我在英国家中吃的香蕉可能从厄瓜多尔、多米尼加、哥斯达黎加、甚至更远的地方漂洋过海而来。这些香蕉为了到达这里,在尚未成熟、还是绿色的时候就被摘下,在船上待上40天左右的时间,最终出现在某家超市里。为了能被消费者从货架上选走,这些香蕉都应该呈现出完美的黄色,不能有任何黑点或者棕色的斑块。这一切都要靠无法想象的、小心谨慎的管理才能做到。
If a banana ripens too early in the process, it releases ethylene gas, which triggers ripening in other bananas. It only takes one rogue ripe banana to take down 15% of a shipment. That's a huge pile of wasted bananas.
如果香蕉在运输过程中过早成熟,就会释放乙烯,进而导致其他香蕉开始成熟。只需要一根坏的香蕉就可以造成15%的货运损耗。这就浪费了一大堆香蕉。
What some scientists in Norwich, UK, are doing is editing the genome of the bananas – modifying specific letters in their DNA – so that they produce far less ethylene. This could lead to less wastage en route and extend the banana's shelf life in the supermarket. In some parts of the world, this could translate into real supply chains. But in other places, such as the EU, gene-edited crops are very tightly regulated with a lengthy approval process.
英国诺里奇(Norwich)的一些科学家们正在编辑香蕉的基因,即改变基因的特定碱基,进而让香蕉的乙烯排放量大大降低。这样就能减少运输过程中的损耗,延长香蕉在超市货架售卖的时间。在世界部分地区,这可以真正运用到供应链里。然而在欧盟等其他地区,经过基因编辑的作物受到严格监管,审批程序很冗长。
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