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Like a science fiction time traveler, an arctic plant of the late Pleistocene age, over thirty one thousand years old, is growing again after a long frozen sleep.
猶如科幻小說里的時(shí)間旅行者，一種曾存活在更新世晚期的極地植物經(jīng)過31000多年的冰封沉睡之后，再次得以生長。
Narrow leafed campion (Silene stenophylla) is a small plant whose modern relatives are found in eastern Russia and northern Japan.
窄葉剪秋蘿(柳葉蠅子草)是一種小型植物，它們的現(xiàn)代近親生活在俄羅斯東部與日本北部。
It's a perennial species that grows on stony cliffs or sandy shores. Once a year, it produces five-petalled flowers that range in color from white to pink to lilac.
它是一種多年生植被，生長在石崖或砂質(zhì)海濱。它每年開花一次，花朵有五片花瓣，花色有白色，粉色，還有丁香紫色。
Russian scientists examining an ancient arctic squirrel burrow recovered ancient campion fruits from the sediments.
俄羅斯科學(xué)家在北極科考一處古代松鼠的洞穴時(shí)，在其沉淀物中獲得了剪秋蘿的果實(shí)。
Curious to see if the fruits' seeds might germinate, they planted them. The seeds didn't grow, but the scientists weren't discouraged.
出于好奇，科學(xué)家們想知道果實(shí)中的種子是否可以發(fā)芽，因此他們種下了種子。
They knew an ancient sacred lotus dating back twelve hundred years had been restored. Why not the campion? They decided to try growing a new plant from fruit tissue.
科學(xué)家們獲悉有一株1200年前的古代圣蓮獲得新生，那剪秋蘿為什么不可以呢？他們決定通過果實(shí)組織成分培育一株新植物。
It had been frozen all those years, so some cells might be viable.
果實(shí)已被冷凍多年，因此有部分細(xì)胞應(yīng)該得以存活。
By bathing the fruit tissue in a culture solution with growth hormones, similar to a technique commonly used to start plants from cuttings,
將果實(shí)組織浸泡在含生長激素的營養(yǎng)液中（這種培育方式類似于植物的扦插），
the scientists were able to restart cell division and get several plants to grow.
科學(xué)家們能夠重建細(xì)胞分裂，從而讓許多植物得以生長。
The plants not only flourished, they produced flowers. The flowers went on to produce fruit and seeds that were viable and germinated into a second generation of plants.
這些剪秋蘿不僅枝葉茂盛，而且開花結(jié)果，種籽繼續(xù)發(fā)芽繁殖出下一代。
The ancient campion was given a second chance at life.
古老的剪秋蘿重獲生命。
As the earth warms and more and more arctic permafrost melts, larger numbers of ancient plants will be exposed, giving us a chance to bring plants of the ancient past back to life.
隨著全球變暖，更多的極地冰川融化，會(huì)有更多的古代植物重見天日，這也給予了我們重新培植這些植物的機(jī)會(huì)。
And who knows, one day we might resurrect a mammoth to eat them.
也許有一天，我們能夠讓猛犸象復(fù)生成為我們的美餐，誰知道呢？
