VOA慢速英语2014 研究人员3D打印生物活组织

 

Science in the News - Researchers Work on 3-D Printing of Living Tissue 研究人员3D打印生物活组织

Three-dimensional printers are fast becoming everyday devices in the United States. Three-D printers are used to make everything from automobile¹ parts to bone replacements³ for human patients. American research scientists are now working on creating replacements for living tissue.

Researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina have been working on creating and manufacturing living tissue since 2003. This process is called biofabrication. It requires special printing equipment and a special kind of ink.

Traditional printers require ink to produce an image or design on a piece of paper. For their three-D printer, the South Carolina researchers prepare complex nutritious⁴ solutions they call bio-inks. Bio-inks are made of proteins and glucose⁵, which normally provides energy for most cells of the body. The researchers also add living cells taken from the animal that will receive the new, printed tissue. The bio-inks are then added to a device that researchers call the Palmetto bio-printer.

Sarah Grace Dennis is one of the researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina. She says new technology, like the Palmetto bio-printer, is a great help to the biofabrication process.

“When I got here a year ago, we were printing a-cellular bio-inks to see if patterns could be printed. And now we are printing skeletal muscle replica⁶ implants⁷ that we have been implanting into rats.”

The bio-inks are placed in three dispensers, containers, inside the printer. Laserscontrol both the position of the printing surface and the places where the bio-ink is released.

Michael Yost is a leader of the research team. He says the printing process is fully⁸ automated- - machine-operated. He says that the Palmetto bio-printer makes it possible to create complex tissue types.

“And with our 3-D bio-printer, we have been able to create new microvascular networks that we can then grow new tissues in very key areas such as pancreas, liver and kidney.”

The researchers say bio-printing is still experimental. But they hope in a few years they may be able to print tissue to replace damaged human organs.

But there are still concerns with biofabrication. Some scientists worry about how to get blood to the replacement² tissue. The flow of blood is important to keeping the printed tissue alive.

Michael Yost hopes that more people will believe in the benefits of biofabrication.

“Tissue biofabrication is a reality, and it is a reality now, and if you come here and you get to see it. You will get to see it. You can not touch it, but you will see it and think this is real. And this is really human.”

I’m Jonathan Evans.

Words in this Story

automate⁹ – v.to run or operate (something, such as a factory or system) by using machines, computers, etc., instead of people to do the work

biofabrication – n.the process of creating new tissue

laser – n.a device that produces a narrow and powerful beam of light that has many special uses in medicine, industry, etc.

tissue- n. living material; a group of cells that are similar in appearance and do the same thing

1 automobile   

n.汽车，机动车

参考例句：

• He is repairing the brake lever of an automobile.他正在修理汽车的刹车杆。
• The automobile slowed down to go around the curves in the road.汽车在路上转弯时放慢了速度。

2 replacement   

n.取代，替换，交换；替代品，代用品

参考例句：

• We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
• They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。

3 replacements   

n.代替( replacement的名词复数 )；替换的人[物]；替代品；归还

参考例句：

• They infiltrated behind the lines so as to annoy the emery replacements. 他们渗透敌后以便骚扰敌军的调度。 来自辞典例句
• For oil replacements, cheap suddenly looks less of a problem. 对于石油的替代品来说，价格变得无足轻重了。 来自互联网

4 nutritious   

adj.有营养的，营养价值高的

参考例句：

• Fresh vegetables are very nutritious.新鲜蔬菜富于营养。
• Hummingbirds have discovered that nectar and pollen are very nutritious.蜂鸟发现花蜜和花粉是很有营养的。

5 glucose   

n.葡萄糖

参考例句：

• I gave him an extra dose of glucose to pep him up.我给他多注射了一剂葡萄糖以增强他的活力。
• The doctor injected glucose into his patient's veins.医生将葡萄糖注入病人的静脉。

6 replica   

n.复制品

参考例句：

• The original conservatory has been rebuilt in replica.温室已按原样重建。
• The young artist made a replica of the famous painting.这位年轻的画家临摹了这幅著名的作品。

7 implants   

n.（植入身体中的）移植物( implant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Hormone implants are used as growth boosters. 激素植入物被用作生长辅助剂。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Perhaps the most far-reaching project is an initiative called Living Implants From Engineering (LIFE). 也许最具深远意义的项目，是刚刚启动的建造活体移植工程 (LIFE)。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 医学的第四次革命

8 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

9 automate   

v.自动化；使自动化

参考例句：

• Many banks have begun to automate.许多银行已开始采用自动化技术。
• To automate the control process of the lathes has become very easy today.使机床的控制过程自动化现已变得很容易了。