400-123-4567

Microsoft founder Bill Gates is pouring $4 million into a project to create killer mosquitoes that destroy each other through sex.微软公司创始人比尔·盖茨正在向一个项目投放400万美元，该项目目的建构出有需要通过交配歼灭其他蚊子的刺客蚊子。Its a bold bid to curb malaria, a deadly disease typically transmitted through the bite of infected mosquitoes.这是一个遏止疟疾的大胆的尝试，这种可怕的疾病一般来说通过不受病毒感染蚊子的传染传播。Gates will use funds from his own charity organization – the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation – to eradicate malaria “within a generation.”盖茨将利用他自己的慈善的组织——比尔和梅琳达·盖茨基金会——在将近一代人的时间里根治疟疾。

The plan is to create genetically-modified male mosquitoes that mate with their female counterparts in the wild.该计划是为了建构出有基因改进的雄蚊，能在野外与雌性蚊子交配。Only female mosquitoes bite so Gates army of gene-engineered male mosquitoes would be safe to humans.只有雌性蚊子不会传染，所以盖茨的基因工程的雄性蚊子对人类是安全性的。

Whats important is that these male mosquitoes contain a self-limiting gene that gets passed onto female mates.最重要的是，这些雄性蚊子所含一种自我容许的基因，不会传播给雌性伴侣。When the females give birth, their offspring will die before adulthood thanks to the gene.当雌性动物怀孕时，它们的后代在成年之前就不会因基因问题而丧生。Mosquitoes only start biting people once theyre adults, so given enough time, the danger of blood-sucking female mosquitoes could be eradicated.蚊子只有在成年后才开始传染人类，所以只要有充足的时间，就可以避免猫雌蚊的危险性。

This means it would be possible to stem the spread of malaria through mosquito bites.这意味著有可能通过蚊虫传染制止疟疾的传播。Theyre developed by a UK company called Oxitec, which has dubbed the creations “Friendly Mosquitos” — although their female mates may disagree.它们是由一家取名为Oxitec的英国公司研发的，该公司称之为这种蚊子为“友好关系的蚊子”——尽管它们的雌性伴侣有可能不表示同意这种众说纷纭。

Oxitec has already created gene-engineered mosquitoes to deal with the Zika virus.Oxitec早已生产了基因工程蚊子来对付寨卡病毒。In some areas, the wild populations of Aedes aegypti (the mosquito that carries Zika) have been reduced by 90 percent.在一些地区，埃及伊蚊(装载寨卡病毒的蚊子)的野生种群数量增加了90%。

However, not everyone is happy about the prospect of genetically-modified mosquitoes being used to prematurely terminate their offspring.然而，并不是所有人都对转基因蚊子被用作提早中止其后代的前景感到高兴。Oxitecs work has been heavily criticized by Friends of the Earth, a charity dedicated to protecting the environment.Oxitec的工作受到了致力于保护环境的慈善的组织“地球之友”的严厉批评。

But Bill Gates is a long-time supporter of Oxitecs work.但是比尔·盖茨是Oxitec的工作的长年支持者。

本文来源：易币付官方网站-www.etiwari.com