VOA常速英语:Genetic Engineering Spurs New Hope in Malaria Fight

Mosquitoes-spread malaria that kills an estimated 429,000 people every year.Many of them are children, so this new method of killing mosquito populations has sparked a huge interest.Scientists from Imperial College London managed to eliminate a population of breeding mosquitoes in a laboratory using a gene drive.
由于蚊子传播而引发的疟疾每年导致大约429000人死亡。其中很大部分是孩子，所以这种新型杀灭蚊群的方法极大地引发了人们的兴趣。伦敦帝国理工学院的科学家们设法在实验室中使用基因驱动技术消灭滋生蚊虫。

Professor Andrea Crisanti co-led the research.The gene drive is, is a technical solution that allows a genetic qualification to be spread from few individuals to an entire population.That modification involved disrupting a gene that determines sexual differentiation.So in this way a genetic female, if you destroy this gene cannot develop into a female but develop in something between a male and a female that we call intersex.These individuals cannot bite, so which is very good, cannot lay egg and so it cannot reproduce itself.That inability to reproduce spread across the mosquitoes and the entire population died off within eleven generations.The big question is whether that success can be replicated outside the laboratory.
Andrea Crisanti教授共同领导了此项研究。基因驱动技术是一种技术性解决方案，能让少数个体的遗传能力扩及到整个种群。这种改变涉及到破坏决定性别分化的基因。因此，一旦有遗传能力的雌性的这个基因遭到破坏，它便不能发展成为雌性，而是介于雄性和雌性之间，我们称之为雌雄间性。这些个体不会咬人，这一点很好，它们就不会产卵，因而也不会自我繁殖。由于蚊子间不能繁殖，整个种群会在11代内消失。最大的问题是这样的成功是否能在实验室外复制。

We already done we moved this mosquito in large confined space which mimicked completely the tropical environments.Then after this is completed…this phase will also be crucial to gather a lot of information for regulatory purpose for simple about safety, stability, ability of the gene drive to move across the species.Scientists say reassuring the public about the safety of this powerful technique is paramount.It’s hoped that gene drive can be tested in the wild within five to ten years.New tools in the fight against malaria are urgently needed.As the World Health Organization says, global progress against the disease is stalling.
我们已经把蚊子移到了完全模仿热带环境的大型密闭空间内。这项工作完成之后…这个阶段对于收集信息、检测基因驱动技术在物种间运作的安全性、稳定性和有效性十分重要。科学家表示，让大众对这个强大的技术表示放心十分重要。希望在五到十年内基因驱动可以在野外进行测试。对抗疟疾迫切需要新的工具。正如世界卫生组织所说，世界在对抗疟疾的问题上仍然停滞不前。

Henry Ridgwell, the VOA News, London.
美国之音新闻，Henry Ridgwell，伦敦报道。