上原 直子（うえはら なおこ、1971年–）は、科学や心理学、社会問題などの英語のノンフィクションを日本語に訳す翻訳家。桐朋学園の短期大学部で演劇を専攻して卒業後、英国のローズ・ブラフォード・カレッジで学んだ。翻訳家・演出家の小澤僥謳のもとで演出助手を務め、戯曲翻訳にも取り組んできた。他者への説得や影響が生まれる仕組みを探るターリ・シャーロットの『事実はなぜ人の意見を変えられないのか――説得力と影響力の科学』（原題 “The Influential Mind: What the Brain Reveals About Our Power to Change Others”）では、日本語訳を担当。事実や数字を示すだけでは意見が変わらない理由を、事前の信念、感情、報酬、主体性などの働きから考察する著作を訳した。また、ヒト遺伝子への特許をめぐる訴訟を追うジョージ・L・コントレラスの『ゲノム裁判――ヒト遺伝子は誰のものか』（原題 “The Genome Defense: Inside the Epic Legal Battle to Determine Who Owns Your DNA”）では、患者、研究者、弁護士、企業などの思惑が交錯する法廷ノンフィクションを紹介。2013年の米連邦最高裁判決に至る過程を通じ、遺伝子検査を受ける機会や研究の自由が、特許制度とどう結びついているのかを伝えている。
Naoko Uehara (born 1971) is an English-to-Japanese translator whose work includes nonfiction about science, psychology, and social issues. She graduated from the theatre program at Toho Gakuen’s junior college and subsequently studied at Rose Bruford College in Britain. She worked as an assistant director under translator and theatre director Gyoko Ozawa and has also translated plays. Investigating how people influence one another, Tali Sharot’s “The Influential Mind: What the Brain Reveals About Our Power to Change Others” appeared in Uehara’s Japanese translation as “Jijitsu wa Naze Hito no Iken o Kaerarenai no ka.” The book examines why presenting facts and figures alone may fail to change opinions, exploring the roles of prior beliefs, emotion, incentives, and a sense of control. Following a legal challenge to patents on human genes, Jorge L. Contreras’s “The Genome Defense: Inside the Epic Legal Battle to Determine Who Owns Your DNA” was translated by Uehara as “Genome Saiban.” It reconstructs the litigation that culminated in a 2013 United States Supreme Court decision, following patients, scientists, lawyers, and biotechnology companies. Through their competing interests, the book examines how patent law shapes access to genetic testing and the freedom to conduct research.
