如果有一天，你可以選擇生育一個小“愛因斯坦”，也可以生育一個智商普通的孩子，你會做出什么樣的選擇？據(jù)科學(xué)家預(yù)計，未來10年內(nèi)，人類將可以使用試管嬰兒技術(shù)選擇“最聰明”的胚胎。

Genetics research， conceptual artwork。 CHINA DAILY

　　Couples undergoing IVF treatment could be given the option to pick the “smartest” embryo within the next 10 years， a leading US scientist has predicted。

　　據(jù)美國一名權(quán)威科學(xué)家預(yù)計，未來10年之內(nèi)，做試管嬰兒的夫婦將能夠選擇“最聰明”的胚胎。

　　IVF：in vitro fertilization 體外受精聯(lián)合胚胎移植技術(shù)，又稱“試管嬰兒”

　　Stephen Hsu， senior vice president for research at Michigan State University， said scientific advances mean it will soon be feasible to reliably rank embryos according to potential IQ， posing profound ethical questions for society about whether or not the technology should be adopted。

　　美國密歇根州立大學(xué)主管科研的副校長徐道輝（斯蒂芬·徐）說，科學(xué)進步意味著人類不久就能夠?qū)ε咛サ臐撛谥巧探o出可靠的評分，這項技術(shù)是否應(yīng)該使用將是一個深刻的社會倫理問題。

　　Hsu’s company， Genomic Prediction， already offers a test aimed at screening out embryos with abnormally low IQ to couples being treated at fertility clinics in the US。

　　徐道輝的基因組預(yù)測公司已經(jīng)為在美國不孕不育診所接受治療的夫婦提供了一項檢測服務(wù)，旨在篩查出智商異常低的胚胎。

　　“Accurate IQ predictors will be possible， if not the next five years， the next 10 years certainly，” Hsu told the Guardian。 “I predict certain countries will adopt them。”

　　徐道輝對《衛(wèi)報》記者說：“準(zhǔn)確的智商預(yù)測是可能的，即使不是未來5年內(nèi)，那么在未來10年內(nèi)也肯定可以。我預(yù)計一些國家會采納這項技術(shù)?！?/p>

　　The prospect of a new generation of genetically selected babies has prompted concerns about unintended medical consequences and the potential for deepening existing social inequalities。 The science underpinning the claim that intelligence can be meaningfully predicted by genetic tests is also contentious。

　　新一代基因選擇嬰兒的前景引發(fā)了人們對于意外醫(yī)療后果和現(xiàn)有社會不平等可能加劇的擔(dān)憂?；驒z測能夠有效預(yù)測智商的科學(xué)技術(shù)也引發(fā)了爭議。

　　contentious [k?n‘ten??s]：adj。有異議的，引起爭論的

　　Peter Donnelly， a professor of statistical science at the University of Oxford， said any such IQ predictions should be treated with “huge caution”， adding： “I have grave misgivings about it on ethical grounds。 I think it’s a really bad idea?！?/p>

　　牛津大學(xué)統(tǒng)計學(xué)教授彼得·唐納利說，應(yīng)該“十分謹(jǐn)慎”地對待此類智商預(yù)測。他說：“出于倫理原因，我對此非常擔(dān)憂。我認(rèn)為這是一個非常糟糕的想法?！?/p>

　　Since the 1990s， couples undergoing IVF have been able to screen their embryos for mutations in single genes that cause serious diseases such as cystic fibrosis， as well as conditions like Down’s syndrome， caused by chromosome abnormalities。

　　自上世紀(jì)90年代以來，接受試管受精的夫婦已經(jīng)能夠?qū)λ麄兊呐咛ミM行篩選，以發(fā)現(xiàn)單個基因的突變，這些突變會導(dǎo)致嚴(yán)重的疾病，比如囊性纖維化，以及染色體異常導(dǎo)致的唐氏綜合征等。

　　chromosome [‘kr??m?s??m]：n。染色體

　　Many other traits， including height， physical appearance， intelligence and disease susceptibility， are known to be partly heritable。 But because the genetic component is spread thinly over hundreds or even thousands of DNA regions， it has previously been impossible to screen for these traits。

　　許多其他特征，包括身高、外貌、智力和疾病易感性，都被認(rèn)為是部分遺傳的。但由于遺傳組分稀疏地分散在數(shù)百甚至數(shù)千個DNA區(qū)域，以前不可能對這些特征進行篩選。

　　In the past decade， as vast genetic databases have been established， this picture has changed。 Through analyzing many genes， each making a tiny contribution， it has been possible to calculate what are called polygenic risk scores， which give a person’s likelihood of getting a particular disease or having a certain trait。

　　在過去的十年里，隨著大量基因數(shù)據(jù)庫的建立，這種情況已經(jīng)發(fā)生了改變。通過分析大量基因，每個基因都做出了微小的貢獻，就有可能計算出所謂的多基因風(fēng)險評分，即一個人患某種特定疾病或具有某種特征的可能性。

　　polygenic[，p?li‘d?enik]：adj。多基因的