A heroic pig who survived more than a month buried under rubble after the 2008 earthquake in China’s Sichuan province has been successfully cloned, according to a report Sunday.
Scientists in the southern city of Shenzhen performed the experiment on Zhu Jianqiang, or “Strong-Willed Pig,” and produced six offspring with DNA identical to their dad, who was hailed as a national hero following his harrowing ordeal, the Sunday Morning Post reported.
The births over the past few weeks of six piglets happened even though Zhu had been castrated before the quake, suffered severe trauma from being buried for 36 days, and is five years old — or about 60 in human terms.
Photo: AFP照片:法新社
“But the wonderful pig surprised us again,” Du Yutao, the leader of the cloning project, told the Post.
The 150kg hog reportedly survived in the ruins of its sty by chewing charcoal and drinking rainwater.
His offspring reportedly bear a striking resemblance to their dad, including a birthmark between their eyes, the Post reported.
The piglets will likely be paired off and sent to a museum and a genetic institute, it said.
An 8.0-magnitude quake rocked Sichuan and parts of neighboring Shaanxi and Gansu provinces on May 12, 2008, killing tens of thousands and flattening swathes of the province.(AFP)
根據週日的一則報導,一頭二○○八年中國四川大地震後,被埋在瓦礫堆下超過一個月還能生還的英勇豬,這回已成功地被複製出下一代。
《星期日南華早報》報導,中國南方深圳的科學家在「豬堅強」身上做實驗,並複製出六頭DNA與豬爸爸完全相同的小豬。這位豬爸爸,因受折磨考驗還能意志堅強存活,而被全國人民讚頌為民族英雄。「豬堅強」意即「意志堅強的豬」。
雖然「豬堅強」早在地震前就被結紮,還在震後困在瓦礫堆下長達三十六天而受到嚴重創傷,而且現已年屆五歲─大約是人類的六十歲─但這六頭小豬還是在上幾週順利產出。
該複製研究的計畫主持人杜玉濤告訴《南華早報》說:「但這頭超棒的豬,再度帶給我們驚喜。」
據報導,這頭重達一百五十公斤的公豬,在被震毀的豬圈廢墟中,以嚼食木炭與喝雨水生存下來。
據《南華早報》報導,牠的下一代與爸爸長得十分相似,包括雙眼間的胎記也都一模一樣。
報導指出,這些小豬將有可能被分成一對一對,分別送往一家博物館與一所基因研究機構。
二○○八年芮氏規模八點○的地震,不僅使四川天搖地動,連鄰近陝西省與甘肅省的部分地區,也受到地震波及。該地震造成數萬人罹難,並導致該省內長而寬的一條地帶被夷為平地。
(法新社/翻譯:林亞蒂)
South Korea’s famous kimchi is falling victim to climate change, with scientists, farmers and manufacturers saying the quality and quantity of the napa cabbage that is pickled to make the ubiquitous dish is suffering due to rising temperatures. Napa cabbage thrives in cooler climates, and is usually planted in mountainous regions where temperatures during the key growing summer season once rarely rose above 25 degrees Celsius. Studies show that warmer weather brought about by climate change is now threatening these crops, so much so that South Korea might not be able to grow napa cabbage one day due to the intensifying heat. “We
It’s widely recognized that there are far more right-handed people than left-handed people in the world. Being right-handed simply means preferring to use one’s right hand for tasks that involve only one hand, such as writing and eating. But have you ever wondered about the possible reasons behind the global dominance of the right hand over the left? As with many complex biological questions, multiple factors appear to be at play. First, one reason seems to be genetics. __1__ Therefore, the global dominance of right-handedness is something that has been passed down through many generations of humans. Next,
On blazing hot summer days, fresh ingredients and cool refreshments straight from a refrigerator feel like nothing short of a miracle. However, chilled foods didn’t begin with modern refrigerators. In fact, the origin of refrigeration precedes the invention of this now-indispensable appliance by centuries. Initially, the quest for refrigeration was motivated more by the desire to cool beverages than to preserve food. The ancient Greeks and Romans, for instance, used snow stored in insulated pits to chill wine. Around the fourth century BC, the Persians made a significant stride in refrigeration techniques when they devised the yakhchal. Fashioned from
Continued from yesterday(延續自昨日) https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang Finally, cultural influence also plays a role in which hand people prefer. Historically, items that require physical manipulation have been designed for right-handed use. For example, tools like scissors and musical instruments are often constructed with right-handers in mind, making it difficult for left-handers to use them. __4__ While these factors offer some explanation, they remain speculative. The precise reasons for the global prevalence of right-handed people continue to be debated. Nevertheless, left-handedness will remain a phenomenon of great curiosity among scientists and researchers for many years to come. 最後,文化影響也在人們偏好哪一隻手上扮演一角。歷史上,需要用到肢體操作的物品都被設計來供右手使用。舉例來說,像是剪刀、樂器等工具常常就是考慮到右撇子而打造的,造成左撇子難以使用這些工具。因此,許多天生就是左撇子的人可能就必須透過學習使用右手來適應。 雖然這些因素都提供了一些解釋,但它們仍是推測而已。全球右撇子如此普及,確切的原因仍持續被爭論著。不過,在未來的許多年裡,左撇子依然會是科學家和研究人員相當好奇的一個現象。 What Did You Learn? (A) Specifically, different areas of