12/28 TOP OF THE DAY 神舟十三号第二次出舱/羽生结弦逐金奥运/抑制植物基因突变

NEWS ON 12/21

1. CHINESE ASTRONAUTS COMPLETE ANOTHER SPACEWALK MISSION

神舟十三号第二次出舱任务圆满完成

2. YUZURU HANYU WILL COMPETE FOR 3RD SUCCESSIVE GOLD IN BEIJING

王者归来！日本花滑名将羽生结弦将逐金奥运

3. RESEARCHERS FIND KEY TO SUPPRESS PLANT MUTATIONS

抑制植物基因突变，中国科学家率先取得突破

-----------------记得点亮右下角的爱心哦-----------------

1. CHINESE ASTRONAUTS COMPLETE ANOTHER SPACEWALK MISSION

神舟十三号乘组第二次出舱任务圆满完成

Astronauts Zhai Zhigang and Ye Guangfu completed a spacewalk【太空行走】 and returned to the country's space station early this morning. It was the pair's second spacewalk of this mission, and fourth overall during the assembly of the space station. Song Wenjing has more. 

今天（12月27日）凌晨，神舟十三号航天员乘组圆满完成了第二次出舱的全部既定任务，航天员翟志刚、叶光富安全返回天和核心舱。这也是空间站阶段中国航天员第四次出舱。

At around 6:45pm yesterday, Ye Guangfu opened the hatch【舱门】 and exited the station. 

昨晚（12月26日）6点45分左右，叶光富成功开启出舱舱门，向着太空迈出了第一步。

Ye Guangfu

Astronaut

叶光富，神舟十三号航天员

I'm 03. I've left the space station. I'm in good condition. 

我是03，我已出舱，感觉良好。

Zhai Zhigang, commander of the Shenzhou-13 crew, followed, stepping into space at around 7:40pm. Wang Yaping stayed inside the station to support the pair. Zhai and Ye returned about six hours later at 12:55am today.

晚上7点40分左右，航天员翟志刚紧随其后，成功出舱。王亚平则留在舱内配合支持。（12月27日）0时55分，大约6个小时后，翟志刚、叶光富完成任务，安全返回天和核心舱节点舱。

China's manned space program has successfully completed five launches, five rendezvous and docking missions【交会对接任务】, and four spacewalks since the space station's core module【核心舱】 was sent into space on April 29th.

自今年4月29号天和核心舱发射入轨，拉开空间站在轨建造序幕以来，中国载人航天工程圆满完成了5次发射、5次交会对接和4次出舱任务。

The previous crew stayed on the station for 3 months, while the current crew of 3 is scheduled to remain in orbit for 6 months. This mission will mark the first time Chinese astronauts will ring in the new year from space.

今年，神舟十二号航天员实现太空驻留三个月，神舟十三号乘组将在空间站驻守六个月。这也将是中国航天员首次在太空跨年。

2. YUZURU HANYU WILL COMPETE FOR 3RD SUCCESSIVE GOLD IN BEIJING

王者归来！日本花滑名将羽生结弦将逐金奥运

Japanese superstar figure skater【花样滑冰运动员】, 27-year-old Yuzuru Hanyu will fight for his third successive Olympic crown【冠军】 after winning his sixth national title and qualifying for the Beijing Winter Olympic Games yesterday. Lei Shuran has more.

两届冬奥会花滑冠军、现年27岁的日本选手羽生结弦，昨天（12月26日）在全日本花样滑冰锦标赛中第六次夺冠，成功获得北京冬奥会入场券，将争取奥运三连冠。

Hanyu has been gearing up all week to attempt the quad axle【阿克塞尔四周跳】, considered the holy grail【圣杯】 of men's figure skating. He came close to nailing it in practice earlier in the week, and made two failed attempts as he warmed up ahead of his free skate routine yesterday.

为了夺得男子花样滑冰冠军，他多次挑战阿克塞尔四周跳（4A）。在全日本锦标赛的赛前官方训练中，羽生结弦在现场观众面前尝试了4A，并且完成落冰。此外，还有两次尝试失败。

Although he was unable to land the quad axle cleanly in the competition, the rest of his routine was a masterclass, earning him an overall score of 322.36. He showed no sign of being hampered by the ankle ligament【韧带】 injury that forced him to miss the entire Grand Prix【（世界花样滑冰）大奖赛】 season.

虽然动作仍有瑕疵，但他之后完美完成了剩下的六跳，最终以322.36的总分问鼎冠军。此前，因右脚关节韧带损伤，他错过了世界花样滑冰大奖赛赛季，但他并没有被打倒。

Yuzuru Hanyu

Japanese Skater

羽生结弦，日本花样滑冰运动员

Since I decided to participate in the Beijing Winter Games, I should try my best. Three successive Olympic crowns is what I'm aiming for.

既然决定要参加北京冬奥会，就要做好准备，稳赢比赛。现在想把"三连冠"作为我的梦想。

Japan will hold a ceremony for the establishment of its Winter Olympic delegation on January 29th, 2022. The Tokyo 2020 President Seiko Hashimoto, Japanese Olympic Committee president Yasuhiro Yamashita and Japan Paralympic Committee president Kazuyuki Mori all plan to attend the Beijing Winter Olympic Games and Paralympics.

明年1月29号，日本冬奥会代表团将举行成立仪式。东京奥组委主席桥本圣子、日本奥委会主席山下泰裕以及日本残奥委会主席森和之也将出席北京冬奥会和冬残奥会。

3. RESEARCHERS FIND KEY TO SUPPRESS PLANT MUTATIONS

抑制植物基因突变, 中国科学家率先取得突破

Researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences have published an article in the journal "Science", revealing how two enzymes【酶】 repress genetic mutations in plants. This sheds light on how genetic mutations【突变】 work in animals and may be utilized in future genetic engineering ... Our reporter Sun Siqi explains.

近日，《科学》杂志刊登了来自中国科学院一项最新研究成果，揭示了两种酶如何抑制植物中的基因突变。这一发现为动物基因突变机制的研究带来了启发，也可能应用于未来的基因工程技术。

As you see animals breed and plants grow from a seed, looking much like its parent, it might surprise you to know that close to 50 percent of our DNA sequences are likely to change position, causing mutations. These are referred to as "transposons"【转座子】.

当你看到动物繁衍、植物从一颗种子开始生长的场景时，它们和亲代是如此相似。但得知有接近50%的基因序列可能发生移位，产生突变时，你可能会惊讶不已。而这些序列就被称作“转座子”。

With that many transposons, it makes you wonder how come genetic mutations don't happen more often than they do.

如此多转座子的存在会让你感到疑惑，为什么基因突变没那么经常发生呢？

In biology, a category of enzymes called polymerases【聚合酶】 are responsible for forming RNA chains. Animals have 3, plants have 5.

在生物学中，有一种叫做聚合酶的物质促成了各种RNA链的形成。动物拥有三种聚合酶，而植物拥有五种。

In plants, polymerases 4 has been discovered to stabilize genes that are likely to hop around, though a more detailed understanding of how it works requires further research as it has been unusually hard to extract such molecules from plants.

研究发现，植物的第4种RNA聚合酶能够起到维持基因组稳定的作用，但对其工作原理更详细的解释，需要进一步研究。因为通常情况下，从植物中提取该物质是十分困难的。

Professor Zhang Yu from the Chinese Academy of Sciences Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences【中国科学院分子植物科学卓越创新中心】 said this was true for labs around the world, including his own, until he had a breakthrough.

中国科学院分子植物科学卓越创新中心研究员张余指出，与其他国际科研团队一样，此前他的课题组也在RNA聚合酶提纯的难关前踌躇不前。

Zhang Yu

Professor, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences

张余，中国科学院分子植物科学卓越创新中心研究员

There was no technology at the time to extract large molecules that are low in abundance in plants. In 2019, researcher Wang Jiawei suggested we mark the target molecule, assemble it into the genetic formation, and cultivate it in large amounts. That was just an idea. Figuring out a way to achieve that took a long time.

当时没有任何技术能够大量提取植物中少量存在的第四个RNA聚合酶。研究员王佳伟曾在2019年建议，我们可以对目标聚合酶进行标记，将它纳入到基因排列并进行大规模地培养。但这仅仅是一个想法，如何找到相应的办法去实现需要大量的时间。

Once the molecule was extracted, things went faster. He obtained a 3D model of it under an electron microscope【电子显微镜】, and learned that the enzyme works together with another complex through a channel that physically links them. Though part of frontier research, Professor Zhang is confident this can lead to discoveries in other branches of molecular biology.

一旦能够提取出聚合酶，研究就会有更进一步的发展。他通过电子显微镜获得了一个复合物的3D模型，发现在第四种RNA聚合酶和另一种复合物之间，有一个内部通道巧妙地将它们连接在一起。而这部分前沿研究，让张余有了信心。他相信这个发现能够带来分子生物学中其他分支的突破。

Close to 50 percent of human genetic sequences are prone to changing position. If left uncontrolled, they could cause cancer or problems in fetal【胎儿的】 growth. Scientists know what molecules in animals are responsible for stabilizing these genes, yet pieces are still missing in our understanding of how they work. Our discovery in how the molecules worked together in plants could shed light upon that.

接近50%的人类基因序列有移位的可能。如果不加以控制，它们可能造成癌症或胎儿生长方面的疾病。科学家们知道动物体内里有哪些分子能够稳定住这些基因，然而我们对于此类分子的工作方式依旧存在不解。而我们关于植物中分子协同工作机制的发现，可以解决这些疑问。

The discovery could also lead to more precise genetic engineering in plants, as we may be able to suppress some genetic expressions down to the last base pair in the double-helix DNA chain【双螺旋DNA链】.

这项发现也许能够抑制双螺旋DNA链中最后一对碱基的基因表达，有助于实现更加精准的植物基因工程。

#热词加油站

spacewalk [ˈspeɪswɔːk]【太空行走】

hatch [hætʃ]【舱门】

crown [kraʊn]【冠军】

holy grail [ˈhəʊli ɡreɪl]【圣杯】

ligament [ˈlɪɡəmənt]【韧带】

enzyme [ˈenˌzaɪm]【酶】

mutations [mjuˈteɪʃ(ə)n]【突变】

fetal [ˈfit(ə)l]【胎儿的】

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