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If the human genome is the book of life, then Crispr technology is its Microsoft Word. The cut-and-paste technique, invented only three years ago, can be used on fledgling genomes to snip out bits of DNA and, if required, insert new stretches. 如果说人类基因组是生命之书，那么Crispr技术就是用来编写这本书的Microsoft Word。这种基因“剪切和粘贴”技术3年前才问世，可用于从初露端倪的基因组中剪除DNA片段，如有需要，还可向基因组中插入新的片段。 The amendments are permanent and can be passed down the generations. The technology works on mice and men; a team in China recently revealed they had partially succeeded in excising the gene for beta thalassaemia, an inherited blood disorder, from a human embryo. It is a wonder society is not yet spooked by what could be a defining technology for the future of humanity. 这种修改是永久性的，可以代代相传。这种技术可以用于小鼠和人类；中国的一个科研小组最近透露，他们从一个人类胚胎上切除β-地中海贫血症（一种遗传性血液疾病）基因的操作取得了部分成功。奇怪的是，这种可能界定人类未来的技术还未震惊社会。 Crispr — short for clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats — is the simplest of a suite of new gene-editing technologies, and is a trick borrowed from the bacterial immune system. Bacteria, when invaded by a virus, deploy “molecular scissors” — a DNA-cutting enzyme that chops up the invader. Pair the scissors with a guiding molecule capable of directing the blades to a specific point, and you are ready to edit a genome. After the DNA is severed, cellular repair machinery kicks in to close the gap and the embryo continues to develop. This is how the Chinese scientists banished the mutant gene from their human embryo. | 
