VOA健康报道2024--Scientists Grow Mini-organs in Cells from Pregnancy Fluid

Scientists Grow Mini-organs in Cells from Pregnancy¹ Fluid

　　From VOA Learning English, this is the Health and Lifestyle report.

　　British researchers say they have grown small human organs using cells removed from fluid that protects developing fetuses³.

　　These organs are known as mini-organs, or organoids. They are extremely small, simple structures. They could be used in testing of new medical treatments or to study the workings of full-size organs.

　　The University College London carried out the study. Researchers collected the cells from fluid removed from 12 pregnant women during routine medical examinations at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London.

　　The cells then were grown into organoids in a laboratory. The researchers said it was the first time such mini-organs had been produced from cells collected during an active pregnancy.

　　The scientists said they hope their method will lead to future methods for treating conditions present before birth.

　　Mattia Gerli of University College London was a lead writer of the study. He told the Associated Press (AP) that he and his team were "really excited" about how their research might result in important new treatment possibilities.

　　The findings were reported in a study that recently appeared in the publication Nature Medicine.

　　Scientists have so far produced organoids that look like some human organs, including the brain, kidney, lung, stomach and liver. Lab-grown mini-organs are generally used to study how organs work without the need to experiment on real ones.

　　The scientists looked for which tissues the stem cells came from and then identified cells from three organs: lungs, kidneys and intestines⁴.

　　In the past, organoids could only be created from adult stem cells or tissues collected after an abortion⁵. An abortion is a medical operation to end a pregnancy.

　　The current method does not violate rules that govern direct removal of stem cells from fetal tissue. The amniotic fluid method permits scientists to get cells from fetuses during the latter parts of pregnancy.

　　Governments around the world have different regulations covering abortions⁶. In Britain, the legal limit for ending a pregnancy is generally 22 weeks after conception. This rule prevents British researchers from studying some parts of normal human development or diseases that are present past 22 weeks.

　　In the United States, abortion restrictions⁷ differ by state. Most states ban the use of fetal tissue for research, said Alta Charo. She is a retired⁸ professor of law and bioethics at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Charo was not part of the latest study.

　　Fetal tissue is defined by the National Institutes of Health as material coming from a dead human embryo⁹ or fetus². The tissue could come from a fetus that was aborted¹⁰ or did not survive because of medical problems with the pregnancy. The use of tissue from an abortion has long been controversial.

　　Charo said the new method does not raise the same ethical¹¹ concerns. And taking amniotic fluid during a woman's pregnancy "does not appear to add any physical risks to either fetus or pregnant woman," Charo said in an email to the AP.

　　As part of the experiments, the researchers worked with scientists in Belgium to study the development of babies with a condition called congenital diaphragmatic hernia. This can result in organs such as the liver and intestines getting displaced into the chest. About 30 percent of fetuses with this disease die because the lungs cannot fully¹² develop. If doctors could identify the condition before birth, they could operate on a fetus to fix it.

　　In the experiments, researchers grew lung organoids from the cells of fetuses with the hernia condition before and after treatment. When comparing those organoids to organoids from healthy fetuses, the team was able to use the lab method to identify the affected¹³ child's condition before birth.

　　The scientists said this ability to study working, pre-birth mini-organs is the first step toward establishing more detailed¹⁴ prognosis information and improving treatment methods.

　　And that's the Health and Lifestyle report.

　　Words in This Story

　　conception – n. the moment when a woman or animal becomes pregnant

　　controversial – adj. causing a lot of disagreement or argument

　　ethical – adj. relating to what is right or wrong

　　latter - adj. coming or happening near the end of a process, activity, series, life, etc

　　regulation - n. an official rule or law that says how something should be done

　　prognosis – n. a judgement a doctor makes about a sick person's change of becoming healthy

1 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

2 fetus   

n.胎，胎儿

参考例句：

• In the fetus,blood cells are formed in different sites at different ages.胎儿的血细胞在不同时期生成在不同的部位。
• No one knows why a fetus is not automatically rejected by the mother's immune system. 没有人知道为什么母亲的免疫系统不会自动排斥胎儿。

3 fetuses   

n.胎，胎儿( fetus的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• DNA was extracted from fetuses at mid-gestation, about 10 days past conception. DNA从受孕大约10天后的中期妊娠胚胎中提取。 来自互联网
• Brucellosis is a disease that causes fetuses to abort in cattle. 普鲁士菌病是一种可以导致牲畜胎儿夭折的疾病。 来自互联网

4 intestines   

n.肠( intestine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Perhaps the most serious problems occur in the stomach and intestines. 最严重的问题或许出现在胃和肠里。 来自辞典例句
• The traps of carnivorous plants function a little like the stomachs and small intestines of animals. 食肉植物的捕蝇器起着动物的胃和小肠的作用。 来自辞典例句

5 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

6 abortions   

n.小产( abortion的名词复数 )；小产胎儿；（计划）等中止或夭折；败育

参考例句：

• The Venerable Master: By not having abortions, by not killing living beings. 上人：不堕胎、不杀生。 来自互联网
• Conclusion Chromosome abnormality is one of the causes of spontaneous abortions. 结论：染色体异常是导致反复自然流产的原因之一。 来自互联网

7 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

8 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

9 embryo   

n.胚胎，萌芽的事物

参考例句：

• They are engaging in an embryo research.他们正在进行一项胚胎研究。
• The project was barely in embryo.该计划只是个雏形。

10 aborted   

adj.流产的，失败的v.（使）流产( abort的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）（某事物）中止；（因故障等而）（使）（飞机、宇宙飞船、导弹等）中断飞行；（使）（飞行任务等）中途失败

参考例句：

• The rocket flight had to be aborted because of difficulties with computer. 因电脑出故障，这次火箭飞行只好中辍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They aborted the space flight finally. 他们最后中止了这次宇航飞行。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 ethical   

adj.伦理的，道德的，合乎道德的

参考例句：

• It is necessary to get the youth to have a high ethical concept.必须使青年具有高度的道德观念。
• It was a debate which aroused fervent ethical arguments.那是一场引发强烈的伦理道德争论的辩论。

12 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。

13 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

14 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。