The Ghost In Your Genes - 13 基因外遗传现象

They discovered that when a famine was able to trigger an effect was different for the grandmother than the grandfather. The grandmother appeared susceptible¹ while she herself was still in the womb, while the grandfather was affected² just before puberty.

And the timing³ of this sensitive period was telling us that it was tied in with the formation of the eggs and the sperm⁴.

This was critical, because now they knew how it was happening. Environmental information was being imprinted⁵ on the egg and sperm at the time of their formation. At last, a clear picture of an inherited environmental effect was beginning to emerge. All they needed to do now was to compile their findings. Bygren drew up a rough diagram, and sent it to Pembrey.

Hand-drawn⁶, this is what Olov sent me. You know, he was too excited to wait for the thing to be drawn up properly. You know, he sent me the data. Er, in fact I was recovering, er, from having something down to my heart. So he sent it saying, er, I hope this, helps you get better quickly, because it was so exciting.

When Pembrey plotted out the diagram, he was immediately struck by its significance.

Once I had plotted out the, the full extent of those results, it was so beautiful and such a clear pattern. I knew then, quite definitely, that we were dealing⁷ with a trans-generational response. It was so coherent, and that's important in science that the effect was coherent in some way, was tied in when, when eggs and sperm were being formed.

The diagram showed a significant link between generations, between the diet in one and the life expectancy⁸ of another.

When you think that you have, have found something important for the understanding of the thing (it...) itself, you can imagine that this is something really special.

It's up there with I am... I'm a sort of fair-weather supporter of Liverpool. It's up there with Liverpool winning the Champion's League.

You can only have it once in your lifetime.

This is gonna become a famous diagram. I, I'm convinced by that. I get so excited every time I see it. It's just amazing. Every time I look at it, I find it really exciting. It's fantastic.

Pembrey and Bygren had the first conclusive⁹ proof of an environmental effect being inherited in humans.

New Words & Phrases:

puberty: The stage of adolescence¹⁰ in which an individual becomes physiologically¹¹ capable of sexual reproduction. 青春期

plot: To represent graphically, as on a chart 以图表画出

fair-weather: Present and dependable only in good times 只适于顺利时候的只在好的时候出现或可信赖的

1 susceptible   

adj.过敏的，敏感的；易动感情的，易受感动的

参考例句：

• Children are more susceptible than adults.孩子比成人易受感动。
• We are all susceptible to advertising.我们都易受广告的影响。

2 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

3 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

4 sperm   

n.精子，精液

参考例句：

• Only one sperm fertilises an egg.只有一个精子使卵子受精。
• In human reproduction,one female egg is usually fertilized by one sperm.在人体生殖过程中，一个精子使一个卵子受精。

5 imprinted   

v.盖印（imprint的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The terrible scenes were indelibly imprinted on his mind. 那些恐怖场面深深地铭刻在他的心中。
• The scene was imprinted on my mind. 那个场面铭刻在我的心中。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

7 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

8 expectancy   

n.期望，预期，（根据概率统计求得）预期数额

参考例句：

• Japanese people have a very high life expectancy.日本人的平均寿命非常长。
• The atomosphere of tense expectancy sobered everyone.这种期望的紧张气氛使每个人变得严肃起来。

9 conclusive   

adj.最后的，结论的；确凿的，消除怀疑的

参考例句：

• They produced some fairly conclusive evidence.他们提供了一些相当确凿的证据。
• Franklin did not believe that the French tests were conclusive.富兰克林不相信这个法国人的实验是结论性的。

10 adolescence   

n.青春期，青少年

参考例句：

• Adolescence is the process of going from childhood to maturity.青春期是从少年到成年的过渡期。
• The film is about the trials and tribulations of adolescence.这部电影讲述了青春期的麻烦和苦恼。

11 physiologically   

ad.生理上，在生理学上

参考例句：

• Therefore, the liver and gallbladder cannot be completely separated physiologically and pathologically. 因此，肝胆在生理和病理上不能完全分离。
• Therefore, the liver and gallbladder are closely related physiologically and pathologically. 因此，肝胆在生理和病理上紧密联系。