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Cloning People

Researchers are making progress toward cloning people. Should they go ahead and do it? Not too long ago, human cloning seemed a Jetsons fantasy[1], about as plausible as a car that folds into a briefcase. Dolly and a succession[2] of other mammal clones have changed that attitude. Even so, many people were startled when a group of Korean researchers, led by Lee Bo-yeon of KyungHee University in South Korea, claimed that they had cloned human cells at the hospital's infertility clinic.

Lee's team cultured six eggs from two different women. The group retrieved unfertilized eggs from each women's ovaries, then replaced the nuclei of the eggs with the nuclei of somatic[3] cells--ordinary body cells--from the ovum of the same woman. This procedure, they said, triggered[4] the egg to begin dividing. One of those eggs--from a woman in her thirties-- supposedly did as intended, producing two cells, then four.

The researchers halted the egg's development, they say, because of a 1993 South Korean resolution banning such research. Lee explained that he conducted the work to further medical research, not to produce a human clone.

Scientists, like the public as a whole, are still weighing[5] the risks versus the benefits of manipulating human cells. "If there are beneficial uses, we should discuss the limits and dangers," says Papaioannou. Some researchers have already decided where that limit lies. Stice puts it bluntly: "There is no need to clone humans." But who will stop it from happening?

 

    


注释：

[1]fantasy：
这是一个让人浮想联翩的单词。它的原意是"想象"，比如：fantasyland幻想世界，梦境；indulge in fantasy沉溺于想象中；再比如：Everyone should indulge in fantasy on occasions.每个人都会偶尔沉浸在想象之中。

[2]succession：
接连发生，相继。它能组成不少词组，比如本文中的a succession of 表示"一连串"，例：A succession of misfortunes has come upon her. 一系列的不幸降临到她身上。再比如：in succession表示"接连"，例：The guests came in succession. 客人相继而至。

[3]somatic：
躯体的，体浆的。somatic cell在生物学中称为"体细胞"。

[4]trigger：
它的本意是"扣板机，射击"，在本文中用了引申义"引起，激发"，比如：an indiscreet remark that triggered a fight 引起一场争斗的一句不恰当的话。

 
 
 

 

克隆人

克隆人的技术在不断进步，科学家们是否还应义无反顾地继续这条研究之路？ 不久以前，克隆人的技术似乎还只是一个Jetsons幻想，就像告诉别人可以将汽车折叠起来塞进公文包一样让人难以置信。然而，多利羊以及此后一系列克隆哺乳动物的成功让人改变了先前的态度。即使如此，韩国KyungHee大学的Lee Bo-yeon教授领导的研究小组在一个医院的不育门诊部里克隆出了人类细胞的这一消息，还是让不少人吃了一惊。

Lee小组从两位女性体内取出六颗卵子进行培育。他们从每位女性的卵巢取出未受精卵子，然后用从同一人卵子中取出的普通的体细胞的细胞核替换卵细胞核。他们说这一步骤能刺激卵细胞分裂。推测不假，一个取自一位三十岁女性体内的卵细胞真的分裂成两个细胞，然后是四个。

研究小组称，由于考虑到1993年韩国曾下令禁止这类课题的研究，他们已经中止了卵细胞的生长。Lee还解释说，他们之所以进行这项工作只是由于医学研究的需要，而绝不是为了克隆人。

包括科学家在内的广大公众一直都在权衡以人类细胞作为研究对象的得失利弊。"如果此举能起到积极作用，我们就应该讨论它的危险性和限制范畴，"Papaioannou如是说。一些科学家已经确定了研究受限制的范围。Stice说得更为直白："根本没有克隆人类的必要。"但是，有谁能阻止这一天的到来呢？

 

    

 

[5]weigh：
权衡。它能组成很多词组，比如： weigh one's words斟词酌句 weigh the pros and cons 考虑正反两面意见 weigh up：估量，对……作出估计，例： a very difficult person to weigh up 一个非常难以捉摸的人