当代美国科幻小说中的人类基因编辑及伦理选择

Human Gene Editing and Ethical Choices in Contemporary American Science Fiction

当代美国科幻小说的一个重要主题就是生物工程对人类未来生存的影响,其中人类基因编辑及其伦理选择是最为直接的着力点。20世纪下半叶以来,随着生物技术的发展,科幻小说捕捉到人类基因编辑技术的发展态势并对其进行文学想象,聚焦于基因技术对人体生成路径的改写、生物学风险可能导致的复杂后果及其对传统社会结构和社会伦理的多维度冲击。围绕人的本质及人类尊严等哲学命题,科幻小说作者思索基因编辑行为中的权力关系,构想基因编辑技术对人类未来的影响以及潜在的伦理困境与伦理选择。文学的审美观照和价值表达为合理对待基因技术、规划生命科学发展方向提供了重要警示和极大启发。

The impact of bioengineering on human survival in the future has been an important theme of contemporary American science fiction,with human gene editing and its ethical choice as the most represented focus.Since the second half of the 20th century,along with the development of biotechnology,science fiction has captured the trend of human gene editing technology and carried it on with literary imagination,focusing on such relevant issues of gene editing techniques as the rewriting of reproductive mechanism of human body,the complex consequences of potential biological risks,and the multidimensional impact on traditional social structures and social ethics.With philosophical propositions like human nature and human dignity as the center,contemporary American science fiction writers pondered the power relations in gene editing,and imagined the influence of gene editing technology on human future,as well as potential ethical dilemmas and choices therein.The aesthetic orientation and value expression in literature provide important warnings and great inspirations for the rational treatment of genetic technology and risk-informed planning of life sciences.