When we think of animals and plants, we have a pretty good way of dividing them into two distinct groups: one converts（转换） sunlight into energy and the other has to eat food to make its energy.
当说到动物和植物时，我们有一个很好的方法可以将它们分成完全不同的两类：一类将阳光转化成能量，另一类则通过进食产生能量。
Well, those dividing lines come crashing down with the discovery of a sea slug that's truly half animal and half plant.
但是随着一种半动物半植物的生物——海蛞（kuo）蝓的发现，这些分界线开始变得模糊。
It's pretty incredible how it has managed to hijack（抢劫） the genes of the algae（海藻） on which it feeds.
它能够盗取自己赖以生存的食物——藻类的基因，这相当不可思议。
The slugs can manufacture chlorophyll（叶绿素）, the green pigment（色素） in plants that captures energy from sunlight, and hold these genes within their body.
叶绿素是植物体内捕获光能的绿色色素，海蛞蝓可以制造叶绿素，并把生成叶绿素的基因留存在自己体内。
The term kleptoplasty（盗食质体） is used to describe the practice of using hijacked（盗取） genes to create nutrients from sunlight.
“盗食质体”这一术语通常用来描述“利用盗取获得的基因从阳光中制造营养物质”的做法。
And so far, this green sea slug is the only known animal that can be truly considered solar-powered（太阳能）, although some animals do exhibit（表现出） some plant-like behaviors.
尽管有些动物确实会有一些类似植物的行为，但是目前为止，这种绿色的海蛞蝓是已知动物中唯一一种可以称作是真的以阳光为能量的动物。
Many scientists have studied the green sea slugs to confirm that they are actually able to create energy from sunlight.
很多科学家对这种绿色海蛞蝓进行了研究，证实它们确实能够从阳光中产生能量。
In fact, the slugs use the genetic material so well that they pass it on to their future generations.
事实上，海蛞蝓能够很好的利用这种基因物质，甚至能够将其遗传给下一代。
Their babies retain（保留） the ability to produce their own chlorophyll, though they can't generate energy from sunlight until they've eaten enough algae（藻类） to steal the necessary genes, which they can't yet produce on their own.
海蛞蝓幼虫保留了独立生成叶绿素的能力，尽管它们需要吃足够的藻类来获得必要的基因（此时它们无法独立产生这种基因）后才能从阳光中获得能量。
"There's no way on earth that genes from an alga should work inside an animal cell," says Sidney Pierce from the University of South Florida. "And yet here, they do. They allow the animal to rely on sunshine for its nutrition.
南佛罗里达大学的西德尼·皮尔斯(Sidney Pierce)说，“藻类的基因本不可能在动物细胞内发生作用。”“但在海蛞蝓身上，它们居然可以。这些基因让海蛞蝓从阳光中获得能量。
So if something happens to their food source, they have a way of not starving to death until they find more algae to eat."
这样，即使它们的食物来源出现问题，在找到更多的藻类食物前，它们也有办法不饿死。“
The sea slugs are so good at gathering energy from the sun that they can live up to nine months without having to eat any food.
海蛞蝓很擅长从太阳中收集能量，因此就算不吃任何食物，它们也能存活长达九个月。
They get all their nutritional needs met by the genes that they've hijacked from the algae.
它们从藻类那里盗取的基因可以满足它们所有的营养需求。
