近日印度的科学家成功转基因了一种高表达人必须氨基酸的土豆Protato，并且安全无毒，可以用于农业生产。转入的基因片段来源于另一苋属植物。详见PNAS： http://www.pnas.org/content/107/41/17533.abstract 土豆起源于土地贫瘠、低夜温、干燥、短日的环境，移植到欧洲许多地方后，土豆比起其他农作物更易生长，收成明显比小麦和大麦高多了。即使其他农作物歉收，土豆仍有收成（ http://home.51.com/wangwenquan2007/diary/item/10050429.html ）。土豆收成的高低与人口密度呈正相关（爱尔兰大饥荒是很好的佐证），土豆一般被穷人所食，所以土豆被称为穷人的粮食。 PNAS报道这种转基因的土豆不仅富含人体必需的氨基酸，而且很高产，最重要的是：In vitro and in vivo studies on experimental animals demonstrate that the transgenic tubers are also safe for human consumption .与实验室其他同学讨论转基因食品的安全性，有人认为转基因食品其实是安全的，转基因只是加速了进化的步伐而已。还有人认为只要好吃，管他转不转基因，人活着就这么几载，有吃的总比饿着好。 我没有吃过转基因的东西（吃过，或许不知道），现在反转基因的宣传也很多，但如果通过转基因解决人的吃饭问题，这也是一件伟大的事情。 （饥饿的印度儿童） （饥饿的非洲儿童） （饥饿的非洲儿童）
翻译:邱敦莲 What can be done to end hunger? Sharing a vision of a world without hunger is the first step. Ending gender inequality and empowering women to play a bigger role in agricultural development is another. The problem of hunger should be a top priority in impoverished countries. Small-scale farmers should be given the opportunities and education they need to produce enough food and income to feed their families. Rural economies need to grow to expand job opportunities for those who need them and slow the pace of rural-to-urban migration. More emphasis needs to be placed on improving small farmers’ access to both domestic and international markets. Our natural resources need to be properly managed to ensure the land is not being over-used. The public and private sectors need to work together to end poverty and inequality and improve access to safe food for all. http://www.1billionhungry.org/hunger/what-can-be-done/ 应该采取什么行动来战胜饥饿？ 第一步是让更多人分享“一个没有饥饿的世界”的愿景，其次是结束性别不平等，让妇女在农业发展中发挥更大的作用。饥饿问题应该当成贫困国家的头等大事。应该为小规模生产农户提供更多的机会，为他们提供生产足够的粮食和获得足够的收入以养活他们的家庭所需要的教育。发展农村经济以拓宽就业机会，减缓农村向城市的人口迁移。重点放在促进小规模农户走向国内国际市场。妥善管理自然资源，确保土地不会被过度利用。这需要公共部门和私有部门携手努力，结束贫困和不平等，改善全社会所有人对安全食品的获取渠道。
翻译: 邱敦莲 Who are the hungary ? They are mostly the rural poor living in developing countries like villages in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean who are mostly dependent on raising animals or cultivating crops on small pieces of land for basic nutrition needs. Those without land can be even hungrier: widows, orphans, the elderly, casual labourers, refugees. These rural poor dont have access to steady income, so they cant supplement their nutrition needs by buying enough food. They often move to the city in search of work, which can be scarce and poorly paid. Little income means little means to buy food at local markets. Women are often most affected, and women who are undernourished during pregnancy are more likely to give birth to undernourished children. When catastrophes like floods, earthquakes and droughts hit vulnerable countries, the poor are forced to abandon their homes and livelihoods, creating even more victims of hunger . http://www.1billionhungry.org/hunger/who-are-the-hungry/ 哪些是饥民？ 大多数饥民生活在发展中国家的农村地区，如亚洲、非洲、拉丁美洲和加勒比地区的乡村，他们主要依靠小片土地种植作物和养殖牲畜以维持基本的营养需求。寡妇、孤儿、年老者、打零工者、难民等没有土地的人则容易挨饿，这些农村的穷人没有稳定的收入，因此，他们无力购买到足够补充他们营养需求所需的食物。他们通常流动到城市寻求工作，而找到工作的机会往往较少并且报酬极低。收入低也就意味着他们能够用于在本地市场购买食物的钱很少。往往妇女受到的影响最大，怀孕期间营养不良的妇女很可能生下营养不良的孩子。当洪涝、地震、干旱等灾害袭击脆弱的国家时，这些国家的穷人就得被迫放弃他们的生计离乡背井，从而制造了更多的饥民。
翻译: 邱敦莲 Why is there hunger? Lack of food is not the problem. Enough food is produced in the world today for everyone to be properly nourished and lead a healthy and productive life. Hunger exists because of poverty. It exists because natural disasters, like earthquakes, floods and droughts, sometimes occur in places where poor people have little or no means to rebuild once the damage is done. It exists because in many countries women, although they do much of the farming, do not have as much access as men to training, credit or land. Hunger exists because of conflict, which takes away any chance people have to earn a decent living and feed their families. It exists because poor people dont have access to land or solid agricultural infrastructure to produce viable crops or keep livestock, or to steady work that would otherwise allow them access to food. It exists because people sometimes use natural resources in ways that are not sustainable. It exists because there is not enough investment in the rural sector in many countries to support agricultural development. Hunger exists because financial and economic crises affect the poor most of all by reducing or eliminating the sources of income they depend on to survive. http://www.1billionhungry.org/hunger/why-is-there-hunger/ 为什么会有饥饿？ 饥饿产生的原因并不是因为没有足够的食物。当今世界所生产的食物足以让全球每一个人都能得到足够的营养，让每个人健康地并且有作为地生活。存在饥饿是因为贫穷，是因为地震、洪涝、干旱等自然灾害有时发生在穷人没有能力重建的地方，是因为很多国家的妇女虽然从事了大部分耕种事务却不能像男人一样享有同样的培训、信贷的机会和享有同样的土地的权利，是因为各种冲突剥夺了人们通过劳动过体面的生活和养活他们的家庭的机会，是因为穷人没有土地和农业基础设施进行作物生产和畜禽养殖或者没有稳定的工作使他们能够通过劳动获取食物，是因为人们有时采用的是不可持续的自然资源利用方式，是因为很多国家对农业行业的投资不足以支撑农业的发展，饥饿的存在还因为财政和经济危机削减了穷人赖以生存的收入来源，从而对穷人造成的影响最大。
翻译:邱敦莲 Whats hunger? For the more fortunate, its only the feeling in your stomach that says its time to eat. If you are less fortunate and dont get enough to eat each day, hunger makes you feel weak, tired, unable to concentrate, even sick. All you can think about is when you are going to eat next. For hundreds of millions of people worldwide, this feeling lasts all day, every day, except they never know if and when this feeling will go away. For them, hunger can lead to illness and temporary or permanent damage to their health. They have insufficient food to keep them active and healthy, and they dont get all the vitamins and minerals the body needs to function well. This is chronic hunger . When hunger is extreme and after days of insufficient or no food, the body begins to feed on the only thing it can: itself. It breaks down its own fat and body tissues, which eventually leads to starvation and death. http://www.1billionhungry.org/hunger/what-is-hunger/ 什么是饥饿？ 对那些较为幸运的人来说，饥饿只是他们胃中那种 该是吃饭的时间了 的感觉。而对那些不那么幸运而且每天都吃不饱的人而言，饥饿使他们感觉虚弱疲惫，注意力不集中，甚至像病了一般。此时，他们心里所想的只是什么时候才能吃到下一顿。全世界有数百万人整天怀有这种感觉，只是他们永远都不清楚这种感觉会不会消失或者这种感觉何时才能消失。对他们而言，饥饿会导致疾病和暂时的甚至永久的身体破坏。他们没有足够的食物来保持自身的健康，他们不能获取足够的身体所需的维生素和矿物质，这是一种慢性饥饿。当数日不能获取足够的食物或者没有食物时，饥饿达到极限，身体开始依靠它唯一的东西 身体自身来维持生命，于是，开始分解体内的脂肪和身体组织，最终导致饥饿并死亡。
标签: 饥饿
