在生物醫學科技如此發達的今天，如果家里有小孩不幸患有白血病，需要骨髓移植，但是找不到匹配的捐獻者，怎么辦？有專家會建議說，利用基因匹配技術再生一個好了，這個孩子可以為患病的孩子提供支持。

At the age of two, little do they know it but Amy and Anthony Maguire are Britain's only 'saviour sibling' twins, created to be donors for their sick older brother. (telegraph.co.uk)

A savior sibling (or saviour sibling) is a child who is born to provide an organ or cell transplant to a sibling that is affected with a fatal disease that can best be treated by hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Savior sibling指生下來就是為了給患有致命疾病的兄弟姐妹提供器官或細胞移植的小孩，譯為“救命手足”?；疾∫环揭话愣夹枰ㄟ^造血干細胞移植才能治愈。

The savior sibling is conceived through In Vitro Fertilization. Fertilized zygotes are tested for genetic compatibility, and only zygotes that are compatible with the existing child are implanted. Zygotes are also tested to make sure they are free of the original genetic disease.

救命手足多通過試管嬰兒生殖技術獲得。受精卵會先經過基因匹配試驗，只有完全與患病一方完全匹配的受精卵才會被植入。另外，還要通過試驗確保植入的受精卵不攜帶基因原本的疾病因子。

The term savior sibling is likely to have controversial overtones for some time. Some disagree with the idea on ethical grounds, arguing that the long-term social and emotional effects on the donor sibling are unknown.

Savior sibling這個說法一直以來都頗受爭議。有人從道德角度對其進行批判，認為捐獻器官的孩子長期受到的社會和情感影響是外人無從得知的。

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（中國日報網英語點津 Helen）

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