来源：《新科学家》
原文见刊日期：2022年1月29日
Crops that have been gene-edited to be more nutritious and less environmentally harmful are at least five years away from being sold in England, according to one of the UK government’s leading scientists.
据英国政府的一位主要科学家称，经过基因编辑、更有营养、对环境危害更小的作物，至少还需要5年时间才能在英国上市销售。
Gideon Henderson, the chief scientific officer of the UK’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, says there is no scientific basis for such food being blocked for sale. The UK parliament passed legislation on 20 January designed to aid trials of gene-edited crops in England.
英国环境、食品和农村事务部首席科学官吉迪恩·亨德森表示，基因编辑食品被禁止出售没有科学依据。1月20日，英国议会通过了一项立法，旨在帮助英国进行基因编辑作物的试验。
The UK government plans to change current laws so that gene-edited plants are treated differently to genetically modified organisms (GMOs). GMOs can involve genes from one species inserted into another, while gene-editing usually involves using CRISPR technology to edit the DNA of one organism in an accelerated version of natural breeding techniques. Wheat edited to be less likely to cause cancer is one example being trialled. Crops resistant to pests so that they require less pesticide is another.
英国政府计划修改现行法律，将基因编辑过的植物与转基因生物区别对待。转基因生物可以将一个物种的基因插入到另一个物种中，而基因编辑通常使用CRISPR技术，以一种加速版的自然育种技术来编辑一个生物体的DNA。被编辑成不太可能致癌的小麦就是一个正在试验的例子。另一个例子是能抵抗害虫的农作物，需要的农药更少。
“One of the really big wins are the environmental benefits, things that use less pesticides, are more tolerant of climate change,” says Henderson. Now, researchers trialling gene-edited crops in England should save around £10,000 per trial and cut two months off trial approval time. A future law change would allow gene-edited food to be commercially grown and sold. Crops will be first, with livestock later, according to Henderson.
亨德森说：“其中一个真正的重大成果是环境效益，使用更少的杀虫剂，更能耐受气候变化。”现在，在英国进行基因编辑作物试验的研究人员每次试验可以节省约1万英镑，并且试验批准时间缩短了两个月。未来的一项法律修改将允许基因编辑食品进行商业种植和销售。亨德森说，首先是农作物，然后是牲畜。
For animals, the main issue is whether gene editing could be used to make them more productive at the expense of their welfare, akin to breeding chickens so heavy their legs break. Ethicists have warned that the UK government’s gene-editing drive should guard against such risks.
对于动物来说，主要的问题是，是否可以使用基因编辑，以牺牲动物的福利为代价，来提高动物的生产力，类似于把鸡喂得太胖以至于腿断了这样。伦理学家警告称，英国政府的基因编辑行动应防范此类风险。
The slow approach the UK government is taking may partly also be to allay risks of a backlash like the UK’s “Frankenfoods” protests against GMOs in the late 1990s and early 2000s. “I think we have to be mindful there might be something like that, but so far in the last year we’ve not seen anything like that at all,” says Henderson. He says government surveys suggest there is public support for gene-edited food, and notes the roughly 6000 submissions to a government consultation was relatively low. However, most of those were opposed to the idea.
英国政府采取的缓慢措施，在一定程度上可能也是为了减少出现反弹的风险，比如英国在上世纪90年代末和21世纪初针对转基因食品的“弗兰肯食品”抗议活动。亨德森表示：“我认为我们必须注意，可能会出现类似的情况，但去年到目前为止，我们还没有看到任何类似的事情。”他说，政府调查显示，公众对基因编辑食品是支持的，并指出，大约6000份提交给政府的咨询意见相对较低。然而，这其中的大部分都反对基因编辑食品。
Asked whether there is any good reason the law won’t change to allow gene-edited crops, he says: “There are political reasons why it might not happen. But scientifically I don’t think there are reasons why it shouldn’t happen.” Argentina and Japan are good case studies of gene-edited food being done safely and beneficially, he adds.
当被问及是否有充分的理由不修改原有法律时，他说：“有政治原因可能导致不修改。但从科学角度来说，我认为没有理由说不应该修改。”他补充说，阿根廷和日本是基因编辑食品安全有益的很好案例研究。
Henderson says moves in other countries might speed up approval for existing products, such as a gene-edited tomato sold in Japan since last September, which could take years to go on sale in the UK under current legislation.
亨德森表示，其他国家的举措可能会加快现有产品的审批速度，比如去年9月以来在日本销售的一种基因编辑番茄，根据现行立法，这种番茄在英国上市可能需要数年时间。