They can be tight, flared, ripped at the knee. Jeans come in all styles and colours these days, but one hue will always be synonymous with the world’s favourite garment: indigo blue.

　　如今，牛仔褲有各種款式和顏色，款式有緊身的、喇叭式的、露膝蓋的。但是有一種顏色一直是世界上最受歡迎的服裝的代名詞：靛藍(lán)色。

　　To satisfy the world’s seemingly insatiable demand for blue denim, more than 45,000 tonnes of indigo dye are produced every year, with much of the waste making its way into rivers and streams, conservationists say.

　　環(huán)保主義者稱(chēng)，為滿足世界對(duì)藍(lán)色牛仔布無(wú)盡的需求,每年要生產(chǎn)45000多噸靛藍(lán)染料，同時(shí)造成大量的廢物流入河流和小溪。

　　On Monday, scientists announced they had developed a greener method to produce the coveted tint -- using lab-grown bacteria.

　　周一, 科學(xué)家們宣布他們已經(jīng)開(kāi)發(fā)出一種更加綠色環(huán)保的方法，生產(chǎn)人們一直渴望的色調(diào)——利用實(shí)驗(yàn)室培育的細(xì)菌。

　　While not yet commercially viable, the technique holds promise for a "much-needed to the historic, but unsustainable, indigo dyeing process," researchers wrote in the journal Nature Chemical Biology.

　　研究人員在《自然化學(xué)生物學(xué)》雜志上撰文稱(chēng)，這項(xiàng)技術(shù)雖然還沒(méi)有商業(yè)可行性, 但是有望改良“歷史上亟需更新的但不能長(zhǎng)期保持色澤的靛藍(lán)染色工藝。”

　　"Demand for the dye is higher than ever before, making its ecological consequences unsustainable," they warned.

　　他們警告說(shuō)：“人們對(duì)染料的需求比以往任何時(shí)候都要大，這樣會(huì)造成生態(tài)的不可持續(xù)。”

　　Originally extracted from plants, indigo is one of the oldest dyes, with evidence of its use in textile colouring going back some 6,000 years.

　　靛藍(lán)染料最初是從植物中提取的, 是最古老的染料之一。有證據(jù)表明靛藍(lán)染料用于紡織品著色的歷史可以追溯到大約6000年前。