发现CRISPR基因编辑工具“改写生命密码”的科学家获诺贝尔化学奖
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer A. Doudna for the development of a method for genome editing.
艾曼纽·夏彭蒂耶和詹妮弗·A·杜德纳因开发出一种基因组编辑方法而获得诺贝尔化学奖。
They discovered one of gene technology's sharpest tools: the CRISPR/Cas9 genetic scissors. Using these, researchers can change the DNA of animals, plants and micro-organisms with extremely high precision.
他们发现了基因技术最锋利的工具之一：CRISPR/Cas9基因剪刀。利用这些技术，研究人员可以极其精确地改变动物、植物和微生物的DNA。
Before announcing the winners on Wednesday, Göran K. Hansson, secretary-general for the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, said that this year's prize was about "rewriting the code of life."
在周三宣布获奖者之前，瑞典皇家科学院秘书长戈兰·K·汉森说，今年的奖项是关于“改写生命密码”的。
The American biochemist Jennifer A. Doudna (left) and French microbiologist Emmanuelle Charpentier, pictured together in 2016.
2016年，美国生物化学家詹妮弗·A·杜德纳(左)和法国微生物学家艾曼纽·夏彭蒂耶在一起合影。
The CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing tools have revolutionized the molecular life sciences, brought new opportunities for plant breeding, are contributing to innovative cancer therapies and may make the dream of curing inherited diseases come true, according to a press release from the Nobel committee.
根据诺贝尔委员会的一份新闻稿，CRISPR/Cas9基因编辑工具已经彻底改变了分子生命科学，为植物育种带来了新的机遇，正在为创新的癌症疗法做出贡献，并可能使治愈遗传疾病的梦想成为现实。
There have also been some ethical concerns around the CRISPR technology, however.
然而，围绕CRISPR技术也存在一些伦理问题。
Charpentier, a French microbiologist, and Doudna, an American biochemist, are the first women to jointly win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, and the sixth and seventh women to win the chemistry prize.
法国微生物学家夏彭蒂耶和美国生物化学家杜德纳是第一次联合获得诺贝尔化学奖的女性，也是第六和第七位获得诺贝尔化学奖的女性。
Charpentier said at a Wednesday news conference that she hoped the win sent a "positive message to the young girls who would like to follow the path of science, and to show them that women in science can also have an impact through the research that they are performing."
夏彭蒂耶在周三的新闻发布会上说，她希望这次获奖“向那些想走科学道路的年轻女孩传递了一个积极的信息，并向她们展示，女性在科学领域也可以通过她们正在进行的研究产生影响。”
He said several groups of scientists had been collaborating on gene editing, making it hard to narrow it down to the Nobel Prize's maximum of three winners.
他表示，几组科学家一直在合作进行基因编辑，这使得很难将其缩小到诺贝尔奖最多三名获奖者。
Doudna and Charpentier are the first two women to jointly win the chemistry prize.
杜德纳和夏彭蒂耶是首批联合获得化学奖的女性。
Speaking on the awarding of Wednesday's Nobel Prize, Dr. John Parrington, a lecturer in Cellular & Molecular Pharmacology at the University of Oxford, said: "I think this is very well deserved indeed."
牛津大学细胞与分子药理学讲师约翰·帕灵顿在周三的诺贝尔奖颁奖典礼上说:“我认为这是当之无愧的。”
Parrington told the UK's Science Media Centre (SMC) that while a number of other scientists have made important contributions to this discovery, there was "no doubt" that Doudna and Charpentier played a key role in understanding the CRISPR/Cas mechanism, and how it might be developed as a genome editing tool.
帕灵顿告诉英国科学媒体中心(SMC)，尽管其他许多科学家为这一发现做出了重要贡献，但“毫无疑问”， 杜德纳和夏彭蒂耶在理解CRISPR/Cas机制以及如何将其开发为一种基因组编辑工具方面发挥了关键作用。
He added that CRISPR/Cas genome editing "has immense potential to transform our lives for the better but also raises many ethical and socio-political questions."
他补充说，CRISPR/Cas基因组编辑“在改善我们的生活方面具有巨大的潜力，但也引发了许多伦理和社会政治问题。”
Life's inner workings
生命的内部运作
When Charpentier and Doudna investigated the immune system of a Streptococcus bacterium, they discovered a molecular tool that can be used to make precise incisions in genetic material.
当夏彭蒂耶和杜德纳研究链球菌的免疫系统时，他们发现了一种分子工具，可以用来在遗传物质上进行精确的切割。
They succeeded in recreating the bacteria's genetic scissors in a test tube and simplifying their molecular components so they were easier to use.
她们成功地在试管中再造了这种细菌的基因剪刀，并简化了它们的分子组成，使它们更容易使用。
Sarah Norcross, director of the Progress Educational Trust, told the SMC the pair had "devised an unprecedentedly powerful and precise means of changing DNA sequences in living cells."
教育基金会主任莎拉·诺克罗斯告诉SMC，她们两人“设计了一种前所未有的强大和精确的方法来改变活细胞中的DNA序列。”
