Britain
Becomes 1st to Allow Babies With DNA From 3 People
VOA News
Last updated on: February 24, 2015 7:00 PM (source)
Britain Becomes 1st to Allow Babies
With DNA From 3 People
英
國成為第一個允許胎兒有三人基因的國家
VOA News
Smita Nordwall, Ken Bredemeier
February 24, 2015 7:00 PM
Britain has become the first country in the world to allow the creation
of human embryos
from the DNA of three people, a technique intended to help mothers
avoid passing
on genetically degenerative
diseases to their babies.
英國成為全球第一個許可人類胎兒含有三人基因的國家。這種技
術的用途在於避免母親把基因退化性
(degenerative)疾病遺傳
給(pass on)嬰兒。
Members of parliament's House of Lords voted Tuesday to approve the
controversial type of in-vitro
fertilization that could prevent mothers from passing inherited
health problems such as serious heart and brain disorders or muscular dystrophy.
But critics see it as a step toward creation of so-called designer
babies.
英國國會上議院(House of
Lords)週二投票通過這個頗具爭議的試管授孕
(in-vitro fertilization)法案。母親將可避免將心臟、腦部病變或是肌肉萎縮(muscular dystrophy)等能被遺傳的(inherited)健康問題傳給下
一代。
The House of Commons approved the move earlier this month.
英國眾議院本月稍早時已通過這個議案。
Worldwide, about one in 6,500 children is affected by incurable mitochondrial diseases that
could be limited by the genetic modifications.
世界上每六千五百位孩童中就有一人被無法治癒的(incurable)粒線體疾病所影
響,而基因改造能限制此類疾病。
The proposal is supported by key British medical authorities. They see
the possibility of virtually eliminating the chance that women who are
carriers of defective mitochondria, the energy-producing structures
outside a cell's nucleus, could pass them on to their children.
英國幾位重要的醫界權威人士也支持這個提案。他們認為這作法
能有效地替有粒線體缺陷的婦女消除
(eliminate)將缺陷遺傳給下一代的可能性。粒線體是細胞核(nucleus)外製造能量的組織。
Sally Davies, Britain's chief medical officer, said women should be
given "the opportunity to have children without passing on devastating
genetic disorders."
Sally
Davies是英國的醫療部門首長,她表示「女性應有不把重大的(devastating)基因缺陷遺傳給
下一代的生育機會。」
The proposal has drawn strong opposition from some medical ethicists,
including David King of Britain's secular Human Genetics Alert. He said
approval of the law would lead to a "eugenic
designer-baby future."
這個提案受到醫療倫理人士的強大反對(draw strong opposition
from . . .)。非宗教性質的
(secular) 組織 「人類基因學警訊」(Human Genetics Alert) 人員David
King表示,隨這個法律通過,人類可能被帶往一個「優
生學(eugenic)的、訂製嬰兒的未來」。(編按:designer是「設計師」的意思,英文常見的詞條designer
brand是指有設計師屬名的產品,用來強調設計師個人的創造與設計風格,有別於普通大眾的品味,這種區別可作為該品牌的特色。這種掛名產品在講求個人風
格的時尚界尤其普遍,詞條有designer clothes,中文常譯作「名牌」,也就是強調設計師的衣服品牌。本文designer
baby一詞暗示著,基因工程發展到最後,人類嬰兒可能跟時尚精品一樣,可透過精心設計而訂造出來。)
The Roman Catholic Church, which is opposed to any artificial
reproductive techniques, opposes the British proposal, as does the
Church of England, which said last week there has not been enough
scientific study of the medical techniques involved.
一向反對任何人工生殖技術(artificial
reproductive techniques)的羅馬天主教教會也反對這個英國的議案,而英國國教會也反對這項議案,並且於上周表示,
這其中所牽涉的醫學技術還未有充分科學研究。
Medical personnel
in Britain now will be allowed to remove the nucleus DNA from the egg
of a prospective
mother and insert it into a donor egg from which the nucleus DNA has
been removed. The resulting embryo then has the nucleus DNA from its
parents, but the normal mitochondrial DNA from its donor. Scientists
say the resulting embryo's genes have less than 1 percent of the DNA
from the donor egg.
現在英國的醫事人員(personnel)能從將成為(prospective)母親的婦女的卵
子中移出細胞核DNA,植入(insert)已
移除細胞核DNA的捐贈者(donor)卵
子當中,這樣所生產的胎兒將會有雙親的細胞核DNA與來自捐贈者的正常的粒線體DNA。依照科學家的說法,這樣的胎兒身上不到百分之一的DNA是來自於捐
贈者卵子。
No mitochondria replacement treatments have been approved anywhere. The
U.S. Food and Drug Administration last year discussed the techniques
under consideration in Britain, but decided it was too soon to use them
in humans. Monkeys have been produced using one of the laboratory
techniques.
英國之外還沒有國家認可這樣的粒線體替換治療法。去年英國此
技術還在考慮中(under
consideration),而美國的食品與藥物管理局(FDA, Food and Drug
Administration)也對此討論過,但最後仍決議此技術用在人類身上的時機未到。目前已有猴子由這樣的實驗室技術製造出來。
One U.S. opponent of the procedure is Wesley Smith, a senior fellow at
the Discovery Institute's Center on Human Exceptionalism. He told VOA
it would further "the commodification
of reproduction." He said prospective parents some day will have the
chance to have "the kind of baby they want."
在美國,Wesley Smith是這個 做法(procedure)的 反對者(opponent)之一,他是「探索研究
院」的「人類除外中心」(Discovery Institute's Center on Human Exceptionalism)的 資深研究員(senior fellow)。他告
訴記者,這樣的技術將可能 促成(further)「人
類生殖的 商品化(commodification)」,
未來的父母親將有機會製造出「他們想要的小孩種類」。(編按:exceptional有兩個語意,一是指「例外的、特例的」,亦可指「優秀的、卓越的」;
human exceptionalism
是指把人類從物理的、生物的自然界中排除,而在世界中占有一個獨特地位的論點。這個辭彙依照引用的背景與討論脈絡可能有正面或負面的意思。一方面可以用來
批評以人類為利益中心,掠奪與侵犯自然界的意識形態與衍生的觀點,而另一方面則可用來主張人類在自然界的萬物中所特有的「人權」概念,並且倡導維護這樣的
人權的積極意義, Discovery
Institute's Center on Human Exceptionalism網頁上所列的組織宗旨能看的出來。)
He said that while he understands the suffering of mothers with a
genetic disorder, "the welfare of future children and the moral health
of society must count
for more."
他也表示,雖然他能同理這些帶有基因缺陷的母親的悲痛,但是
「未來人類嬰兒的福祉(welfare)還
有社會的道德建全應該是更重要的考量(count
for more)。」
Language Notes
embryo
(n) 授精卵;胚胎
pass on
(v phr) 把 . . . 傳給 . . . ;把 . . . 遺傳給 . . .
degenerative
(a) 退化的;變質的
in-vitro
fertilization (n phr) 試管授精
eugenic
(a) 優生學的
personnel
(n) 人員
prospective
(a) 未來的;預期的
commodification
(n) 商業化
welfare
(n) 福祉;福利
count
(v) 有價值,有意義
Check your vocabulary!
Fill
in the blanks with a word or phrase from the list above. Make necessary
changes. After you finish, select the text above to reveal the hidden
answers.
1. His promises don't count for
much.
2. Peacocks display their coloured tails to prospective
mates.
3. Traits of parents tend to be passed on
to their offspring.
4. An embryo refers to an animal or
human that has not yet been born, and has just begun to develop.
5. All personnel of the company are
eligible for the retirement plan.
編譯:簡嘉呈
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