VOA慢速英语--科学家离创造实验室胚胎更近了一步

Scientists Come Closer to Creating Laboratory Embryos²

An international team of scientists says it has moved a step closer to creating artificial embryos.

The team used stem cells from mice. Stem cells are simple cells that can develop into other kinds of cells. The scientists used the stem cells to build a structure that is similar to an embryo¹.

Experts say the results of the research suggest that human embryos could be created in a similar way in the future. This would make it possible for scientists to use artificial embryos, rather than real ones, to research the very earliest period of human development.

Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz is a professor at Britain’s Cambridge University. She was the leader of the research team. In her earlier work, she was able to create a simple structure similar to a mouse embryo in a laboratory dish.

That research involved two kinds of stem cells and a three-dimensional structure on which they could grow.

Zernicka-Goetz’s team developed the structures further in the new research published in late July in the journal Nature Cell Biology.

The researchers said they used three kinds of stem cells to start an important process. In this process, embryonic³ cells begin self-organizing into the correct structure for an embryo.

“Our artificial embryos underwent the most important event in life in the culture dish,” Zernicka-Goetz said in a statement about the work. “They are now extremely close to real embryos.”

She said the team should now be better able to understand how the three kinds of stem cells work together to enable an embryo to develop. She also said researchers should now be able to see how a change in one kind of stem cell affects the behavior of the other kinds of stem cells.

Zernicka-Goetz noted⁴ that now scientists have a way of recreating embryonic development in a laboratory. This is especially important for research of the early period of embryonic development.

That is the point in many pregnancies⁵ when problems happen and human embryos most often die. Scientists still know very little about this early period.

“So it should be possible to understand exactly what is going on during this…period in an embryo’s life, and why sometimes this process fails,” Zernicka-Goetz said.

Christophe Galichet is a senior research scientist at Britain’s Francis Crick Institute. He was not directly involved in this work, but he agreed with what the researchers are suggesting.

Galichet told the Reuters news service in an email: “While (this study) did not use human stem cells…the technique could one day be applied⁶ to studying early human embryos.”

Galichet said the research could be important to future studies: “These self-assembled human embryos would be … invaluable⁷ tools to understand early human development.”

I’m Pete Musto.

Words in This Story

artificial – adj. not natural or real

mice – n. very small animals that have a pointed⁸ nose and a long, thin tail

dish – n. a shallow container that holds something other than food

three-dimensional – adj. having or seeming to have length, width, and depth

journal – n. a magazine that reports on things of special interest to a particular group of people

technique - n. a way of doing something by using special knowledge or skill

apply to – v. to use an idea, method, or law in a particular situation

assemble(d) – v. to connect or put together the parts of something, such as a toy or machine

1 embryo   

n.胚胎，萌芽的事物

参考例句：

• They are engaging in an embryo research.他们正在进行一项胚胎研究。
• The project was barely in embryo.该计划只是个雏形。

2 embryos   

n.晶胚；胚，胚胎( embryo的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Somatic cells of angiosperms enter a regenerative phase and behave like embryos. 被子植物体细胞进入一个生殖阶段，而且其行为象胚。 来自辞典例句
• Evolution can explain why human embryos look like gilled fishes. 进化论能够解释为什么人类的胚胎看起来象除去了内脏的鱼一样。 来自辞典例句

3 embryonic   

adj.胚胎的

参考例句：

• It is still in an embryonic stage.它还处于萌芽阶段。
• The plan,as yet,only exists in embryonic form.这个计划迄今为止还只是在酝酿之中。

4 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

5 pregnancies   

怀孕，妊娠( pregnancy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Since the wartime population needed replenishment, pregnancies were a good sign. 最后一桩倒不失为好现象，战时人口正该补充。
• She's had three pregnancies in four years. 她在四年中怀孕叁次。

6 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

7 invaluable   

adj.无价的，非常宝贵的，极为贵重的

参考例句：

• A computer would have been invaluable for this job.一台计算机对这个工作的作用会是无法估计的。
• This information was invaluable to him.这个消息对他来说是非常宝贵的。

8 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。