美國將在佛州和德州釋放轉基因蚊子
近年來，瘧疾等由蚊子傳播的疾病在美國南部呈現上升趨勢。美國環保局今年5月批准了一項計劃，允許英國生物科技公司Oxitec在佛羅里達州和德克薩斯州釋放轉基因蚊子，以消滅雌蚊，控制疾病傳播。
A British biotech company called Oxitec has permission to release genetically modified mosquitoes in Florida and Texas.
一家名爲Oxitec的英國生物科技公司已獲得許可，將在佛羅里達州和德克薩斯州釋放轉基因蚊子。
The Environmental Protection Agency approved an experimental use permit May 1 that allows Oxitec to release genetically modified mosquitoes in the Florida Keys and Harris County, Texas, where Houston is located.
美國環保局5月1日批准了一項試驗使用許可，允許Oxitec公司在佛羅里達羣島和德克薩斯州休斯頓所在的哈里斯縣釋放轉基因蚊子。
"To meet today’s public health challenges head-on, the nation needs to facilitate innovation and advance the science around new tools and approaches to better protect the health of all Americans,” according to the EPA’s news release.
環保局發佈的新聞稿中寫道：“爲了正面迎接現在的公共衛生挑戰，美國需要促進創新、推動圍繞新工具和新方法的科學進步，以更好地保護所有美國人的健康。”
head-on: adj. 正面的；直接的；頭朝前的
The permit, which lasts for two years, requires Oxitec to “monitor and sample the mosquito population weekly.”
這一爲期兩年的許可令要求Oxitec公司“每週對蚊子進行監控和抽樣檢驗。”
"EPA has also maintained the right to cancel the (permit) at any point during the 24-month period if unforeseen outcomes occur,” according to the release.
新聞稿稱：“如果發生了不可預見的結果，環保局保留在24個月內的任何時間點取消許可令的權利。”
等等。爲什麼一家公司會造出一種新型蚊子？這種蚊子有什麼作用呢？
Remember a few years ago when people – especially pregnant women – were concerned about contracting the Zika virus?
記得幾年前人們——尤其是孕婦——擔心感染寨卡病毒嗎？
It’s the virus that could cause a birth defect called microcephaly (underdevelopment of the head and brain), according to the Centers for Disease Control.
根據美國疾病控制中心，寨卡病毒會導致一種名爲小頭畸形（頭部和腦部發育不全）的出生缺陷。
Well, Oxitec claims its Aedes aegypti mosquito (known as the OX5034) can drastically reduce the spread of Zika as well as dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever.
Oxitec公司聲稱他們的轉基因埃及伊蚊（通用名：OX5034）可以大幅降低寨卡病毒以及登革熱、基孔肯雅熱和黃熱病的傳播。
Male mosquitoes don’t bite; they feed on flower nectar. Basically, male mosquitoes are harmless to humans. But female mosquitoes use blood to grow their eggs.
雄蚊不會咬人，它們以花蜜爲食。基本上，雄蚊對人類是無害的。但雌蚊靠吸血來育卵。
nectar[ˈnektər]: n. 花蜜；甘露；神酒；任何美味的飲料
Oxitec created a male mosquito with a special gene that prevents female offspring from surviving to adulthood. The new males grow up, mate with more females and over time the number of Aedes Aegypti declines.
Oxitec公司造出一種擁有特別基因的雄蚊，可以防止雌性後代存活到成年。新的雄蚊會長大，和更多雌蚊交配，隨着時間過去，埃及伊蚊的數量就會減少。
In Brazil, which suffered a Zika outbreak in 2015 and 2016, the company claims its “friendly” mosquitoes reduced the population of Aedes Aegypti by 89% to 96%.
巴西在2015年至2016年曾暴發寨卡病毒，該公司聲稱它們的“友好”蚊子將巴西的埃及伊蚊的數量減少了89%到96%。
Is there opposition to these genetically modified mosquitoes?
這種轉基因蚊子有沒有遭到過反對？
Yes.
有的。
Oxitec has been trying to make Florida the first US test site for its “friendly” mosquitoes for nearly a decade.
近十年來，Oxitec公司一直試圖讓佛羅里達州成爲美國首個測試“友好”蚊子的試驗區。
The company came close in 2016, but local officials in Monroe County (the Florida Keys) ultimately voted no. Oxitec pulled its request and decided to try again with what it described as an upgraded version of the mosquito. That’s what the EPA approved May 1.
該公司在2016年差點就成功了，但是門羅縣（佛羅里達羣島）的當地官員最終投了反對票。Oxitec公司撤回申請，決定用據稱是升級版的蚊子再試一次。這就是環保局5月1日批准的轉基因蚊子。
Before weekly mosquito releases can start, however, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District have to approve.
然而，在每週釋放蚊子的項目啓動前，還需經過佛羅里達農業和消費者服務部以及佛羅里達羣島蚊蟲控制區的批准。
The Florida Keys Environmental Coalition hopes to persuade officials to vote no again.
佛羅里達羣島環保聯盟希望說服官員再次投反對票。
"We have repeatedly asked for Oxitec to work with us to prove the technology is safe," Barry Wray, executive director of the Florida Keys Environmental Coalition, said in a statement in 2018 after Oxitec applied for its second permit.
在Oxitec公司申請第二個許可證後，佛羅里達羣島環保聯盟的執行理事巴里·雷2018年在一份聲明中說：“我們已經反覆請求Oxitec公司與我們合作來證明這一技術是安全的。”
"Instead of receiving Oxitec's cooperation to provide this confidence, we have witnessed a pattern of avoidance, misrepresentations, obfuscations and using marketing and political influence to persuade the stakeholders to proceed with what is truly a poorly designed experiment on our public and ecosystems," Wray said.
“但是，Oxitec公司不但沒有與我們合作來說服我們，我們還目睹了逃避、歪曲、迷惑以及用營銷和政治影響來說服各方利益團體對公衆和生態系統進行一個設計如此拙劣的試驗。”
The Texas releases aren’t scheduled until 2021.
德克薩斯州的釋放蚊子項目則要到2021年才提上日程。
