克隆猴背后的中國科研實(shí)力疾進(jìn)

As a statement of intent, it could hardly have been more dramatic. Last week, scientists in China announced they had cloned monkeys. It is the first time that the technique used to create Dolly the sheep has been applied successfully to primates.

作為一種志向陳述，沒有比這個更加引人注目的了。不久前，中國的科學(xué)家們宣布他們成功克隆出了猴子。這是創(chuàng)造克隆羊“多利”(Dolly)的技術(shù)首次被成功地應(yīng)用于靈長類動物。

While the milestone has spurred discussion about whether it could herald the onset of human cloning, the real story is the meteoric rise of China on the scientific stage. The country is pouring billions into efforts to become a research superpower. It is setting records, year on year, for the number of papers published in prestigious international journals. It files more patents each year than any other country (a record 1.1m in 2015), and more than the US, Japan and Korea combined. But China is also raising eyebrows for its use of cash incentives: many institutions pay scientists for papers published. The country’s most prolific scholars are pocketing amounts akin to City of London bonuses.

雖然這一里程碑式的突破引發(fā)了關(guān)于這是否預(yù)示著科學(xué)家也將開始克隆人的討論，但其真正意義是中國在科學(xué)舞臺上的迅速崛起。中國正在投入巨資，朝著成為科研大國的方向努力。中國在國際著名期刊上發(fā)表的論文數(shù)量年年都在刷新紀(jì)錄。中國的專利申請數(shù)量每年都領(lǐng)先全球——2015年創(chuàng)下110萬項(xiàng)申請的紀(jì)錄——而且比美國、日本和韓國的總和還要多。同樣令人驚奇的還有中國的現(xiàn)金激勵機(jī)制，許多機(jī)構(gòu)都向發(fā)表論文的科學(xué)家頒發(fā)獎金。這個國家最多產(chǎn)的學(xué)者拿到的獎金可媲美倫敦金融城(City of London)的員工。

The birth of two identical macaque monkeys in Shanghai refreshes the technical possibility of human cloning. Zhong Zhong and Hua Hua were produced using somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). To create a clone, a monkey embryo was emptied of its DNA and the vacancy filled with DNA taken from a tissue cell of a macaque foetus. Two embryos altered in this way resulted in successful live births, producing two clones of the same macaque foetus. (Nature is also capable of creating two genetic clones in the form of identical twins, which result from a single embryo dividing in the womb). The research, published in the journal Cell, was carried out by scientists at the Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Neuroscience.

誕生在上海的兩只基因完全相同的克隆獼猴，再度表明了克隆人在科學(xué)上是可能的。中中和華華是用“體細(xì)胞核移植”(SCNT)方法克隆的。要制造克隆猴胚胎，需從一個獼猴胎兒的體細(xì)胞中提取細(xì)胞核，然后植入摘取了細(xì)胞核的獼猴卵母細(xì)胞中。用這種方法改造過的兩個胚胎最終成功存活，產(chǎn)生了同一個獼猴胎兒的兩只克隆猴。(自然情況下，同卵雙胞胎也能形成兩個基因相同的胎兒，他們是在子宮內(nèi)從一個受精卵分裂成的兩個胚胎。)這項(xiàng)研究是由中國科學(xué)院神經(jīng)科學(xué)研究所(Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Neuroscience)的科學(xué)家們進(jìn)行的，成果發(fā)表在《細(xì)胞》(Cell)期刊上。

The arithmetic behind their success bears testimony to the technical difficulty of cloning primates, similar to hurdles facing those cloning sheep or mice. Of 109 cloned embryos, three-quarters were implanted into 21 surrogate monkeys. This led to a handful of pregnancies and two successful births (although more clones are due to be born). As with the experiments that produced Dolly in 1996, the majority of cloned embryos that survive to implantation tend to abort spontaneously, or produce animals with birth defects. These dangers, as well as more obvious moral considerations regarding human individuality, render human cloning unethical to most scientists.

他們成功背后的數(shù)字充分證明了克隆靈長類動物的技術(shù)難度，克隆羊或小鼠也曾面臨過這樣的障礙?？偣?09個克隆胚胎，其中四分之三被植入21只代孕母猴體內(nèi)，有若干只母猴受孕，最終成功誕生兩只克隆猴(不過還有更多克隆猴即將誕生)。與1996年克隆出多利的實(shí)驗(yàn)一樣，大多數(shù)存活到植入階段的克隆胚胎通常會自發(fā)性流產(chǎn)，或產(chǎn)生存在先天缺陷的動物。這些危險(xiǎn)，以及有關(guān)人類個性特征的更明顯的考量，讓克隆人在大多數(shù)科學(xué)家看來是不道德的。

The Shanghai team state that, while their breakthrough smashes a barrier to human cloning, their sole intention is to produce genetically identical monkeys for medical research, an approach that could revolutionise the messy process of drug discovery.

上海這支科研團(tuán)隊(duì)表示，他們的突破雖然打破了克隆人的障礙，但他們唯一的目的是培育基因相同的猴子用于醫(yī)學(xué)研究，這一方法有可能給復(fù)雜的新藥研發(fā)過程帶來革命。

The adorable face of a baby monkey is perhaps the most eye-catching symbol of a nation intent on academic dominance. China is pursuing a policy called World Class 2.0, an attempt to catapult six universities into the league of top global institutions by 2020. The Thousand Talents programme, meanwhile, is luring international professors with generous packages and a $160,000 golden hello. That the country is raising its research game is clear from another measure. China has overtaken the US when it comes to the total number of scientific publications: 426,000 to 409,000, in 2016. The US, though, still triumphs when it comes to highly cited papers (a measure of influence).

猴寶寶可愛的面孔也許是最引人注目的象征，顯露出中國希望在學(xué)術(shù)領(lǐng)域占據(jù)優(yōu)勢地位的意圖。中國正在實(shí)行一項(xiàng)被稱做建設(shè)世界一流大學(xué)2.0版的方案，即“雙一流”政策，計(jì)劃到2020年前讓若干所大學(xué)進(jìn)入世界一流行列。與此同時，“千人計(jì)劃”也在以慷慨的福利條件和高額待遇吸引國際上的專家學(xué)者。還有一個指標(biāo)也反映中國在提高科研實(shí)力。中國年度研究論文發(fā)表總數(shù)已超過了美國，2016年中國為42.6萬篇，美國為40.9萬篇。不過美國在“高被引論文”——衡量論文影響力——方面依然領(lǐng)先。

Some wonder whether China’s extraordinary ascent in the scientific firmament is due to cash payments for publication in top journals. One trawl through university websites revealed that, in 2016, a researcher could earn an average personal payment of about $44,000 for landing a paper in Nature or Science, the two most globally recognised journals. The highest payment on offer was a staggering $165,000 per paper — and this in a country where a professor typically earns less than $9,000.

有些人猜測，中國在科學(xué)領(lǐng)域不同凡響的崛起，是不是因?yàn)槠淇蒲腥藛T一旦在頂級期刊上發(fā)表論文就能得到現(xiàn)金獎勵的緣故。根據(jù)一次對大學(xué)網(wǎng)站的調(diào)查，2016年研究人員在《自然》(Nature)或《科學(xué)》(Science)這兩個全球最著名期刊上發(fā)表一篇論文平均可獲得4.4萬美元。而一篇論文的獎勵最高可達(dá)16.5萬美元，要知道這個國家的教授一年工資通常還不到9000美元。

China is also comparatively unhindered by regulatory oversight, allowing it to notch up a string of controversial biotechnology breakthroughs. It achieved a canine double-whammy last year, by cloning a gene-edited puppy. It is now pioneering gene-editing in humans.

中國也相對不受監(jiān)管的阻礙，這使其得以在生物技術(shù)領(lǐng)域取得了一系列有爭議的突破。去年中國培育出了一只基因編輯克隆犬。中國在人類基因編輯方面走在前列。

It is also reaching for the moon — literally — with plans to build a lunar outpost. Mastering artificial intelligence is high on the government’s agenda, prompting concern at the number of Chinese firms investing in American tech start-ups. While the US still spends more than any other nation on basic science — $86bn in 2015 — the OECD estimates China will outspend its rival on R&D by 2019. When it comes to science and technology, the sun is most assuredly rising in the east.

中國還開啟探月工程，計(jì)劃在月球建立一個前哨站。掌握人工智能技術(shù)也擺在中國政府議程的重要位置，投資美國科技初創(chuàng)公司的中國企業(yè)之多引起關(guān)切。盡管美國在基礎(chǔ)科學(xué)方面的投入仍然超過其他國家——2015年為860億美元——但經(jīng)合組織(OECD)估計(jì)到2019年中國將在研發(fā)經(jīng)費(fèi)上超過其對手。就科學(xué)技術(shù)而言，太陽確實(shí)正在從東方升起。

The writer is a science commentator

本文作者安賈娜•阿胡賈是一位科學(xué)評論員。