60秒科学:Beating Heart Tissue from Stem Cells

Beating Heart Tissue from Stem Cells
In a study in the journal Science, researchers explain how they used mouse embryonic¹ stem cells and microchip technology to create heart muscle tissue that actually beats. Cynthia Graber reports

One of the goals of regenerative medicine is to make tissue to replace our own damaged body parts. That’s still a ways off. But starting with mouse embryonic stem cells, researchers have succeeded in creating heart muscle that actually beats. The study appears in the October 16th issue of the journal Science.

Different sets of progenitor² cells in the heart give rise to two different types of heart cells—muscle and nonmuscle. To make beating heart muscle, researchers needed to figure out just which cells were the ones that they needed. They used colored fluorescent³ tags to identify the groups in question in embryos⁴, allowing the correct cells to be harvested.

But that’s just step one. The cells needed to link up in a form that will allow them to beat together. So the researchers borrowed from microchip technology. They created patterns on a film, much like the design for a computer chip. Laying down the cells within these patterns forces them to take the distinctive⁵ shape of cardiac muscle cells, which lets the cells link and beat in sync. The ultimate goal is to grow beating heart muscle from a patient’s own cells. And thereby⁶ literally⁷ mend a broken heart.
 

1 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。

2 progenitor   

n.祖先，先驱

参考例句：

• He was also a progenitor of seven presidents of Nicaragua.他也是尼加拉瓜7任总统的祖先。
• Schoenberg was a progenitor of modern music.勋伯格是一位现代音乐的先驱。

3 fluorescent   

adj.荧光的，发出荧光的

参考例句：

• They observed the deflections of the particles by allowing them to fall on a fluorescent screen.他们让粒子落在荧光屏上以观察他们的偏移。
• This fluorescent lighting certainly gives the food a peculiar color.这萤光灯当然增添了食物特别的色彩。

4 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

5 distinctive   

adj.特别的，有特色的，与众不同的

参考例句：

• She has a very distinctive way of walking.她走路的样子与别人很不相同。
• This bird has several distinctive features.这个鸟具有几种突出的特征。

6 thereby   

adv.因此，从而

参考例句：

• I have never been to that city,,ereby I don't know much about it.我从未去过那座城市，因此对它不怎么熟悉。
• He became a British citizen,thereby gaining the right to vote.他成了英国公民，因而得到了投票权。

7 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。