昨天在微信上看到「生物技術君」的這篇翻譯，本想馬上轉載。但是讀原文時才發現譯者有意漏掉了個別段落，另外有些翻譯不準確，於是重新翻譯了一下，拖到今天才貼出來。

請幫我們個忙

霍爾登·索普 Holden Thorp 

《科學Science》  2020年3月13號，367卷, 6483期, 1169頁

“幫我個忙，快點！再快點！”，特朗普總統在全美郡縣協會立法會議上說。最近在談到治療新冠病毒（SARS-CoV-2）疫苗的進展時，他把這句話又重新說給了製藥公司的高管們。多年主管美國國家過敏和傳染病研究所NIAID的Anthony Fauci一直反覆向特朗普強調，研製疫苗至少需要一年半的時間。製藥公司的高管們也傳達了同樣的信息。顯然，特朗普認為只要不斷重複他的要求就會改變結果。

人們批評中國對科學家在輿情流行期間進行報復性壓制。現在，美國政府正在做類似的事（這一句在中國被刪除）。Fauci和其他政府科學家被告知，他們向公眾發布評論前必須向副總統彭斯報告，這是不可接受的。現在不是通過否認進化論、氣候變化和吸煙危害來塑造公眾信息的時候。感謝Fauci、Francis Collins（美國國家衛生研究院NIH院長）以及他們在聯邦機構的同事，他們知難而上，將信息逐步傳播出去。

當科學家們試圖分享疫情的事實時，政府要麼封鎖這些信息、要麼自相矛盾地篡改事實。傳播率和死亡率不能隨意改變和扭曲。美國政府一再表示（就像他們上周所做的那樣），病毒在美國的傳播得到了控制，但從基因組學證據來看，華盛頓州和其他地方的社區傳播是非常明顯的。這種對事實的歪曲和否認是危險的，幾乎肯定會導致美國聯邦政府反應遲緩。過去三年來，人們辯論聯邦政府官員的言辭是否重要；現在很明顯的是，他們的言辭事關生命和死亡。

儘管可以採取某些步驟來提高疫苗研製的效率，但其中所涉及的許多步驟仍取決於必要的生物和化學過程。所以總統可能會說，“幫我個忙，快點啟動曲速引擎。”（但是這樣的話不會加速疫苗研製）。

我不指望政治家們知道電磁學的麥克斯韋方程組或雙烯合成反應（狄爾斯-阿爾德反應Diels-Alder chemical reaction）（儘管我做夢都想讓他們知道）。但是，當你不喜歡科學的時候，你不能一邊侮辱它，一邊突然要求科學做不能立刻做到的東西。在過去4年裡，特朗普總統大幅削減了科學預算，包括削減了美國CDC和NIH的經費。出於政治目的，這屆政府無視環境保護署和國家海洋與大氣管理局的科學研究，遲遲不任命科技政策辦公室主任，近4年來這個國家一直在傷害和忽視科學。

現在，總統先生您突然需要科學了。但是，科學家們花了幾個世紀來闡明支配自然世界的基本原理，如進化論、萬有引力、量子力學等，是為讓我們了解什麼能做、什麼不能做。科學家們積累和分析證據、運用歸納推理、將研究對象的發現提交給同行審查的方法，多年來已被證明能產生可靠的知識。這些過程正在以前所未有的速度通過國際合作來應對新冠病毒引發的疫情危機。本月早些時候，《科學》雜誌發表了兩篇關於SARS-CoV-2的新論文，還會有更多的論文發表。但是用來描述自然的概念也同樣被用來創造新的工具。因此，要求研製疫苗的同時又歪曲科學是一種自相矛盾。

疫苗必須有基本的科學依據，它必須是可生產，它必須安全的。這可能需要一年半或更長時間。製藥公司的高管們有各種各樣的動機要儘快生產，畢竟他們會以此獲利。但謝天謝地，他們也知道你不能為了達到這一目標而違反自然法則。

也許我們應該高興。三年前，總統宣布對疫苗持懷疑態度，並試圖發起一個反疫苗工作組。而現在他突然喜歡上了疫苗。

但請幫我們個忙，總統先生，如果你想要什麼，就請先從尊重科學及其原理開始。

Do us a favor

H. Holden Thorp 

Science  13 Mar 2020: Vol. 367, Issue 6483, pp. 1169

“Do me a favor, speed it up, speed it up.” This is what U.S. President Donald Trump told the National Association of Counties Legislative Conference, recounting what he said to pharmaceutical executives about the progress toward a vaccine for severe acute respiratory syndrome–coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Anthony Fauci, the long-time leader of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has been telling the president repeatedly that developing the vaccine will take at least a year and a half—the same message conveyed by pharmaceutical executives. Apparently, Trump thought that simply repeating his request would change the outcome.

China has rightfully taken criticism for squelching attempts by scientists to report information during the outbreak. Now, the United States government is doing similar things. Informing Fauci and other government scientists that they must clear all public comments with Vice President Mike Pence is unacceptable. This is not a time for someone who denies evolution, climate change, and the dangers of smoking to shape the public message. Thank goodness Fauci, Francis Collins [director of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH)], and their colleagues across federal agencies are willing to soldier on and are gradually getting the message out.

While scientists are trying to share facts about the epidemic, the administration either blocks those facts or restates them with contradictions. Transmission rates and death rates are not measurements that can be changed with will and an extroverted presentation. The administration has repeatedly said—as it did last week—that virus spread in the United States is contained, when it is clear from genomic evidence that community spread is occurring in Washington state and beyond. That kind of distortion and denial is dangerous and almost certainly contributed to the federal government's sluggish response. After 3 years of debating whether the words of this administration matter, the words are now clearly a matter of life and death.

And although the steps required to produce a vaccine could possibly be made more efficient, many of them depend on biological and chemical processes that are essential. So the president might just as well have said, “Do me a favor, hurry up that warp drive.”

I don't expect politicians to know Maxwell's equations for electromagnetism or the Diels-Alder chemical reaction (although I can dream). But you can't insult science when you don't like it and then suddenly insist on something that science can't give on demand. For the past 4 years, President Trump's budgets have made deep cuts to science, including cuts to funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the NIH. With this administration's disregard for science of the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the stalled naming of a director for the Office of Science and Technology Policy—all to support political goals—the nation has had nearly 4 years of harming and ignoring science.

Now, the president suddenly needs science. But the centuries spent elucidating fundamental principles that govern the natural world—evolution, gravity, quantum mechanics—involved laying the groundwork for knowing what we can and cannot do. The ways that scientists accumulate and analyze evidence, apply inductive reasoning, and subject findings to scrutiny by peers have been proven over the years to give rise to robust knowledge. These processes are being applied to the COVID-19 crisis through international collaboration at breakneck, unprecedented speed; Science published two new papers earlier this month on SARS-CoV-2, and more are on the way. But the same concepts that are used to describe nature are used to create new tools. So, asking for a vaccine and distorting the science at the same time are shockingly dissonant.

A vaccine has to have a fundamental scientific basis. It has to be manufacturable. It has to be safe. This could take a year and a half—or much longer. Pharmaceutical executives have every incentive to get there quickly—they will be selling the vaccine after all—but thankfully, they also know that you can't break the laws of nature to get there.

Maybe we should be happy. Three years ago, the president declared his skepticism of vaccines and tried to launch an antivaccine task force. Now he suddenly loves vaccines.

But do us a favor, Mr. President. If you want something, start treating science and its principles with respect.