「雙語」螢火蟲的秘密 The secret of the fireflies

螢火蟲的秘密

Scientists have long known what causes the yellow, orange or sometimes even blue flickers of light that fly around our back yard on summer evenings. They are the fireflies, also known as lightning bugs, and they have fascinated scientists and laypeople alike for ages. About 2000 species of fireflies exist today, and they mostly live in warm environments. These insects are actually beetles, and belong to the family Lampyridae.

科學家們早就知道是什么原因?qū)е铝讼募疽雇碓谖覀兒笤猴w來飛去的黃色、橙色甚至有時甚至藍色的閃光。它們是螢火蟲，也被稱為閃電蟲，多年來一直吸引著科學家和外行。目前約有2000種螢火蟲，它們大多生活在溫暖的環(huán)境中。這些昆蟲實際上是甲蟲，屬于七鰓鰻科。

What causes those flickers? Scientists have known the basics all along – oxygen, magnesium, calcium, and luciferin, a chemical that is naturally occurring –that causes the bioluminescence from the firefly’s abdomen.

是什么導致這些閃爍?科學家們一直都知道一些基本的東西——氧、鎂、鈣和熒光素，一種自然產(chǎn)生的化學物質(zhì)——它們會引起螢火蟲腹部的生物發(fā)光。

However, the actual chemical reactions that cause the firefly’s light have been a mystery. Bruce Branchini at Connecticut College, Yale University, and his colleagues, seem to have solved the mystery. The findings of their study were recently published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, and it sheds light on the chemistry that lies behind the bioluminescence.

然而，導致螢火蟲發(fā)光的實際化學反應(yīng)一直是個謎。耶魯大學康涅狄格學院的布魯斯·布蘭奇尼和他的同事們似乎解開了這個謎團。他們的研究結(jié)果最近發(fā)表在《美國化學學會期刊》上，它揭示了生物發(fā)光背后的化學現(xiàn)象。

Branchini's studies showed that the oxygen responsible for the firefly's glow is in a special form: a superoxide anion. It is a form of molecular oxygen containing an extra electron. This enables the oxygen to react with luciferin, to produce the glow.

布蘭奇尼的研究表明，引起螢火蟲發(fā)光的氧氣是一種特殊的形式：超氧陰離子。它是分子氧的一種形式，含有一個額外的電子。這使氧氣與熒光素反應(yīng)，產(chǎn)生光。

Stephen Miller, at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, a chemical biologist, said that this phenomenon is important as an area of research because luciferin has potential uses in the medical field. For example, a team of scientists including Miller used luciferin to detect specific enzymes in the brains of living rats, which could lead to identifying a method of looking at the hidden mysteries of the human brain.

馬薩諸塞大學醫(yī)學院的化學生物學家斯蒂芬·米勒(stephen miller)說，這種現(xiàn)象作為一個研究領(lǐng)域很重要，因為熒光素在醫(yī)學領(lǐng)域有潛在的用途。例如，包括米勒在內(nèi)的一組科學家利用熒光素檢測了活體大鼠大腦中的特定酶，這可能會導致發(fā)現(xiàn)一種觀察人類大腦隱藏奧秘的方法。

Who knew that the humble firefly had so much chemistry in it! And so much promise for science!

誰又能知道卑微的螢火蟲原來有這么多的化學成分!請對科學充滿希望!