“If the world ends one day, these collections will bring hope of a new beginning to life on Earth,” said Li Pei, a staff member at the Germplasm Bank of Wild Species, or GBOWS, in Yunnan province.
“如果有一天世界末日來臨，這些種質(zhì)資源將為地球帶來新生命的希望。”位于云南省的中國西南野生生物種質(zhì)資源庫(GBOWS)工作人員李培（音）說:

Founded in 2007, GBOWS is a research and preservation facility for rare and endangered plants and animals. It is the largest in Asia in terms of species.
中國西南野生生物種質(zhì)資源庫于2007年建成，是一個(gè)研究、保藏珍稀瀕危動植物的綜合設(shè)施，也是亞洲最大的野生生物種質(zhì)資源庫。

According to China Daily, GBOWS has preserved 85,046 seed accessions from 10,601 species and 60,262 biosamples of 2,203 wild animal species and domestic animal breeds.
據(jù)《中國日報(bào)》報(bào)道，中國西南野生生物種質(zhì)資源庫已保存植物種子10601種、85046份，野生及家養(yǎng)動物種質(zhì)資源2203種、60262份。

“The number of seed accessions is close to that of the world’s biggest seed bank – the Millennium Seed Bank in the United Kingdom,” Li said.
李培（音）說：“種質(zhì)資源庫的種子數(shù)量接近于世界最大的種子庫——英國的‘千年種子庫’的存量?！?/span>

With two in five plant species at risk of extinction, she said it is a race against time to protect the nation’s incredible plant life.
李培（音）稱，由于五分之二的植物瀕臨滅絕，保護(hù)國內(nèi)那些不可思議的植物生命是在與時(shí)間賽跑。

So how does the bank work? Scientists collect endangered and useful wild species and send them to the seed bank. For future study, collectors have to record details of the plant, including where it was found, its size and the number of individual plants in the habitat.
那么，中國西南野生生物種質(zhì)資源庫是如何運(yùn)作的？科研人員采集瀕危的、有用的野生物種，并將種子送到種質(zhì)資源庫。而為了將來的研究，接收種子的科研人員必須記錄這種植物的詳細(xì)信息，包括采集地點(diǎn)、種子的體積、周圍環(huán)境中單株植物的數(shù)量等。

Once the seeds arrive at GBOWS, they’re dried and preserved in a room with 15 percent humidity. Next, they’re cleaned and separated from debris. After that, X-rays confirm that the seeds are undamaged and no insects are hidden inside. The seeds are then frozen, stored in glass bottles and placed in huge freezers at -20 C for long-term storage. Each container has a barcode that can be scanned to enable scientists to view information about the seeds inside.
中國西南野生生物種質(zhì)資源庫接收種子后，會對種子進(jìn)行再干燥處理，并將其放置在相對濕度15%的環(huán)境中。接下來，科研人員會將種子清理并分離，還會抽取種子進(jìn)行X光拍照，確保種子無損傷、無蟲害。隨后，種子將被冷凍，儲存在玻璃瓶中，放置在零下20攝氏度的巨大冷庫中長期保存。每個(gè)玻璃瓶都有一個(gè)條碼，科研人員可以通過掃描條碼來查看瓶內(nèi)種子的信息。

The bank in Yunnan works with international partners on collecting backup specimens, exchanges and research. It holds 2,176 sets of seeds from 45 countries and regions, with each set containing thousands of individual seeds.
中國西南野生生物種質(zhì)資源庫坐落于云南，與國際合作伙伴開展備份標(biāo)本的收集、交流和研究。該種質(zhì)資源庫擁有來自45個(gè)國家和地區(qū)的2176組種子，每組包含數(shù)千個(gè)單獨(dú)的種子。

“As China has rich and unique biological resources, we aim to further enhance our collections and conduct deeper research, in expectation of contributing more to biodiversity conservation, not only in China but the world,” Li Pei said.
李培（音）說:“中國擁有豐富且獨(dú)特的生物資源，我們將進(jìn)一步加強(qiáng)種質(zhì)資源保藏，開展更深入的研究，為中國乃至世界的生物多樣性保護(hù)作出更大的貢獻(xiàn)?！?/span>

以上文章內(nèi)容選自《21世紀(jì)學(xué)生英文報(bào)高中版》，詳情請見《21世紀(jì)學(xué)生英文報(bào)高中版》高二847期