科學家揭祕蟑螂何以成爲打不死的'小強'大綱

Scientists have discovered why cockroaches love filthy conditions and what makes them so hard to kill — and apparently, it's all in their DNA.
科學家們已經發現了爲什麼蟑螂喜歡骯髒的環境，以及是什麼使得它們如此難以被殺滅--很明顯，原因都存在於它們的DNA中。

Researchers say they have identified specific genes which allow the critters to do anything from eating toxic food to regrowing limbs.
研究人員稱，他們已經發現了一些特定的基因，這些基因可以讓這些生物從吃有毒食物到再生四肢，無所不能。

Shuai Zhan, of the Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology in Shanghai, says the American cockroach has one of the largest genomes known to exist among insects.
上海植物生理生態研究所的詹帥表示，美國蟑螂的基因組是昆蟲中已知的最大基因組之一。

The omnivorous scavenger is ones of the largest insect species to live in such close proximity to humans, but also has the exact same number of genes as us — that's 20,000 in all.
這種雜食性的食腐動物是與人類近距離生活的最大昆蟲物種之一，但也有和我們一樣的基因數量--總共是2萬個。

After studying their DNA, Zhan discovered cockroaches have genes which allow them to sense smells from food, especially fermented food.
在研究了它們的DNA後，詹帥發現蟑螂擁有能讓它們感知食物氣味的基因，特別是發酵食物的味道。

They also have genes to combat infections, which makes roaches resilient to dirty living conditions and others allowing them to grow back broken limbs.
另外，它們還有對抗感染的基因，這使得蟑螂能夠適應骯髒的生存環境，而其他基因則能讓它們再生斷肢。

Scientists last year discovered that female cockroaches don't need a male partner as they can reproduce for years without mating.
科學家們於去年發現，雌性蟑螂不需要雄性伴侶，因爲它們可以在不交配的情況下自行繁衍很多年。