贺建奎被判入狱三年，成为中国不端科研行为的替罪羊

创造全球首个基因编辑双胞胎婴儿露露和娜娜的中国大陆科学家贺建奎，在经过不公开的法庭审判后最近被中国法庭判处三年有期徒刑。虽然对贺建奎的处罚显示中国当局在国际社会压力下看似对基因编辑婴儿行径持零容忍态度，但露露和娜娜的出生实际上是中国政府雄心勃勃，极力推行优生政策的必然后果，且在某种程度上，贺建奎不幸成为中国有违国际道德常规的一系列不端科研行为的替罪羊。

He Jiankui, the Chinese scientist who created the world's first genetically modified babies – Lulu and Nana, faced a three- year prison sentence in China after a secret trial closed to the public. While the conviction came as Beijing, under pressure from international community, seemingly beefed up its effort to firefly denounce the gene-editing practice, the birth of Lulu and Nana underscored Beijing's eugenic ambition in zealously pursuing reproductive success.  To a certain extent, Mr. He is made a scapegoat for China's controversial research efforts that break the international ethical norms.

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编辑婴儿是中国的必然产物。长期以来, 中国的基因研究与医学界伦理观念相悖，擅自篡改组成人类的基础信息单元，构成对自然科学之不恭。据《华尔街时报》报道，中国以使用基因编辑技术已对86名人士进行了基因编辑，且这一技术可用来删除造成不良之人物特性的基因，同时也可用来添加那些人类所向往之特性的基因，以此来创造中国优生文化所推崇的婴儿。

Gene-edited babies are inevitable in China. For decades, Chinese genetic science has been on a crash course with medical ethics, tinkering with scientific building blocks of human life. China has already gene-edited 86 people with CRISPR, according to the Wall Street Journal.  They exploited CRISPR to delete undesirable human traits and, potentially, add desirable ones, in a bid to create babies that Chinese eugenic culture desires.

中国政府对基因研究进行大量投资，其优生工程在规模和程度上一跃成为全球首屈一指。深圳的华大基因开展了规模宏大的人类基因项目，该项目收集2000名全球智商最高人士的DNA样本，并对其全部基因进行定序，目的是制造出智力最为超群的婴儿。

Beijing's massive investments in genomic research have led to eugenic programs that have become the world's largest and most successful ones. BGI in Shenzhen has conducted Cognitive Genomics Project, collecting DNA samples from 2,000 of the world's smartest people and sequencing their entire genomes to create the brightest babies.



同时，中国政府大力推广的优生政策在毫不客气地警示大众，生育缺陷婴儿是最丢脸之举，是父母的耻辱，而这一观点也被中国社会广泛接受。1994年，中国推出优生健康保护法禁止患有精神或身体疾病者结婚或生育。据纽约时报报道，2016年，华大基因合伙创始人向雇员表示，他们不准许生育天生缺陷婴儿。

Meanwhile, congenital disabilities are a disgrace and unacceptable, a sinister undertone advocated by the Chinese government and quietly accepted by Chinese society. In 1994, China passed Eugenics and Health Protection Law forbidding people with mental or physical disorders from marrying or reproducing. In 2016, employees at BGI Shenzhen were told by a co-founder that they were not allowed to have children with congenital disabilities, according to NYTimes.

虽然优生文化在中国得以大力推崇，在西方它已成为过时产物，在今天的西方，优生观念引发广泛的反对和声讨浪潮。优生一说之所以遭到大众之唾弃，是因为它让人们忆起早期发生的导致种族歧视和纳粹残暴大屠杀的优生运动。今天的加拿大早已走出了优生时代，并逐渐抚平20世纪的优生法留下的伤口。而当时推行的这一优生法扼杀了所有患有残疾女子的生育能力。

While eugenic culture still exerts its appeal in China, it became a historical past in the West, where the eugenic attitude is highly controversial. Today, eugenic terms are widely frowned upon by Canadians because they conjure memories of the eugenics movement that created racial inequality and contributed to the atrocities of the Nazi Holocaust. Canada is now in the post eugenic era, resuscitating from the damages caused by eugenic law passed in the 20th century that sterilized women and girls with disabilities.



我怀孕后所进行的一次妊娠血液检查让我对加拿大摈弃优生的态度初见端倪。检查结果显示我所怀的婴儿面临较高的唐氏综合症的风险。当基因专科医生告诉我说即使进一步检查认定我的婴儿的确患有唐氏综合症，加国社会会接受你作为母亲要保留婴儿的决定 （幸运的是我的婴儿没有任何问题）。许多加国父母当了解婴儿先天疾病后都会义无反顾地做出保留婴儿的决定，这一现象与中国大城市歧视和拒绝生育缺陷婴儿的文化，以及父母纷纷选择堕胎的行为形成鲜明对比。

I discovered Canadians' disdain for eugenics after a positive blood test indicated that the baby I conceived faced an elevated risk of Down syndrome. I was surprised when the genetic doctor told me that the society would accept the mother’s decision to keep her fetus, even though further test results confirmed that the baby had Down syndrome （luckily, my baby was fine）. Many pro-choice parents in Canada would choose to give birth to a baby diagnosed with the disease, a sharp contrast to their counterparts in Chinese cities, where Down syndrome babies are subject to society's ridicule and rejection.

经过基因编辑的露露和娜娜可能躲过了艾滋病的劫难，但却面临较高的患上包括癌症和流感等其他疾病的风险。即使在国际科学界对使用基因编辑技术制造高智商的优生婴儿极为担心的今天，中国的优生项目仍大力推崇这一技术，许多编辑应用技术等待应用实施。将贺建奎投入监狱之举措对这些优生项目不会有半毛钱的影响。

Lulu and Nana may get spared from HIV but face elevated risks of getting other diseases—including influenza and even cancer, thanks to He's unethical efforts that meddle with nature. While using CRISPR to enhance intelligence or other characteristics is the worst fear facing the global scientists, China's eugenic programs still embrace it, with many more critical applications of CRISPR in store. Putting Mr. He in jail wouldn't put a dent in China's growing eugenic ambition.

贺建奎在遭指控前曾称：“这事是迟早会干的。如果我不干，总会有人干。”

“There will be someone, somewhere, who is doing this. If it’s not me, it is someone else,” said Mr. He before facing charges.