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DNA 是生命的藍圖。英國的一組研究者已在試驗中修改瞭人體胚胎的構造，這是英國首例。這個來自弗朗西斯·克裡克研究所（The Francis Crick Institute）的團隊即將解開有關人類生命起始的謎題之一。瞭解卵子受精後的情況可以幫助研究者尋找改進試管受精技術的方式，同時也可以解釋一部分女性流產的原因。請聽報道。
This research is unlocking the mysteries of life. We all started off as a single fertilised egg that grows into a body made of billions of cells, yet the first few steps are as critical as they’re poorly understood.
The team at the Francis Crick Institute is investigating instructions in our DNA known as genes that are highly active in the week after fertilisation. By editing DNA to turn genes off, they can work out what they do.
Their first experiments published in the journal Nature show how instructions called OCT4 are essential for helping the embryo grow from a single cell to a hollow sphere called a blastocyst.
Researcher Dr Kathy Niakan says getting a complete understanding of early development could help infertile couples. These experiments have been legal since 2008 and have been recently made possible by rapid advances in the field of gene editing.
The work of the Crick in London is a feat of pure scientific discovery and the embryos will never be implanted in the womb. But other groups are working on modifying embryos to eliminate inherited diseases.
Dr Sarah Chan, a bioethicist at the University of Edinburgh says the field is posing big questions for society. Gene editing is a technology with a potential to transform our understanding of human biology and medicine.
詞匯表
unlocking the mysteries 即將解開…的奧秘
started off 以…的形式開始
fertilised egg 受精卵
instructions 遺傳指令
highly active 高度活躍
embryo 胚胎
blastocyst （生物學）胚泡
infertile 不能生育的
gene editing 基因編輯（技術）
feat 成就，功績
implanted （經手術）植入
modifying 改造、改變
inherited diseases 遺傳疾病
bioethicist 生物倫理學傢
transform 徹底改變
測驗
請聽報道並回答下列問題。
1. What is the team at Francis Crick Institute investigating?
2. What has recently made these experiments possible?
3. True or false? According to bioethicist Dr Sarah Chan, no one needs to worry about the field.
4. Which word in the text means ‘improvements or developments’?
答案
1. What is the team at Francis Crick Institute investigating?
The team at the Francis Crick Institute is investigating instructions in our DNA known as genes that are highly active in the week after fertilisation.
2. What has recently made these experiments possible?
These experiments have been recently made possible by rapid advances in the field of gene editing.
3. True or false? According to bioethicist Dr Sarah Chan, no one needs to worry about the field.
False. Dr Sarah Chan says the field is posing big questions for society.
4. Which word in the text means ‘improvements or developments’?
Advances.
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