There’s a news poll out tonight on another major controversy: human cloning. When asked whether scientists should be able to clone human, 85% said no, 11% said yes. Congress is working on legislation that would ban human cloning. It heard today on one scientist who intends to clone humans.
From his 2)cramped laboratory in Lexington, Kentucky, doctor Panos Zavos claims he is on the 3)brink of cloning a human being. Zavos, a 4)fertility specialist who argues that cloning is appropriate for 5)infertile couples, says he will 6)implant cloned 7)embryos in 12 women this year.
Dr. Zavos: The plan is that we are going to do the first four couples sometime this summer.
Reporter: Where do you plan to do this?
Dr. Zavos: Somewhere in this world.
That makes Zavos one of the few scientists in the world who thinks human cloning is safe. Animals like cows and pigs are cloned every day, but the technology is not complete, and there are high rates of 8)deformity. Zavos says he’s just more advanced than anyone else.
Dr. Zavos: We know a heck of a lot more than almost animal cloners all put together.
His predictions got him invited to a cloning hearing on Capital Hill. (Congressional hearing: 2002 could be the year of the clone.)
A hearing called by Indiana Congressman Mark Souder, who made clear his belief that human clones are a danger to human life.Mark Souder: Cloning, regardless of intent, reduces human life to a commodity that is created and destroyed for convenience.
But the politics of human cloning are shifting. After the House passed an 9)outright ban on cloning, scores of scientists asked Congress to permit cloning for research on diseases like Parkinson’s.
Dr. William Weiner: We simply don’t know what the 10)potential is, and to walk away from it and say we shouldn’t look seems very foolish on our part.
The 11)outcry from scientists for Congress to consider cloning for research has made a difference. The Senate which at one point seemed on the 12)verge of voting on a cloning ban, has now pushed the cloning debate into June, at the earliest. South Korea is investigating a U.S-based firm run by a UFO-inspired spiritual sect, which claim it’s implanted a cloned embryo in a Korean woman. According to a spokesman from Clonaid Korea, the 13)surrogate mother arrived in South Korea a month ago and came with an embryo which has been implanted in her 14)uterine wall by foreign technicians. The woman will give birth in South Korea, which has no laws against the procedure. But another Clonaid official refused to confirm the claim.CE
21、克隆人:人类的恶梦？
今晚，围绕一个很具争议性的问题进行的新闻调查有了结果，其内容就是克隆人类。当问到科学家是否应该被允许对人进行克隆时，85%的被调查者作了否定的回答，只有11%的人持肯定态度。美国国会正为关于禁止克隆人的法案积极工作。国会在今天听取了一位打算进行克隆人的科学家的说法。
在肯塔基州列克星顿拥挤的实验室里，帕诺斯·扎沃斯医生声称他马上就要克隆人了。扎沃斯医生是一名生育专家，他认为，替不育夫妇进行克隆再合适不过了，他说他会在年内把克隆的胚胎植入12名妇女体内。
扎沃斯医生：我们计划在这个夏天先在四对夫妇身上进行实验。
记者：你打算在什么地方进行实验？
扎沃斯医生：地球上的某个地方。
这使得扎沃斯医生成为世界上少数几名肯定克隆人类安全性的科学家之一。世界上每天都有像牛和猪这样的动物被克隆，但目前技术并不完善，出现畸形的比率也很高。但扎沃斯医生说他掌握的技术比其他所有人都先进。
扎沃斯医生：我们掌握的技术差不多比所有进行动物克隆的科学家知道的都多。
他的预言把他带到了美国国会关于克隆的听证会上。（美国国会听证会：2002年可能会成为克隆之年。）
这次听证会是由来自印第安那州的国会议员马克·苏德召集的，他再明白不过地把自己的观点公布于众，他认为克隆人会对人类生活造成威胁。
马克·苏德：不管克隆人类的目的是什么，这个行动本身会把人的生命沦为商品，一种只是为了某人的方便随便制造、毁灭的商品。
但关于克隆人类的政治争论正在发生着变化。在美国众议院通过了一个完全禁止克隆人类的法案后，数十位科学家要求国会允许他们在对帕金森病等疾病研究时进行克隆。
威廉·韦纳医生：我们目前根本不清楚克隆的潜力有多大。如果我们就这样放弃，而声称不应探个究竟，是一件很愚蠢的事情。
科学家要求国会允许克隆的强烈呼吁起了作用。参议院原来马上就要对一个禁止克隆的法案进行投票，但现在，对这个法案的辩论最早会在六月进行。韩国正对一家总部在美国的公司展开调查，这家公司属于一个从不明飞行物体得到灵感的宗教组织，它声称已经把一个克隆的胚胎植入一名韩国妇女体内。这家公司名为韩国Clonaid，它的发言人说，代孕母亲一个月前抵达韩国，在那之前外国专家已经在她的子宫壁上植入了克隆胚胎。这位妇女会在韩国把孩子生下来，因为这里没有禁止克隆的法律。但另一名Clonaid官员拒绝证实这个消息。CE
1) clone [klEun] v. 克隆
2) cramped [5krAmpt] a. 狭窄的
3) brink [briNk] n. 边缘
4) fertility [fE:5tiliti] n. 繁殖力，生育力
5) infertile [in5fE:tail] a. 不生育的
6) implant [im5pla:nt] v. 植入，移植
7) embryo [5embriEu] n. 胚，胚胎
8) deformity [di5fC:miti] n. 畸形
9) outright [5aut-rait] a. 完全的，彻底的
10) potential [pE5tenFEl] n. 潜力
11) outcry [5autkrai] n. 强烈抗议，强烈反对
12) verge [vE:dV] n. 边沿，边缘，临界点
13) surrogate [5sQrEgit] n. 替代物，代孕妇
14) uterine [5ju:tErain] n. 子宫的
