胚胎研究以減少對體外受精的需要引起了倫理上的關(guān)注

胚胎研究以減少對體外受精的需要引起了倫理上的關(guān)注

Researchers have conducted a controversial study that involved paying dozens of young women at a hospital near Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, to get artificially inseminated so their embryos could be flushed out of their bodies and analyzed for research purposes.

研究人員進行了一項有爭議的研究，在墨西哥巴亞爾塔港附近的一家醫(yī)院里，研究人員付錢給數(shù)十名年輕女性，讓她們接受人工授精，這樣就可以從她們的體內(nèi)取出胚胎進行分析研究。

The study showed that embryos created that way appear to be as healthy genetically as embryos created through standard in vitro fertilization. Physically, the embryos appear to, possibly, even be healthier, the study found.

這項研究表明，用這種方法培育出的胚胎在基因上與通過標準的體外受精培育出的胚胎一樣健康。研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，在生理上，這種胚胎似乎甚至更健康。

The research, published online in the journal Human Reproduction, suggests the approach could offer couples a simpler, less expensive way for some couples to have healthy children than is currently available via IVF, the scientists and others say.

科學家和其他人說，這項發(fā)表在《人類生殖》(Human Reproduction)雜志網(wǎng)絡(luò)版上的研究表明，這種方法可以為夫婦提供一種更簡單、更便宜的方式，讓一些夫婦獲得健康的孩子，而不是目前通過試管受精獲得。

"We have now a method that can produce embryos that are of good quality or better than in vitro fertilization," says Santiago Munne.

“我們現(xiàn)在有一種方法，可以生產(chǎn)出比體外受精質(zhì)量更好或更好的胚胎，”生殖遺傳學家圣地亞哥·芒恩說。

But others denounce the research as unethical.

但也有人譴責這項研究是不道德的。

"What this essentially does is use a woman's body as a petri dish," says Laurie Zoloth, a bioethicist at the University of Chicago. "And there's something about that that seems so profoundly disturbing."

芝加哥大學的生物倫理學家勞里·佐洛思說：“這實際上就是把女性的身體當作培養(yǎng)皿。”“其中有些事情似乎令人深感不安。”

The women received hormone injections to stimulate their ovaries to produce eggs, which is a standard way to obtain donor eggs that are to be used for women experiencing infertility problems.

這些婦女接受了激素注射，以刺激卵巢產(chǎn)生卵子，這是獲得卵子的標準方法，供有不孕問題的婦女使用。

But instead of having eggs extracted via a needle from their ovaries and fertilized in the lab — a standard procedure during IVF — the women in the study were inseminated by sperm. Four to six days later, the women underwent a procedure known as "lavage," which involved using a specialized device to flush out any resulting embryos from the womb.

但是，這項研究中的女性并不是通過針從卵巢中取出卵子并在實驗室受精——這是試管受精的標準程序——而是通過精子受精。4到6天后，這些婦女接受了一項稱為“沖洗”的程序，即使用一種專門的設(shè)備將子宮內(nèi)的胚胎沖洗出來。

The researchers then analyzed the embryos, comparing them to embryos produced by 20 of the women who also underwent standard IVF. Embryos produced by both methods looked similar genetically, while those created using the lavage method looked slightly healthier physically, the researchers reported.

然后，研究人員分析了這些胚胎，并將它們與20名同樣接受了標準試管受精的婦女的胚胎進行了比較。研究人員報告說，這兩種方法產(chǎn)生的胚胎在基因上看起來很相似，而用“沖洗法”產(chǎn)生的胚胎在生理上看起來稍微健康一些。

The women were paid about $1.400. the equivalent of more than two month's average wages in the area, raising questions about what motivated them to volunteer, Zoloth says.

佐洛思說，這些婦女的報酬大約是1400美元，相當于該地區(qū)兩個月的平均工資，這讓人不禁要問是什么促使她們?nèi)プ鲋驹刚摺?/p>

The women also had to get injections of powerful hormones to stimulate their ovaries, which can pose some risk. In addition, some women underwent surgical or chemical abortions afterward, when tests indicated some of the embryos might not have been successfully removed.

這些女性還必須注射強效激素來刺激卵巢，這可能會帶來一些風險。此外，一些婦女隨后進行了手術(shù)或化學流產(chǎn)，因為試驗表明一些胚胎可能沒有被成功摘除。

"I think this research was unethical," Zoloth says.

“我認為這項研究是不道德的，” 佐洛思說。

Munne defends the research, noting that it was reviewed extensively and approved by the Ministry of Health of the State of Nayarit, in Mexico, and the Western Institutional Review Board in the United States. The women were fully informed of any potential risks, Munne says.

芒恩為這項研究辯護，指出它經(jīng)過了廣泛的審查，并得到了墨西哥納亞里特州衛(wèi)生部和美國西方機構(gòu)審查委員會的批準。芒恩說，這些婦女完全了解任何潛在的風險。

"We passed all the ethical committees and all the ethical checks and balances," he says.

“我們通過了所有的道德委員會和所有的道德制衡，”他說。

The primary purpose of the study was to try to find a way to help couples who carry the gene for certain inherited diseases, such as beta thalassemia or cystic fibrosis, have healthy babies, Munne says. Currently, the reason such couples create embryos through standard IVF is so the embryos can be tested in the lab, and only those found to be healthy need be implanted, Munne says.

芒恩說，這項研究的主要目的是試圖找到一種方法來幫助攜帶某些遺傳疾病(如地中海貧血或囊性纖維化)基因的夫婦生下健康的孩子。目前，這樣的夫婦通過標準的試管嬰兒技術(shù)制造胚胎的原因是，胚胎可以在實驗室進行測試，只有那些健康的才需要植入，芒恩說。