But these researchers found certain genes that were activated to produce tardigrade-specific intrinsically disordered proteins, or TDPs for short.

但是这些研究人员发现某些被激活的基因会产生缓步动物特异性的内在无序蛋白质，简称 TDP。

Even though the researchers don’t know the exact mechanism, they were able to test whether TDPs can help other biological stuff stay safe after being dried out.

尽管研究人员不知道确切的机制，但他们能够测试 TDP 是否可以帮助其他生物物质在干燥后保持安全。

Now, when water gets sucked out of a tardigrade’s cells, these TDPs start getting glassy – which, in chemistry terms, means the proteins link together to form a jumbled, amorphous solid.

现在，当水从缓步动物的细胞中吸出时，这些 TDP 开始变得玻璃状——从化学术语来说， 这意味着蛋白质连接在一起形成混乱的无定形固体。

Another hypothesis is that because TDPs typically have strong interactions with water, they could replace the hydrogen bonds that water normally forms with different cell parts, which protects against the same kinds of cellular damage.

另一个假设是， 由于 TDP 通常与水有很强的相互作用，它们可以取代水通常与不同细胞部分形成的氢键， 从而防止相同类型的细胞损伤。