万物简史 第596期:生命的物质(22)

(Junk DNA¹ does have a use. It is the portion employed in DNA fingerprinting². Its practicality for this purpose was discovered accidentally by Alec Jeffreys, a scientist at the University of Leicester in England. In 1986 Jeffreys was studying DNA sequences for genetic³ markers associated with heritable diseases when he was approached by the police and asked if he could help connect a suspect to two murders. He realized his technique ought to work perfectly⁴ for solving criminal cases — and so it proved. A young baker⁵ with the improbable name of Colin Pitchfork was sentenced to two life terms in prison for the murders.) Most of your DNA, in other words, is not devoted⁶ to you but to itself: you are a machine for reproducing it, not it for you. Life, you will recall, just wants to be, and DNA is what makes it so.

（注：垃圾（Junk）DNA其实有个用处。有一部分在DNA指纹鉴定中派得上用场。它的这种用途是英国莱斯特大学的科学家亚历克·查弗里偶然发现的。1986年，查弗里正在研究与一种遗传性病症有关的基因链上的基因标志，突然有一位警察来找他，问他能否查出某个嫌疑人是否杀死两人的凶犯。他意识到他的技术能够在破案中得到很好的运用——这很快得到了验证。一个有着很怪异名字的年轻面包师科林·皮奇福克被证实是真正的凶手并被判处了无期徒刑。）换句话说，你的DNA中的绝大多数并不为你服务，而是服务自己：你是为它效力的机器，而不是相反。你会回忆起，生命只想活着，而根本就在DNA身上。

Even when DNA includes instructions for making genes⁷ — when it codes for them, as scientists put it — it is not necessarily with the smooth functioning of the organism in mind. One of the commonest genes we have is for a protein called reverse transcriptase, which has no known beneficial function in human beings at all. The one thing itdoes do is make it possible for retroviruses, such as the AIDS virus, to slip unnoticed into the human system.

即使DNA包含制造基因的指令——一即科学家们所说的为基因编制密码，其目的也并不一定是为了维持有机体功能的正常运转。我们体内有一种最为常见的基因——一种被称为逆转录酶的蛋白质，据知它在人体内根本不起任何好作用。它所做的一件事就是使诸如艾滋病病毒的逆转录酶病毒神不知鬼不觉地溜进人体系统中。

In other words, our bodies devote considerable energies to producing a protein that does nothing that is beneficial and sometimes clobbers⁸ us. Our bodies have no choice but to do so because the genes order it. We are vessels⁹ for their whims¹⁰.

换句话说，我们的身体花了很多能量来制造一种蛋白质，这种蛋白质没有任何益处，有时反而会给我们带来致命的一击。我们的身体不得不这样做，因为基因发出了指令。我们是它们横行霸道的地方。

1 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。

2 fingerprinting   

v.指纹( fingerprint的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Institutions from banks to pawnshops are fingerprinting to authenticate transactions. 从银行到当铺，都在使用指纹识别对交易进行验证。 来自互联网
• In addition, a digital fingerprinting algorithm based on binary codes is described. 介绍了一种二进制指纹编码方案。 来自互联网

3 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• 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。

4 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

5 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。

6 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

7 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

8 clobbers   

n.狠揍， （不停）猛打( clobber的名词复数 )；彻底击败v.狠揍， （不停）猛打( clobber的第三人称单数 )；彻底击败

参考例句：

• A digital file by today's desktop scanners simply clobbers the sharpness of a typical consumer DSLR. 以现今的扫描器，在锐利度上一张35mm的底片远远超过典型的数位单眼。 来自互联网

9 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

10 WHIMS   

虚妄，禅病

参考例句：

• The mate observed regretfully that he could not account for that young fellow's whims. 那位伙伴很遗憾地说他不能说出那年轻人产生怪念头的原因。
• The rest she had for food and her own whims. 剩下的钱她用来吃饭和买一些自己喜欢的东西。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹