欧洲惊曝“捐精灾难”，近200名新生儿极大概率患癌

据外媒报道，欧洲一名匿名捐精者促成至少197名儿童的诞生，然而后来查出，捐精者部分精子有致癌基因。近日调查显示，部分孩子已确诊癌症且不幸死亡。

Sperm from a donor who unknowingly carried a cancer-causing gene has been used to conceive nearly 200 babies across Europe, an investigation by 14 European public service broadcasters, including CBS News' partner network BBC News, has revealed.

Some children conceived using the sperm have already died from cancer, and the vast majority of those who inherited the gene will develop cancer in their lifetimes, geneticists said.

conceive /kənˈsiːv/ 受孕

该男子当时通过所有健康检查，本人及家族无疾病症状，但如今发现其约20%精子携带TP53基因突变，会使由这些受影响的精子受孕的孩子罹患“李佛美尼综合征”，患癌概率高达90%。儿童时期易发病，长大后可能患乳腺癌，需定期检查，女性或需预防性乳房切除。

The man carrying the gene passed screening checks before he became a donor at the European Sperm Bank when he was a student in 2005.

screening /ˈskriːnɪŋ/ 筛查

The cancer-causing mutation occurred in the donor's TP53 gene — which prevents cells in the body from turning cancerous — before his birth, according to the investigation. It causes Li Fraumeni syndrome, which gives affected people a 90 percent chance of developing cancers, particularly during childhood, as well as breast cancer in later life.

Up to 20 percent of the donor's sperm contained the mutated TP53 gene. Any children conceived with affected sperm will have the dangerous mutation in every cell of their body.

今年5月媒体报道，当时确认的67名儿童中，23人携带该突变，10人已确诊癌症。而最近通过联合调查后确认，至少197名儿童通过该捐精者的精子出生，但由于部分国家缺乏数据，实际人数可能更多。

23 children with the genetic mutation had been discovered, out of 67 children linked to the donor. Ten of those children with the mutation had already been diagnosed with cancer.

mutation /mjuːˈteɪʃ(ə)n/ 变异

Freedom of Information requests submitted by journalists across multiple countries revealed at least 197 children were affected, though it is not known how many inherited the genetic mutation.

法国鲁昂大学医院卡斯帕医生透露：“许多孩子已经罹患癌症，有些甚至患有两种不同癌症，一些人已经在非常幼小的年纪死亡。”

"We have some children that have developed already two different cancers and some of them have already died at a very early age," Edwige Kasper, a cancer geneticist at France's Rouen University Hospital, told journalists.

法国单亲妈妈塞琳女儿确诊基因突变，她不怪捐精男子本人，但认为诊所提供问题精子不可接受。负责销售该精子的“丹麦欧洲精子银行”发现问题后封存受影响精子，向受影响家庭致歉。

来源：潇湘晨报 大河报 美国哥伦比亚广播公司

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