双语新闻：转基因种子"被窃"之争触动公众神经

2014-05-08 14:25:12来源：可可英语

　　A war of words in China has reignited public debate over just how far genetically modified food -- still mostly illegal here -- has already infiltrated the country.

　　一场口水战再度激起了中国公众对转基因食品已在多大程度上渗透进中国的争论。目前在中国，大多数转基因食品仍是非法的。

双语新闻：转基因种子

　　The spat began as an investigation. In April, following on government reports that illegal GMO corn and cotton had been found on the southern Chinese island of Hainan, the nonprofit Greenpeace, which monitors GMO issues, dispatched two employees to learn more.

　　争论是从一次调查开始的。4月份，在政府发布报告称在海南岛发现非法转基因玉米和棉花之后，一直关注转基因问题的非营利组织绿色和平(Greenpeace)派出两位员工寻找更多答案。

　　The two visited the area referenced in the report, a GMO development site run by Huazhong Agricultural University, one of the nation's leading research institutes on crop genetics. The pair took three bags of rice seeds just outside the trial-planting area belonging to the university, which is working to develop GMO rice strains. They were planning to see if GMO seeds from the trial site had found their way to adjacent farmland.

　　这两位员工访问了报告中提到的区域──华中农业大学运作的一个转基因开发基地。华中农业大学是中国领先的作物基因研究机构之一。两人在这所大学用于研发转基因水稻品种的试验田外取走三包水稻种子。他们计划观察来自试验田的转基因种子能否进入相邻的农田。

　　Campus staff at the site, though, stopped them and demanded they return the seeds, saying the land outside the trial area also belonged to the university. The Greenpeace employees obliged, and were allowed to leave.

　　但在场的学校员工阻止了他们，并要求退还种子。学校员工说，试验田外的土地也归学校所有。绿色和平的员工答应了要求，并获得放行。

　　That might have been the end of the story. But Huazhong, still upset by the incident, then published an article on its website that accused Greenpeace of thieving GMO rice seeds. Greenpeace shot back, denying the accusations, while also noting that the university's test bed was located less than 20 meters from surrounding farmland--an apparent breach of state law, which requires a minimum buffer of 100 meters.

　　这原本可能是故事的结尾。但华中农业大学仍对上述事件感到不满，之后在其网站上发表了一篇文章，指责绿色和平盗窃转基因水稻种子。绿色和平则进行回击，否认华中农业大学的指控，并指出该校的试验田距离周围的农田不超过20米，明显违反国家法律。根据国家法律，转基因作物试验田最少需要有100米的隔离缓冲带。

本文关键字: 转基因种子"被窃"之争触动公众神经