生物与环境平衡的危机
The history of life on earth has been a history of interaction between living things and their surroundings.To a large extent, the physical form and the habits of the earth’s vegetation and its animal life have been molded by the environment.Considering the whole span of earthly time, the opposite effect, in which life actually modifies its surroundings, has been relatively slight.Only in the present century has one species man acquired significant power to alter the nature of his world.
During the past quarter century this power has not only become increasingly great but it has changed in character.The most alarming of all man’s aaults upon the environment is the contamination of air, earth, rivers, and sea with dangerous and even lethal materials.This pollution is for the most part irrecoverable.In this now universal contamination of the environment, chemicals are the sinister partners of radiation in changing the very nature of the world the very nature of its life.Chemicals sprayed on croplands or forests or gardens lie long in soil, entering into living organisms, paing from one to another in a chain of poisoning and death.Or they pa mysteriously by underground streams until they emerge and combine into new forms that kill vegetation, sicken cattle, and work unknown harm on those who drink from once pure wells.\"Man can hardly even recognize the devils of his own creation,\" as a scientist has said.
It took hundreds of millions of years to produce the life that now inhabits the earth.Given time not in years but in millennia life adjusts, and a balance has been reached.But in the modern world there is no time.
The rapidity of change follows the impetuous pace of man rather than the deliberate pace of nature.Radiation is now the unnatural creation of man’s tampering with the atom.The chemicals are the synthetic5 creations of man’s inventive mind, having no counterparts in nature.
To adjust to these chemicals would require not merely the years of a man’s life but the life of generations.And even this, were it by some miracle poible, would be futile, for the new chemicals come from our laboratories in an endle stream; almost five hundred annually find their way into actual use in the United States alone.Among them are many that are used in man’s war against nature.Since the mid 1940’s over 200 basic chemicals have been created for use in killing insects, weeds, and other organisms described as \"pests.\"
It is not my contention that chemical insecticides must never be used.I do contend that we have put poisonous and biologically potent chemicals indiscriminately into the hands of persons largely or wholly ignorant of their potentials for harm.We have subjected enormous numbers of people to contact with these poisons, without their consent and often without their knowledge.I contend, furthermore, that we have allowed these chemicals to be used with little or no advance investigation of their effect on soil, water, wildlife, and man himself.Future generations are unlikely to forgive our lack of concern for the integrity of the natural world that supports all life.
地球上生命的历史一直就是一部生物与其环境相互作用的历史。在很大程度上，地球上动植物的形态以及习性都是由外部环境所塑造的。考虑到地球上生命存在的整个时间，相反作用，即生命对其周围环境的实际改变作用，却相对很小。只有在当前这个世纪(指20世纪)才有一个物种--人类，获得了强大的力量，改变了其所生存的世界的自然状态。
在过去的1/4世纪中，这种力量不仅日趋强大，而且其性质也发生了变化。在人类破坏环境的种种行为中，最令人担忧的是人类向大气、土壤、河流以及海洋中排放危险甚至致命物质，而当今这种污染在很大程度上是无法挽救的。在当今这种对环境的普遍污染中，化学制品与辐射狼狈为奸，改变着地球的自然状态，也就是改变着地球上生命的自然状态。喷洒到农田、森林或者花园里的化学物质长期滞留于土壤中，渗入有机体内，并彼此相传，形成了一个中毒与死亡的链条。化学物质还神秘地通过地下水传递，最终以新的形式出现并结合，使植物毒死，牲畜害病，并使饮用一度纯净的井水的人遭受了不明之害。正如一位科学家所言：“人类甚至对自己创造的恶魔都不认识。”
地球历经了许多亿年才创造了栖息其上的生命。经过了一定时间--不是以若干年计而是以若干千年计的时间--生命开始适应环境，并形成了一种与环境的平衡。但是在现代世界中，时间这一因素已经没有了。
环境改变的速度不再顺从大自然从容不迫的节奏，而是顺从人类急切匆匆的步伐。辐射是当今人类通过支配原子而得到的一种非自然的创造物。化学制品则是人类有发明创造力的头脑创造出来的合成物，在自然界本无相应的东西。
为了适应这些化学制品，人类需要付出的时间不会只是一个人一生的时间，而是几代人的时间。而即使这样，就算出现奇迹成为可能，这种适应也是徒劳的，因为新的化学制品从我们的实验室中源源不断地涌出。仅在美国，每年就有大约500种化学制品投入使用，其中许多是用于人类对自然的战争中。从20世纪40年代中期起，人类已经创造了200多种基本化学制品用来消灭昆虫、野草以及其他所谓的“有害生物”。
我不是说人类决不能使用化学杀虫剂。我要说的是，我们不分青红皂白地将这些有毒的、具有强大生物功能的化学制品，交给了那些对这些制品的潜在危害基本上或者完全无知的人去使用。我们使众多的人接触这些有毒物质，却没有征得他们的同意，并常常将他们蒙在鼓中。我还要说的一点是，我们允许使用这些化学制品，却事先很少或者根本没有调查它们对土壤、水、野生生物以及人类自身造成的影响。我们缺乏对万物赖以生存的自然界生态统一的关心，对此，我们的后代是不可能原谅的。
基因技术能否使人更聪明？Get Smart Many people dream of having a smarter brain.Princeton neurobiologist Joseph Z.Tsien found the key.In September he announced that he’d built a better mouse by altering a gene that affects learning and memory.A similar proce of gene manipulation might conceivably be used one day to boost intelligence in humans.
The secret lies in a feature of brain cells called the nmda receptor, which Tsien likens[1] to a cylindrical tube or window that mediates[2] the flow of information.When the window is open, chemicals called neurotransmitters flow through easily and memory is registered and stored.But as organisms mature, the window begins to close.(This may explain why children lose their facility for learning new languages when they reach sexual maturity and why some people suffer memory lo as they age.)
Tsien noticed that the receptor worked more efficiently when teamed[3] with the gene NR2B, so he introduced extra NR2B genes into a batch of fertilized mouse eggs.In a normal mouse, the memory window is open for just 150-thousandths of a second.In Tsien’s specially engineered mice, the window opens for 250-thousandths of a second, long enough to make a remarkable difference in memory retention.When he pitted[4] his mice against common mice, they won paws down.Ordinary mice could recognize a Lego block for 12 hours, but smart mice could remember the block for up to three days.\"That’s a profound enhancement,\" Tsien says.
Can it be done with humans? Maybe, but genetic engineering will have to make some extraordinary advances first.And some thorny ethical iues will have to be resolved.Meanwhile, Tsien promises to keep his furry little geniuses locked up in a lab, far from your larder.\"Otherwise,\" he says, \"you might need a smart cat or a smart mousetrap to catch them.\"
许多人都希望自己能变成更聪明。普林斯顿神经生物学家Joseph Z.Tsien就找到了这把开启智慧之门的钥匙：他于九月宣布，通过改变影响学习和记忆能力的基因培养出了一只聪明的老鼠。类似的基因处理技术有望在未来日子里运用到人脑，以推动人类智慧的飞跃。
该技术的奥秘就在于名为nmda感受器的脑细胞的功能。Tsien将其比作一个传递信息流的圆柱通道或窗口。当窗口开放时，某种称为神经传递素的化学物质就能轻易流过，记忆因此登记并存储了下来。然而，当器官成熟时，这扇窗口就开始关闭。（这也能解释为何儿童长大后（性器官成熟之时）会失去掌握新语言的能力，以及为何某些人年老时会患失忆）。
Tsien注意到，当感受器与名为NR2B的基因协作时效率会更高。因此，他将NR2B基因植入一批老鼠的受精卵中。一只普通老鼠的记忆之窗仅开放千分之150秒。而经Tsien植入基因的老鼠，记忆之窗能开放千分之250秒，这已经能够使其记忆力发生惊人的改变。当他让自己的老鼠与普通老鼠互斗时，它们竟能轻而易举地取胜。普通老鼠能够保留关于Lego block的记忆12小时，而聪明的老鼠居然能将记忆保持三天。“这可是一个意义深远的进步。”Tsien这样说。
那么，人类也能接受这种基因移植吗？ 或许可以，但前提是基因工程得首先做出非凡的成就，还必须解决一系列棘手的伦理问题。Tsien保证他一定会将那些披着毛皮的小天才锁入实验室，远离人们的食品柜。“否则，”他说，“为了捉住他们，人们就不得不去寻找更聪明的猫或者功能更强的捕鼠器了。”
食用转基因食品安全吗？Food Safe To Eat? Traditional plant breeding involve s croing varieties of the same species in ways they could cro naturally．For example，disease－resistant varieties of wheat have been croed with high－yield wheat to combine these properties．This type of natural gene exchange is safe and fairly predictable．
Genetic engineering（GE）involves exchanging genes between unrelated species that cannot naturally exchange genes with each other．GE can involve the exchange of genes between vastly different species――e．g．putting scorpion toxin genes into maize or fish antifreeze genes into tomatoes．It is poible that a scorpion toxin gene，even when it is in maize DNA，will still get the organism to produce scorpion toxin――but what other effects may it have in this alien environment？We are already seeing this problem――adding human growth hormone genes to pigs certainly makes them grow――but it also gives them arthritis and makes them cro－eyed，which was entirely unpredictable．
It will be obvious，for example，that the gene for human intelligence will not have the same effect if inserted into cabbage DNA as it had in human DNA――but what side－effect would it have？In other words，is GM food safe to eat？The answer is that nobody knows because long－term tests have not been carried out．
Companies wanting a GM product approved in the UK or USA are required to provide regulatory bodies with results of their own safety tests．Monsanto’s soya beans were apparently fed to fish for１０weeks before being approved．There was no requirement for independent testing，for long－term testing，for testing on humans or testing for specific dangers to children or allergic people．
The current position of the UK Government is that“ There is no evidence of long－term dangers from GM foods．”In the US，the American Food and Drug Administration is currently being prosecuted for covering up research that suggested poible risks from GM foods．
传统的植物培育方法，是依照植物自然杂交的方式，进行相同物种的人工杂交。比如，抗病小麦同高产小麦杂交，形成了一种具有双重特性的新的小麦品种。这种自然的基因交换既安全，又具有相当的可预见性。
基因工程是在彼此毫无关系的物种之间，相互交换在自然条件下无法交换的基因。它可在有巨大差异的物种之间进行基因交换。比如，将蝎子毒素基因注入玉米，或者将鱼防冻基因注入西红柿。即使在玉米DNA中，蝎子毒素基因依然可能获得有机组织产生蝎子毒素。但是在这种异质的环境中，这种基因产品会有什么其他作用吗？我们实际上已经发现这个问题：将人类生长荷尔蒙基因植入猪的体内，一定会使猪的生长加速，但是同时也使猪患上了关节炎和内斜视，而这一切是完全无法预测的。
打个比方，人类的智力基因显而易见在人体DNA内和注入卷心菜DNA后的作用是不同的。但将它植入卷心菜中会产生什么样的副作用呢？换句话说，食用转基因食品安全吗？没有人知道答案，因为人们尚未进行长期的测试。
在英国或者美国，一个公司如果希望其转基因产品获得批准，它必须向管理机构提供本公司转基因产品安全测试的结果。Monsanto的大豆在获得批准之前，曾用了１０周时间进行喂鱼试验。目前，尚无要求对转基因产品进行独立测试、长期测试、人体测试，或者就其对儿童及过敏者所造成的特定危险进行测试。
英国政府目前的态度是：“尚无证据表明食用转基因食品存在长期性的危险。”在美国，人们正在起诉美国食品药品管理局掩盖转基因食品安全性的研究结果，这些研究结果表明，食用转基因食品可能导致危险。
