VOA常速英语:How Wine Corks Help Fight Global Warming

A photosynthesis plant uses the energy in sunlight to absorb carbon dioxide from the air and combine it with water to create sugars to use for growth. In the process, they release oxygen and store the carbon in their tissues including the roots. It’s gradually released as the plants grow and when they die and decay, but some carbon stays in the soil. This inspired scientists from the Salk Institute in San Diego California to program plans to make more stable forms of carbon which would be stored long-term deep in the soil.
光合作用植物利用阳光中的能量从空气中吸收二氧化碳，并将其与水结合生成糖分用于生长。在这个过程中，它们会释放氧气，并将碳储存在组织中，包括其根部。随着植物的生长、死亡以及腐烂，碳会逐渐释放，但有些碳会留在土壤中。 这激发了加州圣迭戈索尔克生物研究所的科学家们，他们由此计划制造出更稳定的碳，使其可以长期储存在土壤深处。

When I was a child growing up in western Pennsylvania, I was an avid gardener. My grandmother and great-grandmother taught me to have a vegetable garden every summer. And then that progressed into an extensive composting regime. And I’m 54 years old, so this is this is back in the 70s. And I do remember from my childhood trying to put cork because I knew it was a natural substance. So when my parents or friends of theirs had wine and they...they pulled the cork out, I knew it was a natural substance. I thought it was just like wood, but a slightly different form. I put it in my compost heaps and it never decayed. And so that kind of came back to me when I started to think about plants.
我是在宾夕法尼亚州西部长大的，我还是孩子的时候就是一个非常热心的园丁。我的祖母和曾祖母每年夏天都教我种植小菜园。然后，这个小菜园就发展成了一个比较丰富的堆肥系统。我今年已经54岁了，所以这基本是70年代的事。我记得我小时候会把软木塞埋在土壤里，因为我知道它是一种天然的物质。当我的父母或者他们的朋友喝了酒，把软木塞拔出来的时候，我就知道那是一种天然物质。我以为它就像木头，只是形式略有不同，然后我就把它放在堆肥堆里，我发现它一直都不会腐烂。后来当我开始思考植物生长过程的时候，突然就想起来这个现象。

Cork contains a high level of suberin, a waterproof waxy substance found in most plants that prevents roots from decomposing. It’s this quality that scientists hope to use to keep carbon buried underground and well to save the world.
软木含有高含量的软木脂，它是一种防水的蜡状物质，存在于大多数植物中，能够防止根分解。科学家们希望利用这种特性将碳埋在地下，从而保护世界环境。83.390.7
That enriches the soil, so it turns out that by leaving some plant carbon behind in the soil, the plants actually grow better. So, an ecosystem or a farmer’s field, etc. that has a higher carbon content in the soil, it’s a healthier environment. Today, scientists are working to create mechanisms that will allow plants to produce more suberin.
这种成分丰富了土壤的构成，事实证明，如果在土壤中留下一些植物碳，植物其实会生长得更好。因此，土壤中有较高碳含量的生态系统、农田或者其它地方，其实就是一个更健康的生态环境。今天，科学家们正致力于创造一种机制，使植物能够产生更多的软木脂。

Salk Institute Labs imitates various climate zones to find a perfect plan for each region.This process takes time and energy. Recently the Institute purchased a robot that in one day does more than a team of scientists can accomplish in five weeks. They’re using conventional breeding to create crops that are carbon storage powerhouses, but may one day use genetic engineering. In our project, we basically are very open, so we use the natural variation, the natural genetic variation that exists in natural strains to increase the amounts of suberin. So we are not necessarily in need to use genetic engineering.
索尔克生物研究所实验室模仿不同的气候带，为不同地区找到一个完美的生长培育计划，这个过程需要投入大量的时间和精力。最近，研究所购买了一个机器人，该机器人在一天内完成的任务量，要超过一个科学家团队在五周内完成的任务量。目前，他们采用传统的育种方法来培育碳储备库的作物，但有一天可能会使用基因工程来完成这个过程。我们在项目过程中基本采用了很多开放方法，使用了自然变异法，即采用存在于自然菌株中的自然遗传变异来增加软木脂的含量。因此，我们不一定需要使用基因工程。

However, if we were to use genetic engineering, it would be much faster. I think it will be a very interesting question in the future whether the pace of climate change can wait for traditional breeding. In the next five years, the scientists planned to have an array of plans for different regions that would help lower level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The effect wouldn’t be felt for another decade or two, but the scientists say they hope by then humanity will have figured out how to slow down climate change.
但是如果我们使用基因工程，这个过程会快得多。在未来，传统育种的速度是否可以赶上气候变化的速度，这将是一个非常有趣的问题。在接下来的五年里，科学家们计划在不同地区制定一系列计划，以帮助降低大气中的二氧化碳含量。效果要再过一二十年才能感受到，但科学家们表示，他们希望届时人类能够找到减缓气候变化的方法。

Jennie Duelo for VOA News San Diego California
美国之音记者詹妮·杜洛加利福尼亚州圣迭戈报道