科学家用干细胞创造出人类的肾脏

科学家用干细胞创造出人类的肾脏The artificial organs were created in a laboratory using human amniotic fluid and animal foetal cells. 人工器官可以利用人类的羊水和动物的胚胎细胞在实验室创造出来。They are currently half a centimetre in length - the same size as kidneys found in an unborn baby. 它们如今只有0.5厘米长跟未出生婴儿的肾脏一样大。Scientists at Edinburgh University hope they will grow into full-size organs when transplanted into a human. 爱丁斯堡大学的科学家希望它们植入人体后能长成正常的器官。The breakthrough could lead to patients creating their own replacement organs without the risk of rejection, a common complication in transplant procedures. 此项突破会促使病人创造出自己的替代器官，而且不会有排斥的风险，这在移植过程中是一种常见的并发症。Physiologist Jamie Davies, a professor of experimental anatomy at Edinburgh University, said: It sounds a bit science fiction-like but its not. 爱丁斯堡大学试验解剖学教授生理学家Jamie Davies说：“这听起来有点像科幻小说，但是它不是。”The idea is to start with human stem cells and end up with a functioning organ. “该构思是以人类干细胞开始，以器官的正常运作而结束。”We have made pretty good progress with that. We can make something that has the complexity of a normal, foetal kidney. “我们在这方面已经取得相当大的进步。我们可以创造一个跟正常婴儿的肾脏一样复杂的器官。”The research team hopes that doctors will eventually be able to collect amniotic fluid, which surrounds the growing embryo in the womb, when a baby is born. 研究小组希望，当一个婴儿出生时，医生最终能够收集子宫周围成长中胚胎的羊水。This will then be stored by scientists in case that person develops kidney disease later in life. The fluid can then be used to create a matching kidney. 这将由科学家储存起来，以防他在以后患上肾脏疾病。这些羊水可以用来创造一个匹配的肾脏。(恒星英语学习网原创内容,转载请注明出处!) Creating an organ using a patients own stem cells solves the problem of having to use powerful immunosuppressant drugs to stop the body rejecting a another persons kidney. 使用病人自己的干细胞创造出的器官解决了由于使用别人的肾脏，不得不用功效强大的免疫抑制剂预防排斥的问题。Professor Davies said the technology could be ready for use on humans in around 10 years. Davies教授称该技术将在约10年里运用在人类身上。He added: Freezing a few cells is cost-effective compared with the cost of keeping someone on dialysis for years. 他还说：“对于坚持多年透析的费用，冻结少数细胞相比较划算。”If you have got a bunch of stem cells sitting in a test tube, that is a long way from being a beautifully, anatomically organised organ like a kidney, which is quite a complicated structure. “即使你试管里有一大堆干细胞，但你离拥有一个漂亮地，结构上像肾脏一样复杂的组织器官还很远。”So we are working on how you turn cells floating about in liquid into something as precisely arranged as a kidney. “我们正在努力研究如何把细胞悬浮液转变成跟肾脏一样精确安排。”Around 7,000 people in the UK are on the waiting list for a new kidney and demand for organs is increasing. 在英国，大约7000人在等待换肾，需要肾脏的人数不断上升。The breakthrough will be officially unveiled at Edinburghs Science Festival this month. 这项突破将于本月在爱丁斯堡大学的科技节上正式公布。The use of stem-cell technology is seen as a holy grail, which promises to reduce shortages of several types of organs. 使用干细胞技术被视为一个“圣杯”，它预示着减少几种缺乏的器官类型。There are currently around 7,000 people on the waiting list for a kidney in