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And what they'll look for specifically in the soil is amino acids.
具體在土壤里要找的（成分）是氨基酸。
Amino acids, as you may know, are the building blocks of proteins.
正如你們所知，氨基酸是蛋白質的基礎材料。
In fact, there are twenty standard amino acids involved in making proteins and lots more that aren't.
事實上，能形成蛋白質的標準氨基酸有20種，別的則不能。
And here's the important thing: amino acids are what we call handed.
重要的是：氨基酸具有手性（特征）。
They can exist in two forms, which are mirror images of each other like hands.
氨基酸有兩種存在形式，這兩種形式是彼此的鏡像，就像手一樣。
Right and left hands have the same number of fingers in the same order plus one thumb.
右手和左手都有相同數量的手指，順序也一樣，還有一個拇指。
But right and left hands are not the same; they are mirror images.
但右手和左手是不一樣的；它們是鏡像。
Well, like hands, amino acids can be right or left-handed.
就像手一樣，氨基酸也可以是“右撇子”或“左撇子”。
And the twenty that make up the proteins on Earth are all left-handed.
地球上能形成蛋白質的20種氨基酸都是“左撇子”。
Now, one reason the M.O.A., the organic analyzer is so impressive is that it tests not just for the presence of amino acids but also for the handedness of amino acids.
M.O.A.，即有機分析儀如此讓人驚嘆的其中一個原因，是因為它不僅測出有沒有氨基酸，還能測出氨基酸的手性。
If amino acids are found, it would be especially interesting if they show a prevalence of one type of handedness, either left, like amino acids on Earth, or right.
假如真的發現有氨基酸，且在氨基酸中一種手性顯得特別流行，左手性（就像地球上的氨基酸）或右手性，這就變得很有意思了。
See, other physical processes in space, processes that don't involve living organisms, can create amino acids.
在太空中的其它物理過程，（即使是）沒有生物體參與的過程，也能產生氨基酸。
But the ones synthesized through abiotic processes, which is to say not involving microorganisms, occur in equal numbers of right- and left-handed.
但其合成是非生物過程的（氨基酸），即沒有微生物參與，會生成同樣數量的“右撇子”和“左撇子”。
So, a prevalence of left-handed amino acids would indicate they were biological in origin, which would be amazing!
那么，“左撇子”氨基酸占大多數的話，就說明了這些氨基酸根源上說是具有生物性的，這就太棒了。
A prevalence of right-handed ones…well, that would be really amazing!
“右撇子”占大多數……這就更棒了！
Because the organisms that created them would be unlike anything we have on Earth, which produce only left-handed ones.
因為創造“右撇子”氨基酸的生物體和我們在地球上的所有生物體都不一樣，地球上的生物體只會生成“左撇子”。
