China Makes Clones Of Super-Swine That Survived ’08 Quake
The castrated ‘Strong-Willed Pig’ could not otherwise reproduce
被閹割了的“強意志豬”是不能以其它方式複製的
By Rebecca Boyle
Posted 09.21.2011 at 3:58 pm
Translation by Autumnson Blog
中國小豬科學家已從一雄豬克隆了6隻小豬，那表面上有胎記在牠們的臉上就如這些一樣，牠在2008年災難性的四川大地震中倖存， 維基共享資源
Chinese scientists have reportedly cloned six piglets from a pig that survived the devastating 2008 earthquake in Sichuan province. The piglets’ DNA is identical to that of their father, Zhu Jiangqiang, or "Strong-Willed Pig,” who is something of a national celebrity in China.
據報中國科學家們已從2008年四川省的毀滅性地震倖存的豬克隆出6隻豬仔，豬仔的DNA是相同於他們的父親的，朱Jiangqiang，或“強意志的豬，”牠是中國的國家名人。
The bacon piglets will probably be sent in pairs to live at a museum and a genetic institute, according to AFP, which quoted the Hong Kong-based Sunday Morning Post. It’s not clear what will become of them, but perhaps scientists are interested in the genetic traits that helped Zhu survive his ordeal.
該些熏肉豬仔很可能會一對對被送到定居一個博物館和一間遺傳研究所，據法新社引述香港的星期日南華早報。目前尚不清楚牠們會變成什麼樣子，但也許科學家有興趣於幫助朱渡過考驗的遺傳性狀。
Zhu was hailed as a hero after the magnitude 8 earthquake in May 2008, which claimed tens of thousands of human lives and left millions more homeless. The 330-pound hardy hog was trapped beneath rubble for 36 days, but survived by drinking rainwater and chewing charcoal, the AFP reported. He is now 5 years old, which is pretty old for a pig, AFP says — something like 60 in human years.
The pig was castrated pre-quake, so the only way to produce a new generation of super-Zhu was through cloning.
Since Dolly the sheep was cloned in 1996, scientists have been cloning animals for a variety of reasons, including endangered species maintenance, superior drug-sniffing abilities, bullfighting (really) and even meat production. These little piggies could conceivably serve as a gene bank so scientists can study what made Zhu so tough.
[via BBC]
http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2011-09/china-clones-castrated-swine-survived-%E2%80%9908-quake
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