難道是我自己的形象
映在你的臉上
使我如此愛戀？
我俯視著安睡的你
就像那喀索斯俯視著
他那一潭清水，
隨時準(zhǔn)備跳下去――
如有必要
為你沉溺

然而，如果我們?nèi)绱藧蹜僭谧优砩嫌超F(xiàn)出來的自我，那為什么我們當(dāng)中有這么多人，一想到將目睹與我們完全一樣的基因復(fù)制品、比自己年輕許多的雙胞胎降生的時候，就會感到如此驚恐？難道大自然通過基因的任意組合將我們造就是一回事，而由我們自己實施全面控制，擯棄一切隨意的念頭，通過基因組合造就一個與我們相似但更為完美的孩子則又是另外一回事？當(dāng)男女一起生育孩子時，孩子往往是兩個人基因的不可預(yù)料的組合。顯然，一個老笑話表明我們已經(jīng)認(rèn)識到了這一點。這個笑話說的是一位漂亮但蠢笨的女人向一個丑陋但才華橫溢的男人建議兩人一起生一個孩子。想一想吧，那女人說，孩子擁有我的容貌、你的大腦那將會多么出色。啊，那男人說，可要是孩子繼承了我的容貌你的大腦呢？

9 Cloning brings us face-to-face with what it means to be human and makes us confront both the privileges and limitations of life itself. It also forces us to question the powers of science. Is there, in fact, knowledge that we do not want? Are there paths we would rather not pursue?
克隆技術(shù)使我們直接面對做人的意義這個問題，使我們直接面對生命本身的特權(quán)與限制。克隆技術(shù)也迫使我們對科學(xué)的力量提出質(zhì)疑。是不是有些知識我們真的不要去獲取？有一些路我們寧愿不去探尋？

10 The time is long past when we can speak of the purity of science, divorced from its consequences. If any needed reminding that the innocence of scientists was lost long ago, they need only recall the comments of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the genius who was a father of the atomic bomb and who was transformed in the process from a supremely confident man, ready to follow his scientific curiosity, to a humbled and troubled soul, wondering what science had let loose.
我們奢談科學(xué)的純潔性，將科學(xué)與其后果分離的時代早已過去。如果有誰還需要提醒，科學(xué)家的純真早已喪失，他們只要回想一下J·羅伯特·奧本海默的話。奧本海默是一位天才，他是原子彈的締造者之一。他在追求科學(xué)的過程中，從一個極其自信、隨時準(zhǔn)備跟著科學(xué)好奇心走的人，逐漸變成了一個謙恭困惑的人，他不知道科學(xué)放出了什么妖魔。

11 Before the bomb was made, Oppenheimer said, "When you see something that is technically sweet you go ahead and do it." After the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, in a chilling speech delivered in 1947, he said: "The physicists have known sin; and this is a knowledge which they cannot lose."
在原子彈造出之前，奧本海默說：“當(dāng)你看到某個技術(shù)完美的東西時，你就毫不猶豫地去實現(xiàn)它。”原子彈投在廣島、長崎之后，他在1947年發(fā)表的一則令人毛骨悚然的演說中指出：“物理學(xué)家們已經(jīng)嘗到過罪孽的滋味，這種滋味他們無法忘記。”

12 As with the atom bomb, cloning is complex, multi-layered in its threats and its promises. It offers the possibility of real scientific advances that can improve our lives and save them. In medicine, scientists dream of using cloning to reprogram cells so we can make our own body parts for transplantation. Suppose, for example, you needed a bone marrow transplant. Some deadly forms of leukemia can be cured completely if doctors destroy your own marrow and replace it with healthy marrow from someone else. But the marrow must be a close genetic match to your own. If not, it will lash out at you and kill you. Bone marrow is the source of the white blood cells of the immune system. If you have someone else's marrow, you'll make their white blood cells. And if those cells think you are different from them, they will attack.
如同原子彈一樣，克隆技術(shù)帶來的威脅與希望是復(fù)雜的、 多層面的。它提供了改善生活、拯救生命的真正科學(xué)進步的可能性。在醫(yī)學(xué)上，科學(xué)家夢想著運用克隆技術(shù)改編細(xì)胞的編碼指令程序，這樣我們就可以制造出我們自己身體的某些部分進行移植。比如說，假定你需要進行骨髓移植。如果醫(yī)生摧毀你自身的骨髓，用他人的健康骨髓來取代，某些致命的白血病就能得到徹底的醫(yī)治。但骨髓的屬型必須與你自己的相匹配。不然的話，移植的骨髓就會向你發(fā)起進攻，置你于死地。骨髓是免疫系統(tǒng)的白細(xì)胞的來源。如果你獲得別人的骨髓，你就會造出別人的白細(xì)胞。如果這些白細(xì)胞認(rèn)定你與它們不同，它們就會發(fā)起進攻。

13 But suppose, instead, that scientists could take one of your cells -- any cell -- and merge it with a human egg. The egg would start to divide, to develop, but it would not be permitted to divide more than a few times. Instead, technicians would bathe it in proteins that direct primitive cells, embryo cells, to become marrow cells. What started out to be a clone of you could grow into a batch of your marrow -- the perfect match.
不過，可以有別的辦法。假定科學(xué)家能夠用你自身的某個細(xì)胞――任何一個細(xì)胞――將它與人的卵細(xì)胞融合。卵細(xì)胞開始分裂，生長，但你可以控制它，只讓它分裂若干次。技術(shù)人員將它置于蛋白質(zhì)當(dāng)中，指令原始細(xì)胞，即胚胎細(xì)胞，長成骨髓細(xì)胞。開始時本可以克隆你的東西卻可以長成一批你的骨髓――與你完美相配的骨髓。

14 More difficult, but not inconceivable, would be to grow solid organs, like kidneys or livers, in the same way.
更為困難，但并非不可思議的，是以同樣的方法長成完整的器官，如腎臟或肝臟。

15 Another possibility is to create animals whose organs are perfect genetic matches for humans. If you need a liver, a kidney, or even a heart, you might be able to get one from a specially designed pig clone.
另一種可能性是生成器官與人類基因完全吻合的動物。如果你需要肝臟，腎臟，甚至心臟，你或許能從一頭特別設(shè)計的克隆豬身上獲得。

16 The possibilities are limitless, scientists say, and so, some argue, we should stop focusing on our hypothetical fears and think about the benefits that cloning could bring.
科學(xué)家稱克隆技術(shù)蘊藏著無窮的可能性，因此，有人爭辯說，我們不應(yīng)該喋喋不休地談?wù)摲N種假設(shè)的恐懼，而去想一想克隆技術(shù)能夠帶來的裨益。