VOA慢速英语2018 科学家首次在实验室培育出完全成熟的人类卵子

Scientists Grow First Fully¹ Developed Human Eggs in Laboratory

For the first time ever, scientists have succeeded in growing human eggs from the earliest stages to full maturity² in a laboratory.

科学家们有史以来首次在实验室将人类卵子从最初阶段培育到完全成熟。

Before now, scientists had only succeeded in doing so with the eggs of mice, maturing those eggs to the stage where they produced living babies. They had also grown human eggs from a later stage of development.

在此之前，科学家们只能用老鼠的卵子成功实现这一点。他们让老鼠的卵子成熟到孕育阶段。科学家们也曾经培育过后期阶段的人类卵子。

Scientists at two research hospitals in Edinburgh, Scotland and the Center for Human Reproduction in New York completed this latest experiment. They published the results of their research in the journal Molecular³ Human Reproduction in early February.

苏格兰爱丁堡市两家研究医院和纽约人类生殖中心的科学家们完成了这项最新的实验。他们将研究成果发表在2月初的《人类生殖》杂志上。

They said this research could one day help in developing medicines and new treatments for people who are unable to produce children.

他们表示，这项研究有一天能有助于开发出针对不孕不育患者的药物和治疗方法。

Normally, microscopic⁴ eggs develop in the part of the female reproductive system called ovaries. However, this is the first time human eggs have been developed outside the human body from their earliest stage to full maturity.

通常，微小的卵子在雌性生殖系统的卵巢中孕育。然而，这是人类卵子首次在人体外从最初阶段发育到完全成熟阶段。

Evelyn Telfer is a co-leader of the research. She told the Reuters news service, “Being able to fully develop human eggs in the [laboratory] could widen the scope of available fertility treatments. We are now working on optimizing⁵ the conditions that support egg development in this way and studying how healthy they are.”

Evelyn Telfer是这项研究的联合负责人。她对路透社记者表示：“能够在实验室中培育成熟人类卵子可以扩大现有生殖治疗的范围。我们正在努力优化这种支持卵子发育的条件，并研究它们的健康程度。”

Independent experts not directly involved in this work supported it by calling it important. But they also warned that there is much more to do before laboratory-grown human eggs could be safely made ready for reproduction with sperm⁶.

未直接参与这项工作的独立专家对这项研究很支持，称它非常重要。但他们也警告说，在实验室培育的人类卵子可以安全地同精子繁殖之前还有很多工作要做。

Ali Abbara is a medical expert at Imperial College London. He said this latest research suggests it may be possible to fully combine human eggs and sperm outside the body in the future.

Ali Abbara是伦敦帝国学院的一名医学专家。他说，这项最新研究表明，将来也许有可能在体外实现人类卵子和精子的结合。

“[But] the technology remains⁷ at an early stage,” he added. “And much more work is needed to make sure that the technique is safe and optimized⁸ before we ascertain⁹ whether these eggs remain normal during the process, and can…form embryos¹⁰ that could lead to healthy babies.”

“但这项技术仍处于早期阶段，”他补充说，“我们还需要做更多工作来确保这项技术的安全和完善，在此之后，我们才能弄清这些卵子在发育过程中是否能保持正常，能够形成孕育健康生命的胚胎。”

Darren Griffin is a genetics professor at Kent University in the United Kingdom. He called the work a surprising technical success. If success and safety rates were improved, it could help future cancer patients receiving chemotherapy treatment protect their fertility, said Griffin. It could also improve fertility treatments, and deepen scientific understanding of the biology of the earliest stages of human life.

Darren Griffin是英国肯特大学的遗传学教授。他称这项工作是一项惊人的技术成功。如果成功率和安全率得到改善，它可以帮助未来接受化疗的癌症患者保护他们的生育能力。它还能改进生殖治疗，深化人们对人类生命最早期阶段生物学的科学认知。

I’m Pete Musto.

Words in This Story

maturity – n. the state of being fully developed in the body or the mind

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

ovaries – n. the organs in women and female animals that produce eggs and female hormones¹¹

scope – n. space or opportunity for action and thought

fertility – n. the ability to produce young

optimizing – v. making something as good or as effective as possible

sperm – n. a cell that is produced by the male sexual organs and that combines with the female's egg in reproduction

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

ascertain – v. to learn or find out something, such as information or the truth

chemotherapy – n. the use of chemicals to treat or control a disease, such as cancer

1 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。

2 maturity   

n.成熟；完成；(支票、债券等)到期

参考例句：

• These plants ought to reach maturity after five years.这些植物五年后就该长成了。
• This is the period at which the body attains maturity.这是身体发育成熟的时期。

3 molecular   

adj.分子的；克分子的

参考例句：

• The research will provide direct insight into molecular mechanisms.这项研究将使人能够直接地了解分子的机理。
• For the pressure to become zero, molecular bombardment must cease.当压强趋近于零时，分子的碰撞就停止了。

4 microscopic   

adj.微小的，细微的，极小的，显微的

参考例句：

• It's impossible to read his microscopic handwriting.不可能看清他那极小的书写字迹。
• A plant's lungs are the microscopic pores in its leaves.植物的肺就是其叶片上微细的气孔。

5 optimizing   

v.使最优化，使尽可能有效( optimize的现在分词 )；最佳化；寻优

参考例句：

• This model may be classified as either an optimizing model or simulation model. 这个模型可分为最佳化模型或模拟模型。 来自辞典例句
• Need to design crossover operator rationally while optimizing ANN. 优化网络需要合理设计交叉算子。 来自互联网

6 sperm   

n.精子，精液

参考例句：

• Only one sperm fertilises an egg.只有一个精子使卵子受精。
• In human reproduction,one female egg is usually fertilized by one sperm.在人体生殖过程中，一个精子使一个卵子受精。

7 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

8 optimized   

adj.最佳化的，（使）最优化的v.使最优化，使尽可能有效( optimize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• We are often asked whether consumer Web sites should be optimized for beginners or intermediates. 我们常常被问到这样的问题：消费类网站究竟应该为新手而优化，还是应该为中间用户而优化？ 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• GOOGLE Advertising optimized sequence, greatly increasing the advertising effect. 优化了GOOGLE广告位排列顺序，大大增加了广告效果。 来自互联网

9 ascertain   

vt.发现，确定，查明，弄清

参考例句：

• It's difficult to ascertain the coal deposits.煤储量很难探明。
• We must ascertain the responsibility in light of different situtations.我们必须根据不同情况判定责任。

10 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

11 hormones   

n. 荷尔蒙，激素 名词hormone的复数形式

参考例句：

• This hormone interacts closely with other hormones in the body. 这种荷尔蒙与体內其他荷尔蒙紧密地相互作用。
• The adrenals produce a large per cent of a man's sex hormones. 肾上腺分泌人体的大部分性激素。