中英對照讀新聞》People with tails? No, because of this ancient genetic 有尾巴的人類？之所以沒有是因為這個古代基因

基因變異解釋了猿類與人類沒有尾巴的原因。（路透）

◎林家宇

Scientists on Wednesday identified what might be the genetic mechanism behind the tailless condition of us and our ape ancestors - a mutation in a gene instrumental in embryonic development.

科學家辨識出可能潛藏在我們與我們猿人祖先無尾狀態背後的基因機制，這是對胚胎發育有關鍵作用的基因的突變。

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The researchers compared the DNA of two groups of primates: monkeys, which have tails, and hominoids - humans and apes - which do not. They found a mutation in a gene called TBXT that was present in people and apes but absent in monkeys. To test the effects of this mutation, the researchers genetically modified laboratory mice to have this trait. These mice ended up with either a reduced tail or none at all.

研究人員比較了兩個靈長類群體的DNA：有尾巴的猴子和無尾巴的人類及猿類。他們發現存在於人類和猿類之中的TBXT基因出現一項突變，而猴子沒有這種基因。為了測試此突變的影響，研究員透過基因修改實驗室老鼠，讓牠們具備這項突變特質。結果這些老鼠要不尾巴長度縮減，要不完全無尾。

"For the first time, we propose a plausible scenario for the genetic mechanism that led to the loss of the tail in our ancestors. It’s surprising that such a big anatomical change can be caused by such a small genetic change," said New York University Langone Health geneticist and systems biologist Itai Yanai, who helped lead the study published in the journal Nature.

協助領導這項刊登於「自然」期刊研究成果的紐約大學朗格醫學中心基因學家及系統生物學家伊泰．亞奈表示，「我們首度為導致祖先們失去尾巴的基因機制提出一個具說服力的設想。如此細微的基因變化卻能引發這般巨大的解剖構造變化，著實令人感到驚奇」。

新聞辭典

modify：動詞，修改、更改。例句：The movie script was modified so enormously that the story was different from the original.（這部電影劇本經大篇幅修改，使得故事和原版相去甚遠）。

plausible：形容詞，可信的、口若懸河的。例句：Although we didn’t like him, his explanation was quite plausible.（雖然我們不喜歡他，但他的解釋頗具說服力）。

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