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.

上世纪70年代，研究人员发现了在活体细胞中插入DNA的方法。目前，生物科技即将发生自那时以来最大的科技进步。快速、准确的新型“基因编辑”——剪切DNA并精确地将其粘贴在目标基因组的正确位置上——将取代过去40年里使用的那种碰运气式的基因工程方法。

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.

全世界的实验室都在采用基因编辑，尤其是一种名为Crispr（成簇、规律间隔的短回文重复序列——译者注）的技术，该技术将加快微生物、动植物和人类的基因操控。尽管科学家们激动地谈论着基因编辑的宏大前景和潜在风险，但公众或政策制定者还没对这些投以应有的关注。

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.

人们最关心的是人类基因编辑。Crispr提供了一个相对简单的方法，任何一个拥有卵子、精子或胚胎的生殖实验室都可以用它来设计人类种系，实现能够传递到后代的不可逆转的改变。

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.

这与当前仍处临床试验阶段的“基因疗法”有本质的不同。基因疗法治疗遗传病时，会把DNA加入到患者受损的细胞中，但这种变化不会遗传给后代。

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，急于应对伦理担忧的各国科研机构在华盛顿召开了一次国际人类基因编辑峰会。出于可以理解的谨慎，它们得出结论：产生无法预知的后果的风险太大了，暂时谁也不应考虑使用基因编辑过的胚胎进行受孕，不过，研究应当继续下去，如果安全和功效得到证明的话，将来或许可以进行临床应用。

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).

尽管这种科学上的自我监管值得欢迎，但公共机构、监管者和资助机构是时候更积极地参与其中了。参加了华盛顿会议的中国科学院(CAS)，需发挥重要作用。中国的研究人员正在以尤为高涨的热情采用基因编辑；今年早些时候，中国的一个团队进行了记录在案的唯一一次改变人类胚胎（尽管是不能正常发育的胚胎）基因的实验。

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.

像通常的情况一样，当讨论在昭示巨大利益的同时也带来风险的技术时，在限制和鼓励之间是很难找到最佳平衡点的。有些人已暗示，起码应暂停任何人类胚胎基因编辑研究，但这将对科学产生极大的冷却效应。更重要的是，应严格执行对种系编辑临床应用的禁令。

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.

尽管人类DNA是争议最大的编辑对象，这项技术将在基因操控的各个领域开辟新道路，并加快研究进度。比如，农场主将能够种植各种基因改造作物；有些基因改造植物将是其本身的基因经过了更改，而不是加入了外来基因，这样的植物应更容易被消费维权者所接受。

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.

基因编辑将为基因改造动物开辟更广阔的发展空间（基因改造动物对农业和其他领域的影响一直极小）。在抗击疟疾等蚊媒病方面，一种诱人前景是，把一种人造基因广泛传播到野生蚊子中，携带这种基因的蚊子能够抗疟原虫感染。不久前，科学家们展示了经过“基因偏向”(gene drive)技术改造的抗疟疾蚊子，但要先经过严格的试验，才能把这种蚊子释放到大自然中去。在良好的管理和公众支持下，基因编辑可能会引领生物科技进入一个黄金时代。