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科学美国人60秒 SSS 昆虫很美味

时间:2019-09-29 02:14:36

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(单词翻译)

Edible1 Insect Breeding Led to Larger but Not Necessarily Better Larvae2

昆虫很美味

A pound of chicken will set you back a couple bucks3. Ground beef, maybe three to four dollars a pound. But a pound of protein-rich dried mealworms could cost twice as much.

一磅鸡肉要花你几美元。碎牛肉,大概3到4美元一磅。但是一磅富含蛋白质的面粉虫的价格可能是其两倍。

"The price per pound of mealworms is still relatively4 expensive." Juan A. Morales-Ramos is a research entomologist with the USDA in Stoneville, Mississippi. But he says that cost might be coming down.

“相对而言,每磅面粉虫的价格仍然很昂贵。”Juan a . Morales-Ramos是美国农业部在密西西比州斯通维尔的昆虫学家。但他表示,花费可能会下降。

For eight years, he and his team have selectively bred mealworms, which are the larvae of a type of darkling beetle5. Their goal was to breed larger and larger worms - and they succeeded in nearly doubling the size of the larvae. But doubling up came with an evolutionary6 tradeoff: larger larvae had fewer eggs, and their offspring weren't as hardy7 as the ancestral strain.

八年来,他和团队选择性地培育面粉虫,这是一种深色甲虫的幼虫。他们的目标是培育出越来越大的蠕虫——他们成功地将幼虫的大小增加了近一倍。但在进化的权衡下,繁殖后代的数量增加了一倍:体型较大的幼虫卵更少,而后代不像祖先那么耐寒。

Still, generations are shorter in the worm world—meaning it's faster to experiment—and sequencing the genes8 of the selected strains might reveal new traits to breed for.

尽管如此,蠕虫世界的世代更短,这意味着实验更快,而且对所选菌株的基因进行测序可能揭示出需要繁殖的新特性。

"We may be able to produce a superline of mealworms that grow faster and larger and probably produce more eggs, hopefully." The findings are in The Journal of Insect Science.

“我们或许能够培育出一种超级粉虫,这种虫生长得更快、更大,而且很有可能产更多的卵,希望如此。”这项研究结果发表在《昆虫科学》杂志上。

The eventual9 goal is to bring mealworms beyond fishing bait. If the cost comes down, they'd be an economical protein source for farmed fish, and chicken feeds. And one recent study rated them as significantly healthier than beef or chicken—for a human diet. Other cultures are leading the way.

最终的目标是将粉虱带离鱼饵。如果成本降低,它们将成为养殖鱼类和鸡饲料的经济蛋白质来源。最近的一项研究表明,在人类饮食中,它们明显比牛肉或鸡肉更健康。其他饮食文化正在引领潮流。

"There are many cultures not just in Mexico but in Asia and Africa that regularly consume different types of insects. They sell them in the market. In Mexico there are restaurants that specialize in serving insects. And I'm not talking just regular restaurants, these are like five star restaurants doing that."

“不仅在墨西哥,亚洲和非洲也有许多文化饮食定期食用不同种类的昆虫。人们在市场上卖昆虫。墨西哥有专门供应昆虫的餐馆。我说的不只是普通的餐厅,这些餐厅就像五星级餐厅一样。”

Of course, here in the US we also eat insects. But in the near future we might do it on purpose.

当然,在美国我们也吃昆虫。但在不久的将来,我们会有意为之。


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1 edible Uqdxx     
n.食品,食物;adj.可食用的
参考例句:
  • Edible wild herbs kept us from dying of starvation.我们靠着野菜才没被饿死。
  • This kind of mushroom is edible,but that kind is not.这种蘑菇吃得,那种吃不得。
2 larvae w2CxP     
n.幼虫
参考例句:
  • Larvae are parasitic on sheep.幼虫寄生在绵羊的身上。
  • The larvae prey upon small aphids.这种幼虫以小蚜虫为食。
3 bucks a391832ce78ebbcfc3ed483cc6d17634     
n.雄鹿( buck的名词复数 );钱;(英国十九世纪初的)花花公子;(用于某些表达方式)责任v.(马等)猛然弓背跃起( buck的第三人称单数 );抵制;猛然震荡;马等尥起后蹄跳跃
参考例句:
  • They cost ten bucks. 这些值十元钱。
  • They are hunting for bucks. 他们正在猎雄兔。 来自《简明英汉词典》
4 relatively bkqzS3     
adv.比较...地,相对地
参考例句:
  • The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
  • The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。
5 beetle QudzV     
n.甲虫,近视眼的人
参考例句:
  • A firefly is a type of beetle.萤火虫是一种甲虫。
  • He saw a shiny green beetle on a leaf.我看见树叶上有一只闪闪发光的绿色甲虫。
6 evolutionary Ctqz7m     
adj.进化的;演化的,演变的;[生]进化论的
参考例句:
  • Life has its own evolutionary process.生命有其自身的进化过程。
  • These are fascinating questions to be resolved by the evolutionary studies of plants.这些十分吸引人的问题将在研究植物进化过程中得以解决。
7 hardy EenxM     
adj.勇敢的,果断的,吃苦的;耐寒的
参考例句:
  • The kind of plant is a hardy annual.这种植物是耐寒的一年生植物。
  • He is a hardy person.他是一个能吃苦耐劳的人。
8 genes 01914f8eac35d7e14afa065217edd8c0     
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
9 eventual AnLx8     
adj.最后的,结局的,最终的
参考例句:
  • Several schools face eventual closure.几所学校面临最终关闭。
  • Both parties expressed optimism about an eventual solution.双方对问题的最终解决都表示乐观。

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