Happy Birthday,Double Helix
Flash of Insight Ignited Biological Revolution
⽣⽇快乐，双螺旋─引发⽣物学⾰命的顿悟
★flash of insight, “突然领悟”. ⼜，a sudden flash of inspiration/wit, 灵感/机智的闪现。 Ignite, 点燃，引发，这⾥是⽐喻⽤法。
Fifty years ago this month, on a foggy Saturday morning in Cambridge, England, a 24-year-old beanpole of an American scientist （Watson） sat down with a few white cardboard cutouts and t off a revolution in biology.
五⼗年前的⼆⽉，在英国剑桥⼤学星期六⼀个雾蒙蒙的早晨，⼀位24岁清瘦⾼挑的美国科学家坐在⼀堆裁剪出的纸板块旁，他由此引发了⼀场⽣物学领域的⾰命。
★beanpole, “⾮常⾼且瘦的⼈”。这⾥的of 表⽰同位关系，即前后是同⼀个⼈。Set off, “引起，导致”，同前⾯的ignite意思相近，如：The court's initial verdict in the police officers' trial t off rious riots. 法庭对这名警官的初审判决引起了严重的*。
The DNA molecule is a double helix, rembling a ladder that's been twisted along its length. Each "rung" is made up of two bas, paired according to the rule that jumped out at Watson from his desktop. The bas provide the genetic code; just as a four-letter alphabet could spell out words, the quence of the four kinds of bas along the length of the DNA molecule spells out the information stored in genes.
DNA（脱氧核糖核酸）的分⼦是⼀种双螺旋结构，酷似⼀架沿纵向扭曲的梯⼦。每个“横档”由两个碱基组成，它们搭配的原则是华⽣在书桌旁突然想到的。这些碱基的组合便构成了基因代码。正如⼀个四个字母组成的字母表可以拼写出单词⼀样，这些沿DNA分⼦伸展⽅向由四种不同碱基排成的序列清楚地表达了基因所贮存的遗传信息。
★along its length, “沿着它延伸的⽅向”。 Jump out at Watson, 拟⼈的说法，可以翻译为“突然想出”。Spell out, “to make perfectly clear and understandable，使⼗分清楚明⽩”：The government has so far refud to spell out its policies.政府到⽬前为⽌拒绝解释其政策。
The finding unleashed a torrent of rearch into DNA that's still going on, both to understand how it works and to put it to u. Many of today's scientific headlines — the deciphering of the DNA of humans and other species, the transplanting of genes into animals and crops to change their traits, t
he u of gene therapy to treat dia, the DNA evidence that exonerates people imprisoned unjustly — ultimately came from the double helix discovery.
这⼀发现导致了⼤量有关DNA的、⽬前仍在进⾏的研究，这些研究致⼒于理解DNA的活动机理以及如何应⽤对它的认识。许多今⽇科学界的热门话题，诸如⼈类和其他物种的DNA密码破解，将基因移植到动物或植物体内以改变其⽣物特征，应⽤基因疗法治疗疾病以及依靠DNA证据使被错误监禁的⼈恢复清⽩，都最终源⾃双螺旋分⼦结构的发现。
★unleash, “释放，发动”，和前⾯的ignite, t off意思接近。Decipher, “解读，破译”，其近义词有decode, break, crack, cryptanalyze, decrypt等，它的反义词是cipher, “将…写成密码”。 Exonerate, “免除（对某⼈的）责备，决定（某⼈）⽆罪”：The report on the accident exonerates the company from any responsibility. 这次事故的报告确定该公司⽆须负任何责任。
The DNA story is far from over. Scientists are still working out the details of how DNA is replicated so quickly and accurately — an astonishing feat, since each human cell contains billions of ba pairs lined up along nearly six feet of DNA, all packed into a nucleus only one-twentieth the width of a human hair.
DNA的故事远未结束。科学家们还在努⼒查明DNA快速精确复制的奥秘。DNA的复制是⼀项惊⼈的
活动，之所以这么说，是因为每个⼈体细胞内有数⼗亿的碱基对排列在近六英尺长的DNA分⼦上，⽽所有这些物质都紧密分布在只有⼈类头发⼆⼗分之⼀宽度的细胞核中。
★feat, “业绩，功绩”：a remarkable feat of engineering, ⼀项了不起的⼯程业绩。 Line up, “排列，派布”，还表⽰“组织，准备好”，如：We've lined up Pavarotti for the main role in the opera. 我们邀请了帕⽡罗蒂在歌剧中担任主⾓。⼜lineup, 阵容，阵形： a candidate with an impressive lineup of endorments，⼀位具有⼤量⽀持者的候选⼈。
