VOA标准英语Scientists Unravel Potato's Genetic Blueprint
时间：2019-01-14 作者：英语课 分类：VOA标准英语2011年(七月)
Scientists Unravel 1 Potato's Genetic 2 Blueprint 3
Scientists have decoded 4 the genetic blueprint of the world's third most important food crop: the potato.
Researchers from 26 institutions around the world worked on the project to sequence, or map, the potato genome.
"I personally think it's a pretty exciting project," says biologist Robin 5 Buell at Michigan State University, who worked on the project. "People...I guess they take potato for granted, right? Most people would be surprised to know it's the third most important crop, and the number one vegetable."
More than a billion people worldwide eat potatoes, and Buell says that number is growing as the demand for food increases. That's because potatoes provide a lot of nutritious 6 food on less land than other staple 7 crops, and they grow under lots of different conditions.
But they also fall victim to plenty of pests and diseases. It currently takes 15 to 20 years to create a new variety less susceptible 8 to these problems, or with some other helpful trait. But Buell expects that time will now get shorter.
"Getting access to the genome sequence is going to help breeders go through the process of making new varieties a lot quicker. Trying to find genes 9 that are important for disease resistance or nutrition content, it will make that process go a lot faster."
The researchers have already located thousands of potential resistance genes to study further.
They also uncovered a few clues about the plant's evolution. Potatoes are related to a number of important plants, including tomatoes, eggplants, peppers and tobacco. But Buell notes that the potato has something none of the others have.
"What we're eating is the below-ground part of the potato. It's actually a modified stem. And so the question is, how did nature come about developing an organ like this, a storage organ, essentially 10, for the plant."
Nature may have developed that edible 11 storage organ, called a tuber, by modifying genes known to be present in other members of the potato family. Researchers have already mapped the full genome of one member of the family, the tomato.
"Now you can do these comparative studies," Buell says. "So, one thing that we did was, we could ask, what genes are present in potato and tomato, and then, which ones are either novel or expressed differently in potato, and is that what's responsible for the tuber?"
She says they don't know for sure yet, but they have found several candidates, and researchers are busy studying them.
- He was good with his hands and could unravel a knot or untangle yarn that others wouldn't even attempt.他的手很灵巧，其他人甚至都不敢尝试的一些难解的绳结或缠在一起的纱线，他都能解开。
- This is the attitude that led him to unravel a mystery that long puzzled Chinese historians.正是这种态度使他解决了长期以来使中国历史学家们大惑不解的谜。
- 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。
- All the machine parts on a blueprint must answer each other.设计图上所有的机器部件都应互相配合。
- The documents contain a blueprint for a nuclear device.文件内附有一张核装置的设计蓝图。
- The control unit decoded the 18 bits. 控制器对这18位字进行了译码。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- Scientists have decoded the dog genome. 科学家已经译解了狗的基因组。 来自辞典例句
- The robin is the messenger of spring.知更鸟是报春的使者。
- We knew spring was coming as we had seen a robin.我们看见了一只知更鸟，知道春天要到了。
- Fresh vegetables are very nutritious.新鲜蔬菜富于营养。
- Hummingbirds have discovered that nectar and pollen are very nutritious.蜂鸟发现花蜜和花粉是很有营养的。
- Tea is the staple crop here.本地产品以茶叶为大宗。
- Potatoes are the staple of their diet.土豆是他们的主要食品。
- Children are more susceptible than adults.孩子比成人易受感动。
- We are all susceptible to advertising.我们都易受广告的影响。
- You have good genes from your parents, so you should live a long time. 你从父母那儿获得优良的基因，所以能够活得很长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- Differences will help to reveal the functions of the genes. 它们间的差异将会帮助我们揭开基因多种功能。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 生物技术的世纪
- Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
- She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。