VOA慢速英語(yǔ):Scientists For The First Time Create Human Stem Cells Through Cloning

From VOA Learning English, this is the Health Report.

這里是美國(guó)之音慢速英語(yǔ)健康報(bào)道。

American scientists have for the first time taken stem cells from human embryos that are genetic copies of living people. The goal is to create better treatments for disease. But the work has rasied ethical concerns about making genetic copies or cloning.

美國(guó)科學(xué)家首次從基因復(fù)制的人體胚胎中提取出干細(xì)胞，其目標(biāo)是為了創(chuàng)造更好的治療辦法。但這項(xiàng)成果引發(fā)了關(guān)于基因復(fù)制或克隆的倫理?yè)?dān)憂。

Cloning a human being is illegal in more than twelve states. Most scientists have rejected it, but some medical researchers are performing what is called "therapeutic cloning" to try to fight disease. Still, that method is banned in seven states.

克隆人類(lèi)在美國(guó)12個(gè)以上的州是非法的。多數(shù)科學(xué)家拒絕克隆人類(lèi)，但一些醫(yī)學(xué)研究人員正在進(jìn)行所謂的“治療性克隆”來(lái)嘗試對(duì)抗疾病。不過(guò)該方法在美國(guó)7個(gè)州同樣被禁止。

One state where "therapeutic cloning" is not banned is Oregon, that is where researchers at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland were able to put human DNA into modified human eggs. They produced embryos that were genetically the same as the people who had donated their DNA. The researchers then took stem cells from the embryos, these cells are called "master cells". Scientists know how to use chemicals to cause master cells to develop into any tissue in the body.

俄勒岡州是未禁止“治療性克隆”的州之一。該州波特蘭市的俄勒岡健康與科學(xué)大學(xué)的研究人員能夠?qū)⑷祟?lèi)DNA植入經(jīng)過(guò)改良的人類(lèi)卵子中，由此制成的人類(lèi)胚胎和捐助DNA者在遺傳基因上相一致。研究人員隨后從胚胎中提取干細(xì)胞，這些細(xì)胞被稱(chēng)為“萬(wàn)能細(xì)胞(或母細(xì)胞)”?？茖W(xué)家們懂得如何利用化學(xué)物質(zhì)使萬(wàn)能細(xì)胞發(fā)育成任何人體組織。

The idea is that doctors could use tissue created this way to replaced diseased organs. The new body tissue would be a genetically match of the person receiving it, and there would be no danger that the patient's body would reject the new tissue which can happen with normal transplants.

這種想法是醫(yī)生能夠使用這種途徑制成的人體組織來(lái)替代病變器官。這種新的人體組織和接受移植者在遺傳基因上相匹配，不會(huì)發(fā)生病人身體抗拒新組織的危險(xiǎn)，而正常移植往往會(huì)存在這種風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。

Shoukhrat Mitalipov led the organ study, which involved more than twenty researchers. The scientists believed the stem cells could give doctors a new way to treat Parkinson's disease - a degenerative movement disorder. Scientists believe they could use this genetic material or DNA from a skin cell of someone with Parkinson's disease to create a personalized treatment.

肖克萊特·米塔利普夫(Shoukhrat Mitalipov)領(lǐng)導(dǎo)了俄勒岡州的這項(xiàng)研究，該研究包括20多名研究人員?？茖W(xué)家們認(rèn)為干細(xì)胞能為醫(yī)生治療帕金森病提供一種新的途徑。帕金森病是一種退行性運(yùn)動(dòng)障礙。科學(xué)家認(rèn)為他們能這種夠使用來(lái)自帕金森病患者皮膚細(xì)胞的遺傳物質(zhì)或DNA創(chuàng)造一種個(gè)性化治療方案。

Alta Charo is a bioethicist at the University of Wisconsin Law School, she believes it is too soon to say, whether the use of embryonic stem cells for personalized medicine would become common. Scientists could in fact find other less controversial sources of stem cells, however, she supports the use of stem cells to treat disease.

阿爾塔·沙羅(Alta Charo)是威斯康辛大學(xué)法學(xué)院的一名生物倫理學(xué)家。她認(rèn)為使用胚胎干細(xì)胞進(jìn)行個(gè)性化治療是否會(huì)成為普遍尚不好說(shuō)?？茖W(xué)家們其實(shí)可以找到其它爭(zhēng)議性較少的干細(xì)胞來(lái)源。但她支持使用干細(xì)胞來(lái)治療疾病。

"I think that would argue for using them, I think there are moral obligation to people who are here among us, who are sick and in need. Trans-political concerns and a public relations, and perception problems around the very * first two or three days worth of development of an embryo-like entity."

她說(shuō)，“我認(rèn)為利用它會(huì)引發(fā)爭(zhēng)論，我認(rèn)為我們和對(duì)此有需要的患者有一種道義上的責(zé)任，以及圍繞前兩三天胚胎實(shí)體發(fā)育的跨政治的關(guān)注，公關(guān)活動(dòng)，和觀念問(wèn)題。”

The research on the cloning of human embryos to harvest stem cells was published in the journal "Cell".