我首次在哲學/倫理學術期刊刊登的文章。這篇文章被刊登於倫理學行頭最具影響力雜誌The American Journal of Bioethics的COVID-19特刊。文章探討任何(政治性或普遍性)公共衛生措施需要面對的辯解條件。這是很重要很重要的議題,尤其在全球性的疫症時代。
My first academic paper on an ethics/philosophy journal. It's published in the special issue of The American Journal of Bioethics, the journal with the highest impact factor in Bio/Medical Ethics. It dives into the ethical justificatory conditions of any public health measures/actions, political or general. Important topic amidst the global COVID-19 crisis. Please read and share!
journal of medical ethics 在 多益達人 林立英文 Facebook 的最佳貼文
【時事英文】
Chinese scientists pioneer monkey cloning
中國科學家搶先成功製造出複製猴
Scientists in China have successfully cloned two monkeys, the latest step in the country’s ambition to become a global scientific leader.
中國科學家們成功複製出兩隻猴子,懷著雄心壯志朝成為全球領先科學大國的目標再邁出了最新的一步。
The genetically identical long-tailed macaques born in Shanghai last month, called Zhong Zhong and Hua Hua, are the first primate clones produced through the method that made Dolly the sheep in Scotland in 1996. Their names are a play on the phrase Zhonghua, which means Chinese nation or people.
這兩隻基因相同的長尾獼猴在上個月誕生於上海,取名為中中和華華,它們是自1996年第一隻複製羊「桃莉 (Dolly) 」在蘇格蘭誕生以來,用同樣方法複製出來的首批靈長類動物。牠們名字的寓意為「中華」,即中華民族或中國人民。
Although the cloning method, known as somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), is almost routine in mammals such as sheep, cattle and mice, it has been extremely difficult to replicate in primates. Previous efforts with monkeys often resulted in clones that did not develop properly as embryos or died shortly after birth.
雖然被稱為「體細胞核移植 (SCNT) 」的複製方法用於羊、牛和鼠等哺乳動物已近乎尋常,但在靈長類動物身上極難應用。以前複製猴子的嘗試往往只能得到無法正常發育的胚胎,或者在出生後很快夭折的動物。
Now that SCNT cloning has been achieved with primates, human cloning is possible, said authors of the study, which is published in the journal Cell.
相關研究報告發表於《細胞(Cell)》這本學術期刊上,且其作者們表示,既然靈長類動物已經實現了體細胞核移植複製,人類複製是有可能的。
“The technical barrier is now broken. In principle [this method] can be applied to humans,” said Mu-ming Poo, a co-author, from the Chinese Academy of Sciences Centre for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology. But, he added, “we cloned [the macaques] to produce animal models useful for medicine, for human health. There’s no intention for us to apply this method to humans.”
「技術障礙現在被突破了。原則上(這種方法)可以應用於人類,」來自中國科學院腦科學與智慧技術卓越創新中心(CEBSIT)的聯名作者蒲慕明表示。但他補充稱:「我們複製(這些獼猴)以培育用於醫學、服務於人類健康的動物模型。我們並沒有意圖將這種方法應用在人類身上。」
SCNT involves replacing the nucleus of an egg cell with DNA from a differentiated body cell such as skin. This reconstructed egg develops into a clone of the DNA donor.
體細胞核移植涉及用來自分化的體細胞(如皮膚)的DNA取代卵細胞的細胞核。經過重建的卵細胞發育成DNA供體的複製。
In 1999 US researchers at the Oregon National Primate Research Center produced a live cloned rhesus monkey, named Tetra, through embryo splitting — a simpler process that occurs naturally in identical twins but cannot generate more than four clones at a time.
1999年,美國俄勒岡國家靈長類動物研究中心(Oregon National Primate Research Center)的研究人員利用胚胎分裂技術(一種更簡單的過程,在同卵雙胞胎中自然發生,但無法一次產生4個以上的複製體),成功複製出一隻名叫Tetra的恒河猴。
In principle, SCNT can produce a larger number of clones from the same donor, which could help medical research by generating genetically uniform groups of monkeys with specific characteristics.
原則上,體細胞核移植可從相同的供體產生更大數量的複製,有望通過產生具有特定特徵且基因一致的猴群來幫助醫學研究。
The team at the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Neuroscience in Shanghai failed in its efforts to produce healthy clones from adult cells but succeeded with fibroblasts — connective tissue cells — from a macaque foetus.
位於上海的中國科學院神經科學研究所的研究小組未能從成體細胞獲得健康的複製體,但用一個獼猴胎兒的成纖維細胞(結締組織細胞)取得了成功。
The researchers not only replace the DNA sequence but also make sure the sequence expression of certain genes and the amount of that expression are co-ordinated so they are in the right place at the right time,” said Gang Fang at New York University Shanghai. “That’s quite difficult.”
「研究人員不僅要替換DNA序列,還要確保某些基因的序列表達以及表達的數量協調一致,使它們在正確的時間到達正確的位置,」上海紐約大學(New York University Shanghai)的方剛表示。「這種操作的難度很大。」
Zhong Zhong, eight weeks, and Hua Hua, six weeks, are apparently developing normally. The Shanghai team expects more macaque clones to be born over the coming months.
8周的中中和6周的華華顯然在正常發育。上海的研究團隊預計未來幾個月會有更多複製獼猴誕生。
The study raises concerns about animal ethics in China, which has less rigid testing regulations than many other countries, though the researchers followed guidelines for animal research set by the US National Institutes of Health. Dr. Poo is encouraging scientists internationally to discuss the issue. “We are very aware that future research using non-human primates anywhere in the world depends on scientists following very strict ethical standards,” he said.
這項研究令人關注中國的動物倫理學,中國的試驗法規沒有其他很多國家那麼嚴格,儘管上海項目的研究人員遵循了美國國立衛生研究院(NIH)制定的動物研究指導方針。蒲慕明鼓勵各國科學家討論這個問題。「我們非常清楚,未來在世界上任何地方利用非人靈長類動物開展研究,都有賴於科學家們遵循非常嚴格的倫理標準,」他表示。
The cloned macaques are examples of the way skyrocketing Chinese state funding of basic research is yielding significant advances in fields ranging from quantum computing to biology.
複製獼猴是又一個例證,說明中國對基礎研究大舉增加相關的資助,這正在從量子計算到生物學等各個領域帶來長遠的進展。
Chinese state-led funding of basic research — science that has no immediate commercial applications — increased to $10 billion in 2015. While that number is about one-quarter of US federal spending on basic research, it represents a vast increase from the $3.9 billion in total state science funding four years earlier, according to China’s National Natural Science Foundation.
在中國,國家主導的基礎研究(沒有直接商業應用的科學研究)經費在2015年增至100億美元。儘管這個數字大約是美國聯邦基礎研究支出的四分之一,但是相比四年前39億美元的國家科研經費總額,算是有著巨大幅度的增加(資料來自中國國家自然科學基金會)。
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journal of medical ethics 在 鄭麗君 Facebook 的精選貼文
「國際醫療」不該淪為特區經濟! 《自經區解密(二)》
以合宜的價格提供高品質的醫療照護,發展面向國際的醫療照護是政府多年來的施政重點,然而,要發展包括製藥、生技、精密儀器與養生等醫學相關產業,就得把醫療服務本身「產業化」嗎?將本國醫療能量有餘裕的部分提供給有需求的外國人,就一定要劃設「特許國際醫療機構」這類「特區」嗎?
所謂「國際醫療產業」或「觀光醫療」的說法雖然從1980年代就已出現,但這個概念本身始終充滿爭議,因為它其實是兩類不同主客觀條件的總合。國際醫療規模在世界上名列前茅的先進國家如瑞士、法國或以色列,它們對外國人的吸引力是來自於世界頂尖的醫學技術,又能同時提供頂級餐旅與私人銀行等周邊產業。
然而在多數國家,以「價格競爭」為號召的「特區型」國際醫療只會對國內醫療產生排擠效果。以政府大力推動觀光醫療的印度來說,國際性醫療期刊《Lancet》和印度的專業醫學雜誌《Indian Journal of Medical Ethics》都指出,觀光醫療使印度醫療資源內部分配不均的情況更形惡化;而在與台灣地緣更接近的泰國和馬來西亞,觀光醫療也被指出高價觀光醫療對本國人的醫療資源造成排擠。
這就是「特區經濟」的典型現象,以醫療而言,將會加深在城鄉、階級乃至不同科別間的資源落差。雖然政府一再宣稱自經區條例能避免負作用,但如自經區條例53條由「國際醫療機構」繳交的特許費,是否真能如期望的減緩健保財務壓力,到現在主管機關連一個像樣的科學模型都提不出來;如何使醫事人員不致向特許醫療機構與國際醫療偏重的高利潤科別流動,國發會與衛福部也全無準備。
在醫事人員強烈反對下,「醫院公司化」最後沒被納入自經區條例,但「特許國際醫療機構」的大型化與營利化,雖然可為少部分醫事人員提供優渥薪資時,但勢必將對大多數受雇醫事人員的勞動條件產生衝擊。目前我國的受雇醫事人員中,適用勞基法的往往沒有得到充份保障,而如受雇醫師等則被視為專技人員,則根本不適用勞基法,現在衛福部力推國際醫療,對改善醫事人員勞動條件,不僅沒有助益,只會讓勞動環境惡化的情形雪上加霜,更進一步影響醫療品質。
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