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CONTRIVED CREATURE

A new form of life developed by astrobiology researcher Andrew Ellington, indicates that life could well exist in the hostile environment underneath the surface ice of Europa, a moon of Jupiter.

Developed[1] from a bacterium, a less hardy "cousin" of the dangerous E.coli 0157:H7, the lifeform's forebears were bred[2] to thrive[3] on a toxic amino acid, the human-made fluorotryptophan. The earliest of these bacteria did not get on well, but alterations in the internal ordering of their genes helped their descendants cope. Ellington, an associate professor of molecular biology at the University of Texas, declares of the final evolved result that "this isan organism never before seen on the planet--a completely contrived reature." Ellington and colleague Jamie Barber, a graduate student, will attempt to replace more of 19 other natural amino acids of what can be called the "Uncoli" to find out how far they can make the organism into something that.might be found off-world but not on Earth.

注释：

[1]develop：
使生长，培养。比如：develop a taste for opera 养成对歌剧的爱好；develop one's mind 开发智力。

[2]bred：
是breed的过去分词形式，表示"培育"。与bred相关的成语特多，比如：bred and born指"在出身在教育方面"，a Chinese bred and born翻译成"土生土长的中国人"；a gentlemen bred and born则译为"一个地道的绅士"。再比如：bred in the bone是指"天生的，改不了的"。例：Their children's cleanliness is bred in the bone. 他们几个孩子已经养成了整洁的习惯。

人造生物

天体生物学家安得鲁.艾林顿培植出一种新的生命体，这暗示着即使在木星、木卫二冰层底下极为恶劣的环境中也能有生命存在。

这种原始生命要靠有毒的氨基酸（一种人造氟色氨酸）才能茁壮成长，它是从某种生命力不太顽强的病菌（危险的E.coli 0157:H7的同类）中培植出来的。起初病菌的生长并不顺利，但调整了病菌内部的基因顺序之后，其后代就能够适应环境了。来自得克萨斯大学的分子生物学副教授艾林顿，正式宣布他实验的最终结果：这是一种过去从未在地球上出现过的新的有机体--完全人造生物。"艾林顿和他的同事（他的一名研究生）打算替换掉被称为"非coli"的另外19种自然氨基酸，看看这些有机体是否在地球外的环境也能生存。

[3]thrive：
茂盛。这里与on 搭配表示"靠……茁壮成长，以……过日子"，比如： Babies thrive on their mother's milk.婴儿吃母乳长得健壮。