NIH“外国对科研道德影响工作组”成员：

星期天，我给各位分别电子邮件，指出各位的道德失误，最尖锐的给了Wilson博士，因为我首先读到的是他对媒体的言论。

现在，我想想也许我应该更深刻地思考，也许我太快了，误判了你们大家。万一你们是给贵国“我有一个很大脑”的总统开了一个好的实际玩笑呢？

“很大脑”挺尊重如各位一样的有博士学位者，经常骄傲地提醒大家他有个MIT教授叔叔。我真是太荒谬了，居然假设诸位受尊敬的美国大学校长和教授智力会被拉平到“很大脑”的程度。当然更可能的是，诸位（可能还包括柯林斯博士）都是假装和“很大脑”玩，反正他也不可能察觉。君不见，他至今也没能找到一个给Bob Woodward泄密的人（后者成书Fear之后，副总统之下每个内阁成员都否认自己泄露令特朗普尴尬的白宫秘密）。我应该对美国知识分子有更多的信心，多于我星期天的膝跳反射，对不对？

最近，还有一个报道（见信后的链接），称美国加强审核中国对美生物技术界的投资。有可能那些规定也是与各位一般聪明的绅士和淑女所设立的。

你们解决了我们自己不能解决的一个问题。我们很难让“千人计划”中没有全时回国的人很快决定他们是否全职回到中国。有些人拖得太长，代价是中国机构给他们实验室和经费。在伟大领袖柯林斯的带领下，在由诸位组成的工作组直接参与下，NIH帮助中国有效地去除了犹豫者。他们要么很快回国，要么停止使用中国的实验室和经费。这真是好的deal（至少，单方面对中国来说）。非常感谢诸位。

美国审核中国投资解决了中国的另一问题。中国终于开始有研究潜在可能导致依据原创发现支撑生物技术应用的新时代。但实现潜力有个障碍：很多中国投资者继续很亲美，更愿意投资美国。但美国这些聪明的调控者决定采用威胁，表面上是吓唬中国投资者，实际是劝中国投资者回避“很大脑”的国家。几天前，我从链接报道的投资者那里得到证实，他们确实转而多投中国国内。好消息（又是单方面对中国的好消息）。请将我们的谢意转告投资监管领域与柯林斯博士一样英明的人。

为了平衡诸位带来的对中国单方面益处，我的实验室正在做一个很好的神经生物学研究的资源库。一旦文章发表后，我们将免费提供给全世界的科学家使用，包括美国科学家。诸位领导的大学，将列入我实验室的“最惠”名单。

不讲笑话了，终归：科学为全人类，科学是智力享受。

饶毅

2018年12月17日

Dear Drs. Tabak, Wilson, Stanley Jr., Balser, Drake, Zuber, Cauce and Loh,

On Sunday, I wrote each of you an email pointing to your moral failures, the most scathing one delivered to Dr. Wilson because his quote in a newspaper was what I first read about the report on Foreign Influences on Research Integrity prepared by your working group.

Now, I should think more deeply and consider the possibility that I had rushed and misjudged you all. What if you are all playing a very good practical joke on your I-Have-A-Very-Large-Brain of a president? 

Very-Large-Brain does respect holders of doctorates as exemplified by his frequent showing of pride in his MIT uncle. It is preposterous of me to assume that the intelligence of professors and presidents of respectable US universities could be leveled to that of the Very-Large-Brain. It is much more likely that you (perhaps even including Dr. Collins) all pretend to play along because there is no way for the Very-Large-Brain to discern. After all, he still has not caught a single person who leaked to Bob Woodward, has he? I should have more confidence in American intellectuals than my Sunday knee-jerk response, shouldn’t I?

There is also a recent report that the US will scrutinize Chinese investment in the US biotech industry (see below for the link). It is possible that those regulations are also put in placed by gentle-men and –women as clever as each of you.

You solve one problem that we could not solve by ourselves. It has been difficult to make the part-timers in the Thousand Talent Program to decide quickly whether they will move full time to China. Some of them have dragged too long, at the cost of Chinese institutions which keep their labs and provide funds. The NIH, under the great leadership of Dr. Collins, and helped by the smart working group composed of you, has helped China by effectively eliminating those who hesitate. They either join Chinese institutions quickly or quit their Chinese labs and funds. Good deal (for China, one-sidedly). Thank you very much.

The scrutinization of Chinese investment solves another problem. China is finally producing research that has the potential to lead a wave of biotech applications based on original discoveries made in China. There was one block in realizing that potential: many Chinese investors were still —what should I say---ameri-philic and had preferred to invest in the US biotech. But smart regulators decided to use intimidation which superficially threatened Chinese investors but actually persuaded Chinese investors to avoid the country led by the Very-Large-Brain. Just a few days ago, I confirmed with investors reported in the report linked below that Chinese investors are definitely turning homeward. Good news (for China, again one-sidedly). Please relay our gratitude to those who follow the examples of Dr. Collins in the investment regulation area.

To counter-balance the one-sided benefits made possible by you, my lab is producing a good resource on neurobiology research. Once our paper comes out, the resource will be provided to any scientist, including those in the US, free of charge. Institutions led by each of you will be on the top of “the most favorable" list of my lab.

Jokes aside, science is for the humankind, and for intellectual enjoyment, after all.

Gratefully yours,

Yi

Yi Rao, Ph.D.

Professor and Director, PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research

Dean, Division of Sciences, Peking University

Director, Chinese Institute for Brain Research, Beijing

China

链接

https://www.biopharmadive.com/news/us-tightens-scrutiny-of-foreign-investment-into-biotech-sector/539437/

文章头图及封面图片来源：Photo by Helloquence on Unsplash