英文书摘精选 Ice Age Plant Survives To Modern Day冰河时代的植物存活到现在

（单词翻译）

Like a science fiction time traveler, an arctic plant of the late Pleistocene age, over thirty one thousand years old, is growing again after a long frozen sleep.
犹如科幻小说里的时间旅行者，一种曾存活在更新世晚期的极地植物经过31000多年的冰封沉睡之后，再次得以生长。

History
历史

Narrow leafed campion (Silene stenophylla) is a small plant whose modern relatives are found in eastern Russia and northern Japan. It’s a perennial¹ species that grows on stony² cliffs or sandy shores. Once a year, it produces five-petalled flowers that range in color from white to pink to lilac.
窄叶剪秋萝(柳叶蝇子草)是一种小型植物，它们的现代近亲生活在俄罗斯东部与日本北部。它是一种多年生植被，生长在石崖或砂质海滨。它每年开花一次，花朵有五片花瓣，花色有白色，粉色，还有丁香紫色。

Russian scientists examining an ancient arctic squirrel burrow³ recovered ancient campion fruits from the sediments⁴. Curious to see if the fruits’ seeds might germinate⁵, they planted them. The seeds didn’t grow, but the scientists weren’t discouraged.
俄罗斯科学家在北极科考一处古代松鼠的洞穴时，在其沉淀物中获得了剪秋萝的果实。出于好奇，科学家们想知道果实中的种子是否可以发芽，因此他们种下了种子。

Frozen Experiment
冰冻实验

They knew an ancient sacred lotus dating back twelve hundred years had been restored. Why not the campion? They decided⁶ to try growing a new plant from fruit tissue. It had been frozen all those years, so some cells might be viable⁷.
科学家们获悉有一株1200年前的古代圣莲获得新生，那剪秋萝为什么不可以呢？他们决定通过果实组织成分培育一株新植物。果实已被冷冻多年，因此有部分细胞应该得以存活。

By bathing the fruit tissue in a culture solution with growth hormones⁸, similar to a technique commonly used to start plants from cuttings, the scientists were able to restart cell division and get several plants to grow.
将果实组织浸泡在含生长激素的营养液中（这种培育方式类似于植物的扦插），科学家们能够重建细胞分裂，从而让许多植物得以生长。

Success
成功

The plants not only flourished, they produced flowers. The flowers went on to produce fruit and seeds that were viable and germinated⁹ into a second generation of plants. The ancient campion was given a second chance at life.
这些剪秋萝不仅枝叶茂盛，而且开花结果，种籽继续发芽繁殖出下一代。古老的剪秋萝重获生命。

As the earth warms and more and more arctic permafrost melts, larger numbers of ancient plants will be exposed, giving us a chance to bring plants of the ancient past back to life. And who knows, one day we might resurrect a mammoth¹⁰ to eat them.
随着全球变暖，更多的极地冰川融化，会有更多的古代植物重见天日，这也给予了我们重新培植这些植物的机会。也许有一天，我们能够让猛犸象复生，让这些植物成为猛犸象的美餐，谁知道呢？