兩只克隆猴在中國誕生

Scientists in China have successfully cloned two monkeys, the latest step in the country’s ambition to become a global scientific leader.

中國科學家成功克隆出兩只猴子，向著成為全球領(lǐng)先科學大國的雄心勃勃的目標邁出最新一步。

The genetically identical long-tailed macaques born in Shanghai last month, called Zhong Zhong and Hua Hua, are the first primate clones produced through the method that made Dolly the sheep in Scotland in 1996. Their names are a play on the phrase Zhonghua, which means Chinese nation or people.

這兩只基因相同的長尾獼猴上月誕生于上海，名叫中中和華華，它們是自1996年第一只克隆羊“多利”(Dolly)在蘇格蘭誕生以來，用同樣方法克隆出來的首批靈長類動物。它們的名字寓意“中華”，即中華民族或中國人民。

Although the cloning method, known as somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), is almost routine in mammals such as sheep, cattle and mice, it has been extremely difficult to replicate in primates. Previous efforts with monkeys often resulted in clones that did not develop properly as embryos or died shortly after birth.

雖然被稱為“體細胞核移植”(SCNT)的克隆方法用于羊、牛和鼠等哺乳動物已近乎尋常，但在靈長類動物身上極難應(yīng)用。以前克隆猴子的嘗試往往只能得到無法正常發(fā)育的胚胎，或者在出生后很快夭折的動物。

Now that SCNT cloning has been achieved with primates, human cloning is possible, said authors of the study, which is published in the journal Cell.

相關(guān)研究報告發(fā)表于學術(shù)期刊《細胞》(Cell)上，其作者們表示，既然靈長類動物已經(jīng)實現(xiàn)了體細胞核移植克隆，人類克隆是可能的。

“The technical barrier is now broken. In principle [this method] can be applied to humans,” said Mu-ming Poo, a co-author, from the Chinese Academy of Sciences Centre for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology. But, he added, “we cloned [the macaques] to produce animal models useful for medicine, for human health. There’s no intention for us to apply this method to humans.”

“技術(shù)障礙現(xiàn)在被突破了。原則上(這種方法)可以應(yīng)用于人類，”來自中國科學院腦科學與智能技術(shù)卓越創(chuàng)新中心(CEBSIT)的聯(lián)名作者蒲慕明(Mu-ming Poo)表示。但他補充稱：“我們克隆(這些獼猴)以培育用于醫(yī)學、服務(wù)于人類健康的動物模型。我們無意將這種方法應(yīng)用于人類。”

SCNT involves replacing the nucleus of an egg cell with DNA from a differentiated body cell such as skin. This reconstructed egg develops into a clone of the DNA donor.

體細胞核移植涉及用來自分化的體細胞(如皮膚)的DNA取代卵細胞的細胞核。經(jīng)過重建的卵細胞發(fā)育成DNA供體的克隆。

In 1999 US researchers at the Oregon National Primate Research Center produced a live cloned rhesus monkey, named Tetra, through embryo splitting — a simpler process that occurs naturally in identical twins but cannot generate more than four clones at a time.

1999年，美國俄勒岡國家靈長類動物研究中心(Oregon National Primate Research Center)的研究人員利用胚胎分裂技術(shù)(一種更簡單的過程，在同卵雙胞胎中自然發(fā)生，但無法一次產(chǎn)生4個以上的克隆)，成功克隆出一只名叫Tetra的恒河猴。

In principle, SCNT can produce a larger number of clones from the same donor, which could help medical research by generating genetically uniform groups of monkeys with specific characteristics.

原則上，體細胞核移植可從相同的供體產(chǎn)生更大數(shù)量的克隆，有望通過產(chǎn)生具有特定特征的基因一致的猴群來幫助醫(yī)學研究。

The team at the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Neuroscience in Shanghai failed in its efforts to produce healthy clones from adult cells but succeeded with fibroblasts — connective tissue cells — from a macaque foetus.

位于上海的中國科學院神經(jīng)科學研究所的研究小組未能從成體細胞獲得健康的克隆，但用一個獼猴胎兒的成纖維細胞(結(jié)締組織細胞)取得了成功。

“The researchers not only replace the DNA sequence but also make sure the sequence expression of certain genes and the amount of that expression are co-ordinated so they are in the right place at the right time,” said Gang Fang at New York University Shanghai. “That’s quite difficult.”

“研究人員不僅要替換DNA序列，還要確保某些基因的序列表達以及表達的數(shù)量協(xié)調(diào)一致，使它們在正確的時間到達正確的位置，”上海紐約大學(New York University Shanghai)的方剛表示。“這種操作的難度很大。”

Zhong Zhong, eight weeks, and Hua Hua, six weeks, are apparently developing normally. The Shanghai team expects more macaque clones to be born over the coming months.

8周的中中和6周的華華顯然在正常發(fā)育。上海的研究團隊預(yù)計未來幾個月會有更多克隆獼猴誕生。

The study raises concerns about animal ethics in China, which has less rigid testing regulations than many other countries, though the researchers followed guidelines for animal research set by the US National Institutes of Health. Dr Poo is encouraging scientists internationally to discuss the issue. “We are very aware that future research using non-human primates anywhere in the world depends on scientists following very strict ethical standards,” he said.

這項研究令人關(guān)注中國的動物倫理學，中國的試驗法規(guī)沒有其他很多國家那么嚴格，盡管上海項目的研究人員遵循了美國國立衛(wèi)生研究院(NIH)制定的動物研究指導方針。蒲慕明鼓勵各國科學家討論這個問題。“我們非常清楚，未來在世界上任何地方利用非人靈長類動物開展研究，都有賴于科學家們遵循非常嚴格的倫理標準，”他表示。

The cloned macaques are examples of the way skyrocketing Chinese state funding of basic research is yielding significant advances in fields ranging from quantum computing to biology.

克隆獼猴是又一個例證，說明中國對基礎(chǔ)研究大舉增加的撥款，正在從量子計算到生物學等各個領(lǐng)域帶來長足進展。

Chinese state-led funding of basic research — science that has no immediate commercial applications — increased to $10bn in 2015. While that number is about one-quarter of US federal spending on basic research, it represents a vast increase from the $3.9bn in total state science funding four years earlier, according to China’s National Natural Science Foundation.

在中國，國家主導的基礎(chǔ)研究(沒有直接商業(yè)應(yīng)用的科學研究)經(jīng)費在2015年增至100億美元。盡管這個數(shù)字大約是美國聯(lián)邦基礎(chǔ)研究支出的四分之一，但是相比四年前39億美元的國家科研經(jīng)費總額，這是一個巨大增加(數(shù)據(jù)來自中國國家自然科學基金會)。