畜。

Scientists also believe that because of the larger size, the new super corn would be an idealenergy crop to make ethanol. And super corn needs less nitrogen fertilizer, so it's less costlyto grow. Government Approval Scientists say the government needs to approve their newsuper corn, but they feel using Glossy 15 is a great way to safely improve corn productionbecause they are using a gene that is already in the corn plant.

科學(xué)家們也認(rèn)為，新型的玉米個頭更大，所以它們會是制造乙醇的理想的能源作物。超級玉米需要的化肥更少，因此種植成本更低。科學(xué)家們說道，政府支持他們種植超級玉米，并認(rèn)為利用 Glossy 15 基因技術(shù)是改進玉米生產(chǎn)的很好的方法，因為他們所要利用的基因玉米本身就有。

It looks like it's only a matter of time until you can thank the Glossy 15 gene for the steak onyour plate or that gallon of ethanol in your tank.

似乎，利用 Glossy 15 基因技術(shù)來改變生活只是時間的問題，到時候吃著盤里的牛排，用著油缸里的乙醇燃料時要記得感謝哦。