豬心臟移植，三年內(nèi)或可實(shí)現(xiàn)

移植外科醫(yī)生表示，豬心臟移植可以在3年內(nèi)完成

Pig hearts could be available for human transplants within the next three years. This is not some off-the-wall prophecy or a number picked out of thin air, but the prediction of one Sir Terence English – the now 87-year-old surgeon who performed the UK's first successful heart transplant in 1979.

豬心臟可以在未來(lái)三年內(nèi)用于人體移植。這并不是一個(gè)稀奇古怪的預(yù)言，也不是憑空捏造出來(lái)的數(shù)字，而是一位名叫特倫斯·英格利希爵士(Sir Terence English)的醫(yī)生的預(yù)言。這位現(xiàn)年87歲的外科醫(yī)生在1979年完成了英國(guó)第一次成功的心臟移植手術(shù)。

Speaking to The Sunday Telegraph, English said his protege Christopher McGregor, who assisted him with that first heart transplant, is planning to carry out the first pig-to-human kidney transplant later in the year. If all goes well, it may just pave the way for similar operations involving more complex organs.

在接受《星期日電訊報(bào)》采訪時(shí)，英格利希爵士表示，他的助手克里斯托弗·麥格雷戈(Christopher McGregor)正計(jì)劃在今年晚些時(shí)候進(jìn)行首例豬腎的移植手術(shù)。如果一切順利，可能會(huì)為涉及更復(fù)雜器官的類似手術(shù)鋪平道路。

"If the result of xenotransplantation is satisfactory with porcine kidneys to humans then it is likely that hearts would be used with good effects in humans within a few years," English told The Telegraph.

英格利希爵士表示：“如果豬腎異種移植的結(jié)果令人滿意，那么心臟在未來(lái)幾年內(nèi)，很可能將對(duì)人類產(chǎn)生良好的作用。”

"If it works with a kidney, it will work with a heart. That will transform the issue."

“如果對(duì)腎臟有效，對(duì)心臟也有效。這個(gè)問(wèn)題將得以改變。”

Xenotransplantation is the process of transplanting an organ of one species into the body of another. Now, McGregor has developed a technique to tweak the pigs' genes to prevent immune system retaliation. According to English, it could provide the answer to the UK's (and the US') long transplant waiting lists.

異種移植是將一個(gè)物種的器官移植到另一個(gè)物種體內(nèi)的過(guò)程。現(xiàn)在，麥格雷戈已經(jīng)開(kāi)發(fā)出一種技術(shù)來(lái)調(diào)整豬的基因，以防止免疫系統(tǒng)的報(bào)復(fù)。據(jù)英格利希表示，它可以為英國(guó)(和美國(guó))長(zhǎng)期的移植等待名單提供答案。

According to The Telegraph, there are roughly 280 people in the UK on the heart transplant waiting list. Meanwhile, in the US, there are more than 110,000 people waiting for a lifesaving organ transplant of some kind – and in 2017, an average of 18 patients died every day during that wait.

據(jù)《每日電訊報(bào)》報(bào)道，英國(guó)大約有280人在心臟移植候診名單上。與此同時(shí)，在美國(guó)，有超過(guò)11萬(wàn)人在等待某種拯救生命的器官移植——在2017年，平均每天有18名患者在等待期間死亡。

Compared to, say, a kidney, heart transplants are extremely hard to come by. First, they must be in healthy condition. Second, they must be removed and transplanted within hours. And third, they must be a match (biologically and size-wise) for the patient.

與腎臟相比，心臟移植是非常困難的。首先，他們必須處于健康的狀態(tài)。其次，它們必須在數(shù)小時(shí)內(nèi)被移除和移植。第三，它們必須與患者匹配(生理上和大小上)。

Pigs' hearts could prove a suitable alternative because they are anatomically similar to humans'. It is why they are so often used in medical trials. Take, for example, a study that looked into the possibility of using stem cell grafts to heal damaged tissue. And while on-demand pig transplants are still the stuff of fiction, scientists have been making headway when it comes to transplanting porcine organs into primates. Last year, a baboon survived more than six months after receiving a pig implant that had been gene-edited to prevent an immune system attack.

豬的心臟可能是一個(gè)合適的選擇，因?yàn)樗鼈冊(cè)诮馄蕦W(xué)上與人類相似。這就是為什么它們經(jīng)常被用于醫(yī)學(xué)試驗(yàn)的原因。舉個(gè)例子，一項(xiàng)研究探討了利用干細(xì)胞移植修復(fù)受損組織的可能性。盡管隨需應(yīng)變的豬移植仍然是虛構(gòu)的，但科學(xué)家們?cè)趯⒇i器官移植到靈長(zhǎng)類動(dòng)物身上已經(jīng)取得了進(jìn)展。去年，一只狒狒在接受了經(jīng)過(guò)基因編輯以防止免疫系統(tǒng)攻擊的豬植入物后，存活了六個(gè)多月。

It was then euthanized, so we do not know what would have happened to it in the months since. It is also worth pointing out that the four other baboons underwent the surgery failed to survive the half-year mark.

隨后它被實(shí)施了安樂(lè)死，所以我們不知道幾個(gè)月后會(huì)發(fā)生什么。同樣值得指出的是，另外四只接受手術(shù)的狒狒也沒(méi)能活過(guò)半年。

In a similar vein, scientists are also delving into the brave new world of chimeras – i.e. an organism or tissue melded from the DNA of two or more species. This includes pig-human chimeras that could one day be used to grow organs for transplant (even if, for now, they are yet to make it past the embryo stage) and, according to some reports, human-monkey chimeras.

同樣，科學(xué)家們也在探索嵌合體的美麗新世界——即由兩個(gè)或兩個(gè)以上物種的DNA融合而成的有機(jī)體或組織。這包括豬與人的嵌合體，它們將來(lái)有一天可能被用來(lái)培育用于移植的器官(即使目前它們還沒(méi)有進(jìn)入胚胎階段)，以及一些報(bào)道所說(shuō)的人與猴的嵌合體。

The use of pig organs and chimeras will no doubt raise a number of ethical questions, but they could also offer a solution to the big (and growing) dilemma cardiovascular disease presents. As for English's prediction, time will tell if it plays out.

使用豬的器官和嵌合體無(wú)疑會(huì)引發(fā)一系列倫理問(wèn)題，但它們也可能為心血管疾病帶來(lái)的巨大(而且越來(lái)越大)困境提供一個(gè)解決方案。至于英格利希的預(yù)測(cè)，時(shí)間會(huì)證明它是否正確。