時差N小時:冰河時代的植物存活至今

Like a science fiction time traveler, an arctic plant ofthe late Pleistocene age, over 31 thousand years old,is growing again after a long frozen sleep.

就像科幻小說中的時間旅行者一樣，一株晚更新世時期的北極植物，在歷經(jīng)了31,000年的冰凍休眠后，現(xiàn)在又開始重新生長了。

Narrow leafed campion (Silene stenophylla) is a smallplant whose modern relatives are found in easternRussia and northern Japan. It's a perennial speciesthat grows on stony cliffs or sandy shores. Once ayear, it produces five-petalled flowers that range in color from white to pink to lilac.

窄葉剪秋蘿(柳葉蠅子草)是一種小型植物，它們的近親目前依然在俄羅斯東部和日本北部地區(qū)生長。它是一種在陡峭石崖上與沙地上生長的多年生植物。這種植物每年一次會開出五個花瓣的花朵，顏色有白色、粉紅和淡紫色。

Russian scientists examining an ancient arctic squirrel burrow recovered ancient campion fruitsfrom the sediments. Curious to see if the fruits' seeds might germinate, they planted them.The seeds didn't grow, but the scientists weren't discouraged.

俄羅斯科學(xué)家們通過仔細(xì)研究一個古北極的鼠洞，在沉積物中找到了這種植物的果實?？茖W(xué)家們非常好奇種子能否發(fā)芽，于是把它們種了起來。種子并未發(fā)芽，但科學(xué)家們并不氣餒。

They knew an ancient sacred lotus dating back 1200 years had been restored. Why not thecampion? They decided to try growing a new plant from fruit tissue. It had been frozen allthose years, so some cells might be viable.

科學(xué)家們知道一株距今一千兩百年的圣蓮都可以發(fā)芽，為什么剪秋蘿就不可以呢?于是他們決定嘗試從果肉組織中培育一株新的植物。因為幾萬年來剪秋蘿一直處于冷凍狀態(tài)，因此就可能有一些細(xì)胞存活下來。

By bathing the fruit tissue in a culture solution with growth hormones, similar to a techniquecommonly used to start plants from cuttings, the scientists were able to restart cell divisionand get several plants to grow.

通過將該果實組織浸入在含有生長激素的培養(yǎng)液中，類似于從一株植物上分離出一部分進(jìn)行培養(yǎng)，科學(xué)家能夠重新啟動細(xì)胞分裂，培育出多個新植物。

The plants not only flourished, they produced flowers. The flowers went on to produce fruit andseeds that were viable and germinated into a second generation of plants. The ancient campionwas given a second chance at life.

實驗結(jié)果是，種子不但發(fā)芽長成了一株茂盛的植物，并且還開了花。這些花凋零之后孕育出的果實和種子能夠繼續(xù)發(fā)芽生長出第二代植物。這株遠(yuǎn)古時期的剪秋蘿得到了二次生命。

As the earth warms and more and more arctic permafrost melts, larger numbers of ancientplants will be exposed, giving us a chance to bring plants of the ancient past back to life. Andwho knows, one day we might resurrect a mammoth to eat them.

隨著地球變暖，越來越多的北極冰凍土壤開始融化，越來越多的遠(yuǎn)古時期的植物暴露在外，使我們有機(jī)會讓這些植物重新在現(xiàn)代生長。誰知道呢，也許有一天我們需要復(fù)活一頭猛犸象，并把他們當(dāng)做盤中餐呢。