爸爸多余了？：中国科学家利用两个母本成功繁育小鼠
Researchers in China say they've bred healthy mice with two mothers using a new type of gene editing technology, a significant feat that may help researchers better understand mammalian reproduction but carries significant ethical and safety questions.
中国的研究员们称他们采用一种新型的基因编辑技术，从两个母本成功繁育出了健康的小鼠，这项伟大成就可能会帮助研究员们更好地理解哺乳动物的繁殖，不过也带来了明显的道德和安全问题。
A total of 29 bimaternal mice were produced using 210 embryos in the study.
在这项研究中他们用210个胚胎生产出了总共29只双母本繁育的小鼠。
They all were "normal, lived to adulthood, and had babies of their own," though they showed "some defective features," according to researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
它们全都“很正常，发育成年并生下了自己的宝宝，”不过它们表现出了一些“有缺陷的特征，”据中科院的研究员们说。
But not all the mice pups survived the experiment.
不过并非所有实验中的小鼠宝宝都能存活。
Mice produced from two fathers only survived a couple of days after being born.
从两个父本繁育出来的小鼠在出生后只活了几天。
"This research shows us what's possible," Wei Li, one of the study's co-authors, said in a news release.
“这些研究向我们展示了可能的存在，”李伟（音译）在最新发布中说道，他是这次研究的一名共同作者。
"We saw that the defects in bimaternal mice can be eliminated and that bipaternal reproduction barriers in mammals can also be crossed through imprinting modification," said Wei Li.
“我们看到双母本的小鼠中的缺陷是可以消除的，利用印记修饰，也可以打破哺乳动物的双父本或双母本繁殖障碍，”李伟说道。
"We also revealed some of the most important imprinted regions that hinder the development of mice with same sex parents, which are also interesting for studying genomic imprinting and animal cloning."
“我们还发现了一些最重要的印记区域，它们阻碍了同性父母的小鼠的发育，这对于研究基因组印记和动物克隆的研究也是很有趣的。”
The scientists conducting the study, published in the journal Cell Stem Cell Thursday, said they were interested in answering why some reptiles, fish and amphibians can reproduce with one parent of the same sex, but others cannot.
进行这项研究的科学家们于本周四在《细胞干细胞》杂志上发表了他们的研究成果。他们说，他们对以下问题很感兴趣:为什么有些爬行动物、鱼类和两栖动物可以和同性的父母中的一方生育后代，而有些却不能。
The genes were removed using CRISPR Cas9, a tool that experts say has the potential to save countless lives and billions of dollars but has raised serious ethical questions about the future of genetic research.
这些基因是用CRISPR Cas9技术移除的。专家们表示，这种技术有可能拯救无数人的生命并节省数十亿美元，但却对基因研究的未来提出了严重的伦理问题。
The idea of "designer babies" -- in which parents can choose genetic traits -- is one example, but some have warned that editing individual human genes could affect the gene pool in future generations and carry unintended consequences.
“设计婴儿”(父母可以选择基因特征)的想法就是一个例子，但一些人警告说，编辑单个人类基因可能会影响后代的基因库，并带来意想不到的后果。
Scientists say that despite the potential of the latest study, the technology just isn't ready for practical application.
科学家们说，尽管这项最新研究具有潜力，但这项技术还没有准备好用于实际应用。
"The tremendous amount of genetic modification needed in order to do what they (Chinese researchers) did, makes it implausible to use it in anything other than research," said Dr. Tim Hore, an expert in epigenetics and development at the University of Otago.
奥塔哥大学(University of Otago)的表观遗传学和发展专家提姆·霍雷(Tim Hore)博士说:“为了做他们(中国研究人员)所做的事情，需要进行大量的基因改造，这使得在研究之外的任何事情上都不太可能使用它。”
"To consider exploring similar technology for human application in the near future is implausible," said Dusko Ilic, Reader in Stem Cell Science at King's College London.
伦敦国王学院(King's College London)干细胞科学的读者杜斯科·伊利克(Dusko Ilic)说:“考虑在不久的将来探索类似的技术应用于人类是不可能的。”
"The risks of severe abnormalities is too high, and it would take years of research in various animal models to fully understand how this could be done safely."
“严重畸形的风险太高了，要完全了解如何安全地做到这一点，需要对各种动物模型进行多年的研究。”
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