Decoding of Genes: Hope or Dread?-基因破譯:希望還是害怕?
Decoding of Genes: Hope or Dread?
Can a person live up to 12007 It must be viewed as a ridiculous question just several years ago. But now, two years after the completion of mapping the human genetic code, some researchers predict that this may eventually come true in the future. On June 26th, 2000, the Human Genetic Project (HGP),an international organization specializing in research of human genes, announced that 97% of the human genomes had already been decoded and any utilization of the related gene map would be completely free. The news immediately made a sensation throughout the world and even today, the discussion over the controversial application of the gene map and the related genetic tech seems to be forever on the wing. Undoubtedly, the completion of the human gene map marks a milestone in our quest about nature and ourselves, but the point is what this breakthrough will bring to us all:hope or dread?
Perhaps the most promising aspect of genetic tech lies in an impending medical revolution it will incur, as many people now believe in that it serves as a new approach to control various diseases, to produce organs for transplantation or to slow down the aging process. What"s more, its feasibility to be adopted and incorporated into medical procedures has a good prospect. Visualize one of our regular calls at hospital in the future, using only a blood sample, doctors can easily detect genes of hereditary diseases and mutations concerned, and follow up with a genetic therapy to eliminate mutated genes and thus the disease itself. Theoretically, by reorganizing our genes to the optimum pattern,man"s life span can be prolonged to large extent.
Besides the revolution it will bring in the medical field, genetic tech will also accelerate the development of a number of other scientific branches, biology among them, by providing scientists with a brand new perspective in terms of genes. For example, by comparing human genomes with those of other species, anthropologists may acquire more profound knowledge about human evolution.
However, before people cheer for the hope genetic tech bellows, we might have already found us bogged down in so many ethical dilemmas. Let"s take the following into consideration. If everyone lives for 1200 years, then the world population must explode. How can our earth stand that? If parents could examine the genes of their baby before its birth, then who can decide what kind of baby should be born, while some others shouldn"t?If we understand bird genes, probably we will someday soar in the sky by having our own wings. But what if we understand those of tigers, wolves or insects? Seems that those Hollywood thrillers have made a good prophecy. If everyone"s genetic data is open to public inspection, then how can we protect our privacy? And moreover, will discrimination, invasion, or plunder of certain genes take place? And worst of all, if life of an individual can be precisely predicted the moment he is born or even prior,like he will die of lung cancer or he will develop kleptomania in his teens, then where is the fun of life? We may lose life"s uncertainty, the hope that we can strive for something better as well as the belief that we can hold in hands our own destiny. We may lose all these. Are we nothing but genes? Or do we have something more than that? Such ethical and psychological puzzles will continue to haunt the human society.
Nevertheless, the completion of the gene map is just the initial step of the entire genetic research. What will this step mean to us? A scientist once made an analogy, it is just like that you are faced with a version of The Collected Works of Shakespeare in which there is no punctuation mark, no space between words,and what"s more, you cannot understand English at all! What will happen with genetic tech in hundreds of years is quite beyond our current perception. But one thing we should always bear in mind, science is for the welfare of human being. So I believe genetic tech will bring us a better tomorrow, although we may come across much hardship on the tortuous road leading to this goal.
簡 評
基因破譯的新聞引起了世界的嘩然。這一事實意味著什麽?它給社會的倫理、道德將帶來怎樣的沖擊?沒有人能預知未來，而這一基因學的碩果將造福人類，還是帶給人類一場浩劫?這也是對人性的考問。
文章的論題對于普通讀者來說是晦澀難懂的，冒雯雯同學恰當地採用了例證的手法來闡述基因學這一發現的意義。而一個未知領域往往帶給人困惑和恐懼。冒雯雯同學在文章中大篇幅的發問正是這種困惑的表達。第四段由8個問句構成，其中前六個問句指出了人類將要面對的六種困惑，後兩個問句概括論述指出，“Are we nothing but genes?Or do we have something more than that?Such ethical and psychological puzzles will continue to haunt the humansociety.”文章多處採納問句的表達方式，使論述有力，發人深省，震撼讀者的心。
文章在結尾用一個恰當的比喻來解釋基因學的發現，使原本晦澀難懂的基因學，以形象、貼切、易理解的方式被表達出來，也是文章的點睛之筆。
(點評教師：盧愛華)