《摘譯》十年之悟（Insights of the decade）（二）

續前篇

遠古基因（Ancient DNA）

過去十年，科學家發現一些生物分子（biomolecule），像是 DNA 和膠原（collagen），可以存活數十萬年之久，提供許多已經滅絕的動植物，以及遠古人類的重要訊息。基於這個發現，這十年來科學家為我們描繪出史前時代的全新觀點。

• R. Green et al., "A Draft Sequence of the Neandertal Genome," Science 328, 710-722 (2010).
• A. W. Briggs et al., " Targeted retrieval and analysis of five Neandertal mtDNA genomes," Science325, 318 (2009).
• H. N. Poinar et al., "Metagenomics to paleogenomics: large-scale sequencing of mammoth DNA,"Science 311, 392 (2006).
• Q. Li, et al., "Plumage Color Patterns of an Extinct Dinosaur," Science 327, 1369-1372 (2010).
• A. Gibbons, "New Methods Yield Mammoth Samples," Science 310, 1889 (2005).
• M. Balter, "Ancient DNA From Siberia Fingers a Possible New Human Lineage," Science 327, 1556-1557 (2010).
• The Neandertal Genome Project at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
• The Mammoth Genome Project Web Site

火星上的水（Water on Mars）
過去十年六次的火星探測任務，已經證實在火星的早期歷史上，液態水曾在地表或地底下存在過很長的一段時間，這段時間的長度已足以讓水侵蝕岩塊，也很有可能可以孕育生命的起源。

• R. A. Kerr, "A Dripping Wet Early Mars Emerging from New Pictures," Science 290, 1879 (2000).
• R. A. Kerr, "A Wet Early Mars Seen in Salty Deposits," Science 303, 1450 (2004).
• R. A. Kerr, "Breakthrough of the Year: On Mars, a Second Chance for Life," Science 306, 2010 (2004).
• R. A. Kerr, "Majority Rules in Finding a Path for the Next Mars Rover," Science 318, 908 (2007).
• R. A. Kerr, "Liquid Water Found on Mars, but It's Still a Hard Road for Life," Science 330, 571 (2010).
• NASA Phoenix Mars Lander Mission
• NASA's Mars Science Laboratory

改造細胞（Reprogramming Cells）
藉由促發某幾個特殊基因的過度表現（overexpress），科學家成功的找到讓皮膚或血液細胞轉換為多功能性細胞（pluripotent）的方法，此種細胞有潛力可以發展成身體內任意數量的細胞。

• J. M. W. Slack, "Conrad Hal Waddington: the last Renaissance biologist?," Nature Rev. Genet. 3, 889-895 (2002).
• J. B. Gurdon, "From Nuclear Transfer to Nuclear Reprogramming: The Reversal of Cell Differentiation," Annu. Rev. Cell Dev. Biol. 22, 1-22 (2006).
• K. Takahashi and S. Yamanaka, "Induction of Pluripotent Stem Cells from Mouse Embryonic and Adult Fibroblast Cultures by Defined Factors," Cell 126, 663-676 (2006).
• K. Takahashi et al., "Induction of Pluripotent Stem Cells from Adult Human Fibroblasts by Defined Factors," Cell 131, 861-872 (2007).
• J. Yu et al., "Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Lines Derived from Human Somatic Cells," Science 318, 1917-1920 (2007).
• Q. Zhou et al., "In vivo reprogramming of adult pancreatic exocrine cells to bold beta-cells,"Nature 455, 627-632 (2008).
• G. Vogel, "Diseases in a Dish Take Off," Science 330, 1172-1173 (2010).
• L. Warren et al., "Highly Efficient Reprogramming to Pluripotency and Directed Differentiation of Human Cells with Synthetic Modified mRNA," Cell Stem Cell 7, 618-630 (2010).

微生物（The Microbiome）
過去十年，我們對於人體表面及體內的微生物和病毒的看法有些改變：他們大部份是與人體共生，而把人體當作「家」，這個整體集合起來，稱為人類微生物（human microbe, 不確定是否有更好的譯名）。

• J. Qin, "A human gut microbial gene catalogue established by metagenomic sequencing," Nature464, 59 (2010).
• P. B. Eckburg et al., "Diversity of the Human Intestinal Microbial Flora," Science 308, 1635 (2005).
• F. Backhed et al., "Host-bacterial mutualism in the human intestine," Science 307, 1915 (2005).
• S. R. Gill, et al., "Metagenomic analysis of the human distal gut microbiome," Science 312, 1355 (2006).
• P. J. Turnbaugh et al., "An obesity-associated gut microbiome with increased capacity for energy harvest," Nature 444, 1027 (2006).
• E. Barton et al., "Herpesvirus latency confers symbiotic protection from bacterial infection," Nature447, 326 (2007).
• International Human Microbiome Consortium
• Human Microbiome Project

（未完待續）