随着科技发展,人类将基因密码逐一破解,25年后,这种“高级定制”也许会逐渐平民化。如果可以任意选择下一代的相貌、性格等多种特征,你会选择亲手DIY一个独一无二的宝宝吗?这听起来似乎很有趣,却引人深思——如果每个人都按照自己的想法制造下一代,那么人类还能叫人类吗?会不会每一个女人都像奥黛丽·赫本,而目之所及均是汤姆·克鲁斯般的男人?
They are questions that are at once 1)repulsive and 2)intriguing.
What if you could predetermine the genetics of your newborn baby? Choose your baby’s hair color? Eye color? Brain power? How athletic the child would be? Or take it even further – what if you could choose to have a child with a talent for playing the piano or a master at chess?
Would you do it? Would you 3)tinker with nature?
These are questions parents will 4)face head-on in just 25 years.
In fact, some of this genetic 5)manipulation is already possible and happened in the year 2006.
For around $12,400, a couple can use 6)in vitro 7)fertilization and choose whether to implant a male or female 8)embryo in the mother’s 9)womb. It’s not common, but it is quietly happening at fertility clinics all across the country.
And the scientific knowledge exists to do even more.
这些问题真叫人又爱又恨。
如果你能够预先为你的新生宝宝设定基因,你会怎么做?你会选择宝宝的发色吗?眼睛是什么颜色?大脑智力水平如何?拥有多少运动细胞?甚至更进一步——如果你能选择生一个钢琴天才或者象棋大师,你又会作何抉择?
你会预先设定吗?你会随意修改大自然的安排吗?
二十五年之后,这些就会成为父母需要面对的问题。
事实上,一些人为的基因操纵在2006年就已实现。
只需要约12400美金,一对夫妇便可以通过体外受精的方式,将男性或者女性胚胎植入母亲的子宫。这种做法虽然不太常见,却已经在美国各地的生育诊所里悄然盛行。
而科学知识能让人们更进一步。
“We already have the ability to isolate genes that affect a lot of the physical traits humans have, as well as the physiological traits,” said geneticist Lee Silver, a professor of 10)molecular biology and public policy at Princeton University.
“What’s going to happen over the next 10 to 25 years is that we are going to fill out the puzzle. We are going to understand how all of the genes in the 11)genome effect how tall we are, whether we are likely to be thin or heavy, and then I think scientists are going to 12)probe the brain and understand how people have different personalities and different levels of abilities… The question is whether people want to use the technology for that purpose,” Silver said.
We asked Risa Goldberg who’s pregnant how she would feel about selecting certain traits for their babies. She says it would change the nature of our society.
“I think the world would be a little bit more competitive. If everyone programmed their own kids, then everyone would be ‘super smart’ or ‘super athletes.’ And everyone would be the same. There would be a lot of the same type of people. There wouldn’t be as much diversity or variety,” Goldberg said.
But when we asked whether it would be all right to change genetics to avoid a disease, the answer changed dramatically.
“I would say yes,” Goldberg said. “I am a 13)hypocrite, but I think health is the most important part of anything. As long as the kid is healthy that’s all I care about.”
“我们已经可以将很多决定身体以及心理特征的基因单独分离出来,”遗传学者李·西尔弗如是说。他是(美国)普林斯敦大学一名分子生物学和公共政策学教授。
西尔弗说:“在未来的10到25年内,我们将完成这幅拼图。我们会弄明白基因组里的基因是如何影响我们的身高和体形的肥瘦。然后科学家将会进一步探究大脑,从而了解人们为什么会有不同的性格,能力高低也不一样……问题在于人们会否将这项技术用于(设定宝宝)这个目的。”
我们访问了一位名叫里莎·戈尔德伯格的孕妇,想知道她对能为自己的宝宝选择特征有何感想。她说这将改变社会的本质。
“我想整个世界的竞争会更加激烈。如果每个人都去设计自己的后代,那么所有人都将变成‘超级聪明’或者‘超级运动员’。每个人都一模一样,也会出现很多类型相同的人。那么社会就不再有这么丰富的多样性了,” 戈尔德伯格说。
然而当被问及对运用这种技术来改变致病基因的看法,我们听到了截然不同的答案。
“我赞成,”戈尔德伯格说,“我是一个伪善者,但是我认为健康最重要。我唯一在乎的就是孩子的健康。”
And that answer is a good indicator of the future in the field of genetic manipulation.
Scientists say the ability of a parent to shape a child’s health may well be the biggest advance 25 years from now.
Already, geneticists can tell parents whether an embryo carries a gene that would make a child more 14)susceptible to certain cancers.
It is controversial, but some parents are already choosing to implant embryos that do not have those15)defective genes. And theoretically, science could create babies who are super-resistant to diseases.
“I don’t think parents are going to be so vain and use the technology to pick out a particular hair color or eye color when what they would really like to do is have a child that is going to be healthy and live a long life. And I think the most important thing parents are going to want to select are those genes that protect against cancer or heart disease. I think that’s what is going to happen,” Silver said.
Of course, genes aren’t the only factor in determining traits – environment matters, too. And that means determining why a person is a talented pianist or smart in mathematics is very tricky stuff. Many interacting genes could be involved in one single trait.
Scientists are hopeful that eventually parents will be able not only to choose an embryo without a defective cancer gene, for example, but be able to actually alter the genetic code and make changes to it.
But as technology develops, 16)ethicists are watching closely. And many are very 17)wary of allowing parents to make genetic choices.
“It could 18)radically change our view of human life, our view of children, our view of parenthood, our view of our relationships to each other, and what it means to be human,” said Boston University bioethicist George Annas.
这个答案恰好道出了基因操纵领域的未来发展趋势。
科学家认为,未来25年内最大的进步莫过于父母可以一手操纵孩子的健康。
科学家目前已经可以让父母知道胚胎是否携带让孩子更容易患上某种癌症的基因。
虽然颇具争议性,已有部分父母选择植入没有缺陷基因的胚胎。理论上而言,科学可以创造出对疾病有超级抵抗力的宝宝。
西尔弗说:“我不认为父母们会肤浅地利用这种技术为宝宝选定发色或者眼睛颜色,实际上他们只希望拥有一个健康长寿的孩子。对于父母来说,他们最想要的是那些能够抵抗癌症和心脏病的基因。我想那就是未来的情况。”
当然,基因并不是决定某种特征的唯一因素——环境问题也很重要。这也说明了为什么一个人能成为钢琴天才或者数学高手是一个相当复杂的问题。每一个特征的产生都离不开不同基因的相互作用。
科学家希望最终能让父母做到的,不仅是选择一个——比如说没有缺陷癌症基因的胚胎,而是真正地改变基因序列,改变基因。
但是随着科技发展,伦理学家也在密切关注这个问题。很多人都对允许父母做出基因选择的行为非常谨慎。
“这将从根本上改变我们对人类生命的看法,对孩子、父母和人际关系的看法,以及作为人类的意义,”波士顿大学的生命伦理学家乔治·安娜斯如是说。
