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Dr Fril started with barley, which has the longest spikes of the three, and therefore the most potential for fine tuning.
弗里爾博士從大麥開始實驗，大麥在三種植物中具有最長的穗，因此最有微調的潛力。
(He also likes a glass of beer.)
(他也喜歡喝大麥啤酒。)
Besides tweaking the spike lengths, his team installed in their modified barley plants versions of the buzz-detecting and nectar-generating genes from evening primroses.
除了調整穗狀物的長度，他的團隊還在改良后的大麥植株上裝上了夜櫻草的蜂群檢測和產生花蜜等基因。
Together with a few other genetic rearrangements, the consequent redirection of nutrients (for wind-pollinated crops like barley produce no nectar, meaning the nutrients involved are available for other purposes) means that GeneDupe's Fortissimo barley grows faster than the normal variety if it is played appropriate sounds.
再加上其他一些基因重組，可以致使營養物質重新定向(對于像大麥這樣的風媒傳粉作物來說，它們不產生花蜜，也意味著相關的營養物質可以用于其他目的)這意味著，如果播放適當的聲音，基因復制公司的強音大麥比正常品種生長得更快。
The first generation of Fortissimo barley had not involved too much tinkering with the original genetics, so it was to the buzzing of bees that it responded.
第一代強音大麥并沒有修改太多原始基因，所以它只對蜜蜂的嗡嗡聲做出了反應。
However, barley's wind pollination means bees do not bother to visit it.
然而，大麥的風媒傳粉意味著蜜蜂不為它傳粉。
It was therefore necessary to play the sound of bees across the experimental field through a speaker stack, which resulted in numerous complaints from the firm's neighbours.
因此，通過揚聲器在整個試驗場播放蜜蜂的聲音是有必要的，這導致了該公司收到鄰居的大量投訴。
Applying another of modern biotechnology's techniques, protein-folding software, did away with that problem.
應用另一種現代生物技術，也就是蛋白質折疊軟件，可以解決這個問題。
By predicting how protein chains will fold up, and thus what physical properties the resulting molecule will have, this software allows the design of novel genes that encode suites of proteins which respond appropriately but specifically to a wide range of sounds, from Beethoven to Beyonce.
通過預測蛋白質鏈如何折疊，以及由此產生的分子將具有什么物理特性，該軟件可以設計新的基因，編碼蛋白質套件，這些蛋白質套件能夠對從貝多芬到碧昂斯的各種聲音做出恰當且具體的反應。
That permits farmers to sow whichever variety of crop corresponds to their personal musical taste.
這使得農民可以種植任何一種符合個人音樂品味的作物。
The prize activity of GeneDupe's newly created botanoacoustics division, however, is its work on the flip side of the matter—sound generation by plants.
然而，該公司新成立的植物聲學部門的獲獎活動則是在另一方面下功夫，也就是植物產生的聲音。
The aim of this is to get crops to egg each other on to grow faster, with each plant broadcasting sounds that will stimulate the growth of those adjacent.
這樣做的目的是讓作物相互促進，加快生長速度，每一種植物播放出的聲音都會刺激相鄰植物的生長。
That way there will be no need for loudspeakers, aggrieved neighbours or the inevitable arguments about which tracks crops like to listen to most.
這樣一來，就不需要擴音器，沒有憤憤不平的鄰居，也不需要一直爭論哪些音樂是作物的最愛。
This last point will in any case be settled in the next generation of Fortissimo crops, for GeneDupe's artificial-intelligence algorithms have developed versions of them that will both generate and respond to any pattern of sound programmed into their DNA, from Rabbie Burns's “Coming through the rye” to that glorious, tub-thumping, harvest-festival hymn, “The valleys stand so thick with corn/That even they are singing”.
無論如何，最后一點將在下一代強音作物上得到解決，因為該公司的人工智能算法有這些作物的開發版本，它們可以產生并響應編入DNA的任何聲音，從羅比·伯恩斯的《穿越麥田》到豐收節那首輝煌的、鼓聲咚咚的贊美詩，“山谷里長滿了玉米/它們甚至都在唱歌”。
With this tweak, Dr Fril is pretty sure he will have a commercial success on his hands after its unveiling to an eager public on Saturday.
有了這一調整，弗里爾博士確信，在周六向迫不及待的群眾展示后，他將獲得商業上的成功。
