Stephen Hawking’s final fear was that DNA manipulation would lead to a master race of superhumans, it has been revealed.
据披露,斯蒂芬·霍金最后的担忧是:操纵DNA将催生超级人类优等种族。
The physicist, who died in March aged 76, thought the development could destroy the rest of humanity.
已故物理学家霍金认为这一发展趋势可能毁灭人类。霍金于今年三月去世,享年76岁。
His last prediction is revealed in a new book of his collected articles and essays called Brief Answers to Big Questions.
最近出版的霍金文集《重大问题简答》一书披露了他的最后预言。
He feared rich people would soon be able to edit their children’s DNA to improve attributes like memory and disease immunity.
他担心,过不了多久,富人将能够编辑子女的DNA,提高其记忆力和疾病免疫力。
And he said that would pose a crisis for the rest of the world even if politicians tried to outlaw the practise.
他还说,即使政治家设法用法律禁止这种做法,它仍将对其他人群带来危机。
In an extract published by The Sunday Times , he wrote: “I am sure that during this century people will discover how to modify both intelligence and instincts such as aggression.
“Laws will probably be passed against genetic engineering with humans. But some people won’t be able to resist the temptation to improve human characteristics, such as memory, resistance to disease and length of life.”
And although such procedures could be a boost for medical science, some critics are concerned they could lead to a eugenics-style movement, where the weak are weeded out of society.
尽管这类方法可能促进医学发展,但是一些批评者担心它也可能导致优生学式的运动,弱势群体将被社会淘汰。
The new book, published by Hodder & Stoughton on Tuesday, also collects his writings on what he thought were the big questions facing science and wider society.