克隆牛成为气候变化新问题

It has become something of a family ritual: school successes, new jobs and other milestones¹ are toasted in a splendid local tavern² above plates of steak and chips. These outings feel especially indulgent given that we are trying to consume less red meat for both health and environmental reasons.

这已经成为了某种家庭仪式：在豪华的地方酒馆里，大家品尝着牛排和薯条，为某位家庭成员的学业成功、新工作和其他各种人生里程碑而举杯共饮。考虑到我们正试着为了健康和环保而减少食用红肉，这种外出庆祝感觉似乎格外放纵。

But while guilt-tripped westerners are passing up the fillet steaks — 12 per cent of Britons claim to be vegan or vegetarian³, rising to 20 per cent of 16-24 year olds — other countries are happily tucking in. The richer the country gets, the more meat its citizens crave⁴. And now China is turning to biotechnology to keep aspirational⁵ appetites sated.

但是，尽管满怀愧疚的西方人正在放弃菲力牛排——12%的英国人宣称自己为纯素食者或一般素食者，而16-24岁青年中的素食者比例上升至20%——但其他国家仍在尽情享用着肉类。国家越富裕，其民众就越渴望吃肉。如今中国正借助生物科技来满足其民众不断增长的胃口。

BoyaLife, a Chinese biotechnology company, is teaming up with a Korean research company, Sooam Biotech, to clone 1m cattle a year to feed public demand for high-quality beef. The joint venture — no pun intended — has been announced by China’s official Xinhua news agency and promises to make the country a major player in agricultural biotechnology.

中国生物技术公司博雅(BoyaLife)将与韩国研究公司秀岩生命工学研究院(Sooam Biotech)组建合资企业，每年将生产100万头克隆牛，以满足公众对优质牛肉的需求。中国官方媒体新华社宣布了合资的消息。这家合资企业承诺将使中国成为农业生物科技领域的主要参与者。

The prospect⁶ of bespoke⁷ beef is startling in the light of the forthcoming talks in Paris on climate change, where 138 heads of state will be in attendance. After all, livestock⁸, whether cloned or not, contributes to climate change: the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation⁹ estimates that the global meat industry belches¹⁰ out 14.5 per cent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions¹¹, more than all the world’s cars, trucks, ships and planes combined. While some fret¹² over the air miles travelled by shiitake mushrooms, fewer of us make a similarly green reckoning on the meat that we will cook alongside them.

在巴黎气候大会（届时将有138位国家元首出席会议）即将召开之际，可能出现定制牛排的前景令人吃惊。毕竟，无论是否利用克隆技术培育，牲畜都是促使气候变化的因素：联合国粮农组织(Food and Agriculture Organisation)估计，全球肉类产业的温室气体排放量占全球排放量的14.5%，超过了世界上所有汽车、卡车、轮船及飞机总排放量所占比例。尽管有人为香菇空运时排放的温室气体而操心，但我们很少有人会对跟香菇搭配的肉类做类似的环保考量。

It is not the after-effects of digestion¹³ in farm animals, as it is euphemistically put, that blow the highest levels of livestock-associated greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Such emissions comprise 39 per cent of livestock’s gaseous¹⁴ contributions, according to the FAO. A higher proportion, 45 per cent, comes from the production and processing of animal feed. Decomposing¹⁵ manure¹⁶ adds a fragrant¹⁷ 10 per cent; the rest is from the processing and transportation¹⁸ of animal products.

与牲畜有关的温室气体排放，最主要的不是（委婉地说）“牲畜消化道产生的气体”。据粮农组织表示，这类“气体”排放占牲畜相关温室气体排放量的39%。占更高比例（45%）的是动物饲料生产和加工过程中产生的排放。粪肥分解产生的“芬芳”气体占据10%的排放量，其他则来自动物产品的加工和运输过程。

In a report last year, Chatham House called the livestock industry the “forgotten sector¹⁹” of climate change. The think-tank believes that a two-degree rise in temperature over the pre-industrial average, above which the effects of climate change become hard to predict, cannot be averted²⁰ without a change in global meat and dairy consumption.

在去年公布的一份报告中，英国皇家国际事务研究所(Chatham House)把畜牧业称为气候变化中“被人遗忘的行业”。这家智库机构认为，如果全球肉类和乳制品食用量不变，我们就无法避免全球气温比工业化前平均水平升高两摄氏度（全球变暖的临界值，高于这个水平，其影响将变得难以预料）。

The wider, unspoken cultural message has been that we should go easy on the meat and dairy, and that this is a good idea anyhow because of other issues such as sustainability and food supply. The China-Korea announcement goes against the grain.

更广泛、心照不宣的文化方面的讯息是，我们应该节制肉类和奶制品食用。因为可持续性和食品供应等其他问题，无论如何这都是个好主意。而中韩合资建克隆牛工厂的消息却与之背道而驰。

It is also a statement of bravura²¹ from a region that shows all the makings of a biotechnology superpower. Europe might have produced the first cloned mammal, Dolly the sheep, but in September the EU banned the cloning of farm animals. Meanwhile, eastern nations, unfettered by religious or cultural objections, have raced ahead with attempts to manipulate life.

中国已经具备成为生物科技强国的所有必要条件，这个消息也是它对自己高超水平的宣示。欧洲或许培育了全球第一只克隆哺乳动物——多利羊(Dolly)，但是欧盟于今年9月开始禁止克隆家畜。与此同时，不受宗教和文化阻力束缚的东方国家迅速推进操纵生命的尝试。

Sooam Biotech is headed by Hwang Woo-suk, the South Korean superstar scientist who fell from grace after he was found to have faked some research. Professor Hwang cloned the world’s first dog, Snuppy, a decade ago. He has since cloned 550 puppies, many for grieving pet owners.

秀岩生命工学研究所由韩国曾经的科学明星黄禹锡(Hwang Woo-suk)执掌，他在被发现伪造一些研究后名誉扫地。10年前，黄禹锡教授培育出了全球第一只克隆狗“斯纳皮”(Snuppy)。如今他已克隆了550只狗，其中很多是应那些悲伤的狗主人的请求。

Other Chinese institutes, notably²² BGI in Beijing, are making strides in the field of genome editing, which involves rewriting the characteristics of organisms at the level of genes²³. Its potential to correct genetic²⁴ defects and introduce enhancements could be transformative.

其他中国机构——特别是北京的华大基因(BGI)——在基因组编辑（涉及在基因层面改写生物体的特征）领域取得了很大进展。该技术在纠正基因缺陷及基因优化方面有带来革命性改变的潜力。

This is, to China and Korea, exactly what science stands for: to serve the public, to be used without limit to meet the desires of consumers. While the rest of us are being urged to temper our whims²⁵ to protect the planet’s thermostat²⁶, the Chinese are determined²⁷ to have their steak and eat it.

对于中国和韩国来说，这正是科学的意义所在：服务公众，被不加限制地用来满足消费者的需求。尽管我们其他人正被督促着为了保护地球的恒定温度而压抑自己的冲动，但是中国人下定决心要生产并享用他们的牛排。