VOA健康报道2023 科学家用干细胞合成人类胚胎模型（在线收听）

Scientists say they have successfully created embryo models designed to support research on early human development.

科学家表示，他们已经成功地创建了胚胎模型，旨在支持对人类早期发育的研究。

The models are made from stem cells – simple cells in the body that can develop into one of many specialized cells.

胚胎模型是由干细胞制成的，干细胞是体内可以发育成多种特化细胞之一的简单细胞。

Researchers say the embryo models cannot grow into babies.

研究人员表示，胚胎模型不能发育成婴儿。

But they are meant to be complete enough to provide information about what might be going on in the embryo during a pregnancy.

但它们应该足够完整，以提供有关怀孕期间胚胎中可能会发生的情况的信息。

The use of embryo models permits scientists to carry out research without the ethical concerns linked to experiments using real embryos.

胚胎模型的使用使科学家能够展开研究，而无需顾虑使用真实胚胎进行实验所涉及的伦理问题。

Several groups are working on the research.

有几个小组正在进行这项研究。

Teams from the United States and England shared their work in two studies that recently appeared in the publication Nature.

来自美国和英国的研究小组在最近发表在《自然》杂志上的两篇研究论文中分享了他们的研究成果。

Other scientists in Israel and China published studies on their work earlier this month.

本月早些时候，以色列和中国的其他科学家发表了有关他们研究成果的研究论文。

Those studies, however, have not yet been examined by a wider community of scientists.

然而，这些研究还没有得到更广泛的科学家群体的检验。

Insoo Hyun is an ethicist and director of life sciences at Boston's Museum of Science.

Insoo Hyun是一位伦理学家，也是波士顿科学博物馆生命科学部主任。

He is also a member of the Center for Bioethics at Harvard Medical School.

他也是哈佛医学院生物伦理学中心的成员。

Hyun told The Associated Press that past research has centered on a process that creates "pre-embryos" designed to behave like real embryos.

Hyun告诉美联社，过去的研究把重点放在创造设计得像真正的胚胎一样的“前胚胎”的过程上。

But the latest creations model an embryo after it has reached the uterus.

但最新的胚胎模型是对到达子宫后的胚胎进行建模。

Real human embryos can be extremely hard to see at that point in the process because they attach themselves deep into the uterus.

在这个过程中，很难看到真正的人类胚胎，因为它们会附着在子宫深处。

Each team's models differ in how complete they are, Hyun said.

Hyun说，每个团队的模型在完整性方面都有所不同。

For these kinds of models, scientists use a kind of stem cell that is able to develop into many different kinds of cells or tissues in the body.

对于这类模型，科学家使用了一种能够在体内发育成许多不同类型的细胞或组织的干细胞。

They can be formed from embryos or reprogrammed from adult tissues.

它们可以从胚胎形成，也可以从成人组织重新编辑。

The writers of several studies described models that look similar to human embryos nine to 14 days after fertilization.

几项研究的作者描述了受精后9至14天看起来与人类胚胎相似的模型。

Berna Sozen studies developmental stem cell biology at Yale University in Connecticut.

伯娜·索岑在康涅狄格州的耶鲁大学研究发育干细胞生物学。

She told The Associated Press, "If we can experimentally model this period, then we can finally start asking questions about how human development happens in those very early stages that are normally hidden within the body of the mother."

她告诉美联社：“如果我们能通过实验模拟这一时期，那么我们最终就可以开始询问人类发育在通常隐藏在母亲体内的早期阶段是如何发生的。”

Sozen added that scientists should be able to use the models to study embryonic failure, developmental disorders and pregnancy loss.

索岑补充说，科学家应该能够使用这些模型来研究胚胎衰竭、发育障碍和妊娠丢失。

Currently, scientists do not understand a lot about how those things happen, she said.

她说，目前，科学家对这些事情是如何发生的还不太了解。

Another study was led by Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz, an expert in stem cell biology at the California Institute of Technology and the University of Cambridge in England.

另一项研究是由加州理工学院和剑桥大学的干细胞生物学专家马格达雷娜·泽尼克-格茨领导的。

She said the model her group worked with appears similar to embryo development up to 14 days from fertilization.

她说，她的团队研究的模型看起来类似于受精后14天的胚胎发育。

The researchers say that model contains embryonic tissues and other tissues that can produce structures surrounding the embryo, such as the placenta and yolk material.

研究人员表示，该模型包含胚胎组织和其他可以在胚胎周围产生结构的组织，如胎盘和卵黄物质。

The placenta is a structure that develops in pregnancy and attaches to the uterine wall.

胎盘是在怀孕期间形成的附着在子宫壁上的一种结构。

In the future, Zernicka-Goetz said researchers could use human embryo models to explore the effects of the environment and chemicals on early human development.

泽尼克-格茨说，在未来，研究人员可以使用人类胚胎模型来探索环境和化学物质对人类早期发育的影响。

Yale University's Sozen said scientists could also test drugs on embryo models and combine them with germs in experiments that currently cannot be done on pregnant individuals.

耶鲁大学的索岑说，科学家还可以在胚胎模型上测试药物，并在目前无法在怀孕个体身上进行的实验中将它们与细菌结合起来。