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克隆大论战

http://www.sina.com.cn 2001/06/28 11:05   洋话连篇

  Before we assume that the market for human clones consists mainly of narcissists who think the world deserves more of them or neo-Nazis who dream of cloning Hitler or crackpots and mavericks and mischief-makers of all kinds, it is worth taking a tour of the marketplace. We might just meet ourselves there.

  All it took was that first headline about the astonishing ewe, and fertility experts began to hear the questions every day. Our two-year-old daughter died in a car crash; we saved a lock of her hair in a baby book. Can you clone her? Why does the law allow people more freedom to destroy fetuses than to create them? My husband had cancer and is sterile. Can you help us?

  The inquiries are pouring in because some scientists are ever more willing to say yes, perhaps we can. Recent cover stories in Wired and the New York Times Magazine tracked the efforts of the Raelians, a religious group committed to, among other things, welcoming the first extraterrestrials when they appear. They intend to clone the cells of a dead 10-month-old boy whose devastated parents hope, in effect, to bring him back to life as a newborn. The Raelians say they have the lab and the scientists, and—most important, considering the amount of trial and error involved--they say they have 50 women lined up to act as surrogates to carry a cloned baby to term.

  At that moment, at least two things will happen--one private, one public. The meaning of what it is to be human--which until now has involved, at the very least, the mysterious melding of two different people's DNA--will shift forever, along with our understanding of the relationship between parents and children, means and ends, ends and beginnings. And as a result, the conversation that has occupied scientists and ethicists for years, about how much man should mess with nature when it comes to reproduction, will drop onto every kitchen table, every pulpit, every politician's desk. Our fierce national debate over issues like abortion and euthanasia will seem tame and transparent compared with the questions that human cloning raises.

  The more scared people are of some of this research, scientists worry, the less likely they are to tolerate any of it. Yet variations on cloning technology are already used in biotechnology labs all across the country. It is these techniques that will allow, among other things, the creation of cloned herds of sheep and cows that produce medicines in their milk. Researchers also hope that one day, the ability to clone adult human cells will make it possible to "grow" new hearts and livers and nerve cells.

  我们总是一相情愿地假定克隆人的市场主要由那些认为世界上应该多几个自己的自大狂、梦想克隆希特勒的新纳粹或者是疯子、怪人、惹事鬼构成,但在下这个结论之前,我们很有必要先做一次克隆市场之旅。也许在那里,我们会发现自己的身影。

  这一切都源于各大媒体对于那只惊人的母羊所进行的大肆报道和渲染,于是生育专家们开始日复一日地面对这些问题了:我们两岁的女儿在车祸中死去了,我们在一本婴儿书里保留了她的一绺头发,你能克隆她吗?为什么法律允许人们有堕胎的自由却不让他们创造一个生命?我丈夫患了癌症而且没有生育能力,你能帮助我们吗?

  这些询问铺天盖地而来,因为一些科学家们在面对这些问题时,更愿意说“是”,或者“我们能够”。最近的《连线》杂志和纽约《时代》杂志封面故事披露了一个宗教团体Raelians——他们的诸多主张之一是欢迎第一个到达地球的外星人——的种种尝试,这个组织打算为一对伤心欲绝的夫妇克隆他们去世的10个月大的婴儿的细胞,并最终使其获得新生。Raelians宣称他们有实验室和科学家,并且——也是最重要的,考虑到试验的数量及可能发生的错误——他们称已经有50位妇女等着做“代理妈妈”,让克隆宝宝在她们的子宫内发育出生。

  到那时,至少会产生两方面的影响——一是在私人领域内,一是在公众领域内。人之所以为人的意义——至今为止它至少还要包括两个不同的人的DNA神秘合成的过程——将会永远改变,同时,我们对于父与子、手段和目的、结果与开端之间关系的理解也将永远改变。结果会是:多年来科学家和论理学家之间关于在繁殖这一点上人类应该在多大程度上改变自然规律的争论,将会活生生地出现在每一个餐桌,没一个讲道坛,每一个政治家的桌子上。与克隆人所带来的问题相比,我们国家关于堕胎和安乐死的最为激烈的论战都将变得平淡无味,容易解决。

  科学家们担心,人们对于这种研究的某些内容越恐惧,他们就越不能容忍整个研究。但是,国内所有的生物工艺学实验室都已经使用克隆技术的种种变体了。正是这些技术使人们可以创造能产出药物奶的羊和牛。研究人员也希望,有一天克隆成年人细胞的能力可以用来让人们“长出”新的心脏、肝脏和神经细胞。


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