美国国家公共电台 NPR Would You Want To Know The Secrets Hidden In Your Baby's Genes?

Would You Want To Know The Secrets Hidden In Your Baby's Genes²?

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Today in Your Health, we take you to the cutting edge of medicine - the maternity⁴ ward⁵ at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. That's where a team of genetic⁶ counselors⁸ is trying to convince new mothers and fathers to let them genetically⁹ sequence their newborns. Mary Harris from member station WNYC reports.

MARY HARRIS, BYLINE¹⁰: So imagine you've just had a baby, like Lauren and Ian Patrick have.

LAUREN PATRICK: You're getting your birth certificate.

HARRIS: This is Finn. He's just 4 days old.

(SOUNDBITE OF KNOCKING)

HARRIS: Then there's a knock on the door from a genetic counselor⁷, Shawn Fayer.

SHAWN FAYER: Hello.

IAN PATRICK: Hey, how are you?

FAYER: I'm Shawn of the BabySeq project. How are you?

HARRIS: And he offers you the chance to do something that sounds pretty cool.

FAYER: Shall we get started?

HARRIS: He wants to analyze¹¹ your baby's genome and tell you what's in there.

FAYER: Now we can sequence all genes all at once for a relatively¹² lower cost than years ago.

HARRIS: If Lauren and Ian say yes, they'll be part of a study called BabySeq, and they'll have a chance to get a glimpse at baby Finn's genetic blueprint¹³.

FAYER: How does that sort of information sound to both of you?

L. PATRICK: I think it sounds like something that we'd be interested in having.

HARRIS: They won't give parents their baby's full genetic code, more like the executive summary. Doctors will tell families if a baby's genes point to a problem that might impact him as he grows or if genetic mutations mean certain drugs won't work as well on him. Researchers will then follow families for years to see whether getting sequenced actually makes babies like Finn any healthier.

I. PATRICK: My initial reaction was that why wouldn't somebody do this or why wouldn't they want the information?

HARRIS: This is Finn's dad, Ian.

I. PATRICK: For me, more information is better, even if it's not always good, I think.

HARRIS: It depends on what you find. Dr. Robert Green is leading this study.

Do you remember the first time someone called you up and said, looks like we've found something?

ROBERT GREEN: Well, there are so many changes in everyone's DNA¹⁵ that we actually find something on everybody's sequence.

HARRIS: Which may or may not cause any harm. So far, he's sequenced about 50 babies. Five of those have had congenital conditions their parents wouldn't have known about otherwise, heart problems mostly, and two babies had pharmacogenetic variants¹⁶, meaning certain drugs might not work as well on them.

But most of what Green is finding in just about every baby he screens are recessive¹⁷ genes that would only be passed on if these babies have kids of their own with a partner who is also a carrier. Green says that means parents might want to think more seriously about how genetically compatible they are with their partners before they have kids.

GREEN: If you think about it, we're just leaving it up to chance to decide whether two people who meet and decide to have a baby are actually carrying a mutation¹⁴ in the same gene¹.

HARRIS: The potential in all this genetic information gets Green excited. He spent years in a completely different field, neurology, but he went back into training at 52 years old to study genetics. He's had his own genome sequenced three times, so he's been surprised at how hard it's been to convince new parents to take this test.

GREEN: Overall, about 6 percent of the families that we approach are saying yes.

HARRIS: Wow. That seems really low.

GREEN: It does seem really low.

HARRIS: So far, they've spoken to more than 2,400 families. Fewer than 200 have said yes. Parents are worried about bad results or results that aren't clear, and there's good reasons for that. The babies, Green says, might have heart problems. None of them have symptoms, so it's hard to say if they're sick or not.

GREEN: We're very clear with parents about the fact they might get unpleasant information. They might get information that they didn't expect. They might get information that's really hard to interpret. It's quite confusing. They might get information that could theoretically be used against their child in the future.

HARRIS: And when you're a new parent, all that information can feel overwhelming.

(SOUNDBITE OF PHONE RINGING)

HARRIS: Back in the maternity ward, new mom Lauren and her husband, Ian, who started out so bullish about screening, spend almost an hour talking to their genetic counselor about all the ways this sequencing can go wrong.

I. PATRICK: What are most people's sort of reluctancies into doing this type of...

HARRIS: They're worried about their son's privacy and also discrimination.

I. PATRICK: What are they afraid of or what are they - I don't know how to put it the right way.

(LAUGHTER)

FAYER: Yeah, no, that's a very good question. So there's actually...

HARRIS: The genetic counselor tells Lauren and Ian that while federal law actually prevents genetic discrimination when it comes to health insurance in the workplace, it isn't against the law for life insurers to use this information to pick and choose who they'll sell their plans to, and that worries them.

FAYER: So at this point, what are we thinking? Is it something you would like to have a little bit more time to think about? Or we can go over the consent forms now if you would like, whatever works for you.

L. PATRICK: I think take a day. Do you want to take a day?

I. PATRICK: Good. That would be great, yeah. Just the insurance thing's an interesting question.

L. PATRICK: Yeah, for me, too.

I. PATRICK: And I'd hate to put him in that position but...

L. PATRICK: Yeah, exactly.

I. PATRICK: ...At the same time, I sort of believe in it, but...

L. PATRICK: Yeah.

HARRIS: Lauren and Ian went through six failed rounds of IVF before this surprise pregnancy¹⁸, so Finn is a much-hoped-for baby. They say they just want what's best for this little guy.

L. PATRICK: I think we pretty much left that conversation thinking it wasn't for us.

HARRIS: I called Lauren a couple weeks later to see what they decided¹⁹. In the end, she just didn't feel comfortable with all the unknowns.

L. PATRICK: It really gave me pause that this would be a permanent medical record that private companies would have access to, so that was just my full stop in the end.

HARRIS: Green says he gets this hesitation²⁰.

GREEN: We are looking for all sorts of unanticipated variations in DNA. And we say right up front, we don't know what they all mean. We don't know what they're all going to mean for your baby. Would you still like to participate?

HARRIS: Right now, a lot of parents just aren't sure. For NPR News, I'm Mary Harris in Boston.

1 gene   

n.遗传因子，基因

参考例句：

• A single gene may have many effects.单一基因可能具有很多种效应。
• The targeting of gene therapy has been paid close attention.其中基因治疗的靶向性是值得密切关注的问题之一。

2 genes   

n.基因( gene的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• You have good genes from your parents, so you should live a long time. 你从父母那儿获得优良的基因，所以能够活得很长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Differences will help to reveal the functions of the genes. 它们间的差异将会帮助我们揭开基因多种功能。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 生物技术的世纪

3 browser   

n.浏览者

参考例句：

• View edits in a web browser.在浏览器中看编辑的效果。
• I think my browser has a list of shareware links.我想在浏览器中会有一系列的共享软件链接。

4 maternity   

n.母性，母道，妇产科病房；adj.孕妇的，母性的

参考例句：

• Women workers are entitled to maternity leave with full pay.女工产假期间工资照发。
• Trainee nurses have to work for some weeks in maternity.受训的护士必须在产科病房工作数周。

5 ward   

n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开

参考例句：

• The hospital has a medical ward and a surgical ward.这家医院有内科病房和外科病房。
• During the evening picnic,I'll carry a torch to ward off the bugs.傍晚野餐时，我要点根火把，抵挡蚊虫。

6 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。

7 counselor   

n.顾问，法律顾问

参考例句：

• The counselor gave us some disinterested advice.顾问给了我们一些无私的忠告。
• Chinese commercial counselor's office in foreign countries.中国驻国外商务参赞处。

8 counselors   

n.顾问( counselor的名词复数 )；律师；（使馆等的）参赞；（协助学生解决问题的）指导老师

参考例句：

• Counselors began an inquiry into industrial needs. 顾问们开始调查工业方面的需要。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• We have experienced counselors available day and night. ) 这里有经验的法律顾问全天候值班。） 来自超越目标英语 第4册

9 genetically   

adv.遗传上

参考例句：

• All the bees in the colony are genetically related. 同一群体的蜜蜂都有亲缘关系。
• Genetically modified foods have already arrived on American dinner tables. 经基因改造加工过的食物已端上了美国人的餐桌。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 基因与食物

10 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

11 analyze   

vt.分析，解析 (=analyse)

参考例句：

• We should analyze the cause and effect of this event.我们应该分析这场事变的因果。
• The teacher tried to analyze the cause of our failure.老师设法分析我们失败的原因。

12 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

13 blueprint   

n.蓝图，设计图，计划；vt.制成蓝图，计划

参考例句：

• All the machine parts on a blueprint must answer each other.设计图上所有的机器部件都应互相配合。
• The documents contain a blueprint for a nuclear device.文件内附有一张核装置的设计蓝图。

14 mutation   

n.变化，变异，转变

参考例句：

• People who have this mutation need less sleep than others.有这种突变的人需要的睡眠比其他人少。
• So far the discussion has centered entirely around mutation in the strict sense.到目前为止，严格来讲，讨论完全集中于围绕突变问题上。

15 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。

16 variants   

n.变体( variant的名词复数 )；变种；变型；（词等的）变体

参考例句：

• Those variants will be preserved in the'struggle for existence". 这些变异将在“生存竞争”中被保留下来。 来自辞典例句
• Like organisms, viruses have variants, generally called strains. 与其他生物一样，病毒也有变种，一般称之为株系。 来自辞典例句

17 recessive   

adj.退行的，逆行的，后退的，隐性的

参考例句：

• Blue eyes are recessive and brown eyes are dominant.蓝眼睛是隐性的；而褐色眼睛是显性的。
• Sickle-cell anaemia is passed on through a recessive gene.镰状细胞贫血通过隐性基因遗传给后代。

18 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

19 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。

20 hesitation   

n.犹豫，踌躇

参考例句：

• After a long hesitation, he told the truth at last.踌躇了半天，他终于直说了。
• There was a certain hesitation in her manner.她的态度有些犹豫不决。