科学美国人60秒 SSS 基因编辑有何用？（在线收听）

This is Scientific American's 60-second Science, I'm Steve Mirsky.

这里是科学美国人——60秒科学系列，我是史蒂夫·米尔斯基。

On October 7, Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier shared the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the development of the gene-editing tool called CRISPR.

10月7日，詹妮弗·杜德纳和艾曼纽·卡彭迪耶因开发了名为CRISPR的基因编辑工具，共同获得了2020年诺贝尔化学奖。

Last April，I spoke with Doudna at an event in Washington, D.C.

去年4月，我在华盛顿特区的一次活动上与杜德纳进行了交谈。

A few months ago, I was at a talk about wine, and CRISPR came up. And it was it was an appropriate thing to bring up.

几个月前，我参加了一个关于葡萄酒的演讲，CRISPR出现了。这是一个合适的话题。

What is it like to be in this field right now, where everyone is talking about the work that you do and its implications?

现在身处这个领域是什么感觉，每个人都在谈论你的工作及其影响?

Well, I have to say it’s very exciting.

不得不说这很令人兴奋。

And as a scientist, it’s wonderful to see all the creative work that’s going on with gene editing.

作为一名科学家，很高兴看到基因编辑方面的创造性工作。

It’s just a fascinating opportunity to see the innovation that people come up with when they have a tool that’s so broadly useful across biology.

当人们拥有一种在整个生物学中如此广泛有用的工具时，这只是一个令人着迷的机会，可以看到人们提出的创新。

You do a million interviews, and you make a lot of public talks.

你做了一百万次采访，以及开展了很多的公开演讲。

What do people not talk to you about that you would love to talk about regarding CRISPR?

关于CRISPR，有什么是人们不跟你谈的，而你又想谈的?

Well, I think a lot of the discussion around CRISPR right now focuses on biomedical applications, which clearly are very exciting.

我认为现在关于CRISPR的很多讨论都集中在生物医学应用上，这显然是非常令人兴奋的。

I think something that I don’t hear as much—although I’m happy to hear that you had this conversation at a wine event—are the opportunities in agriculture.

虽然我很高兴听到你们在葡萄酒活动上进行了这样的对话，但我觉得有些事情我并没有听到太多，那就是农业领域的机遇。

I think they’re going to be huge.

我想它们会很庞大。

And I’m really, really excited about the opportunities to use gene editing to create plants that will be drought-tolerant, pest-resistant, maybe more nutritious—give farmers opportunities to grow plants in environments where, in the past, they’ve been really challenging to grow.

我对利用基因编辑创造出耐旱、抗虫害、可能更有营养的植物的机会感到非常兴奋，这让农民有机会在过去很难生长的环境中种植植物。

Yeah,it's just the range of applications is just seemingly endless.

是啊，应用范围似乎无穷无尽。

I think in the wine talk, we were discussing the threats to viniculture from global warming.

我想在关于葡萄酒的演讲中，我们讨论了全球变暖对葡萄栽培的威胁。

And one of the possible applications there is to get the more heat- tolerant organisms to chip in, help the wine grapes.

其中一个可能的应用是让更耐高温的有机体参与进来，帮助酿制葡萄。

I know you talk about the ethical considerations a lot.

我知道你说了很多道德方面的考虑。

Anything you’d like to discuss?

你有什么想讨论的吗?

I think the ethical considerations are incredibly important.

我认为伦理考虑是非常重要的。

People get very excited and concerned, appropriately, I think, on occasion about opportunities to use gene editing in systems where,

人们非常兴奋和关心，我认为，适当地，偶尔在系统中使用基因编辑的机会，

you know, we really need to be thoughtful about the responsible use—where there are great opportunities but also big, big challenges.

你知道，我们真的需要考虑负责任的使用，那里有巨大的机会，但也有巨大的挑战。

And of course, a very obvious one is in the human-germ-line-embryo editing but also, frankly, also in microbes and other organisms that could be released into the environment—using gene editing to spread genetic traits in a mode called gene drives.

当然，一个非常明显的例子体现在人类-生殖系-胚胎编辑中，但坦白地说，也存在于可能被释放到环境中的微生物和其他有机体中 ——使用基因编辑，以一种叫做基因驱动的模式传播遗传特征。

So that’s another area where there’s a lot of discussion about how careful we need to be.

所以这是另一个我们需要谨慎讨论的领域。

How do we regulate this technology appropriately?

我们如何适当地规范这项技术?

How do we encourage science to advance but do it in a way that’s responsible?

我们如何鼓励科学进步，但又以负责任的方式去做呢?

Thanks for listening for Scientific American's 60-second Science. I'm Steve Mirsky.

谢谢大家收听科学美国人——60秒科学。我是我是史蒂夫·米尔斯基。