新視野大學(xué)英語讀寫教程第三冊unit8-a Legal and Moral Implications of Cloning

Section (A)

Legal and Moral Implications of Cloning

At first it was just plain surprising. Word last week that a scientist named Ian Wilmut had succeeded in cloning an adult mammal — an achievement long thought impossible — caught the imagination of everyone. The laboratory process that produced Dolly, an unremarkable-looking sheep, theoretically would work for humans as well. A world with human clones was suddenly within reach. It was science fiction coming to life.

In the wake of Wilmut's announcement, governments hurried to draft guidelines for the unknown, a future filled with incredible possibilities. President Clinton ordered a national commission to study the legal and moral implications of cloning. Leaders in Europe, where most nations already prohibit human cloning, began examining the moral implications of cloning other species.

Like the Theory of Relativity, the splitting of the atom, and the first space flight, Dolly's appearance has generated a long list of difficult puzzles for scientists, politicians, and philosophers. And wild questions on the topic of cloning continue to mount.

Why would anyone want to clone a human being in the first place?
The human cloning situations that experts consider most frequently fall into two broad categories: 1) parents who want to clone a child, either to provide transplants for a dying child or to replace that child, and 2) adults who for a variety of reasons might want to clone themselves.

Will it be possible to clone the dead?

Perhaps, if the body is fresh, says one expert. The cloning method used by Wilmut's lab requires combining an egg cell with the nucleus of a cell containing the DNA of the person to be cloned. (DNA is a very long, ribbon -like molecule that contains our genetic information.) And that means that the nucleus must be intact. Cells die and the cell nucleus begins to break apart after death. But, yes, in theory at least it might be possible.

Would a cloned human be identical to the original?

Identical genes don't produce identical people, as anyone who knows a set of identical twins can tell you. In fact, twins are more alike than clones would be, since they have at least shared the same environment within the mother, are usually raised in the same family, and so forth. Parents could clone a second child who resembled their first in appearance, but all the evidence suggests the two would have very different personalities.

Twins separated at birth do sometimes share personality characteristics, but such characteristics in a cloned son or daughter would only be reminders of the child who was lost.
Even in terms of biology, a clone would not be identical to the "master copy". The clone's cells, for example, would have energy-processing machinery that came from the egg, not from the person who was cloned. But most of the physical differences between originals and copies are so minor that detection of them would require a sophisticated laboratory. The one possible exception is bearing children. Wilmut and his coworkers are not sure that Dolly will be able to have lambs. They will try to find out once she's old enough to breed.

What if parents decided to clone a child in order to harvest organs?

Most experts agree that it would be psychologically harmful if a child sensed he had been brought into the world simply as an organ donor. But some parents already produce second children with nonfatal transplants in mind, and many experts do not oppose this. Cloning would increase the chances for a tissue match from 25 percent to nearly 100 percent.

If cloned animals could be used as organ donors, we wouldn't have to worry about cloning twins for transplants. Pigs, for example, have organs similar in size to humans'. But the human body attacks and destroys tissue from other species. To get around that, one company is trying to alter the pig's genetic code to prevent pig organs from being attacked. If the company's technicians succeed, it may be more efficient to produce such pigs by cloning than by current methods.

How would a human clone refer to the donor of its DNA?

"Mom" is not right, because the woman or women who supplied the egg and gave birth to the infant would more appropriately be called Mother. "Dad" isn't right, either. A traditional father supplies only half the DNA in a child. Judith Martin, in her writings under the name of "Miss Manners";, suggests the phrase, "Most honored sir or madam". Why? "One should always respect one's ancestors," she says, "regardless of what they did to bring one into the world."

That still leaves some confusion over vocabulary. The editorial director of one dictionary says that the noun "clonee" may sound like a good term, but it's not clear enough. Instead, he prefers "original" and "copy".

What are the other implications of cloning for society?

The gravest concern isn't really cloning itself, but genetic engineering — the deliberate altering of genes to create human beings according to certain requirements.

Specifically, some experts are concerned about the creation of a new (and disrespected) social class: "the clones". One expert believes the situation could be comparable to what occurred in the 16th century, when Europeans puzzled over how to classify the unfamiliar inhabitants of the Americas, and endlessly debated whether or not they were humans.

The list of questions could go on; people are just beginning to wonder about the future of the world after cloning.

Words: 900

New Words

　implication n. 1.含義，暗示 2.牽連，卷入
▲clone v. (使)無性繁殖；克隆 n. 無性繁殖系（個體）；克隆
　fiction n. 1.小說 2.虛構(gòu)，想像
　draft vt. 1.起草，草擬 2.征募，征召 n. 1.草稿，草案，草圖 2.匯票
　guideline n. 指導(dǎo)原則，指導(dǎo)方針，準則
　prohibit vt. 禁止；阻止，使不可能
　relativity n. 1.【物理】愛因斯坦的相對論(指出一切運動都是相對的，而且把時間看作是與空間有關(guān)的第四維） 2.相關(guān)性，相對性
　split v. 1.（使）裂開，（使）破裂 2.（使）分裂 n. 裂縫，分裂
　atom n. 1.原子 2.微粒，極小之物
　mount vi. 增加，上升 vt. 1.登上 2.準備并進行；組織，發(fā)動
　category n. 種類，類型，范疇
▲transplant n. 1.移植的器官或植物 2.（組織或器官的）移植 vt. 1.移栽，移種（植物等） 2.移植（器官） 3.使遷移，使移居
　nucleus n. 1.細胞核，核 2.原子核 3.中心，核心
■DNA n. 脫氧核糖核酸
　ribbon n. 緞帶，絲帶
▲genetic a. 遺傳的，遺傳學(xué)的
▲intact a. 完整無缺的，未經(jīng)觸動的
　gene n. 基因
　twin n. 孿生兒，雙胞胎
　resemble vt. 像，類似
　machinery n. （總稱）機器，機械
　minor a. 較小的，較少的；低級的，次要的 n. 未成年人
　detection n. 察覺，發(fā)覺；探測
　breed vi. （動物）繁殖，產(chǎn)仔 vt. 飼養(yǎng)，繁殖 n. 品種，種，屬
　organ n. 1.器官 2.風(fēng)琴 3.機構(gòu)
■donor n. 1.獻血者；捐獻器官的人 2.捐贈者
　fatal a. 決定命運的 ;致命的
◆nonfatal n. 非致命的
　tissue n. 1.組織 2.薄紙，紙巾
　code n. 1.代碼，密碼 2.法典，法規(guī)，準則 vt. 譯成電碼
　technician n. 技術(shù)人員，技師
　infant n. 嬰兒
　phrase n. 短語，詞組，用語 vt. 用言語表達，敘述
　confusion n. 1.困惑，迷亂，分辨不清 2.混淆 3.混亂，騷亂
　editorial a. 編輯的，主編的 n. 社論
　deliberate a. 1.故意的，蓄意的 2.謹慎的，慎重的 v. 認真考慮，研討
　specifically ad. 1.明確地，具體地 2.特別地，特意
　comparable a. 可比較的，類似的
　classify vt. 分類，歸類
　debate v. 討論，辯論 n. 討論，辯論

Phrases and Expressions

　succeed in doing sth. 成功，完成
　work for 適用于 為... ...工作
　as well (as ) 也，和，除... ...之外
　within (one's) reach 在伸手能及的范圍以內(nèi) 近的；方便到達的
　come to life 活躍起來，表現(xiàn)生動
　in the wake of 隨著，緊跟著
　in the first place 首先，一開始
　fall into 可分成；屬于
　provide for 為... ...提供（所需的某物）
　break apart 自行裂開
　in theory 理論上
　identical to / with 與……一模一樣
　and (so on and) so forth 等等
　What if … …要是……怎么辦
　bring into the world 生（孩子）
　with sth. in mind 出于……目的
　get around 成功地解決，克服
　refer to 將……稱為 提及，談到 查閱，詢問 轉(zhuǎn)送至某人以便得到處理或幫助
　give birth to sb. / sth. 生(孩子)；產(chǎn)(仔)
　under the name of 用別名
　regardless of 不顧，不管
　be concerned about / over 擔(dān)心，擔(dān)憂
　comparable to / with 可與……相比
　puzzle over 努力思考
　wonder about 對……好奇；想知道；對……疑惑

Proper Names

　Ian Wilmut 伊恩·威爾莫特
　Dolly 多莉(羊)
　Clinton 克林頓(美國前總統(tǒng))
　Judith Martin 朱迪斯·馬丁
　Miss Manners 禮儀小姐