科學家欲借基因測序破解尼斯湖水怪之謎

For hundreds of years, visitors to Scotland's Loch Ness have described seeing a creature that some people believe lives deep in the lake.

自從有遊客描述過在蘇格蘭尼斯湖發現水怪後，百年來人們一直認爲水怪就居住在水底。

But now the story of "Nessie" -- the Loch Ness Monster -- may have no place to hide.

但是現在，這個關於“尼西”（尼斯湖水怪）的故事可能出現轉折，尼斯湖水怪可能藏不住了。

A New Zealand scientist is leading an international team to the lake next month. They plan to take some of the water and study genetic material from the lake to see what species live there.

一個由新西蘭科學家領導的國際團隊，將於下個月入駐尼斯湖，通過檢測該區域水樣本中含有的基因材料來分析什麼生物在這裏居住過。

Neil Gemmell is a professor at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand. The 51-year-old researcher says he does not believe all the stories about Nessie.

尼爾·格默爾是新西蘭達尼丁大學的教授。這名51歲的研究者稱，他不相信尼西的故事。

But he said he wants to take people on an interesting trip and communicate some science to them along the way.

但是他表示，自己想要帶着人們踏上這個有趣之旅，並通過探索過程向人們傳送一些科學知識。

One of the more unusual theories is that Nessie is a long-necked dinosaur that somehow survived after other dinosaurs died out. Another theory is that the creature is actually a large fish, such as a sturgeon or giant catfish.

最不尋常的一種說法是尼西是一隻沒有滅絕的長脖子恐龍。另外一種說法是，這種水怪是一條大魚，比如鱘或者巨大的鮎魚。

Many people believe the claims of sightings are tricks or can be explained by trees floating in the water or strong winds.

很多人相信關於目睹水怪的傳言是假的，很可能是被水流或風吹動的樹造成的。

Gemmell said that when creatures move in water, they leave behind small pieces of deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA. DNA is found in the cells of all animals and plants. It carries their genetic information. DNA comes from their skin, hair and waste fluids.

格默爾稱，在水裏移動的生物會留下小塊的脫氧核苷酸（DNA），動植物細胞上的DNA攜帶了遺傳信息。DNA來自於動植物的皮膚、毛髮和口水。

The New Zealand researcher said his team will take water from different points around the lake and at different depths. After removing the organic material, they will take the DNA, and sequence it by using technology created for the human genome project.

新西蘭研究員稱研究團隊將在湖的不同地點及深度取水，然後移除雜質，並採用人類基因組計劃的技術提取DNA並編織序列。

Gemmell said the results of his team's DNA tests will then be compared against all known species. He said they should have answers by the end of the year.

格默爾表示，他的團隊的DNA檢測結果會與所有已知物種相比對。他們可能會在今年年底揭曉答案。