硅谷推动"怀孕革命" 资助女性员工冷冻和储存卵子

2014-10-28 13:43:22来源：网络

　　But these are mere conundrums and, like the perk itself, something a smart woman can decideon for herself. The bigger issue is that, given Silicon Valley’s commitment to fasttechnological advance to solve the world’s problems, egg-freezing may soon seem decidedlylast century. The Financial Times has given itself a sneak peak at the other experimentaltechnologies coming down the track to revolutionise parenthood.

　　不过，这只不过是些小难题，就跟这项福利本身一样，聪明的女性能够自己解答或决定是否接受。更大的问题在于，考虑到硅谷致力于加快技术进步、以解决世界的问题，卵子冷冻或许很快将被视为应该淘汰的技术。英国《金融时报》大致搜罗了一下其他一些能够颠覆生育方式的实验性科技。

　　A notable omission from the list of businesses offering ex-utero benefits is Google but fans ofthe search giant should not fear its entry into the process. Some of its most brilliantengineers, working at the pioneering Google Eggs laboratory, will shortly unveil a range ofsolutions designed to slow and eventually erase the biological clock. The first project goesbeyond freezing and storage to tackle some of the underlying issues.

　　引人注目的是，我们没有在提供取卵福利的企业名单上看到谷歌(Google)的名字，但粉丝们不必担心谷歌会置身事外。谷歌的一些最有才华的工程师正在开创性的谷歌卵子(Google Eggs)实验室里工作，他们将很快公布一系列旨在延长生育年龄、并最终消除生育年龄限制的解决方案。该实验室的第一个项目超越了卵子冷冻和储存，着眼于解决一些根本性问题。

　　One long-term solution being secretly studied by Google labs is Driverless Eggs. Silicon Valleyhas long been frustrated by a number of inefficiencies in the fertilisation process, including themonthly product cycle which ties women (and men) down to a small window of opportunityand wastes three weeks in every four to downtime. Given in-vitro fertilisation advances, Googlefeels it may be time to take the next step – full-term in-vitro pregnancy. Gestation outside thewomb would free female staff from inefficiencies such as morning sickness, stretch marks,early maternity leave and all those tiresome ultrasounds.

　　谷歌实验室正在秘密研究的一种长期解决方案是“无母卵子”(Driverless Eggs)。长期以来，硅谷对生育过程中的几个低效之处感到苦恼，其中包括女性每月只排卵一次——这将女性(以及男性)的生育机会限制在一个很小的时间窗口，每4周里只有1周能够孕育新生命，其余3周都浪费了。鉴于试管受精技术已经取得一些进展，谷歌觉得现在或许是时候走出下一步，尝试完全的试管妊娠了。在人体子宫外孕育生命，能够让女性员工免除晨吐、妊娠纹、产假以及超声波检查等无意义的烦恼。

　　Google has also honed in on another reason why women may want egg freezing – namely thatthey have not yet found the right partner. Google Dadsense may be the answer. It goesbeyond dating apps such as Tinder or Match.com, using a new SpermMatch algorithm to searchfor suitable fathers; the most desirable partner being, obviously, a well-paid technologist.Male Googlers will be incentivised to offer their quality genes to female colleagues, somethingthat does happen now, but only at the weekly barbecues and volleyball matches and is too low-tech to be a sustainable population solution.

　　谷歌还着眼于女性可能希望冷冻卵子的另一个原因，即她们尚未找到合适的伴侣。Google Dadsense可能会解决这个问题。它超越了Tinder或Match.com等交友应用，利用新的SpermMatch算法寻找合适的父亲;显然，最理想的伴侣是收入颇丰的技术专家。谷歌男员工将被鼓励与女同事结合，这种情况现在已经出现，但仅限于每周的烧烤和排球比赛上，而且技术含量很低，无法成为一种可持续的人口解决方案。

　　Obviously mindful of the concerns around gene tampering, there are no plans at this stage totamper with the genetic make-up of fertilised eggs, although they may be screened forpredispositions towards serious disease or the Republican party.

　　显然，由于顾虑到围绕基因改变的种种担忧，目前还没有人计划改变受精卵的基因构成，不过，受精卵可能受到筛查，以查出是否有患上严重疾病或成为共和党的倾向。

本文关键字: 硅谷推动"怀孕革命"