VOA常速英语2014--科学家研究3D打印人体组织（在线收听）

Researchers Work on 3-D Printing of Living Tissue 科学家研究3D打印人体组织

Three-dimensional printers are rapidly becoming everyday appliances, much like color printers a couple of decades ago.  Increasingly, the technology is being used in medicine for printing bone replacements.  And now, researchers in South Carolina are working on printing living tissue replacements.

Researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina have been working on fabricating living tissue, or biofabrication, since 2003. 

南卡罗莱纳医科大学的研究者自2003年起就开始制造活组织，也就是生物制造组织。

Researcher Sarah Grace Dennis says new technology, such as the Palmetto bioprinter, advanced the process considerably.

研究员萨拉·格蕾丝·丹尼斯说Palmetto打印机等新技术对研究活组织有很大推动作用。

“When I got here a year ago, we were printing just a-cellular bio-inks to see if patterns could be printed," she said. "Now we are printing skeletal muscle replica implants that we have been implanting into rats.”

“一年前我们只是打印细胞生物墨水来看模型是否能打印出来，现在我们能打印出骨骼肌复制植入品来植入小白鼠体内。”

Researchers prepare complex nutritious solutions, called bio-inks, made of glucose, proteins and living cells taken from the animal that will be the recipient of the new, printed tissue.

研究者准备好了名为“生物墨水”的复杂营养溶液，是用葡萄糖、蛋白质和接受新打印组织的动物受体体内的活细胞做成的。

“So this would typically have at least 1.5 million cells in it,” Dennis said

“这样做出来的植入物里至少有150万个细胞。”

The bio-inks are placed in three interchangeable dispensers of the printer’s head.  Position of the printing surface and dispensing tip-ends is controlled by lasers.

生物墨水被放置在打印机顶部三个可互换的分发器中，印刷面和末端的位置都由激光控制。

Associate Chairman of Surgery for Research, Dr. Michael Yost, says the printing process is fully automated.

外科研究副主席迈克尔·约斯特博士说打印过程完全是自动化。

“And with our 3-D bio-printer, we have been able to create new microvascular networks that we can then grow new tissues in very key areas such as pancreas, liver and kidney,” he said.

“有了3D生物打印机，我们就能制造新的微血管网络，然后在胰腺、肝和肾等关键部位种植出新组织。”

Researchers point out the technique is in its early stages, but they hope in a few years they may be able to print replacement tissue for damaged human organs.

研究者称该技术仍在初始阶段，但他们希望未来几年能打印出受损人体器官的替代组织。

“Tissue biofabrication is a reality, and it is a reality now, and if you get to come here you get to see it," Yost said. "You will get to see it.  You can not touch it, but you will see it and think this is real.  And this is really human.”

“组织的生物制造是个现实存在，现在已经存在了，如果你来这里就能看到。你不能触摸它，但你能看到，你会认为这是真实的，这是真的人体组织。”

But scientists warn they have to overcome large obstacles, such as how to supply the replacement tissue with the blood vessels essential for its survival.

但科学家警告说，他们还必须克服重大障碍，比如如何为替代组织提供存活所必须的血管。