60-Second Science第一期 || 你确定不是愚人节的假新闻？

我昨晚拿到4月1日的这则报道，第一反应是“额哟，这么厉害，不会是假新闻吧。”（好像我很机智的样子，其实是昨天白天被忽哟傻了。。）

体贴的我已经为泥萌准备好了音频下载，回复关键字 [ DNA ]获取下载链接，反复操练！

好了，究竟是什么厉害的报道呢，大家赶紧戳下面听一听吧~

Cellular Circuit Computes with DNA

听力原文再现

Our smartphones, tablets, laptops—they all compute things electronically. But, think outside that silicon box for a second: "There's nothing special about electrons and using siliconas part of computing." Chris Voigt, a bioengineer at MIT. "You can do computing with any number of things."Including, he says, DNA.

"Cells do computing all the time. So they're constantly trying to interpret their environment and be able to turn on different genes and respond to it." And those genes in a cellular circuit are like the logic gates, the memory, and other systems found in conventional computers.

So Voigt and his colleagues created what he calls the first human-made "programming language" for living cells. It’s an open-source design environment called "Cello."Just write what you want the cell to do, and Cello spits out the DNA sequence—as if you were compiling code. The researchers used the platform todesign 60 genetic circuits, which they then ran inside E. coli bacteria.Many of these DNA-based circuits allow bacteria to sense environmental data -like levels of oxygen or glucose in the gut - and respond in various ways. They detail the findings in the journal Science. [Alec A. K. Nielsen etal, Genetic circuit design automation]

Not all the circuits worked as intended. A quarter of them failed, and some were toxic to the cells. But the idea is to make cellular circuit design easier—and more approachable—to creative people. "When I was a graduate student I had a computer file for Microsoft Word that had all my favorite pieces of DNA. And I would have to sit there and stitch it together and try to remember how each one worked, and constantly run programs to try to look for mistakes."

Cello takes care of all that. And now, Voigt says, biology is right about where electrical engineering was in the early 80s: ready for acomputing revolution.

—Christopher Intagliata

听力材料八一八

小贴士：红色加粗字样为知识点分享，绿色加粗字样为连读提醒~

Our smartphones, tablets, laptops—they all compute things electronically.

Computer相信大家都认识是计算机的意思，而compute则是动词，计算的意思。近些年来有一个非常火热的名词，叫云计算，而英文就是cloud computing，这是一种基于互联网的计算方式。

But, think outside that silicon box for a second:

这里的that silicon box其实就是代指上文提到的智能手机smartphones或者平板电脑tablets或者笔记本电脑laptops，因为这些电子产品的芯片是由硅silicon制成的。大名鼎鼎的硅谷Silicon Valley位于旧金山湾区南部，也是由此得名的哦。

"There's nothing special about electrons and using silicon as part of computing." Chris Voigt, a bioengineer at MIT. "You can do computing with any number of things." Including, he says, DNA.

electron 电子，proton质子，atom原子，neutron中子，这几个词都可能会在关于原子物理或者化学的材料中出现哦。

"Cells do computing all the time. So they're constantly trying to interpret their environment and be able to turn on different genes and respond to it."

大家常见的turn on一般是用与turn on the light打开灯，而这里的turn on可以理解为是激活（不同的基因）。

interpret their中interpret的t非常轻，可略去。

And those genes in a cellular circuit are like the logic gates, the memory, and other systems found in conventional computers.

cellular在这里是“细胞的”的意思。它其实还有“（无线电话）蜂窝状的”的意思。很多人都在用苹果手机，而设置里面蜂窝移动数据的英文就是cellular。New iPad也有一个版本叫做wifi+cellular版。

circuit电路，logicgate逻辑门（集成电路上的基本组件，括括“与”门，“或”门，“非”门，“异或”门等），memory内存。

So Voigt and his colleagues created what he calls the first human-made "programming language" for living cells. It’s an open-source design environment called "Cello."

cello本身是大提琴的意思，因此Cello的图标是一个琴弦由DNA组成的大提琴。没能查到命名为Cello的原因，我猜可能是因为cello包括cell细胞，而且包括hello的后四个字母，很能体现这门编程语言的作用吧。

另外，我特地到Cello的官网上兜了一圈，试了一下这门编程语言，只可惜我的生物不是特别好，也就不怎么会玩了。demo的截图如下:

Just write what you want the cell to do, and Cello spits out the DNA sequence—as if you were compiling code.

spit out吐出

compile编译

The researchers usedthe platform to design 60 genetic circuits, which they then ran inside E.coli bacteria.

E. coli bacteria大肠埃希氏菌（通常称为大肠杆菌），可引起腹泻。它们长这样：（其实还是很有爱的）

Many of these DNA-based circuits allow bacteria to sense environmental data - like levels of oxygen or glucose in the gut and respond in various ways. They detail the findings in the journal Science.[Alec A. K. Nielsen et al, Genetic circuit design automation]

glucose葡萄糖，gut内脏

Not all the circuits worked as intended.

并非所有的电路都如预期正常工作。

另外，这里的not和all可以连读成no|tall。

A quarter of them failed, and some were toxic to the cells.

be toxic to对...有毒

But the idea is to make cellular circuit design easier—and more approachable—to creative people. "When I was a graduate student I had a computer file for Microsoft Word that had all my favorite pieces of DNA. And I would have to sit there and stitch it together and try to remember how each one worked, and constantly run programs to try to look for mistakes."

stitch绣，缝，这里可理解为拼接

had a可以连读成ha|da

Cello takes care of all that. And now, Voigt says, biologyis right about where electrical engineering was in the early 80s: ready for acomputing revolution.

有关细胞的编程语言，真的很神奇有木有！如果你恰好了解相关方面的知识，那就赶紧留言给大家科普科普呗~顺便投个票哦~~

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