THE DISCOVERY that the coils of DNA inside cells carried specific instructions for making all the proteins those cells need was the founding achievement(奠基性的成就) of molecular biology. It allowed a new understanding of genetics in terms of physical molecules and abstract information. It provided new ways of diagnosing disease and, through biotechnology, of producing medicines. It furnished(提供，供给) profound insights into life’s past evolution. From nociception(伤害感受（痛觉感知）) to nephrology(肾脏学), few if any fields of biology have not benefited from these insights; some have been utterly transformed.
DNA 双螺旋携带着制造细胞所需全部蛋白质的具体指令，这一发现是分子生物学的奠基性成就。它使人们能够从物理分子和抽象信息的角度重新理解遗传学。它为疾病诊断提供了新方法，并通过生物技术带来了药物生产的新途径。它为生命的过往演化提供了深刻的洞见。从痛觉到肾脏学，生物学领域中几乎没有一个分支未从这些洞见中受益；有些领域甚至被彻底改变。
The effect of deoxyribonucleic acid(脱氧核糖核酸（DNA全称）)’s role as genetic material on the world of metaphor has been less welcome(不那么受欢迎). When applied to the non-living—“perfect customer service is in our DNA”—the allusion is merely silly. Closer to the biological, it is pernicious(有害的，恶性的). Just as appeals to “instinct” are used to mask unexamined prejudices, so claims that something is “in my DNA” are used to ward off inquiry into whys or wherefores. They are ”just because” dressed up as(伪装成，打扮成) science. To the extent that they suggest a human being’s deepest self is engraved on some immutable(不可改变的) molecule, they come close to notions of biology as destiny.
脱氧核糖核酸作为遗传物质对隐喻世界的影响则不那么受欢迎。当应用于非生命事物时——“完美的客户服务就在我们的DNA中”——这种比喻仅仅显得愚蠢。当更接近生物学领域时，它便是有害的。正如诉诸“本能”被用来掩盖未经审视的偏见一样，声称某事“在我的DNA里”也被用来回避对其缘由的探究。它们不过是伪装成科学的“因为就是这样”。当这些说法暗示一个人最深层的自我被铭刻在某种不可改变的分子上时，它们就近乎于生物学即命运的观念。
Sometimes such assumptions can seem anodyne(无害的，平淡无奇的). On April 26th, at the London Marathon, Sabastian Sawe, a Kenyan athlete, finished in less than two hours; in the 2,515 years since the first Marathon, no one else has been recorded as achieving such a time in competition. Many seeing this achievement will have thought something like “it’s in his east African genes”—not so much to belittle the achievement, as to have a ready reason for it. Such pat accounts(现成的解释) can make it easy to stumble down the slippery slope(滑坡谬误/危险的下滑) that ends with ascriptions(归因，归属) of innate superiority and inferiority: of Somalis being “low IQ people” and similar hateful rubbish.
有时，这种假设看起来可能并无恶意。4月26日，在伦敦马拉松赛上，肯尼亚运动员塞巴斯蒂安·萨韦以不到两小时的时间完赛；自首届马拉松以来的2515年间，没有其他人在比赛中取得过这样的记录。许多看到这一成就的人可能会想“这是他的东非基因”——与其说是贬低这一成就，不如说是为了有一个现成的理由。这种现成的解释很容易让人滑入危险的滑坡，最终归结为先天优劣的论断：如索马里人是“低智商人群”之类的可憎垃圾。