经济学人232:基因决定幸福 Happiness is in your DNA

 　　Transporter of delight

　　传递快乐的使者

　　Happiness is in your DNA¹; and different races may have different propensities² for it

　　基因决定幸福；而不同种族的幸福倾向不尽相同

　　Born smiling?

　　天生会笑？

　　THE idea that the human personality is a blank slate³, to be written upon only by experience, prevailed for most of the second half of the 20th century. Over the past two decades, however, that notion has been undermined. Studies comparing identical with non-identical twins have helped to establish the heritability of many aspects of behaviour, and examination of DNA has uncovered some of the genes⁵ responsible. Recent work on both these fronts suggests that happiness is highly heritable.

　　人的性格有如一张白纸，唯有经历才能在上面挥毫泼墨——这个观点几乎在整个二十世纪下半叶都十分流行。然而近二十年来，此观点的说服力已逐渐减弱。同卵及异卵双胞胎的对比研究为证明行为的许多方面的遗传性带来了许多帮助，DNA检查也发现了与此相关的部分基因。最近，对这两个前沿问题的研究表明幸福感在很大程度上是遗传的。

　　As any human being knows, many factors govern whether people are happy or unhappy. External circumstances are important: employed people are happier than unemployed⁶ ones and better-off people than poor ones. Age has a role, too: the young and the old are happier than the middle-aged⁷. But personality is the single biggest determinant: extroverts⁸ are happier than introverts⁹, and confident people happier than anxious ones.

　　众所周知，决定一个人幸福与否的因素有很多。外部环境就十分重要：就业人群比失业人士更幸福，富裕阶层比家境贫寒的人更幸福。年龄也是一个因素：年轻人与老年人比中年人更幸福。但是，性格是唯一一个最大的决定性因素：性格外向的人比性格内向的人更幸福，自信的人比性格焦虑的人更幸福。

　　That personality, along with intelligence, is at least partly heritable is becoming increasingly clear; so, presumably, the tendency to be happy or miserable¹⁰ is, to some extent, passed on through DNA. To try to establish just what that extent is, a group of scientists from University College, London; Harvard Medical School; the University of California, San Diego; and the University of Zurich examined over 1,000 pairs of twins from a huge study on the health of American adolescents. In “Genes, Economics and Happiness”, a working paper from the University of Zurich’s Institute for Empirical Research in Economics, they conclude that about a third of the variation in people’s happiness is heritable. That is along the lines of, though a little lower than, previous estimates on the subject.

　　性格与智力至少在某种程度上是遗传的，这个观点正变得越来越明确；所以，在某种程度上，一个人感到幸福还是悲伤的倾向可能是由基因传递的。为了确定基因到底在多大程度上决定幸福，来自伦敦大学学院、哈佛大学医学院、圣地亚哥的加利福尼亚大学及苏黎世大学的一组科学家在一个针对美国青少年的大型健康研究中对1000对双胞胎进行了测试。在苏黎世大学经济学实证研究院的一篇工作论文《基因、经济学与快乐》中，这些科学家们提出了以下结论：人的幸福感约有三分之一是遗传的。这个结论与之前的估计相一致，只是在程度上稍微低了一点。

　　But while twin studies are useful for establishing the extent to which a characteristic is heritable, they do not finger the particular genes at work. One of the researchers, Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, of University College, London, and the London School of Economics, has tried to do just that, by picking a popular suspect—the gene⁴ that encodes the serotonin-transporter protein, a molecule¹¹ that shuffles¹² a brain messenger called serotonin through cell membranes—and examining how variants¹³ of that gene affect levels of happiness.

　　虽然关于双胞胎的研究有助于确定一个性格特征在多大程度上能被遗传，但是这项研究并未指出到底是哪个基因起到了遗传作用。伦敦大学学院及伦敦经济学院的一位研究人员简-以内马利·德·内弗已选出一个被认为最有可能起作用的基因，即编码血清素转运体蛋白质（这个蛋白质分子将名为血清素的大脑信使带入细胞膜中）的基因，并尝试检验这个基因的各种变异对幸福感的影响有多大。

　　Serotonin is involved in mood regulation. Serotonin transporters are crucial to this job. The serotonin-transporter gene comes in two functional¹⁴ variants—long and short. The long one produces more transporter-protein molecules¹⁵ than the short one. People have two versions (known as alleles) of each gene, one from each parent. So some have two short alleles, some have two long ones, and the rest have one of each.

　　血清素与情绪调节有关，而血清素转运体在其中的作用至关重要。从功能角度上区分，血清素转运提基因有两种变体：长型和短型，长型能比短型制造出更多的转运体蛋白质分子。人类拥有分别来自父亲与母亲的两个血清素转运体基因，每个基因有两种版本（被称为等位基因）。所以，有些人拥有两个短型等位基因，有些人拥有两个长型等位基因，剩下的则长型短型各一个。

　　The adolescents in Dr De Neve’s study were asked to grade themselves from very satisfied to very dissatisfied. Dr De Neve found that those with one long allele were 8% more likely than those with none to describe themselves as very satisfied; those with two long alleles were 17% more likely.

　　德?内弗博士在研究中要求青少年在“非常满意”到“非常不满”之间对自己作出评价。德?内弗博士发现，拥有一个长型基因的人对自身评价“非常满意”的比例比没有长型基因的人多8%；而拥有两个长型基因的人则多17%。

　　Which is interesting. Where the story could become controversial is when the ethnic¹⁶ origins of the volunteers are taken into account. All were Americans, but they were asked to classify themselves by race as well. On average, the Asian Americans in the sample had 0.69 long genes, the black Americans had 1.47 and the white Americans had 1.12.

　　以上现象相当有趣。而研究有争议之处在于，志愿者的种族也被考虑了进去。所有志愿者都是美国人，但他们同样被要求区分自己属于哪个种族。在样本中，平均而言，亚裔美国人拥有0.69个长型基因，黑人美国人拥有1.47个，白人美国人有1.2个。

　　That result sits comfortably with other studies showing that, on average, Asian countries report lower levels of happiness than their GDP per head would suggest. African countries, however, are all over the place, happinesswise. But that is not surprising, either. Africa is the most genetically¹⁸ diverse continent, because that is where humanity evolved (Asians, Europeans, Aboriginal¹⁹ Australians and Amerindians are all descended²⁰ from a few adventurers who left Africa about 60,000 years ago). Black Americans, mostly the descendants of slaves carried away from a few places in west Africa, cannot possibly be representative of the whole continent.

　　毫无疑问，以上结果与另一些研究的结果相符。这些研究表明，亚洲国家人民的平均幸福程度比其人均GDP所预示的要低。然而，在非洲，不论哪国的人民都感到很幸福。不过这也并不出乎意料。非洲是基因最多样化的大洲，因为那里是人类进化的地方（亚洲人、欧洲人、澳大利亚原住民以及美洲印第安人都是大约六万年前离开非洲的一些探险家们的后代）。美国黑人则大多是被人从非洲西部某些地区带来的奴隶的后代，因此他们不可能代表整个大洲。

　　That some populations have more of the long version of the serotonin-transporter gene has been noticed before, though the association has previously²¹ been made at a national, rather than a racial, level. In a paper in the Proceedings²² of the Royal Society, published in 2009, Joan Chiao and Katherine Blizinsky of Northwestern University, in Illinois, found a positive correlation²³ between higher levels of the short version of the gene and mood disorders²⁴ (China and Japan have lots of both) and with collectivist political systems. Their hypothesis is that cultures prone²⁵ to anxiety tend towards systems that emphasise²⁶ social harmony and away from ones that emphasise individuals’ independence of each other.

　　之前也有人注意到一些人拥有更多的长型血清素转运体基因，不过研究角度是国家而非种族。伊利诺斯州西北大学的约翰?乔和凯瑟林?Blizinsky于2009年在英国皇家学院学报发表了一篇论文，他们在文中指出，拥有短型基因及情绪障碍症（中国和日本的这两种人群都数目庞大）与实行集体主义的政治制度呈正相关关系。他们的假设是：有焦虑倾向的文化趋于实行强调社会和谐的制度，而远离强调个人独立的制度。

　　This latter study may be a few steps too far along the road to genetic¹⁷ determinism for some people. But there is growing interest in the study of happiness, not just among geneticists but also among economists²⁷ and policymakers dissatisfied with current ways of measuring humanity’s achievements. Future work in this field will be read avidly²⁸ in those circles.

　　对某些人而言，后一个研究可能在基因决定论这条路上走得有点远了。不过，不仅是遗传学家，就连经济学家、政治决策者也对研究幸福越来越感兴趣。因为政治决策者们对现在衡量人类成就的方式不甚满意。所以以上各界人士将会十分关注这个领域的未来研究成果。

1 DNA   

(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸

参考例句：

• DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。

2 propensities   

n.倾向，习性( propensity的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This paper regarded AFT as a criterion to estimate slagging propensities. 文中以灰熔点作为判断煤灰结渣倾向的标准。 来自互联网
• Our results demonstrate that different types of authoritarian regime face different propensities to develop toward democracy. 本文研究结果显示，不同的威权主义政体所面对的民主发展倾向是不同的。 来自互联网

3 slate   

n.板岩，石板，石片，石板色，候选人名单；adj.暗蓝灰色的，含板岩的；vt.用石板覆盖，痛打，提名，预订

参考例句：

• The nominating committee laid its slate before the board.提名委员会把候选人名单提交全体委员会讨论。
• What kind of job uses stained wood and slate? 什么工作会接触木头污浊和石板呢？

4 gene   

n.遗传因子，基因

参考例句：

• A single gene may have many effects.单一基因可能具有很多种效应。
• The targeting of gene therapy has been paid close attention.其中基因治疗的靶向性是值得密切关注的问题之一。

5 genes   

n.基因( gene的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• You have good genes from your parents, so you should live a long time. 你从父母那儿获得优良的基因，所以能够活得很长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Differences will help to reveal the functions of the genes. 它们间的差异将会帮助我们揭开基因多种功能。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 生物技术的世纪

6 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

7 middle-aged   

adj.中年的

参考例句：

• I noticed two middle-aged passengers.我注意到两个中年乘客。
• The new skin balm was welcome by middle-aged women.这种新护肤香膏受到了中年妇女的欢迎。

8 extroverts   

性格外向的人( extrovert的名词复数 )； 活跃、愉快、爱交际的人

参考例句：

• In the second half, the students were criticized. Extroverts were unfazed. 在后半部分，举不动时学生要受批评，外向性格的学生表现出不满。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 大脑与疾病
• Extroverts prefer lively conversation to brooding on the meaning of life. 性格外向的人喜欢高谈阔论，而不愿思索人生的意义。

9 introverts   

性格内向的人( introvert的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Extroverts tend to lack self-discipline while introverts lack courage. 性格外向的人缺乏自我约束力，而性格内向的人则缺乏勇气。
• I an introvert and introverts get drawn in. 我是个内向的人而且内向是天生的。

10 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

11 molecule   

n.分子，克分子

参考例句：

• A molecule of water is made up of two atoms of hygrogen and one atom of oxygen.一个水分子是由P妈̬f婘̬ 妈̬成的。
• This gives us the structural formula of the molecule.这种方式给出了分子的结构式。

12 shuffles   

n.洗（纸牌）( shuffle的名词复数 )；拖着脚步走；粗心地做；摆脱尘世的烦恼v.洗（纸牌）( shuffle的第三人称单数 )；拖着脚步走；粗心地做；摆脱尘世的烦恼

参考例句：

• She shuffles cards expertly, all the guys stare in amazement. 她熟练地洗着牌，爷们都看呆了。 来自互联网
• Fortune shuffles cards, but we discard them. 命运负责洗牌，而出牌的是我们自己。 来自互联网

13 variants   

n.变体( variant的名词复数 )；变种；变型；（词等的）变体

参考例句：

• Those variants will be preserved in the'struggle for existence". 这些变异将在“生存竞争”中被保留下来。 来自辞典例句
• Like organisms, viruses have variants, generally called strains. 与其他生物一样，病毒也有变种，一般称之为株系。 来自辞典例句

14 functional   

adj.为实用而设计的，具备功能的，起作用的

参考例句：

• The telephone was out of order,but is functional now.电话刚才坏了，但现在可以用了。
• The furniture is not fancy,just functional.这些家具不是摆着好看的，只是为了实用。

15 molecules   

分子( molecule的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The structure of molecules can be seen under an electron microscope. 分子的结构可在电子显微镜下观察到。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules. 在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。

16 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

17 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

18 genetically   

adv.遗传上

参考例句：

• All the bees in the colony are genetically related. 同一群体的蜜蜂都有亲缘关系。
• Genetically modified foods have already arrived on American dinner tables. 经基因改造加工过的食物已端上了美国人的餐桌。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 基因与食物

19 aboriginal   

adj.（指动植物）土生的，原产地的，土著的

参考例句：

• They managed to wipe out the entire aboriginal population.他们终于把那些土著人全部消灭了。
• The lndians are the aboriginal Americans.印第安人是美国的土著人。

20 descended   

a.为...后裔的，出身于...的

参考例句：

• A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
• The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。

21 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

22 proceedings   

n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼

23 correlation   

n.相互关系，相关，关连

参考例句：

• The second group of measurements had a high correlation with the first.第二组测量数据与第一组高度相关。
• A high correlation exists in America between education and economic position.教育和经济地位在美国有极密切的关系。

24 disorders   

n.混乱( disorder的名词复数 )；凌乱；骚乱；（身心、机能）失调

参考例句：

• Reports of anorexia and other eating disorders are on the increase. 据报告，厌食症和其他饮食方面的功能紊乱发生率正在不断增长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The announcement led to violent civil disorders. 这项宣布引起剧烈的骚乱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

25 prone   

adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的

参考例句：

• Some people are prone to jump to hasty conclusions.有些人往往作出轻率的结论。
• He is prone to lose his temper when people disagree with him.人家一不同意他的意见,他就发脾气。

26 emphasise   

vt.加强...的语气，强调，着重

参考例句：

• What special feature do you think I should emphasise? 你认为我该强调什么呢？
• The exercises heavily emphasise the required readings.练习非常强调必须的阅读。

27 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

28 avidly   

adv.渴望地，热心地

参考例句：

• She read avidly from an early age—books, magazines, anything. 她从小就酷爱阅读——书籍、杂志，无不涉猎。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Her melancholy eyes avidly scanned his smiling face. 她说话时两只忧郁的眼睛呆呆地望着他的带笑的脸。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）