Yael: I was walking my cocker spaniel this morning, and we ran into two other dogs---a great dane almost as tall as I am, and a tiny Chihuahua! I can't believe they are all the same species!

今天早上我在遛狗的時(shí)候碰到了兩只其他的狗——一只是跟我差不多高的大丹犬，還有一只小吉娃娃。簡(jiǎn)直不能相信他們屬于同一物種！

Don: You know, scientists are making great strides in understanding the genes that allow such a wide range of shapes, sizes and personalities in different dog breeds.

你知道的，科學(xué)家們?cè)谔剿骰蚍矫嬉呀?jīng)取得了長(zhǎng)足進(jìn)展，在研究這些不同形狀，不同大小，不同性格特點(diǎn)的不同狗的種類的基因。

Did you know domestic dogs were bred from wolves about 15,000 years ago?

你知道國(guó)內(nèi)的狗是由一萬(wàn)五千年前的狼繁衍而來(lái)的嗎？

Y: That's pretty recent in evolutionary terms, isn't it?

從進(jìn)化的角度來(lái)講，那就是近些年的事兒，不是嗎？

D: Very! Humans have sped up the diversification of dogs by selecting for particular physical or behavioral traits such as size, coat type, trainability, and hunting or herding ability.

太對(duì)了。人類通過選擇特定的生理和行為特征，如大小、外觀、是否可訓(xùn)練性和狩獵型或放牧的能力，已經(jīng)加快了狗種的多樣化。

But dogs still show greater variety than any other domesticated animal, and for a long time this variance has largely been unexplained.

但是相比其他家養(yǎng)動(dòng)物而言，狗顯示出更明顯的多樣性，并且在很長(zhǎng)的一段時(shí)間內(nèi)，人們無(wú)法解釋這種多樣性。

A group of genetics researchers collaborated with dog breeders and veterinarians to study the DNA from 148 different dog breeds.

一個(gè)基因研究小組與狗的飼養(yǎng)者和獸醫(yī)合作研究了來(lái)自148個(gè)不同狗品種的DNA。

With such a large sample of genes from very different kinds of dogs, they were able to identify regions in the dog DNA that are important in regulating some key traits that differ between breeds.

在來(lái)自不同的狗的DNA大樣本的研究下，他們鑒定出狗DNA中的區(qū)域特征在決定狗的某些區(qū)別與其他狗的關(guān)鍵特征方面有著至關(guān)重要的作用。

Four regions were found that may regulate life span, a breed characteristic that usually decreases with increasing body size.

有四個(gè)區(qū)域可以調(diào)節(jié)壽命，而且品種的特性會(huì)隨著體型的變大而逐漸消失。

Regions associated with some behavioral stereotypes like herding, pointing and boldness were also identified.

而且也確認(rèn)了那些和固有品性相關(guān)的區(qū)域，像是放牧，勾縫以及大膽嘗試。

Y: What can they do with this information?

他們會(huì)拿這些信息做什么？

D: The study could have far-reaching benefits for dogs and their owners.

這項(xiàng)研究對(duì)于狗和他們的主人都是有深遠(yuǎn)影響的。

With further research, dog owners and vets could use this information to customize the care, diet and medicines to the particular needs of their breed, and to identify and perhaps prevent breed-specific diseases.

進(jìn)一步研究會(huì)得出，狗主人和獸醫(yī)可以憑此信息對(duì)有特定需求的狗定制保健，飲食和藥物，并識(shí)別同時(shí)也可能會(huì)防治特種狗的疾病。