科學(xué)家欲借基因測序破解尼斯湖水怪之謎

For hundreds of years, visitors to Scotland's LochNess have described seeing a creature that somepeople believe lives deep in the lake.

自從有游客描述過在蘇格蘭尼斯湖發(fā)現(xiàn)水怪后，百年來人們一直認(rèn)為水怪就居住在水底。

But now the story of "Nessie" -- the Loch NessMonster -- may have no place to hide.

但是現(xiàn)在，這個關(guān)于“尼西”(尼斯湖水怪)的故事可能出現(xiàn)轉(zhuǎn)折，尼斯湖水怪可能藏不住了。

A New Zealand scientist is leading an internationalteam to the lake next month. They plan to takesome of the water and study genetic material from the lake to see what species live there.

一個由新西蘭科學(xué)家領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的國際團隊，將于下個月入駐尼斯湖，通過檢測該區(qū)域水樣本中含有的基因材料來分析什么生物在這里居住過。

Neil Gemmell is a professor at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand. The 51-year-old researcher says he does not believe all the stories about Nessie.

尼爾·格默爾是新西蘭達尼丁大學(xué)的教授。這名51歲的研究者稱，他不相信尼西的故事。

But he said he wants to take people on an interesting trip and communicate some science tothem along the way.

但是他表示，自己想要帶著人們踏上這個有趣之旅，并通過探索過程向人們傳送一些科學(xué)知識。

One of the more unusual theories is that Nessie is a long-necked dinosaur that somehowsurvived after other dinosaurs died out. Another theory is that the creature is actually a largefish, such as a sturgeon or giant catfish.

最不尋常的一種說法是尼西是一只沒有滅絕的長脖子恐龍。另外一種說法是，這種水怪是一條大魚，比如鱘或者巨大的鯰魚。

 

Many people believe the claims of sightings are tricks or can be explained by trees floating inthe water or strong winds.

很多人相信關(guān)于目睹水怪的傳言是假的，很可能是被水流或風(fēng)吹動的樹造成的。

Gemmell said that when creatures move in water, they leave behind small pieces of deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA. DNA is found in the cells of all animals and plants. It carries their genetic information. DNA comes from their skin, hair and waste fluids.

格默爾稱，在水里移動的生物會留下小塊的脫氧核苷酸(DNA)，動植物細(xì)胞上的DNA攜帶了遺傳信息。DNA來自于動植物的皮膚、毛發(fā)和口水。

The New Zealand researcher said his team will take water from different points around the lake and at different depths. After removing the organic material, they will take the DNA, and sequence it by using technology created for the human genome project.

新西蘭研究員稱研究團隊將在湖的不同地點及深度取水，然后移除雜質(zhì)，并采用人類基因組計劃的技術(shù)提取DNA并編織序列。

Gemmell said the results of his team's DNA tests will then be compared against all known species. He said they should have answers by the end of the year.

格默爾表示，他的團隊的DNA檢測結(jié)果會與所有已知物種相比對。他們可能會在今年年底揭曉答案。