万物简史 第590期:生命的物质(16)

Still facing the possibility of being trumped¹ at any moment, Watson and Crick applied² themselves feverishly³ to the problem. It was known that DNA⁴ had four chemical components⁵ — called adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thiamine — and that these paired up in particular ways. By playing with pieces of cardboard cut into the shapes of molecules⁶, Watson and Crick were able to work out how the pieces fit together. From this they made a Meccanolike model — perhaps the most famous in modern science — consisting of metal plates bolted together in a spiral, and invited Wilkins, Franklin, and the rest of the world to have a look. Any informed person could see at once that they had solved the problem. It was without question a brilliant piece of detective work, with or without the boost of Franklin's picture.

沃森和克里克仍然面临在任何时候被人超过的可能性，便拼命投入该问题的研究工作。当时已经知道，DNA含有4种化学成分——腺嘌呤、鸟嘌呤、胞嘧啶和胸腺嘧啶——这4种成分总是以特殊的配对方式排列。沃森和克里克将卡纸板剪成分子形状进行摆弄，终于搞清了它们是如何拼合在一起的。在此基础上，他们搭建起一个DNA双螺旋模型这也许是当代科学史上最著名的模型——它由螺栓将金属片装配成一个螺旋形而成。他们邀请威尔金斯、富兰克林以及其他所有的人前来观看，任何行内人马上明白他们已经解决了问题。毫无疑问，这是一件了不起的侦探工作，不管有没有替富兰克林的形象作了宣传。

The April 25, 1953, edition of Nature carried a 900-word article by Watson and Crick titled "A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid." Accompanying it were separate articles by Wilkins and Franklin. It was an eventful time in the world — Edmund Hillary was just about to clamber to the top of Everest while Elizabeth II was imminently⁷ to be crowned queen of England — so the discovery of the secret of life was mostly overlooked. It received a small mention in the News Chronicle and was ignored elsewhere.

1953年4月25日，《自然》杂志刊登了一篇沃森和克里克写的900字的文章，名为《DNA的一种结构》。在同一期杂志中，还刊登了两篇分别由威尔金斯和富兰克林撰写的文章。那是一个充满大事的年代——埃德蒙·希拉里正准备攀登珠穆朗玛峰；伊丽莎白二世即将加冕为英国女王——因此，发现生命之谜的意义在很大程度上被忽视了。它只是在《新闻纪事》中被略为提及，在别的地方却没有引起重视。

1 trumped   

v.（牌戏）出王牌赢（一牌或一墩）( trump的过去分词 )；吹号公告，吹号庆祝；吹喇叭；捏造

参考例句：

• That woman trumped up various baseless charges against him. 那个女人捏造种种毫无根据的罪名指控他。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Several of his colleagues trumped up a complaint to get him removed from the job. 他的几位同事诬告他，使他丟掉了工作。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

3 feverishly   

adv. 兴奋地

参考例句：

• Feverishly he collected his data. 他拼命收集资料。
• The company is having to cast around feverishly for ways to cut its costs. 公司迫切须要想出各种降低成本的办法。

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 components   

（机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分

参考例句：

• the components of a machine 机器部件
• Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。

6 molecules   

分子( molecule的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The structure of molecules can be seen under an electron microscope. 分子的结构可在电子显微镜下观察到。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules. 在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。

7 imminently   

迫切地，紧急地

参考例句：

• The problem of developing bend curve parts needs to be solved imminently. 弯边零件的展开是急需解决的问题。
• Obviously, the knowledge renews imminently, lifelong studies the duty to be arduous. 可见，知识更新迫在眉睫，终身学习任务繁重。