Episode Details

They are six-legged, hairy home invaders that will not die, no matter how hard you try. 

它们是六足、毛茸茸的家庭入侵者，无论你多么努力，它们都不会死。 

Cockroaches are experts at surviving indoors. But they did not start out that way. 

蟑螂是室内生存的专家。 但他们一开始并不是这样的。 

A recent study uses genetics to examine cockroaches’ spread across the world, from beginnings in southeast Asia to Europe and beyond. The findings cover thousands of years of cockroach history and suggest the pests may have spread across the world by getting a ride with another species: people. 

最近的一项研究利用遗传学来研究蟑螂在世界范围内的传播情况，从最初的东南亚到欧洲及其他地区。 这些发现涵盖了蟑螂数千年的历史，并表明这种害虫可能是通过与另一个物种（人类）搭便车而传播到世界各地的。 

“It’s not just an insect story...It’s an insect and humanity story,” said Stephen Richards of Baylor College of Medicine. Richards was not involved with the study.

“这不仅仅是一个昆虫的故事......这是一个昆虫和人类的故事，”贝勒医学院的斯蒂芬·理查兹说。 理查兹没有参与这项研究。 

Researchers studied the genes of over 280 cockroaches from 17 countries and six continents. They confirmed that the German cockroach — a species found worldwide — has its beginnings in southeast Asia. The creature likely evolved from the Asian cockroach around 2,100 years ago. Scientists have long suspected the German cockroach’s Asian beginnings since similar species still live there. 

研究人员研究了来自六大洲 17 个国家的 280 多种蟑螂的基因。 他们证实德国小蠊——一种在世界范围内发现的物种——起源于东南亚。 这种生物很可能是在大约 2100 年前从亚洲蟑螂进化而来的。 科学家们长期以来一直怀疑德国小蠊起源于亚洲，因为类似的物种仍然生活在那里。

The research appeared recently in the publication Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 

这项研究最近发表在《美国国家科学院院刊》上。 

The cockroaches then sp