美研發活體細胞 爲移居火星做準備

A mission to Mars may seem like a distant dream to cash-strapped Nasa, but a controversial scientist says we are on the verge of a breakthrough that would enable humans to settle there.
　　登陸火星的計劃對於現在還囊中羞澀的美國國家航空航天局來說，似乎還是一個遙遠的夢想，不過一位備受爭議的科學家聲稱，我們即將經歷一次突破性的進展，這使得人類可以定居在火星上。

U.S. scientist Craig Venter stunned the scientific community last year when he revealed that he had created the world's first synthetic organism.

美國科學家Craig Venter在去年的行爲讓學術界倍感震驚，他宣佈他已經成功合成了首個擁有人造基因組的活體“生命”。

Now his team are working on engineering the cells to grow by consuming carbon dioxide - and he thinks we can harness this to set up camp on the Red Planet.

現在他的小組正在研究如何讓細胞靠着消耗二氧化碳而生長，他認爲如此一來我們便可以安全的在那顆紅色的星球上安營紮寨了。

Engineered organisms would have huge implications for Earth, where it could potentially be used to stem climate change and help feed a population that will soon top seven billion.

生物工程將對地球產生巨大的影響，它可以用來阻止氣候變化，並且有助於解決即將達到70億的世界人口的吃飯問題。

He said the technology could also be used to build a new civilisation on Mars, as its thin atmosphere is 95 per cent carbon dioxide, according to .

他說這種技術可以被用來牀在火星上創造全新的文明，在哪裏稀薄的大氣層中95%的物質都是二氧化碳。

The maverick biologist and billionaire entrepreneur, who made his money founding profitable research companies, created the lifeform by synthesising a DNA code and injecting it into a single bacteria cell.

這位特立獨行的生物學家兼億萬富翁企業家將自己的資金用來成了有利可圖的研究公司，他們將人工合成的DNA片段植入另一種已經被清空染色體物質的相似細菌體內，由此創造出了“生命體”。

The cell containing the man-made DNA then grew and divided, creating a hitherto unseen lifeform that was nicknamed 'Synthia.'

這個含有人造DNA的細胞之後生長和分裂，形成了這種前所未見的生命形式，並被稱爲Synthia。

This could lead to bacterial 'factories' that would manufacture artificial organisms designed for specific tasks.

這可能導致細菌“工廠”的出現，以及爲特定人物而製造的人工生物的誕生。