理智地利用基因編輯技術 We can now edit life so let's use the power wisely

Biotechnology is on the brink of the biggest scientific advance since researchers discovered in the 1970s how to insert DNA into living cells. Fast and accurate new “gene editing”, which cuts and pastes DNA at exactly the right place in the target genome, is about to replace the slower hit-and-miss methods of genetic engineering used for the past 40 years.

上世紀70年代，研究人員發現了在活體細胞中插入DNA的方法。目前，生物科技即將發生自那時以來最大的科技進步。快速、準確的新型“基因編輯”——剪切DNA並精確地將其粘貼在目標基因組的正確位置上——將取代過去40年裏使用的那種碰運氣式的基因工程方法。

Laboratories around the world are adopting gene editing, particularly a technique called Crispr (pronounced ‘crisper’), which will accelerate the genetic manipulation of microbes, plants, animals — and people. While scientists are talking excitedly about the great promise and potential risks of gene editing, these have not yet received the attention they deserve from the public or policymakers.

全世界的實驗室都在採用基因編輯，尤其是一種名爲Crispr（成簇、規律間隔的短迴文重複序列——譯者注）的技術，該技術將加快微生物、動植物和人類的基因操控。儘管科學家們激動地談論着基因編輯的宏大前景和潛在風險，但公衆或政策制定者還沒對這些投以應有的關注。

Most concern focuses on human gene editing. Crispr offers a relatively simple means, accessible to any fertility lab with a supply of eggs, sperm or embryos, to engineer the human germline — make irreversible changes that are passed on to future generations.

人們最關心的是人類基因編輯。Crispr提供了一個相對簡單的方法，任何一個擁有卵子、精子或胚胎的生殖實驗室都可以用它來設計人類種系，實現能夠傳遞到後代的不可逆轉的改變。

This is fundamentally different to “gene therapy”, currently in clinical trials, which treats genetic diseases by adding DNA to patients’ affected cells but does not transmit changes to their offspring.

這與當前仍處臨牀試驗階段的“基因療法”有本質的不同。基因療法治療遺傳病時，會把DNA加入到患者受損的細胞中，但這種變化不會遺傳給後代。

Keen to address the ethical concerns, national scientific academies convened an international summit on human gene editing in Washington this month. They concluded with understandable caution that the risks of unpredictable consequences are so great that no one should consider initiating a pregnancy with a gene-edited embryo for the time being, though research should continue and clinical applications might be appropriate in future if safety and efficacy can be proved.

本月，急於應對倫理擔憂的各國科研機構在華盛頓召開了一次國際人類基因編輯峯會。出於可以理解的謹慎，它們得出結論：產生無法預知的後果的風險太大了，暫時誰也不應考慮使用基因編輯過的胚胎進行受孕，不過，研究應當繼續下去，如果安全和功效得到證明的話，將來或許可以進行臨牀應用。

While scientific self-regulation of this sort is welcome, the time has come for public bodies, regulators and funding agencies to become more actively involved. The Chinese Academy of Sciences, a participant in the Washington meeting, has an important role to play. Researchers in China are adopting gene editing with particular enthusiasm; early this year a team there undertook the only recorded experiment to alter the genes of a human embryo (albeit a non-viable one).

儘管這種科學上的自我監管值得歡迎，但公共機構、監管者和資助機構是時候更積極地參與其中了。參加了華盛頓會議的中國科學院(CAS)，需發揮重要作用。中國的研究人員正在以尤爲高漲的熱情采用基因編輯；今年早些時候，中國的一個團隊進行了記錄在案的唯一一次改變人類胚胎（儘管是不能正常發育的胚胎）基因的實驗。

As usual when discussing technologies that pose risks while promising great benefits, the best balance between restriction and encouragement is hard to assess. Some have suggested at least a temporary halt to any gene editing research with human embryos but this would have an excessively chilling effect on science. More important is strict enforcement of a moratorium on clinical use of germline editing.

像通常的情況一樣，當討論在昭示巨大利益的同時也帶來風險的技術時，在限制和鼓勵之間是很難找到最佳平衡點的。有些人已暗示，起碼應暫停任何人類胚胎基因編輯研究，但這將對科學產生極大的冷卻效應。更重要的是，應嚴格執行對種系編輯臨牀應用的禁令。

Although human DNA is the most contentious target for editing, the technology will open new avenues and accelerate research in every field of genetic manipulation. Farmers, for instance, will be able to grow an expanded range of genetically modified crops; some plants will have their own genes tweaked rather than foreign genes added, which should make them more acceptable to consumer activists.

儘管人類DNA是爭議最大的編輯對象，這項技術將在基因操控的各個領域開闢新道路，並加快研究進度。比如，農場主將能夠種植各種基因改造作物；有些基因改造植物將是其本身的基因經過了更改，而不是加入了外來基因，這樣的植物應更容易被消費維權者所接受。

Gene editing will open a wider horizon for GM animals, which have made minimal impact on agriculture and elsewhere. An enticing prospect for fighting mosquito-borne diseases, such as malaria, is to spread a synthetic gene that confers resistance to infection through the wild insect population. Scientists recently demonstrated an antimalarial “gene drive” in GM mosquitoes but stringent testing will be required before it can be let loose in the wild. With good management and public support, gene editing could lead biotechnology into a golden age.

基因編輯將爲基因改造動物開闢更廣闊的發展空間（基因改造動物對農業和其他領域的影響一直極小）。在抗擊瘧疾等蚊媒病方面，一種誘人前景是，把一種人造基因廣泛傳播到野生蚊子中，攜帶這種基因的蚊子能夠抗瘧原蟲感染。不久前，科學家們展示了經過“基因偏向”(gene drive)技術改造的抗瘧疾蚊子，但要先經過嚴格的試驗，才能把這種蚊子釋放到大自然中去。在良好的管理和公衆支持下，基因編輯可能會引領生物科技進入一個黃金時代。