克隆牛成爲氣候變化新問題 Cloned cows create a new
It has become something of a family ritual: school successes, new jobs and other milestones are toasted in a splendid local tavern above plates of steak and chips. These outings feel especially indulgent given that we are trying to consume less red meat for both health and environmental reasons.
這已經成爲了某種家庭儀式：在豪華的地方酒館裏，大家品嚐着牛排和薯條，爲某位家庭成員的學業成功、新工作和其他各種人生里程碑而舉杯共飲。考慮到我們正試着爲了健康和環保而減少食用紅肉，這種外出慶祝感覺似乎格外放縱。
But while guilt-tripped westerners are passing up the fillet steaks — 12 per cent of Britons claim to be vegan or vegetarian, rising to 20 per cent of 16-24 year olds — other countries are happily tucking in. The richer the country gets, the more meat its citizens crave. And now China is turning to biotechnology to keep aspirational appetites sated.
但是，儘管滿懷愧疚的西方人正在放棄菲力牛排——12%的英國人宣稱自己爲純素食者或一般素食者，而16-24歲青年中的素食者比例上升至20%——但其他國家仍在盡情享用着肉類。國家越富裕，其民衆就越渴望吃肉。如今中國正藉助生物科技來滿足其民衆不斷增長的胃口。
BoyaLife, a Chinese biotechnology company, is teaming up with a Korean research company, Sooam Biotech, to clone 1m cattle a year to feed public demand for high-quality beef. The joint venture — no pun intended — has been announced by China’s official Xinhua news agency and promises to make the country a major player in agricultural biotechnology.
中國生物技術公司博雅(BoyaLife)將與韓國研究公司秀巖生命工學研究院(Sooam Biotech)組建合資企業，每年將生產100萬頭克隆牛，以滿足公衆對優質牛肉的需求。中國官方媒體新華社宣佈了合資的消息。這家合資企業承諾將使中國成爲農業生物科技領域的主要參與者。
The prospect of bespoke beef is startling in the light of the forthcoming talks in Paris on climate change, where 138 heads of state will be in attendance. After all, livestock, whether cloned or not, contributes to climate change: the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates that the global meat industry belches out 14.5 per cent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, more than all the world’s cars, trucks, ships and planes combined. While some fret over the air miles travelled by shiitake mushrooms, fewer of us make a similarly green reckoning on the meat that we will cook alongside them.
在巴黎氣候大會（屆時將有138位國家元首出席會議）即將召開之際，可能出現定製牛排的前景令人吃驚。畢竟，無論是否利用克隆技術培育，牲畜都是促使氣候變化的因素：聯合國糧農組織(Food and Agriculture Organisation)估計，全球肉類產業的溫室氣體排放量佔全球排放量的14.5%，超過了世界上所有汽車、卡車、輪船及飛機總排放量所佔比例。儘管有人爲香菇空運時排放的溫室氣體而操心，但我們很少有人會對跟香菇搭配的肉類做類似的環保考量。
It is not the after-effects of digestion in farm animals, as it is euphemistically put, that blow the highest levels of livestock-associated greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Such emissions comprise 39 per cent of livestock’s gaseous contributions, according to the FAO. A higher proportion, 45 per cent, comes from the production and processing of animal feed. Decomposing manure adds a fragrant 10 per cent; the rest is from the processing and transportation of animal products.
與牲畜有關的溫室氣體排放，最主要的不是（委婉地說）“牲畜消化道產生的氣體”。據糧農組織表示，這類“氣體”排放佔牲畜相關溫室氣體排放量的39%。佔更高比例（45%）的是動物飼料生產和加工過程中產生的排放。糞肥分解產生的“芬芳”氣體佔據10%的排放量，其他則來自動物產品的加工和運輸過程。
In a report last year, Chatham House called the livestock industry the “forgotten sector” of climate change. The think-tank believes that a two-degree rise in temperature over the pre-industrial average, above which the effects of climate change become hard to predict, cannot be averted without a change in global meat and dairy consumption.
在去年公佈的一份報告中，英國皇家國際事務研究所(Chatham House)把畜牧業稱爲氣候變化中“被人遺忘的行業”。這家智庫機構認爲，如果全球肉類和乳製品食用量不變，我們就無法避免全球氣溫比工業化前平均水平升高兩攝氏度（全球變暖的臨界值，高於這個水平，其影響將變得難以預料）。
The wider, unspoken cultural message has been that we should go easy on the meat and dairy, and that this is a good idea anyhow because of other issues such as sustainability and food supply. The China-Korea announcement goes against the grain.
更廣泛、心照不宣的文化方面的訊息是，我們應該節制肉類和奶製品食用。因爲可持續性和食品供應等其他問題，無論如何這都是個好主意。而中韓合資建克隆牛工廠的消息卻與之背道而馳。
It is also a statement of bravura from a region that shows all the makings of a biotechnology superpower. Europe might have produced the first cloned mammal, Dolly the sheep, but in September the EU banned the cloning of farm animals. Meanwhile, eastern nations, unfettered by religious or cultural objections, have raced ahead with attempts to manipulate life.
中國已經具備成爲生物科技強國的所有必要條件，這個消息也是它對自己高超水平的宣示。歐洲或許培育了全球第一隻克隆哺乳動物——多利羊(Dolly)，但是歐盟於今年9月開始禁止克隆家畜。與此同時，不受宗教和文化阻力束縛的東方國家迅速推進操縱生命的嘗試。
Sooam Biotech is headed by Hwang Woo-suk, the South Korean superstar scientist who fell from grace after he was found to have faked some research. Professor Hwang cloned the world’s first dog, Snuppy, a decade ago. He has since cloned 550 puppies, many for grieving pet owners.
秀巖生命工學研究所由韓國曾經的科學明星黃禹錫(Hwang Woo-suk)執掌，他在被發現僞造一些研究後名譽掃地。10年前，黃禹錫教授培育出了全球第一隻克隆狗“斯納皮”(Snuppy)。如今他已克隆了550只狗，其中很多是應那些悲傷的狗主人的請求。
Other Chinese institutes, notably BGI in Beijing, are making strides in the field of genome editing, which involves rewriting the characteristics of organisms at the level of genes. Its potential to correct genetic defects and introduce enhancements could be transformative.
其他中國機構——特別是北京的華大基因(BGI)——在基因組編輯（涉及在基因層面改寫生物體的特徵）領域取得了很大進展。該技術在糾正基因缺陷及基因優化方面有帶來革命性改變的潛力。
This is, to China and Korea, exactly what science stands for: to serve the public, to be used without limit to meet the desires of consumers. While the rest of us are being urged to temper our whims to protect the planet’s thermostat, the Chinese are determined to have their steak and eat it.
對於中國和韓國來說，這正是科學的意義所在：服務公衆，被不加限制地用來滿足消費者的需求。儘管我們其他人正被督促着爲了保護地球的恆定溫度而壓抑自己的衝動，但是中國人下定決心要生產並享用他們的牛排。
