DNA technology helps farmers identify crop diseases DNA技術(shù)幫助農(nóng)民識別莊稼疾病

陳維維

莊稼染上病害是再司空見慣不過的事情了，農(nóng)民們?yōu)橄麥绮『Ω冻隽撕芏嗟呐Γ蠖喽紵o濟(jì)于事。隨著現(xiàn)代科學(xué)技術(shù)的發(fā)展，一家英國科技公司發(fā)明了一臺識別DNA的新農(nóng)用設(shè)備。在發(fā)現(xiàn)病害時(shí)，這臺設(shè)備能夠及時(shí)改善物種特性，讓農(nóng)民們不再忍受莊稼疾病帶來的困擾。

It is often difficult for farmers to identify diseases quickly enough to protect their crops. Now， some farmers are using a simple device directly in the field to find viruses before they spread.

In Tanzania， several viruses are a threat to cassava （木薯） crops. Farmers struggle to identify the diseases in an urgent effort to avoid severe crop damage. If they do not know what is attacking their crops， they cannot decide the best way to fight the disease.

A device from British technology company Oxford Nanopore is changing that. The device extracts （提取） DNA from plants and helps farmers identify what is harming their crops so they can change to more resistant crops.

Laura Boykin， who works with the Cassava Virus Action Project， brought the device to a Tanzanian farm owned by Asha Mohamed. “We are here collecting leaf punches from infected material to test， to do a DNA extraction and then start sequencing （排序） in the field.”

The testing identified a number of viruses in the cassava fields near Mohameds farm. The process also discovered that plants con?sidered resistant to disease had a very low viral （病毒性的） level. Once the viruses were identified， Asha Mohamed was given two kinds of seeds that are resistant to the diseases.

In another case， DNA was collected from a pawpaw（木瓜） tree farm in Kenya. With that test， the technology was able to identify diseases affecting Naomi Mumos crops. “All my pawpaws were affected by a disease， and I didnt know what kind of disease it was. But now， I have people who have identified the disease using new technology within a very short time.”

Laura Boykin and other researchers returned to Mohameds cassava farm nine months later. She said the new plants were very healthy and had produced a large， successful crop. “After nine months of her growing the improved varieties， we are back here， and today we harvested her cassava plants and she went from zero yield to 35 tons per hectare， which is massive.”

The speed at which farmers identify diseases can mean the difference between the success and failure on large areas of crop land. Now， the use of such simple and easily transportable DNA sequencing devices is making that possible.

[Reading][Check]]

1.How does the device help to recognize crop diseases？

A.By checking the related viruses. B.By taking out DNA from plants.

C.By collecting the soil in the field. D.By researching the infected crops.

2.Which word can best describe Naomi Mumos attitude to the new technology？

A.Shocked.B.Puzzled.C.Satisfied.D.Skeptical.

3.What can we infer from what Laura Boykin said in paragraph 7？

A.Mohamed has made a big fortune by planting cassava.

B.Mohamed has benefited little from the new technology.

C.Mohamed has grown varieties of new plants in her field.

D.Mohamed has changed her life in less than nine months.

[Language][Study]

Ⅰ.Important vocabulary in the text

1.identify v. 確認(rèn);識別

2.device n. 設(shè)備

3.urgent adj. 緊急的

4.severe adj. 嚴(yán)重的

5.resistant adj. 有抵抗力的

6.process n. 過程

7.transportable adj. 可運(yùn)輸?shù)?/p>

Ⅱ.Sentence for writing

如果他們不知道是什么攻擊了他們的莊稼，他們就不能決定抗擊疾病的最好辦法。

If they do not know? ? ? ? ? ?is attacking their crops， they cannot decide the best way? ? ? ? ? ? （fight） the disease.

【點(diǎn)石成金】第一空應(yīng)填入what，what引導(dǎo)賓語從句，且在從句中作主語;第二空應(yīng)填入to fight，當(dāng)名詞為way、ability、chance等抽象名詞時(shí)，通常用動詞不定式作定語。