VOA慢速英语--德国科学家治愈后肢瘫痪老鼠 使其恢复行走能力

German researchers have found a way to regrow nerves of mice that could not walk, permitting them to walk again. The mice had been paralyzed because of injuries to their spinal¹ cords.

The researchers used a designer protein injected into the brain. It recreates a link in the brain that scientists had always believed could not be repaired once broken.

Spinal cord injuries in humans are often caused by sports or car accidents. The injuries leave them paralyzed because some of the nerves that move information between muscles and the brain are not able to grow back.

The researchers from Ruhr University Bochum were able to cause the paralyzed mice's nerve cells to grow back using the designer protein.

The special thing about the protein is not only that it is used to cause the damaged nerve cells to regrow, "but that it is also carried further (through the brain)," the team's leader Dietmar Fischer told Reuters.

The nerve cells regrow and that is "the reason why the mice can walk again," he said.

The paralyzed mice that received the treatment started walking after two or three weeks, he said.

The treatment involves injecting genetic² information into the brain to make the protein, called hyper-interleukin-6, the university's website reported.

The team is investigating if the treatment can be improved. "We also have to see if our method works on larger mammals. We would think of pigs, dogs or primates⁴, for example," Fischer said.

If they are successful working with larger mammals, then the scientists could try the treatment for humans. That, however, "will certainly take many, many years," he said.

Words in This Story

paralyzed – adj. unable to move or feel a part of the body

spinal cord – n. a large group of nerves that runs through the center of the spine⁵ and that carries messages between the brain and the rest of the body

muscle – n. body tissue that produces movement

mammal – n. a kind of animal that gives its young milk and has hair

primate³ – n. a group of animals that includes monkeys, apes and humans

1 spinal   

adj.针的，尖刺的，尖刺状突起的；adj.脊骨的，脊髓的

参考例句：

• After three days in Japan,the spinal column becomes extraordinarily flexible.在日本三天，就已经使脊椎骨变得富有弹性了。
• Your spinal column is made up of 24 movable vertebrae.你的脊柱由24个活动的脊椎骨构成。

2 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

3 primate   

n.灵长类（目）动物，首席主教；adj.首要的

参考例句：

• 14 percent of primate species are highly endangered.14%的灵长类物种处于高度濒危状态。
• The woolly spider monkey is the largest primate in the Americas.绒毛蛛猴是美洲最大的灵长类动物。

4 primates   

primate的复数

参考例句：

• Primates are alert, inquisitive animals. 灵长目动物是机灵、好奇的动物。
• Consciousness or cerebration has been said to have emerged in the evolution of higher primates. 据说意识或思考在较高级灵长类的进化中已出现。

5 spine   

n.脊柱，脊椎；(动植物的)刺；书脊

参考例句：

• He broke his spine in a fall from a horse.他从马上跌下摔断了脊梁骨。
• His spine developed a slight curve.他的脊柱有点弯曲。