万花筒 2010-03-22&03-23 见过六块腹肌的鱼吗？

It’s taken ten years of experiments. But researches at the University of Rhode Island have finally perfected a fish with 6-pack abs, and muscular shoulders. Professor Terry Bradley said his fish have 15% to 20% more muscle mass than normal trout¹. Bulk could achieved it by inhibiting³ myostatin, a protein that controls muscle growth.

 

“Myostatin in humans and mammals are shown to regulate muscle growth. Question is, what it is doing in fish. We’ve been able to produce transgenic fish that are expressing protein that inhibit² myostatin and other related factors. There was tremendous increase on muscle mass in a fish. ”

 

Bradley and a team of graduate students spent 500 hours injecting 20,000 rainbow trout eggs with various DNA⁴ types designed to inhibit myostatin. Of the eggs that hatched, 300 carried the genes⁶ that led to increased muscle growth. After two years, most had what Bradley calls, "the six-pack ab"effect.

 

“We call it six-pack. We think it very reminiscent of the double muscling that we see in Belgian blue cattle. So the fish actually have what appeared to be six-pack abs we see in humans. Even though fish don’t have abdominal⁷ muscles.”

 

The first generation were then spawned⁸, producing offspring that carried the gene⁵ for bigger muscles. Bradley says his fish may provide the boost that the commercial fishing industry needs.

If we were able to get these fish to the point where they would be accepted and could be grown. It has tremendous implications in increasing the mass of the fish, and increasing the profit ability of fish-caught.

According to the research team, an estimated 500,000 metric tons of rainbow trout are raised each year in aquaculture facilities in the US and Europe. Bradley believes his fish could provide a boost to the industry by allowing fish farmers to grow larger fish without increasing the amount of food the stocks are fed.

As for whether or not consumers want to dine on a fish with 6-pack abs, that’s one question that we’ll have to wait for regulatory approval.

 

For Reuters.com, I’m Julie Gordon.
 

1 trout   

n.鳟鱼；鲑鱼(属)

参考例句：

• Thousands of young salmon and trout have been killed by the pollution.成千上万的鲑鱼和鳟鱼的鱼苗因污染而死亡。
• We hooked a trout and had it for breakfast.我们钓了一条鳟鱼，早饭时吃了。

2 inhibit   

vt.阻止，妨碍，抑制

参考例句：

• Don't let ego and greed inhibit clear thinking and hard work.不要让自我和贪婪妨碍清晰的思维和刻苦的工作。
• They passed a law to inhibit people from parking in the street.他们通过一项法令以阻止人们在街上停车。

3 inhibiting   

抑制作用的，约束的

参考例句：

• The high cost of borrowing is inhibiting investment by industry in new equipment. 借款的高成本抑制了企业对新设备的投资。
• The pesticides affect the nervous system by inhibiting the enzyme cholinesterase. 这类农药抑制胆碱酯酶而影响神经系统。

4 DNA   

(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸

参考例句：

• DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。

5 gene   

n.遗传因子，基因

参考例句：

• A single gene may have many effects.单一基因可能具有很多种效应。
• The targeting of gene therapy has been paid close attention.其中基因治疗的靶向性是值得密切关注的问题之一。

6 genes   

n.基因( gene的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• 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

7 abdominal   

adj.腹（部）的，下腹的；n.腹肌

参考例句：

• The abdominal aorta is normally smaller than the thoracic aorta.腹主动脉一般比胸主动脉小。
• Abdominal tissues sometimes adhere after an operation.手术之后腹部有时会出现粘连。

8 spawned   

（鱼、蛙等）大量产（卵）( spawn的过去式和过去分词 )； 大量生产

参考例句：

• The band's album spawned a string of hit singles. 这支乐队的专辑繁衍出一连串走红的单曲唱片。
• The computer industry has spawned a lot of new companies. 由于电脑工业的发展，许多新公司纷纷成立。