China's national health watchdog suspended one of its researchers after announcing it hadn't approved or participated in a 2008 Sino-U.S. study that examined the effect of genetically modified vitamin-enriched rice on 24 children.
       中国国家卫生监督机构宣布其没有批准或参与2008年中美之间的一项研究，该机构同时暂停了一位研究人员的工作。前述研究是为了检验一种富含维生素的转基因大米对24名儿童的影响。
       There is no indication that the children have been harmed, but the agency's response is likely to further entrench widely held public skepticism in China over genetically modified grains amid broader food-safety concerns ranging from dairy products to cooking oil.
       没有迹象表明参与试验的儿童受到伤害，但在公众对从奶制品到食用油等一系列食品的安全普遍感到担忧的情况下，上述监督机构的回应有可能进一步加深中国公众对转基因谷物的普遍质疑。
       Unlike the U.S., where genetically modified grain is common, China prohibits its use in human consumption and limits its domestic production, although it allows some imports as animal feed. Such grains are politically unpopular in China, where much of the public believes they can impact human biology.
       转基因谷物在美国很常见，但与美国不同，中国禁止转基因谷物用于人类消费并限制其国内生产，但中国允许进口部分转基因谷物作为动物饲料。从政治角度上讲，转基因谷物在中国不受欢迎，很多公众认为转基因谷物会影响人类生物系统。
       Still, the market is a potentially massive one for the industry of providing genetically modified crops. For example, China is the world's No. 1 producer and consumer of rice. White rice─China's staple starch─lacks vitamin A, a shortage that also presents a market opportunity for genetic scientists.
       尽管如此，对于转基因农作物种植业来说，中国是一个潜力巨大的市场。例如，中国是全球稻米的第一大生产和消费国。由于中国人的主食白米饭缺乏维生素A，这给基因科学家提供了一个市场机会。
       The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday evening that it and its affiliates didn't approve the 2008 'Golden Rice' research project, jointly conducted by researchers from China and Massachusetts-based Tufts University. The project was detailed in a paper published in the August edition of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
       中国疾病预防控制中心周一晚间说，该机构及其直属单位没有批准2008年一项名为黄金大米的研究项目。这项研究由来自中国和美国马萨诸塞州塔夫茨大学(Tufts University)的研究人员共同进行。今年8月《美国临床营养杂志》(American Journal of Clinical Nutrition)发表的一篇论文中详细说明了这项研究的成果。
       The paper described testing a vitamin-enriched strain of genetically modified rice on 24 children aged 6 to 8 in rural Hunan province. The project was aimed at testing whether the genetically modified staple could reduce vitamin A deficiency, which can cause blindness and death in malnourished children. The study found the genetically modified rice as effective as pure beta-carotene, the pigment that the human body converts to vitamin A. It also found the rice superior to spinach at providing vitamin A to children.
       这篇论文介绍了在湖南农村对24名6至8岁儿童测试一种富含维生素的转基因大米的功效。测试目的在于检验这种转基因大米能否降低维生素A缺乏症的发生。缺乏维生素A可以导致营养不良儿童失明和死亡。研究发现，这种转基因大米在儿童补充维生素A方面和纯-胡萝卜素一样有效。人体摄入-胡萝卜素后可以转化为维生素A。研究同时发现在向儿童补充维生素A方面，这种大米优于菠菜。
       The center said on its website that the project didn't conform with a requirement that such work needed to be cleared with top ministry officials as well as its ethics review committee.
       中国疾控中心在其网站上说，该研究项目没有按规定提交卫生部伦理审查委员会审查和卫生部审批。
       The center said it has suspended and is further investigating its researcher Yin Shi'an, who was among the paper's three authors. It said Mr. Yin's accounts during the investigation weren't consistent with those of the project leader and paper's lead author, Tufts researcher Tang Guangwen, who is based at the U.S. university.
       中国疾控中心说，它已停止该中心营养食品所研究员荫士安的工作，并责令其接受调查。荫士安是前述论文的三位作者之一。中国疾控中心的声明说，论文第三作者、美国塔夫茨大学汤光文博士在我国的主要合作者荫士安研究员，在接受调查时前后说法不一致。
       Ms. Tang had earlier said the tests had been preapproved, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported. She wasn't available for comment.
       据新华社报道，汤光文此前曾表示试验得到了预批。记者无法联系到汤光文置评。
       The project involved feeding the children modified rice, spinach and carotene capsules over a 35-day period. The center said it has asked Tufts to investigate the case.
       此项研究涉及在35天的试验期内给参与试验的儿童喂食转基因大米、菠菜和胡萝卜素胶囊。中国疾控中心表示，它已经要求塔夫茨大学对此事展开调查。
       Tufts public-relations deputy director Jennifer Kritz said on Tuesday that the university is conducting a review of the protocols in the research and declined to comment further until after it is completed. She said Tufts made 'every effort to abide by Chinese law' as well as to ensure the safety of human research subjects. It said the 2008 China trial was meant to build on previous research conducted in the U.S. on the viability of golden rice, so called because of its hue.
       塔夫茨大学负责公共关系的副主任克里茨(Jennifer Kritz)周二说，该校正在对研究的规程进行评估，并拒绝在评估工作完成前置评。她说塔夫茨大学尽全力遵守中国法律，并确保人体研究对象的安全。该校说，2008年在中国开展的这项试验建立在此前在美国进行的研究的基础之上，旨在测试黄金大米的可行性。这种大米之所以被叫做黄金大米是因为其颜色呈金黄色。
       The Tufts paper was first flagged by Greenpeace in an Aug. 31 report. Greenpeace has waged a seven-year campaign in China to roll back genetically modified rice, saying genetic engineering 'contaminates natural organisms in an unforeseeable and uncontrollable way.'
       最早是绿色和平(Greenpeace)在8月31日的一份报告中对塔夫茨大学的这篇论文提出了质疑。绿色和平组织在中国发起了一场长达七年的抵制转基因大米的运动。该组织称基因工程以不可预见和无法控制的方式污染自然生物。
       The group is conducting a similar movement in the Philippines, where it has demanded an end to field trials of golden rice in three provinces.
       绿色和平组织也在菲律宾开展了类似活动。该组织要求菲律宾三个省终止黄金大米的实地测试。
       Despite striking a broad agreement late last year with Argentina to allow corn exports that would reduce its reliance on the U.S., China's Ministry of Agriculture has balked at giving its final approval on allowing specific strains of modified Argentine corn. It remains unclear when the bilateral corn trade will begin.
       尽管为了降低对美国的依赖，中国政府去年底同阿根廷达成了一项广泛协议，允许阿根廷向中国出口玉米，但中国农业部最终没有批准特殊种类的阿根廷转基因玉米进入中国。目前还不清楚中阿玉米贸易何时将展开。
       Comments on China's widely used Twitter-like Sina Weibo microblogging service, which often acts as a public square, have focused on invective against the U.S. as well as criticism of local government over the Hunan study.
       在中国被广泛使用的新浪微博上，用户评论大都集中于对美国的抨击以及对涉及此项研究的地方政府的批评。在中国，新浪微博常常作为一个发表言论的公共平台。
       'Why are these American experiments getting approvals from government departments?' said a blogger called summer4584.
       一位名叫summer4584的微博用户问道，美国人开展的这些实验为何能够得到政府部门的批准？