息的。他甚至不记得曾接到约翰·布拉肯的电话,这位对产下多利的那头羊的 整个妊娠过程进行监察的科学家在电话上说多利健康存活,体重66千克。 2 No one broke open champagne. No one took pictures. Only a few members from the institute a local veterinarian who attended the birth present. Yet Dolly, who looked for all the world like hundreds of other lambs that dot the rolling hills of Scotland, was soon to change the world 没有人打开香槟酒庆贺。没有人拍照留影。只有研究院的几位员工,以及 接生的一位当地兽医在场。然而,多利,这头与苏格兰起伏的山丘上散布着的千 百头其他的羊毫无异样的小羊羔,很快就改变了世界。 3 When the time comes to write the history of our age, this quiet birth, the creation of this little lamb, will stand out. The world is a different place now that she 当后人编写我们这一时代的历史的时候,这一平静的降生,这头小羊羔的 问世,将会引人注目。世界因它降生而从此改变。 4 Dolly is a clone. She was created not out of the union of a sperm and an egg but out of the genetic material from an udder cell of a six- year-old sheep wilmut fused the udder cell with an egg from another sheep, after first removing all genetic material from the egg. The udder cell's genes took up residence in the egg and directed it to grow and develop. The result was Dolly, the identical twin of the original sheep that ided the ud der cells. but an identical twin bor later 多利是头克隆羊。它不是精卵结合的产物,而是由取自一头六龄羊的乳腺 细胞的基因材料生成的。威尔莫特先将取自另一头羊的卵子中的所有基因材料取 出,再将该卵子与这一乳腺细胞融合。乳腺细胞的基因在该卵子中安营扎寨,令 其生长发育。其结果就是多利羊,即与提供乳腺细胞的那头羊一模一样的孪生羊, 只是这头孪生羊晚出生了6年。 5 Until Dolly entered the world, cloning was the stuff of science fiction. It had been raised as a possibil ity decades ago, then dismissed, something that serious scientists thought was simply not going to happen anytime soon. Now it is not fantasy to think that someday, perhaps decades from now, but someday, you could clone yourself and make tens, dozens, hundreds of genetically identical twins. Nor is it science fiction to think that your cells could be improved beforehand, genetically engineered to add some genes and remove others 在多利羊问世之前,克隆 技术不过是科学幻想的故事。几十年前有人提出这种可能性,后来遭到摒弃,严 肃的科学家那时认为克隆在近期根本不可能实现。现在这已不再是幻想,几十年 之后,或许有朝一日你可以克隆自己,造出数十个,数百个,上千个基因完全相 同的孪生的兄弟。事先改进你的细胞,运用基因工程注入某些基因,剔除某些基 因,这样的事也不再是科学幻想。 6 True, it was a sheep that was cloned, not a human being. But there was nothing exceptional about sheep. Even Wilmut, who made it clear that he was opposed to the very idea of cloning people, said that there was no longer any theoretical reason why humans could not clone themselves, using the same methods he had used to clone Dolly. "There is no reason in principle why you couldnt do it "But, he added, "All of us would find that offensive 没错,克隆的是头羊,而不是人。但羊并没有任何独特之处。甚至明确表息的。他甚至不记得曾接到约翰· 布拉肯的电话，这位对产下多利的那头羊的 整个妊娠过程进行监察的科学家在电话上说多利健康存活，体重 6.6 千克。 2 No one broke open champagne. No one took pictures. Only a few staff members from the institute and a local veterinarian who attended the birth were present. Yet Dolly, who looked for all the world like hundreds of other lambs that dot the rolling hills of Scotland, was soon to change the world. 没有人打开香槟酒庆贺。没有人拍照留影。只有研究院的几位员工，以及 接生的一位当地兽医在场。然而，多利，这头与苏格兰起伏的山丘上散布着的千 百头其他的羊毫无异样的小羊羔，很快就改变了世界。 3 When the time comes to write the history of our age, this quiet birth, the creation of this little lamb, will stand out. The world is a different place now that she is born. 当后人编写我们这一时代的历史的时候，这一平静的降生，这头小羊羔的 问世，将会引人注目。世界因它降生而从此改变。 4 Dolly is a clone. She was created not out of the union of a sperm and an egg but out of the genetic material from an udder cell of a six-year-old sheep. Wilmut fused the udder cell with an egg from another sheep, after first removing all genetic material from the egg. The udder cell's genes took up residence in the egg and directed it to grow and develop. The result was Dolly, the identical twin of the original sheep that provided the udder cells, but an identical twin born six years later. 多利是头克隆羊。它不是精卵结合的产物，而是由取自一头六龄羊的乳腺 细胞的基因材料生成的。威尔莫特先将取自另一头羊的卵子中的所有基因材料取 出，再将该卵子与这一乳腺细胞融合。乳腺细胞的基因在该卵子中安营扎寨，令 其生长发育。其结果就是多利羊，即与提供乳腺细胞的那头羊一模一样的孪生羊， 只是这头孪生羊晚出生了 6 年。 5 Until Dolly entered the world, cloning was the stuff of science fiction. It had been raised as a possibility decades ago, then dismissed, something that serious scientists thought was simply not going to happen anytime soon. Now it is not fantasy to think that someday, perhaps decades from now, but someday, you could clone yourself and make tens, dozens, hundreds of genetically identical twins. Nor is it science fiction to think that your cells could be improved beforehand, genetically engineered to add some genes and remove others. 在多利羊问世之前，克隆 技术不过是科学幻想的故事。几十年前有人提出这种可能性，后来遭到摒弃，严 肃的科学家那时认为克隆在近期根本不可能实现。现在这已不再是幻想，几十年 之后，或许有朝一日你可以克隆自己，造出数十个，数百个，上千个基因完全相 同的孪生的兄弟。事先改进你的细胞，运用基因工程注入某些基因，剔除某些基 因，这样的事也不再是科学幻想。 6 True, it was a sheep that was cloned, not a human being. But there was nothing exceptional about sheep. Even Wilmut, who made it clear that he was opposed to the very idea of cloning people, said that there was no longer any theoretical reason why humans could not clone themselves, using the same methods he had used to clone Dolly. "There is no reason in principle why you couldn't do it." But, he added, "All of us would find that offensive." 没错，克隆的是头羊，而不是人。但羊并没有任何独特之处。甚至明确表