PBS高端访谈:不同寻常的基因检测

AMNA NAWAZ: Genetic¹ testing has become increasingly popular. For about the same cost as a nice dinner, you can now find out where your ancestors came from or get answers to medical questions. It's easy to do. And, for many people, it's done on a lark², with no real expectation of a surprise. Dani Shapiro, however, experienced a much different outcome. Tonight, she shares her Humble³ Opinion on why family secrets should no longer be kept.

DANI SHAPIRO, Author, Inheritance: A Memoir⁴ of Genealogy⁵: On a winter night three years ago, my husband told me that he had decided⁶ to take a DNA⁷ test. He was curious. That's all. He asked me if I wanted him to order me one too. I wasn't curious. I knew exactly where I came from, but I said, sure. Why not? It seemed like no big deal. Prices had come way down. Families everywhere were giving each other DNA kits⁸ as holiday gifts. When my results came back, they revealed that my late beloved father had not been my biological father. In rapid succession, using nothing more than Facebook and Google searches, I learned that I had been conceived in an institute in Philadelphia, and that my biological father had been a sperm⁹ donor¹⁰. Within 36 hours, I found that sperm donor, who had been a young medical student at the time. He was now a retired¹¹ 78-year-old doctor, a medical ethicist¹². He was more than a little bit surprised to hear from me. A secret was scrupulously¹³ kept from me for 54 years. Secrets defined the world of infertility¹⁴ and reproductive medicine at the time, something that persists to this day. Couples were told to have sex before and after the procedure, so that they'd never really be sure who the father was, and to then to go home and forget it ever happened, to never breathe a word, not to family, not to friends. The child would never know. And what we don't know doesn't hurt us.

Except that I believe that what we don't know absolutely does hurt us. I grew up with a powerful sense that something wasn't quite right. Things didn't add up. I didn't add up. I looked very different from my family, but that was only a small part of it. There were ways in which I simply was different. But I didn't know why. So I did what children do. I felt there must be something wrong with me. That feeling of wrongness permeated¹⁵ my life, even as I was able to thrive as a writer, marry, and have a child of my own. There was always a subtle disconnect, as if the wires were crossed. I wrote book after book, trying to understand why this was the case. We're living in a time when family secrets are tumbling out at a stunning¹⁶ rate. Easy, popular DNA testing along with the Internet makes it nearly inevitable¹⁷ that secrets involving family and identity won't make it to the grave. And that's a good thing, because no matter how high up on a shelf a secret is kept, it's still there. Just because it isn't spoken doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Quite the opposite. It's all the more powerful and dangerous for having been hidden.

阿姆纳·纳瓦兹：基因检测越来越流行了。只需一顿丰盛晚餐的钱，就能知道你的祖先来自哪里，也能了解很多医学问题的答案，简单的很呐。而且，对很多人来说，做基因检测只是随手一试，并没有抱着结果惊艳的心理预期。不过，达尼·夏皮罗却体验了一次与众不同的基因检测结果。今晚，她将分享自己的“我之拙见”，讲讲为什么不要保留家族的秘密。

达尼·夏皮罗，《遗传：家谱回忆录》作者：3年前一个冬天的晚上，我的丈夫告诉我他决定做一个DNA检测。原因很简单：他只是好奇而已。他问我用不用帮我也预定一个。但我并不好奇，因为我清楚地知道自己来自何方，但我还是说“好啊，做呗。”看起来没什么大不了的。基因检测的价格一直在下降。各个家庭都将做基因检测作为礼物赠予彼此。当我的检测结果发回来的时候，报告上显示，我挚爱的已故父亲不是我的生父。接下来，我迅速通过各种渠道，不仅限于脸书和谷歌浏览器去进行检索，随后发现我出生在费城的一家研究所里。我的生父当时捐献了精子。用了不到36小时的时间，我发现我的生父那时候是一名年轻的医学专业学生。现在，他是一位78岁的退休医生，一位医学伦理学家。当他收到我的来信时，惊讶十分。这个秘密，在长达54年的时间里，一直被人小心翼翼地守护着，不让我知道。那时候，不孕不育方面的医学里充斥着各种秘密，即便今天，也是如此。很多人会告诉一些夫妻在做这个流程之前和之后都要做爱，这样他们就无法确定孩子的生父是谁。然后回到家就要像没事儿人一样，跟亲友都要绝口不谈。孩子也永远不会知道，而不知道的事情就不会伤害到我们。

但我却认为，我们不知道的事情才真正地伤害着我们。我从小就有一种强烈的感觉——有些地方感觉不太对。很多事情看起来都不合乎情理，就连我也是——我跟家人长得非常不同，但这只是一小方面而已。从某些角度来看，我与家庭成员迥然不同，但我却不知道为什么。所以，虽然我还是像孩子一样做着自己该做的事情，但我还是觉得有什么不对劲儿。这种不对劲儿的感觉一直伴随着我，即便在我当了作家、结了婚、有了自己的小孩儿之后依然是如此。有一种微妙的断节感，就好像剪不断理还乱的线团。我写了很多本书，写书的过程中也试图理清头绪。我们生活的这个时代，很多家族的秘密都被湮没无声了。便捷又流行的基因检测加上互联网的辅助，让有关家庭和出身的所有秘密无从遁形，如同包不住火的纸。这是好事儿，因为一个秘密有多么的束之高阁，但总不是高不可攀。不说出来不代表不存在。相反，隐患的威力更大、更危险。

1 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

2 lark   

n.云雀，百灵鸟；n.嬉戏，玩笑；vi.嬉戏

参考例句：

• He thinks it cruel to confine a lark in a cage.他认为把云雀关在笼子里太残忍了。
• She lived in the village with her grandparents as cheerful as a lark.她同祖父母一起住在乡间非常快活。

3 humble   

adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低

参考例句：

• In my humble opinion,he will win the election.依我拙见，他将在选举中获胜。
• Defeat and failure make people humble.挫折与失败会使人谦卑。

4 memoir   

n.[pl.]回忆录，自传；记事录

参考例句：

• He has just published a memoir in honour of his captain.他刚刚出了一本传记来纪念他的队长。
• In her memoir,the actress wrote about the bittersweet memories of her first love.在那个女演员的自传中，她写到了自己苦乐掺半的初恋。

5 genealogy   

n.家系，宗谱

参考例句：

• He had sat and repeated his family's genealogy to her,twenty minutes of nonstop names.他坐下又给她细数了一遍他家族的家谱，20分钟内说出了一连串的名字。
• He was proficient in all questions of genealogy.他非常精通所有家谱的问题。

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

7 DNA   

(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸

参考例句：

• DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。

8 kits   

衣物和装备( kit的名词复数 )； 成套用品； 配套元件

参考例句：

• Keep your kits closed and locked when not in use. 不用的话把你的装备都锁好放好。
• Gifts Articles, Toy and Games, Wooden Toys, Puzzles, Craft Kits. 采购产品礼品，玩具和游戏，木制的玩具，智力玩具，手艺装备。

9 sperm   

n.精子，精液

参考例句：

• Only one sperm fertilises an egg.只有一个精子使卵子受精。
• In human reproduction,one female egg is usually fertilized by one sperm.在人体生殖过程中，一个精子使一个卵子受精。

10 donor   

n.捐献者；赠送人；(组织、器官等的)供体

参考例句：

• In these cases,the recipient usually takes care of the donor afterwards.在这类情况下，接受捐献者以后通常会照顾捐赠者。
• The Doctor transplanted the donor's heart to Mike's chest cavity.医生将捐赠者的心脏移植进麦克的胸腔。

11 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

12 ethicist   

n.伦理学家，道德学家

参考例句：

• They are used to resolving conflicting principles, says Dick Willems, a Dutch doctor and ethicist. 荷兰的医生，伦理学家DickWillems说，他们惯于解决相冲突的原则。
• They are used to resolving conflicting principles, says Dick Willems gold, a Dutch doctor and ethicist. 一个荷兰医生与道德家，认为他们习惯了解决有冲突的原则。

13 scrupulously   

adv.一丝不苟地；小心翼翼地，多顾虑地

参考例句：

• She toed scrupulously into the room. 她小心翼翼地踮着脚走进房间。 来自辞典例句
• To others he would be scrupulously fair. 对待别人，他力求公正。 来自英汉非文学 - 文明史

14 infertility   

n.不肥沃，不毛；不育

参考例句：

• It is the Geneva, Switzerland-based Biotech Company's second recombinant infertility drug. 它是瑞士生物技术公司在日内瓦的公司生产的第二种重组治疗不孕症的药。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 生物技术制药疫苗
• Endometritis is a cause of infertility. 子宫内膜炎是不育的原子。 来自辞典例句

15 permeated   

弥漫( permeate的过去式和过去分词 )； 遍布； 渗入； 渗透

参考例句：

• The smell of leather permeated the room. 屋子里弥漫着皮革的气味。
• His public speeches were permeated with hatred of injustice. 在他对民众的演说里，充满了对不公正的愤慨。

16 stunning   

adj.极好的；使人晕倒的

参考例句：

• His plays are distinguished only by their stunning mediocrity.他的戏剧与众不同之处就是平凡得出奇。
• The finished effect was absolutely stunning.完工后的效果非常美。

17 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。