VOA慢速英语--美国批准转基因猪用于食品和医药

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a genetically³ modified pig to be used as food and for medical products.

The pig is genetically engineered to remove a sugar found on the surface of cells in many animals. The sugar, called alpha-gal, can cause allergic⁴ reactions in some people. The substance is used in many products, including medicines, food and cosmetics⁵.

The American company behind the pig is United Therapeutics Corporation. It plans to develop medical products, such as blood thinners, that will not cause allergic reactions, company spokesman Dewey Steadman said.

There are also plans for the pig, called GalSafe, to be sold as food. Steadman, however, said the company does not know when it might be able to secure an agreement with a meat producer to process and sell it.

Steadman noted⁶ that the meat allergy⁷ the pig aims to avoid is not yet considered a major issue. "It's known, but it's not well known," he said.

Health researchers do not fully⁸ understand how the allergy develops. But it has been linked to bites from some kinds of ticks. In 2009, there were 24 reported cases. But more recent estimates from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found the number to be more than 5,000 cases.

Unlike other food allergies⁹, alpha-gal reactions usually happen several hours after eating beef, pork or lamb - making it difficult to recognize.

Jaydee Hanson is the policy director for the Center for Food Safety. He told The Associated Press that meat from the genetically modified pigs was not tested in people with the allergies. "You're offering it up as something they can eat, without knowing whether it (helps) their allergy," Hanson said.

The FDA said it did not examine allergy-specific food safety because the company's request for approval did not include data on preventing such reactions.

The Center for Food Safety brought legal action against the FDA over the first genetically modified animal the agency approved for food – a salmon¹⁰. That approval was for a fish that was engineered to grow faster. The group said it is still examining the agency's decision on the GalSafe pig, which was announced December 14.

Greg Jaffe is with the Center for Science in the Public Interest. He told the AP the FDA's approval of the GalSafe pig is concerning because it came without a chance for public comment. "Nobody was given notice, and all of a sudden there's an approved animal," he said.

United Therapeutics did not describe the exact process it used to genetically engineer the animal. Jaffe said the pig was produced by removing a gene¹ responsible for producing the sugar and adding another that serves as a marker for the silenced gene.

Jaffe noted that he does not know if rules exist on how pork from genetically modified pigs would need to be labeled to be sold in stores.

Steadman said the company's pigs would be more difficult to produce than other pigs for meat because of requirements covering how they must be kept and slaughtered¹². He said there are currently about 25 GalSafe pigs at a farm in Iowa.

Steadman said one of the company's long term goals is to combine the genetic² modification¹³ with other changes. The goal is to make the animal organs acceptable for transplant into humans. For years, researchers have been looking into the idea of transplanting pig organs as a way to deal with shortages of donated human organs.

Words in This Story

modify – v. to change a part of something without changing other parts

allergic – adj. having an allergy, a medical condition that causes someone to become sick after coming into contact with something that is harmless to most people

cosmetics – n. something put on the face to improve a person's appearance

notice – n. a written statement that brings attention to something

label – v. to put writing on something to identify what it is and provide additional information

slaughter¹¹ – v. to kill an animal for food

transplant – v. a medical operation in which an unhealthy organ is replaced with a healthy one

1 gene   

n.遗传因子，基因

参考例句：

• A single gene may have many effects.单一基因可能具有很多种效应。
• The targeting of gene therapy has been paid close attention.其中基因治疗的靶向性是值得密切关注的问题之一。

2 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

3 genetically   

adv.遗传上

参考例句：

• All the bees in the colony are genetically related. 同一群体的蜜蜂都有亲缘关系。
• Genetically modified foods have already arrived on American dinner tables. 经基因改造加工过的食物已端上了美国人的餐桌。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 基因与食物

4 allergic   

adj.过敏的，变态的

参考例句：

• Alice is allergic to the fur of cats.艾丽斯对猫的皮毛过敏。
• Many people are allergic to airborne pollutants such as pollen.许多人对空气传播的污染物过敏，比如花粉。

5 cosmetics   

n.化妆品

参考例句：

• We sell a wide range of cosmetics at a very reasonable price. 我们以公道的价格出售各种化妆品。
• Cosmetics do not always cover up the deficiencies of nature. 化妆品未能掩饰天生的缺陷。

6 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

7 allergy   

n.(因食物、药物等而引起的)过敏症

参考例句：

• He developed an allergy to pollen.他对花粉过敏。
• The patient had an allergy to penicillin.该患者对青霉素过敏。

8 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

9 allergies   

n.[医]过敏症；[口]厌恶，反感；（对食物、花粉、虫咬等的）过敏症( allergy的名词复数 )；变态反应，变应性

参考例句：

• Food allergies can result in an enormous variety of different symptoms. 食物过敏会引发很多不同的症状。 来自辞典例句
• Let us, however, examine one of the most common allergies; hayfever. 现在让我们来看看最常见的变态反应的一种--枯草热。 来自辞典例句

10 salmon   

n.鲑，大马哈鱼，橙红色的

参考例句：

• We saw a salmon jumping in the waterfall there.我们看见一条大马哈鱼在那边瀑布中跳跃。
• Do you have any fresh salmon in at the moment?现在有新鲜大马哈鱼卖吗？

11 slaughter   

n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀

参考例句：

• I couldn't stand to watch them slaughter the cattle.我不忍看他们宰牛。
• Wholesale slaughter was carried out in the name of progress.大规模的屠杀在维护进步的名义下进行。

12 slaughtered   

v.屠杀，杀戮，屠宰( slaughter的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The invading army slaughtered a lot of people. 侵略军杀了许多人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Hundreds of innocent civilians were cruelly slaughtered. 数百名无辜平民遭残杀。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 modification   

n.修改，改进，缓和，减轻

参考例句：

• The law,in its present form,is unjust;it needs modification.现行的法律是不公正的，它需要修改。
• The design requires considerable modification.这个设计需要作大的修改。