评论
打印
And the smartest thing we could do in this research is you know go try and find new ways to call culture.
在这项研究中，我们能做的最聪明的事，就是去尝试寻找新方法培养细菌。
Thousands and thousands of new microorganisms and find out their genetic code and find out what's there,
有成千上万的新微生物，找出它们的基因密码，找出其中所含的物质，
it's going to revolutionize virtually everything we do.
将彻底改变我们所做的一切。
Yellowstone National Park is one of the richest places on earth for all microbial life.
黄石国家公园是地球上微生物最丰富的地方之一。
Bacteria thrive in the extreme conditions found in the pools.
细菌在水塘中的极端条件下生长旺盛。
Tourists see the spectacular scenery.
游客们看到了壮观的景色。
Researchers come to understand how life can survive under these conditions.
研究人员开始了解在这些条件下，生命是如何生存的。
Many of the organisms that live in this put in these pools have to eat so those are called heterotrophs.
许多生活在这个水塘里的有机体必须进食，所以它们被称为异养生物。
So they have to consume things in their environment.
所以它们不得不食用环境中的食物。
And in order for a microbe to consume something in its environment, it has to make an enzyme that can break that particular item down.
为了让微生物在其环境中食用某些东西，必须制造一种可以分解特定的物质的酶。
Well, if we see a piece of wood and in this hot pool and we pull it out.
如果我们看到一块木头，在这个热水塘里，把它拿出来。
We see that the outside of that piece of wood is reached quietly.
我们会看见到达了那块木头外层。
You automatically ask the question how did that happen.
你会自然而然地问，这是怎么发生的。
So when we look at the microbes associated with that would studies have shown that these microbes have that capacity,
因此，当我们观察与之相关的微生物时，研究发现这些微生物具有这种能力，
because we've cloned the genes from these organisms that encode those particular enzymes.
因为我们已经从这些生物体中克隆了编码这些特定酶的基因。
And have found that in fact they are adapted to breaking down these wood fibers under these extreme conditions.
研究人员发现，事实上，在这些极端条件下，它们能够分解这些木纤维。
By cloning the genes that produce whitening enzymes, they can turn it out in quantity.
通过克隆产生增白酶的基因，能够大量生成。
That means paper companies can use bacterial enzymes to whiten paper and lessen the need for chlorine.
这意味着造纸公司能使用细菌酶来漂白纸张，减少对氯的需求。
It's good for the environment and it's big business.
这对环境有好处，这是笔大生意。
Enzyme production is a 11 and half billion dollar a year industry.
生产酶是一个年产值115亿美元的产业。
Most antibiotics come from bacteria living in the soil.
大多数抗生素来自土壤中的细菌。
As the search for new antibiotics continues scientists are learning just how little we know about the microbial life beneath our feet.
随着对新抗生素的不断探索，科学家们了解到我们对脚下的微生物生命知之甚少。
To microbiologist, the earth is the richest source of new biology that there is
对微生物学家来说，地球是新生物最丰富的来源，
because there's far more that we haven't studied than that we have already discovered.
因为我们尚未研究的生物比已经发现的要多得多。
In teaspoon full of soil there are at least a billion bacteria that we can grow in culture, but there are many more bacteria.
在装满一茶匙的土壤中，至少能培养出十亿种细菌，但还有更多的细菌。
Perhaps a hundred times as many that can't grow on our culture media.
也许是我们培养介质上无法生长的生物的100倍。
And in fact we've probably been studying only a tiny portion of the organisms that actually live in soil
事实上，我们可能只研究了生活在土壤中的有机体的一小部分，
based on their ability to grow on our Petri plates.
基于它们在培养皿上生长的能力。
