VOA慢速英语2019 改变婴儿基因的中国科学家被判入狱（在线收听）

Prison Sentences for Chinese Scientist Who Changed Babies' Genes

A Chinese court has sentenced the scientist who created the world's first "gene-edited" babies to three years in prison.

中国一家法院判处了创造世界上第一个“基因编辑”婴儿的科学家三年徒刑。

He Jiankui was found guilty of illegally practicing medicine and violating research laws. China's official Xinhua news agency announced the court's decision Monday.

何建奎被判犯有非法行医和违反研究法的罪行。中国官方的新华社周一宣布了法院的判决。

In November 2018, He Jiankui was working as an associate professor at Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen. He announced to the world that he had used gene-editing technology known as CRISPR-Cas9 to change the genes of twin baby girls. He claimed to have protected them from getting infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

2018年11月，何建奎在深圳南方科技大学任副教授。他向全世界宣布，他已经使用了称为CRISPR-Cas9的基因编辑技术来改变双胞胎女婴的基因。他声称已经保护他们免受感染艾滋病毒（HIV）的感染。

The announcement fueled an international debate over the ethics of gene editing. The identity of the girls has not been released, and it is not clear if the experiment succeeded.

这一宣布引发了有关基因编辑伦理学的国际辩论。这些女孩的身份尚未公布，实验是否成功还不清楚。

The CRISPR tool has been tested in other places to treat diseases in adults. But many in the scientific community rejected He's work as medically unnecessary and morally wrong. That is because the genetic changes could be passed down to future generations. The United States bans editing embryos except for laboratory research.

CRISPR工具已经在其他地方测试过，可以治疗成人疾病。但是科学界的许多人都拒绝他的工作，因为这在医学上是不必要的，在道德上是错误的。那是因为遗传改变可以传给后代。除实验室研究外，美国禁止编辑胚胎。

In 2018, He Jiankui told the Associated Press that he felt a strong responsibility to make an example. He said that society would decide whether to permit the practice to go forward. He disappeared shortly after he announced his research at a conference in Hong Kong 13 months ago. It appears that government officials detained him, first in the city of Shenzhen near the border with Hong Kong.

2018年，何建奎对美联社表示，他树立榜样的责任很大。他说，社会将决定是否允许这种做法继续下去。他在13个月前在香港的一次会议上宣布自己的研究后不久便失踪了。似乎政府官员首先在与香港接壤的深圳逮捕了他。

In addition to a prison sentence, the court ordered He Jiankui to pay about $430,000. The court ordered shorter sentences for Zhang Renli and Qin Jinzhou for having helped He with his work. They worked at two unnamed medical centers.

除了判处徒刑外，法院还命令何建奎支付约43万美元。法院下令对张仁礼和秦锦州的刑期缩短，因为他帮助了他的工作。他们在两个不知名的医疗中心工作。

Xinhua reported the court's decision as saying: "The three accused did not have the proper certification to practice medicine, and in seeking fame and wealth, deliberately violated national regulations in scientific research and medical treatment."

新华社报道法院的裁决说：“三名被告没有适当的执业证明书，在谋求名利方面，故意违反了国家有关科学研究和医疗的规定。”

The decision also said that the researchers "have crossed the bottom line of ethics in scientific research and medical ethics."

该决定还说，研究人员“在科学研究和医学伦理学上已经超越了伦理学的底线”。

It was not clear if the three-year prison term includes any of the time He has already spent in Chinese detention.

目前尚不清楚三年的刑期是否包括他已经在中国拘留中度过的任何时间。

One Chinese scientist said the sentence should have been greater to urge others not to follow in He's work. Kehkooi Kee is a Tsinghua University researcher who does gene-editing research on stem cells. Kehkooi Kee said He Jiankui should be held responsible for anything that happens to the babies or their families as a result of the experiment.

一位中国科学家说，应该敦促其他人不要听从他的著作，这句话应该更大一些。 Kehkooi Kee是清华大学的研究员，从事干细胞的基因编辑研究。 Kehkooi Kee说，实验对婴儿或他们的家人发生的任何事情，何建奎应负责。

William Hurlbut is a Stanford University bioethicist whose advice He sought for more than a year before his experiment. Hurlbut said he felt sorry for the scientist, his wife and two young daughters.

威廉·赫尔伯特（William Hurlbut）是斯坦福大学的生物伦理学家，在实验之前，他寻求了超过一年的建议。 Hurlbut说他为这位科学家，他的妻子和两个年幼的女儿感到遗憾。

"I warned him things could end this way, but it was just too late," Hurlbut wrote in an email to the Associated Press.

赫尔伯特在给美联社的一封电子邮件中写道：“我警告他事情可能会这样结束，但为时已晚。”

He added, "Sad story — everyone lost in this...but the one gain is that the world is awakened to the seriousness of our advancing genetic technologies."

他补充说：“悲伤的故事-每个人都在这方面迷失了……但是，一个收获就是，全世界都对我们先进的遗传技术的严肃性感到震惊。”

Words in This Story：

edit(ed) – v. to make changes, correct mistakes

practicing – v. having a professional medical or legal business

twin – adj. used to describe children who are either one of two babies that are born at the same time to the same mother

ethics – n. rules of behavior based on ideas about what is morally good and bad

proper – adj. correct according to social or moral rules

certification – n. official approval to do something professionally or legally

deliberately – adv. in a way that is meant, intended, or planned

regulation(s) – n. an official rule or law that says how something should be done

advancing – v. continuing in a process of development