时差N小时:冰河时代的植物存活至今

Like a science fiction time traveler, an arctic plant ofthe late Pleistocene age, over 31 thousand years old,is growing again after a long frozen sleep.

就像科幻小说中的时间旅行者一样，一株晚更新世时期的北极植物，在历经了31,000年的冰冻休眠后，现在又开始重新生长了。

Narrow leafed campion (Silene stenophylla) is a smallplant whose modern relatives are found in easternRussia and northern Japan. It's a perennial speciesthat grows on stony cliffs or sandy shores. Once ayear, it produces five-petalled flowers that range in color from white to pink to lilac.

窄叶剪秋萝(柳叶蝇子草)是一种小型植物，它们的近亲目前依然在俄罗斯东部和日本北部地区生长。它是一种在陡峭石崖上与沙地上生长的多年生植物。这种植物每年一次会开出五个花瓣的花朵，颜色有白色、粉红和淡紫色。

Russian scientists examining an ancient arctic squirrel burrow recovered ancient campion fruitsfrom the sediments. Curious to see if the fruits' seeds might germinate, they planted them.The seeds didn't grow, but the scientists weren't discouraged.

俄罗斯科学家们通过仔细研究一个古北极的鼠洞，在沉积物中找到了这种植物的果实。科学家们非常好奇种子能否发芽，于是把它们种了起来。种子并未发芽，但科学家们并不气馁。

They knew an ancient sacred lotus dating back 1200 years had been restored. Why not thecampion? They decided to try growing a new plant from fruit tissue. It had been frozen allthose years, so some cells might be viable.

科学家们知道一株距今一千两百年的圣莲都可以发芽，为什么剪秋萝就不可以呢?于是他们决定尝试从果肉组织中培育一株新的植物。因为几万年来剪秋萝一直处于冷冻状态，因此就可能有一些细胞存活下来。

By bathing the fruit tissue in a culture solution with growth hormones, similar to a techniquecommonly used to start plants from cuttings, the scientists were able to restart cell divisionand get several plants to grow.

通过将该果实组织浸入在含有生长激素的培养液中，类似于从一株植物上分离出一部分进行培养，科学家能够重新启动细胞分裂，培育出多个新植物。

The plants not only flourished, they produced flowers. The flowers went on to produce fruit andseeds that were viable and germinated into a second generation of plants. The ancient campionwas given a second chance at life.

实验结果是，种子不但发芽长成了一株茂盛的植物，并且还开了花。这些花凋零之后孕育出的果实和种子能够继续发芽生长出第二代植物。这株远古时期的剪秋萝得到了二次生命。

As the earth warms and more and more arctic permafrost melts, larger numbers of ancientplants will be exposed, giving us a chance to bring plants of the ancient past back to life. Andwho knows, one day we might resurrect a mammoth to eat them.

随着地球变暖，越来越多的北极冰冻土壤开始融化，越来越多的远古时期的植物暴露在外，使我们有机会让这些植物重新在现代生长。谁知道呢，也许有一天我们需要复活一头猛犸象，并把他们当做盘中餐呢。