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  • In 2011, scientists created glow-in-the-dark cats.

    2011 年,科學家培育出螢光貓。

  • The researchers took a gene from glowing jellyfish and inserted it into the unfertilized eggs of house cats.

    研究人員取出螢光水母的發光基因,並將它注入家貓的未受精卵之中。

  • It was a neat trick, but they had a bigger goal in mind.

    雖然這是個蠻吸睛的小把戲,但他們心中有個更遠大的藍圖。

  • They also made the cats more likely to be resistant to a feline form of AIDS, by, again, manipulating their DNA.

    在研究過程中,他們也讓螢光貓具備較能夠抵抗「貓愛滋」的能力,當然也是靠著控制牠們的 DNA 來做到這件事。

  • And cats aren't that different than humans.

    而貓咪和人類並沒有太大的不同。

  • In fact, we share around 90% of our DNA with them.

    事實上,我們的基因大約有 90% 都跟貓咪一樣。

  • So why can't we engineer humans in the same way?

    那為何我們不能用相同的方式來改造人類的基因呢?

  • Well, we canengineer ourselves to be resistant to life-threatening illnesses, that is.

    其實我們可以做到,用基因編輯的方式讓我們可以抵抗致命的疾病。

  • In fact, one scientist claims that he's genetically engineered two babies using a revolutionary tool called CRISPR.

    一位科學家就宣稱他用革命性的工具—CRISPR 創造出了 2 名基因編輯寶寶。

  • But what exactly is a CRISPR baby, anyway?

    但 CRISPR 寶寶究竟是什麼?

  • Would you like to be 6 feet tall or never bald?

    他們會長到一百八十公分高嗎?還是永遠不會禿頭?

  • The secret to traits like these lies in the 6 billion letters of your genetic code.

    這些表徵的秘密都藏在你體內的 60 億個遺傳密碼之中。

  • But there could be something else in there as well: mutations.

    但這麼做可能還會發生一件事:突變。

  • Genetic mutations are linked to at least 6,000 medical conditions from sickle cell anemia to Huntington's disease.

    基因突變會造成至少 6000 種病徵,像是鐮刀型紅血球疾病和亨丁頓舞蹈症。

  • But what if you could make those mutations simply disappear?

    但如果你可以直接讓突變消失呢?

  • That's where the gene-editing tool CRISPR comes in.

    這就是基因編輯工具 CRISPR 派上用場的時候了。

  • CRISPR is made from specialized proteins and other compounds found in certain bacteria.

    CRISPR 由特殊的蛋白質和在特定細菌中找到的化合物所組成。

  • Normally, these proteins protect the bacteria by destroying enemy invaders like viruses.

    一般而言,這些蛋白質會藉由消滅病毒等入侵者來保護細菌。

  • But the inventors of CRISPR figured out how to turn those proteins against genetic mutations and other genes linked to disease.

    CRISPR 的發明者想出一個方法,讓那些蛋白質可以對抗基因突變和造成疾病的基因。

  • First, they give the proteins coordinates of the wanted gene.

    首先,他們會先給予蛋白質目標基因的位置。

  • Then, CRISPR runs a seek-and-destroy function.

    接著,CRISPR 會搜索目標基因並加以摧毀。

  • After that, other molecules are dispatched to repair the gene with new, healthy DNA.

    最後,其它帶著健康 DNA 序列的分子才會被派遣去修復基因。

  • And just like that, you can edit the human genome.

    如此一來就可以編輯人類的基因組。

  • But while the edits may be quick, their changes can last for centuries, especially if you're editing the DNA in an embryo.

    雖然編輯基因不會花上太多時間,但它造成的影響卻會持續千千萬萬年,尤其是當你編輯胚胎基因時。

  • Embryos start out with a single cell that eventually replicates into millions and then trillions more.

    胚胎從單細胞開始發育,最終會複製出幾百萬、幾兆個。

  • So if you alter that initial cell first, you're manipulating the ingredients for every cell that follows later in life.

    所以如果你改變了最原始的細胞,你也會影響這個生命體之後所複製、分裂出的所有細胞。

  • And those same altered cells can be passed on from generation to generation.

    這些被編輯過的細胞也就會一代接著一代地傳下去。

  • That's one reason why most experiments on human embryos haven't left the lab.

    這就是為什麼大多數以人類胚胎進行的實驗都只能留在實驗室裡。

  • That is, except for the work of Dr. He Jiankui.

    除了賀建奎博士的。

  • He claims to have used CRISPR to target and knock out the CCR5 gene in human embryos, which is linked to HIV infection.

    他宣稱自己使用 CRISPR 修改了讓人類感染愛滋的蛋白質—CCR5。

  • And then he did something that shocked the scientific community.

    接著,他做了一件震驚科學界的事。

  • He implanted the embryos into several women, one of whom gave birth to genetically modified twins.

    他將修改過的胚胎植入數名女性體內,其中一名生出了一對基因編輯過的雙胞胎。

  • Resistance to HIV aside, most scientists say the procedure was too risky.

    即便他們可以對抗愛滋病,許多科學家表示這個過程太過冒險。

  • At least two studies suggest that edited cells might actually trigger cancer.

    至少有兩篇研究指出,基因編輯過的細胞可能會導致癌症。

  • And another found that CRISPR can accidentally take aim at healthy DNA.

    其他研究則顯示,CRISPR 會在無意中攻擊健康的 DNA。

  • So while CRISPR could make us immune to disease, who knows what else we might get on the side?

    所以雖然 CRISPR 能夠讓我們免於一些疾病,但誰知道它有哪些我們還看不見的影響呢?

In 2011, scientists created glow-in-the-dark cats.

2011 年,科學家培育出螢光貓。

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