2006年VOA标准英语-Doctors Create Re-Engineered Bladders

By Barry Unger
Washington, DC
05 April 2006
 
watch Lab Grown Bladder report

A new medical breakthrough has allowed doctors in the United States to successfully grow human bladders in a laboratory and implant¹ them into patients with bladder disease. The results, which were released Tuesday in the British medical journal "Lancet," signal the first time scientists have successfully reconstructed a solid human organ.  VOA's Carol Pearson narrates².

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Kaitlyne McNamara  
  

Kaitlyne McNamara has a new bladder. The sixteen-year-old girl is one of seven young patients who have received a lab-grown bladder in the last several years.

All of the patients receiving the lab-grown bladders were born with a bladder disease that causes high urinary pressure and can lead to life-threatening damage to the kidney.

Kaitlyne's kidneys were close to failing before she had the surgery. But five years later her kidneys are working and she has a new lease on life.

"Since I got the bladder, I have not had the accidents and I do not have to have people coming up to me and say, 'Well, there is a problem' so I do not have to worry about people making fun of me about that."

 
Lab Grown Bladders
  
Patients with the lab-grown bladders still must use tubes regularly to empty them. But they do not suffer as much leakage³ and can stay dry for several hours at a time.

Taking a very small portion of the patient’s tissue from their existing bladder created these lab-grown bladders. They then used that tissue to grow the new bladder and muscle cells in the lab.

 
Dr. Anthony Atala
  
Dr. Anthony Atala, the director at the Wake Forest Health Sciences Institute for Regenerative Medicine, explains the process. "The way that we engineer these organs is we actually manufacture a scaffold in the shape of a bladder -- a mold, if you will, that is three-dimensional. We then take the cells and seed the cells onto the mold one layer at a time -- very much like making a layered cake. You then place that structure into the oven which is the incubator and approximately a few weeks later you have your organ which is ready to be implanted."

The researchers are optimistic this breakthrough could help millions of people suffering from kidney disease.

Dr. Wayne Meredith is the Chief of Surgery at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.

Dr. Wayne Meredith  
  
"Being able to take cells from an actual person, [and] grow those cells into an organ opens up immense possibilities. Obviously, looking out into the future -- to potentially solve the organ transplant shortage that is out there and that is a huge problem. This is one step on the road of being able to fix [that]."

Dr. Atala and other surgeons hope to use the technique to repair or replace other internal organs.

“We currently have many other tissues and organs that we are working on at the Institute -- blood vessels⁴, windpipe, heart and liver, pancreas -- they all have challenges of their own and we are trying to overcome those."

But for now, this medical advancement⁵ will help make Kaitlyne's life a little more normal. "I don't have to worry about having the accidents as much as I did before. Now I can go and enjoy having fun without having to worry about having the accidents."

1 implant   

vt.注入，植入，灌输

参考例句：

• A good teacher should implant high ideals in children.好教师应该把高尚理想灌输给孩子们。
• The operation to implant the artificial heart took two hours.人工心脏植入手术花费了两小时。

2 narrates   

v.故事( narrate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• It narrates the unconstitutional acts of James II. 它历数了詹姆斯二世的违法行为。 来自辞典例句
• Chapter three narrates the economy activity which Jew return the Occident. 第三章讲述了犹太人重返西欧后的经济活动。 来自互联网

3 leakage   

n.漏，泄漏；泄漏物；漏出量

参考例句：

• Large areas of land have been contaminated by the leakage from the nuclear reactor.大片地区都被核反应堆的泄漏物污染了。
• The continuing leakage is the result of the long crack in the pipe.这根管子上的那一条裂缝致使渗漏不断。

4 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 advancement   

n.前进，促进，提升

参考例句：

• His new contribution to the advancement of physiology was well appreciated.他对生理学发展的新贡献获得高度赞赏。
• The aim of a university should be the advancement of learning.大学的目标应是促进学术。