英国国会下院批准三人DNA体外受精技术

LONDON — Despite warnings that a new ethicAl threshold was being crossed, British lawmakers on Tuesday voted to allow the in vitro creation of babies using the DNA of three people, a procedure that could prevent the inheritance of genetic diseases.

伦敦——尽管有人警告说，用三个人的DNA进行体外受精的做法，将会逾越一道新的伦理界限，但本周二，英国国会议员投票通过了这项可以用来防止遗传病的技术。

The move would make Britain the first country to authorize an in vitro fertilization technique that involves altering a human egg or embryo before transferring it to the womb.

英国可能会成为第一个批准这种体外受精技术的国家。这种技术先对人类的卵子或胚胎进行改动，然后将其植入子宫。

The issue provoked fierce debate, with some opponents likening the procedure to genetic modification and arguing that it would open the way to the creation of so-called designer babies.

这个问题引起了激烈争论，一些反对者将这个方法和基因改造相提并论，认为这会开启“婴儿设计”的大门。

Lawmakers in the House of Commons voted 382 to 128 in favor of the move, which still requires final approval from the House of Lords, the unelected upper chamber of Parliament. The House of Lords rarely rejects the decisions of its elected colleagues.

下议院以382票赞成，128票反对的结果通过了这项技术，但仍然需要获得非民选的上议院的最终批准。上议院很少推翻民选的下议院议员的决定。

The vote came after a number of objections were raised, including the fact that other nations, including the United States, have not taken such a step.

在这项投票进行之前，已经有人提出若干异议，其中之一是包括美国在内的其他国家都没有采用这一技术。

Describing the move as “bold” but “considered and informed,” the health minister, Jane Ellison, argued in favor of legalizing the procedure, which is designed to help women with mitochondrial diseases. Defects in the mitochondria — energy-producing structures outside a cell’s nucleus — can result in a range of complications, including muscular dystrophy and heart, kidney and liver failure.

卫生部长简•埃里森(Jane Ellison)说下议院的决定“很大胆”，但却“经过了深思熟虑”，这项技术旨在为患有线粒体疾病的女性提供帮助，她赞成将其合法化。线粒体位于细胞核之外，功能是产生能量，线粒体缺陷可能会导致一系列并发症，比如肌肉萎缩症和心、肾、肝功能衰竭。

An opponent of the change, Edward Leigh, a Conservative lawmaker and former minister, said before the vote that it was a “monumental decision.”

持反对意见的保守党议员爱德华•利曾担任过部长，他在投票前表示，这个决定的影响将会“极其深远”。

“If we believe that, sadly, given the nature of the human condition, there are these appalling diseases, where do we stop?” he asked, calling for full clinical trials to determine the procedure’s safety and effectiveness.

“如果我们认为，可悲的是，鉴于人类生存状况的性质，人间存在着各种可怕疾病，那我们要在何处停手？”他问道。他还要求进行全面的临床试验，以确定这项技术的安全性和有效性。

“We will be the first state to authorize this in the world,” Mr. Leigh added. “We will be in a unique position, and we should ask ourselves why no other state — not the European Union, not the U.S., yet — thinks this process is absolutely safe.”

“我们将成为世界上第一个批准该技术的国家，”他还表示。“我们将处在一个特别的位置。我们应该问问自己，为什么欧盟、美国和其他国家都不认为这项技术绝对安全？”

If it wins final approval, as seems likely, the technique is expected to be used only sparingly, and in the cases of women who have faulty mitochondria. The resulting embryo would have nucleus DNA from the child’s parents but mitochondrial DNA from a donor.

该技术最后获得批准的可能性很大，如果真是如此，预计它只会少量应用在患有线粒体疾病的女性中。用这种技术产生的胚胎，必须从孩子父母的细胞核中提取DNA，但线粒体DNA则取自捐献者。

Scientists say that the child would inherit the characteristics of the parent, other than the mitochondrial defect, rather than those of the donor.

科学家们说，除了线粒体缺陷之外，孩子将会继承父母的特征，而不是捐献者的特征。

They also say that the procedure is different from the one used to genetically modify foods, in which individual genes are usually selected to be transferred from one organism into another.

他们还指出，该技术不同于转基因食品技术。后者通常是有选择地把个别基因从一个有机体转移到另一个上。

Tuesday’s vote was welcomed by Robert Meadowcroft, chief executive of the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign, who described it in a statement as a “milestone in giving women an invaluable choice, the choice to become a mother without fear of passing on a lifetime under the shadow of mitochondrial disease to their child.”

本周二的投票受到了肌肉萎缩症运动(Muscular Dystrophy Campaign)首席执行官罗伯特•麦道克劳夫特(Robert Meadowcroft)的欢迎，在一份声明中，他称该决定是一个“里程碑，为一些女性提供了非常宝贵的选择，让她们可以成为母亲，而不必担心把线粒体疾病遗传给孩子。”

“There are currently no means to treat devastating mitochondrial diseases, which can cause muscle wastage, loss of vision, stroke-like episodes and a premature death,” the statement added. “Preventing inheritance, where possible, remains our only option, and that is why we have invested in and wholly support this pioneering technique.”

“线粒体疾病可以造成巨大痛苦，可能会导致肌肉萎缩、失明、卒中样发作和早亡，目前没有任何治疗方法，”该声明说。“我们唯一的选择仍然是尽可能地防止把它遗传给下一代，这就是我们为什么投资于这种开创性的技术，并全心全意地支持它的原因。”

Some groups opposed to the procedure, including Human Genetics Alert, had likened it to genetic modification. “Although food crops, bacteria and animals have been genetically engineered for the last 20 years, there has been a worldwide consensus, embodied in legislation in over 60 countries, that we should not attempt to do the same with human beings,” the group said on its website.

“人类遗传学警报”(Human Genetics Alert)等组织反对这项技术，将它和基因改造相提并论。“虽然在过去20年里，基因工程已经涉及粮食作物、细菌和动物，但我们不应该尝试对人类做同样的事情，这是一个世界性的共识，有60多个国家的立法都体现了这一共识，”该组织在网站上表示。

“This is because crossing this line would lead inevitably to a future of ‘designer babies’ and a new consumer-driven eugenics,” the group said.

“这是因为，一旦逾越这条界限，将来就会不可避免地出现‘婴儿设计’和消费者驱动的新型优生学活动，”该组织表示。

“There are also serious ethical objections to this procedure, which involves the destruction of human embryos as part of the process,” Bishop John Sherrington said in the statement.

“这项技术在伦理上也遭到了强烈反对，因为它涉及破坏人类的胚胎组织，”主教约翰•谢林顿(John Sherrington)在声明中说。

The Church of England argued that there should be “more time for consultation and research,” while adding that the church did not want to prevent people “from benefiting from a major advance in genetics and assisted reproduction.”

英国教会认为应该“用更多的时间来磋商和研究”，同时表示，教会不想阻止人们“从遗传学和辅助生殖技术的重大进展中获益”。