DecodingofGenes:HopeorDread?-基因破译:希望还是害怕?,Dec
Decoding of Genes: Hope or Dread?-基因破译:希望还是害怕?
Decoding of Genes: Hope or Dread?
Can a person live up to 12007 It must be viewed as a ridiculous question just several years ago. But now, two years after the completion of mapping the human genetic code, some researchers predict that this may eventually come true in the future. On June 26th, 2000, the Human Genetic Project (HGP),an international organization specializing in research of human genes, announced that 97％ of the human genomes had already been decoded and any utilization of the related gene map would be completely free. The news immediately made a sensation throughout the world and even today, the discussion over the controversial application of the gene map and the related genetic tech seems to be forever on the wing. Undoubtedly, the completion of the human gene map marks a milestone in our quest about nature and ourselves, but the point is what this breakthrough will bring to us all:hope or dread?
Perhaps the most promising aspect of genetic tech lies in an impending medical revolution it will incur, as many people now believe in that it serves as a new approach to control various diseases, to produce organs for transplantation or to slow down the aging process. What's more, its feasibility to be adopted and incorporated into medical procedures has a good prospect. Visualize one of our regular calls at hospital in the future, using only a blood sample, doctors can easily detect genes of hereditary diseases and mutations concerned, and follow up with a genetic therapy to eliminate mutated genes and thus the disease itself. Theoretically, by reorganizing our genes to the optimum pattern,man's life span can be prolonged to large extent.
Besides the revolution it will bring in the medical field, genetic tech will also accelerate the development of a number of other scientific branches, biology among them, by providing scientists with a brand new perspective in terms of genes. For example, by comparing human genomes with those of other species, anthropologists may acquire more profound knowledge about human evolution.
However, before people cheer for the hope genetic tech bellows, we might have already found us bogged down in so many ethical dilemmas. Let's take the following into consideration. If everyone lives for 1200 years, then the world population must explode. How can our earth stand that? If parents could examine the genes of their baby before its birth, then who can decide what kind of baby should be born, while some others shouldn't?If we understand bird genes, probably we will someday soar in the sky by having our own wings. But what if we understand those of tigers, wolves or insects? Seems that those Hollywood thrillers have made a good prophecy. If everyone's genetic data is open to public inspection, then how can we protect our privacy? And moreover, will discrimination, invasion, or plunder of certain genes take place? And worst of all, if life of an individual can be precisely predicted the moment he is born or even prior,like he will die of lung cancer or he will develop kleptomania in his teens, then where is the fun of life? We may lose life's uncertainty, the hope that we can strive for something better as well as the belief that we can hold in hands our own destiny. We may lose all these. Are we nothing but genes? Or do we have something more than that? Such ethical and psychological puzzles will continue to haunt the human society.
Nevertheless, the completion of the gene map is just the initial step of the entire genetic research. What will this step mean to us? A scientist once made an analogy, it is just like that you are faced with a version of The Collected Works of Shakespeare in which there is no punctuation mark, no space between words,and what's more, you cannot understand English at all! What will happen with genetic tech in hundreds of years is quite beyond our current perception. But one thing we should always bear in mind, science is for the welfare of human being. So I believe genetic tech will bring us a better tomorrow, although we may come across much hardship on the tortuous road leading to this goal.
简 评
基因破译的新闻引起了世界的哗然。这一事实意味着什么?它给社会的伦理、道德将带来怎样的冲击?没有人能预知未来，而这一基因学的硕果将造福人类，还是带给人类一场浩劫?这也是对人性的考问。
文章的论题对于普通读者来说是晦涩难懂的，冒雯雯同学恰当地采用了例证的手法来阐述基因学这一发现的意义。而一个未知领域往往带给人困惑和恐惧。冒雯雯同学在文章中大篇幅的发问正是这种困惑的表达。第四段由8个问句构成，其中前六个问句指出了人类将要面对的六种困惑，后两个问句概括论述指出，“Are we nothing but genes?Or do we have something more than that?Such ethical and psychological puzzles will continue to haunt the humansociety．”文章多处采纳问句的表达方式，使论述有力，发人深省，震撼读者的心。
文章在结尾用一个恰当的比喻来解释基因学的发现，使原本晦涩难懂的基因学，以形象、贴切、易理解的方式被表达出来，也是文章的点睛之笔。
(点评教师：卢爱华)
Decoding of Genes: Hope or Dread?-基因破译:希望还是害怕?