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Mosquitoes-spread malaria that kills an estimated 429,000 people every year, many of them are children,
因蚊虫传播而引发的疟疾每年导致大约42.9万人死亡，其中很大部分是孩子，
so this new method of killing mosquito populations has sparked huge interest.
因此这种新型消灭蚊虫的方法引起了人们的极大兴趣。
Scientists from Imperial College London managed to eliminate a population
伦敦帝国理工学院的科学家成功消灭了
of breeding mosquitoes in a laboratory, using a gene drive.
繁殖后代的蚊虫，通过基因驱动在实验室完成。
Professor Andrea Crisanti co-led the research.
安得亚·克里珊缇共同领导了此项研究。
The gene drive is a technical solution that allows a genetic modification to be spread from few individuals to an entire population.
基因驱动技术是一种技术性解决方案，少数个体的基因改造可以传播到整个群体。
That modification involved disrupting a gene that determines sexual differentiation.
这种改造会破坏决定性分化的基因。
So in this way a genetic female, if you destroy this gene it cannot develop into a female,
所以有遗传性的雌性，如果我们破坏她的基因，她就无法再成为雌性，
but develop into something between a male and female that we call intersex.
而是介于雄性和雌性之间，我们称之为雌雄间性。
These individuals cannot bite, which is very good, cannot lay eggs and so cannot reproduce itself.
这些个体不会咬人，这一点很好，它们就不会产卵，因而也不会繁殖。
That inability to reproduce spread across the mosquitoes and the entire population died off within 11 generations.
由于蚊虫间不能繁殖，整个种群会在11代内消失。
The big question is whether that success can be replicated outside the laboratory.
最大的问题是这样的成功是否能在实验室外复制。
We've already done, we've moved these mosquitoe in large confined space which mimic completely the tropical environments.
我们已经把蚊虫移到了完全模仿热带环境的大型密闭空间内。
Then after this is completed, this phase will also be crucial to gather a lot of information for regulatory purpose,
这项工作完成之后，从监管方面考虑，这个阶段对于收集信息至关重要，
for example about safety, stability, ability of the gene drive to move across species.
比如基因驱动在物种间运作的安全性、稳定性和有效性。
Scientists say reassuring the public about the safety of this powerful technique is paramount.
科学家表示让大众对这个强大的技术表示放心十分重要。
It's hoped that gene drive can be tested in the wild within five to ten years.
希望在五到十年内基因驱动可以在野外进行测试。
New tools in the fight against malaria are urgently needed as the World Health Organization says,
对抗疟疾迫切需要新的工具，正如世界卫生组织所说，
global progress against the disease is stalling.
世界在对抗疟疾的问题上仍然停滞不前。
Henry Ridgwell for VOA News, London.
VOA新闻，亨利·里奇韦尔伦敦报道。
