【時事英文】

Chinese scientists pioneer monkey cloning
中國科學家搶先成功製造出複製猴

Scientists in China have successfully cloned two monkeys, the latest step in the country’s ambition to become a global scientific leader.
中國科學家們成功複製出兩隻猴子，懷著雄心壯志朝成為全球領先科學大國的目標再邁出了最新的一步。

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.
這兩隻基因相同的長尾獼猴在上個月誕生於上海，取名為中中和華華，它們是自1996年第一隻複製羊「桃莉 (Dolly) 」在蘇格蘭誕生以來，用同樣方法複製出來的首批靈長類動物。牠們名字的寓意為「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) 」的複製方法用於羊、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用。以前複製猴子的嘗試往往只能得到無法正常發育的胚胎，或者在出生後很快夭折的動物。

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.
相關研究報告發表於《細胞(Cell)》這本學術期刊上，且其作者們表示，既然靈長類動物已經實現了體細胞核移植複製，人類複製是有可能的。

“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.”
「技術障礙現在被突破了。原則上（這種方法）可以應用於人類，」來自中國科學院腦科學與智慧技術卓越創新中心(CEBSIT)的聯名作者蒲慕明表示。但他補充稱：「我們複製（這些獼猴）以培育用於醫學、服務於人類健康的動物模型。我們並沒有意圖將這種方法應用在人類身上。」

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。經過重建的卵細胞發育成DNA供體的複製。

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（一種更簡單的過程，在同卵雙胞胎中自然發生，但無法一次產生4個以上的複製體），成功複製出一隻名叫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生更大數量的複製，有望通過產生具有特定特徵且基因一致的猴群來幫助醫學研究。

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.
位於上海的中國科學院神經科學研究所的研究小組未能從成體細胞獲得健康的複製體，但用一個獼猴胎兒的成纖維細胞（結締組織細胞）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量協調一致，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育。上海的研究團隊預計未來幾個月會有更多複製獼猴誕生。

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.
這項研究令人關注中國的動物倫理學，中國的試驗法規沒有其他很多國家那麼嚴格，儘管上海項目的研究人員遵循了美國國立衛生研究院(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，都有賴於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.
複製獼猴是又一個例證，說明中國對基礎研究大舉增加相關的資助，這正在從量子計算到生物學等各個領域帶來長遠的進展。

Chinese state-led funding of basic research — science that has no immediate commercial applications — increased to $10 billion in 2015. While that number is about one-quarter of US federal spending on basic research, it represents a vast increase from the $3.9 billion in total state science funding four years earlier, according to China’s National Natural Science Foundation.
在中國，國家主導的基礎研究（沒有直接商業應用的科學研究）經費在2015年增至100億美元。儘管這個數字大約是美國聯邦基礎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費總額，算是有著巨大幅度的增加（資料來自中國國家自然科學基金會）。

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