SSS 2008-05-08
时间：2019-01-08 作者：英语课 分类：Scientific American(五)月
This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Cynthia Graber. This'll just take a minute.
It sounds like something out of a bad science fiction novel. During World War II, a fungus 1 called Tricoderma reesei ate its way through US military uniforms and tents in the South Pacific. It chewed up the cloth and used special enzymes 2 to convert the indigestible cellulose into simple sugars. Now that infamous 3 fungus is getting some good publicity 4. It looks like it might hold a key to improving the production of biofuels. Scientists from the Los Alamos National Laboratory published a paper on the fungus’s genetic 5 sequence in this week’s Nature Biotechnology. The organism uses a surprisingly small number of genes 6 to produce its cellulose-munching enzymes. Scientists say this means its production is extremely efficient. They hope to capitalize on the genetic information to find more efficient and cheaper ways to break down cellulose for ethanol in biofuel production. That cellulose could come from a native plant like switchgrass, or even from municipal waste. And fuel from waste, say scientists, is a more carbon-neutral way to power our cars. Which might make veterans forgive the fungus that ate their shirts.
Thanks for the minute. For Scientific American's 60-Second Science, I'm Cynthia Graber.
- Mushrooms are a type of fungus.蘑菇是一种真菌。
- This fungus can just be detected by the unaided eye.这种真菌只用肉眼就能检查出。
- It was said that washing powders containing enzymes remove stains more efficiently. 据说加酶洗衣粉除污更有效。
- Among the enzymes which are particularly effective are pepsin, papain. 在酶当中特别有效的是胃朊酶、木瓜酶。
- He was infamous for his anti-feminist attitudes.他因反对女性主义而声名狼藉。
- I was shocked by her infamous behaviour.她的无耻行径令我震惊。
- The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
- He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。
- It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
- Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。