BEIJING — China is spending hundreds of billions of dollars annually in an effort to become a leader in biomedical research, building scores of laboratories and training thousands of scientists.
北京——为了成为生物医学研究领域的领军者，中国正在每年投入数以亿计的资金，用来建设上百座的实验室，培养成千上万的科学家。But the rush to the front ranks of science may come at a price: Some experts worry that medical researchers in China are stepping over ethical boundaries long accepted in the West.
但是，这种急于跻身科学界前列的做法，可能会带来一些问题：一些专家担心，中国的医学研究人员正在跨越西方长期遵循的伦理界限。
Scientists around the world were shocked in April when a team led by Huang Junjiu, 34, at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, published the results of an experiment in editing the genes of human embryos.
今年4月，34岁的黄军就在广州中山大学领导的一个科研团队发表了修改人类胚胎基因的实验结果，震惊了世界各地的科学家。
The technology, called Crispr-Cas9, may one day be used to eradicate inheritable illnesses. But in theory, it also could be used to change such traits as eye color or intelligence, and to ensure that the changes are passed on to future generations.
这项技术名为CRISPR-Cas9，有朝一日或许可以会被用于根除遗传疾病。但在理论上，它也可以用来改变眼睛颜色和智商这样的遗传特征，并让这种变异传递到后代身上。Dr. Huang and his colleagues tried to modify a gene that causes a blood disorder called beta-thalassemia. The experiment failed in 85 embryos. Even so, to many in global science, it was a line that should not have been crossed.
黄军及其同事试图修改导致血液疾病β-地中海贫血的一个基因。在85个胚胎上，实验都失败了。即便如此，在全球科学界的很多人看来，这条界限不应该被跨越。Scientists in the West generally abjure this sort of research on the grounds that it amounts to genetic engineering of humans. In any event, the technology is still in the earliest stages of development.
西方科学家普遍止步于这一类研究的门外，理由是它相当于开展人类基因工程。无论如何，这项技术仍处于发展的最早期阶段。“The consensus among the scientific community is, ‘not for now,’ ” said Huso Yi, the director of research at the Chinese University of Hong Kong Centre for Bioethics.
“科学界的共识是，‘现在不要做，’”香港中文大学生命伦理中心研究总监李湖树表示。Yet Chinese scientists seem in no mood to wait.
然而，中国的科学家似乎无心等待。“I don’t think China wants to take a moratorium,” Mr. Yi said. “People are saying they can’t stop the train of mainland Chinese genetics because it’s going too fast.”
“我认为中国不会想要中止行动，”李湖树说。“大家在说中国大陆遗传学的滚滚车轮无法阻止，因为跑得太快了。”China is quickly building infrastructure for scientific research.
中国正在快速推进科研基础设施的建设。In 2013, the last year for which statistics are available, the state invested more than 1.18 trillion renminbi, or $190 billion, which is more than 2 percent of its gross domestic product, in “the development of scientific research and experimentation,” according to China’s National Bureau of Statistics.
现已公布的最新统计数据来自2013年。中国国家统计局的资料显示，中国在“科学研发和实验”上投入了逾1.18万亿元人民币，超过国内生产总值的2%。In 2011, the state invested about $140 billion, or 1.84 percent of its G.D.P., the bureau said.
国家统计局的资料还显示，2011年，中国在这方面的投入为8680亿元，相当于国内生产总值的1.84%。“The gap between China’s new bioscience technologies and that of the West is closing,” said Zhao Xiaomei, a member of the country’s National Medical Ethical Committee and a professor at Peking Union Medical College.
“在新的生物科学技术上，中国跟发达国家的差距，是日益在缩小，”中国医学伦理委员会成员、北京协和医科大学教授翟晓梅说。But the research juggernaut is gathering momentum in a country where training in ethics for scientists was introduced, under pressure from the West, only a dozen years ago.
不过在中国，这股宏大的科研力量正在不断向前推进。仅仅从十几年前开始，中国才在西方的压力下对科学家进行伦理教育。“The ‘red line’ in the West and in China are not too similar,” Deng Rui, a medical ethicist at Shanxi Medical University, said in a telephone interview. “Ethics are a question of culture, and that is about tradition, especially where it touches on human life.”
“西方国家和中国的“红线”不太一样，”山西医科大学医学伦理学专家邓蕊接受电话采访时表示。“伦理是文化问题，与传统有关，特别是在人类生命方面。”“Confucian thinking says that someone becomes a person after they are born. That is different from the United States or other countries with a Christian influence, where because of religion they may feel research on embryos is not O.K.”
“儒家思想认为生而为人。这与美国或其他受基督教影响的国家不同。由于宗教的关系，这些国家可能感觉做胚胎研究是不可行的。”The state does set limits, Ms. Deng said: “Our ‘red line’ here is that you can only experiment on embryos that are younger than 14 days old.”
邓蕊表示，国家确实设定了限制，“我们的‘红线’是只有14天以内的人类胚胎可以用于实验研究。”The proscription is contained in a document issued by the health and science ministries in 2003. It now urgently needs updating, she said.
卫生部和科技部2003年联合颁布的一份文件下达了上述禁令。邓蕊表示，这一规定现在亟需更新。Chinese scientists adhere to globally accepted ethical and scientific norms, said Ms. Zhai Xiaomei, a member of the country’s National Medical Ethical Committee and a professor at Peking Union Medical College.
翟晓梅教授称，中国科学家遵从国际认可的伦理和科学规范。But many scientists experience pressure not to do so, she acknowledged.
但她承认，很多科学家承受着要他们不这么做的压力。“Inside China, there are people who are opposed to international standards, citing cultural differences,” Ms. Zhai said. “This force is actually quite powerful sometimes.”
“我们国内有一些人以文化差异背景不同为由来反对国际准则，”翟晓梅说。“国内这个势力有的时候挺强大的。”“For example, they say we should use our homegrown Confucian thoughts to solve problems, as those international standards are from the West while we have our Eastern culture. But we absolutely disagree with this point of view.”
“比如说我们要用儒家的思想，可以解决很多东西，要用我们本土的，国际准则是西方的东西，我们是东方的文化。但我们是坚决不同意这个观点的。”In the case of Dr. Huang’s experiment, the national committee decided that it was ethically acceptable because it “was not for reproductive purposes,” Ms. Zhai said, a stance that surprised some overseas scientists.
翟晓梅表示，对于黄军就的实验，中国医学伦理委员会判定这在伦理上是可以接受的，因为它“并不是以生殖为目的”。这种立场出乎了一些外国科学家的意料。“They chose to use embryos that would soon be destroyed. So far, we have been regarding it as a very fundamental research, instead of interventions in or editing of germ cells,” Ms. Zhai said.
“他们选择的是马上就要毁掉的胚胎。所以到目前为止我们把它看作是非常非常基础的一个研究，而没有把它看作是对生殖细胞的干预，或者叫‘编辑’，” 翟晓梅说。But she struck a warning note: “If you want to edit genes in germ cells with the intention of using this right away, it’s absolutely not O.K., because the technology has yet to become mature.”
但她也发出了警告，“如果你要做生殖细胞的编辑，而且要马上把它用上，那绝对是不行的，因为你现在技术是不成熟的。”Disturbed by the recent study, Rao Yi, a professor of biology and director of the four-year-old Center of Life Sciences at Peking University, run jointly with Tsinghua University, warned that scientific research in China urgently needed more effective ethical oversight.
最近的这项研究让北京大学－清华大学生命科学联合中心主任、生物学教授饶毅备受困扰。他警告称，中国的科学研究亟需更加有效的伦理监督。该联合中心成立了四年。“The more technology we have, the more dangerous we are to ourselves and entire humankind,” Mr. Rao said.
“我们掌握的技术越多，我们对自己和整个人类来说就越危险，”饶毅说。Chinese scientists are generally poorly paid, he said, but may receive a bonus of up to $32,000 per article from the state for publishing in international scientific journals, providing financial incentives for pushing the boundaries.
他表示，中国科学家通常收入较低，但如果在国际科学期刊发表文章，可能会收到国家发放的奖金，最多可达每篇20万元。这为推动他们突破限制提供了资金激励。“Do first, talk later” is the attitude of many, Mr. Rao and two colleagues wrote recently on iScientist, an online community for Chinese researchers.
饶毅和另外两名华人科学家为面向中国科研人员的微信公众号“赛先生”担任主编。他们近期在上面写道，很多人抱有“先做了再说”的态度。A global medical ethics body run by the World Health Organization or the United Nations should be set up to regulate scientific experimentation, Mr. Rao said.
饶毅认为，世界卫生组织(World Health Organization)或联合国应该成立一家全球性的医学伦理监督机构，对科学实验加以规范。More unpleasant scientific surprises are looming, several scientists said. “Right now, human gene editing is the main thing,” Mr. Yi said. Geneticists in China “don’t want to be guided by Western people.”
一些科学家表示，即将出现更多令人不快的科学新发现。“目前，人类基因编辑是焦点所在，”李湖树说。中国的遗传学家“不想受西方人的领导”。The mind-set among Chinese researchers, according to Mr. Yi: “ ‘We’re going to do it, then see what’s wrong, then fix it. But the conceptual discussion may be missing.’ ”
李湖树称，中国研究人员的想法是，“我们先去做，然后看看有什么问题，再解决问题。但这中间可能缺少对观念的讨论。”