英科學家稱:先有雞後有蛋

What came first, the chicken or the egg? Scientists in Britain think it was probably the chicken, after using new computer technology to try and crack the age-old riddle.

Researchers at the Universities of Sheffield and Warwick, in northern and central England, say the secret lies in the eggshell -- specifically the vital role played by a chicken protein in forming it.

Scientists already knew that the protein, ovocledidin-17 (OC-17), plays a part in eggshell formation, but the new technology allowed the team to demonstrate exactly how the protein makes it happen.

In a computer simulation, the OC-17 protein acted as a catalyst to kickstart the formation of crystals that make up an eggshell by clamping itself on to calcium carbonate particles.

The OC-17 protein then dropped off when the crystal nucleus was large enough to grow on its own, freeing up the protein to start the process again.

Eggshells are created when this happens many times over within a short period of time.

"Understanding how chickens make eggshells is fascinating in itself but can also give clues towards designing new materials and processes," said Professor John Harding from Sheffield University, one of the authors of the research.

"Nature has found innovative solutions that work for all kinds of problems in materials science and technology -- we can learn a lot from them," he added.

究竟是雞生蛋，還是蛋生雞？英國科學家在應用最新電腦技術嘗試破解這一古老謎題後宣稱，很有可能是先有雞後有蛋。

位於英格蘭北部謝菲爾德大學和中部華威大學的研究人員稱，這一祕密源自蛋殼---特別是雞體內的一種蛋白質在形成蛋殼的過程中扮演着關鍵的角色。

科學家之前已發現這種名爲OC-17的蛋白質與蛋殼形成有關，但新技術使研究小組可以精確展示這種蛋白質如何促進了蛋殼的形成。

在計算機模擬中，蛋白質OC-17類似於一種催化劑，通過作用於碳酸鈣，促進了構成蛋殼的晶體的形成。

在晶核足夠大，可以自行生長之後，蛋白質OC-17就逐漸消退了，之後便可以投身於下一次的轉化過程。

當這一過程在短時間內多次重複之後，蛋殼就形成了。

研究報告的作者之一、謝菲爾德大學的約翰•哈丁教授說：“弄清楚雞蛋殼是如何長出的非常有趣，而且還有助於研發新材料和新工藝。”

他補充說：“大自然爲材料科技的所有難題都準備好了創新性的解決辦法，我們從中可以學到很多。”

Vocabulary:

play a part in: 與……有關，對……有影響

kickstart: to help a process or project start more quickly（促使……開始，使盡快啓動）