重大生育突破:人類卵子首次在實驗室中完全成熟
Human eggs have been fully grown in a laboratory for the first time in what has been hailed as a major fertility breakthrough. Scientists removed egg cells from ovary tissue from girls at their earliest stage of development and grew them to the point at which they are ready for fertilisation.
人類卵子首次在實驗室中完全成熟，被認爲是一項重大生育突破。女孩子發育初期，科學家從她們的卵巢組織中取出卵細胞，並將其培育成可生育的卵子。The removal of ovarian tissue is currently carried out for child cancer sufferers about to undergo treatment such as chemotherapy which could make them infertile. At the moment the eggs need to stored and reimplanted in later life but this risks reintroducing the cancer.
目前正在對患癌症的兒童進行卵巢組織切除，她們即將接受化療類的治療，這些治療或導致她們不孕不育。目前，需要存儲這些卵子，後期可將其重新植入人體，但這樣做的風險是：再次引入癌症。Scientists say this could lead to the fertility of young cancer patients being saved in future. They are now applying for permission to fertilise the eggs in the lab. Lead researcher Professor Evelyn Telfer, of the University of Edinburgh's school of biological sciences, said: "Being able to fully develop human eggs in the lab could widen the scope of available fertility treatments."
科學家表示年輕癌症患者的生育能力或能得以保留，以備後用。目前，科學家正在申請，以期獲得在實驗室給卵子受精的允許。首席研究員、愛丁堡大學生物科學學院的教授艾芙琳·特爾佛說道："能在實驗中培育出完全成熟的卵子或能擴大現有生育治療的範圍。"
"We are now working on optimising the conditions that support egg development in this way and studying how healthy they are. We also hope to find out, subject to regulatory approval, whether they can be fertilised."
"我們正努力優化環境以支持用這種方式培育卵子，同時也在研究這些卵子的健康狀況。我們希望在監管部門批准的情況下，發現這些卵子能否受精。"Scientists developed substances in which eggs could be grown, known as culture mediums, to support each stage of cell development. Their findings, using tissue donated by women who were undergoing routine surgery, built on 30 years of research.
科學家開發了可以生長卵子的物質，也就是培養基，以支持細胞發育的每個階段。他們的研究結果建立在30年的研究基礎之上：利用女性捐贈的組織（這些女性當時正在進行常規手術）。In previous studies scientists had developed mouse eggs to produce live offspring. Dr Channa Jayasena, of Imperial College London, said: "Only mature eggs can be fertilised into a baby."
在先前的研究中，科學家開發了小鼠卵子以培養活的後代。倫敦帝國理工學院的錢娜·賈亞塞納博士說道："只有成熟的卵子才能受精，生出小孩。""This is an important piece of work, demonstrating for the first time that human eggs can be grown to maturity in a laboratory. It would take several years to translate this into a therapy. However, this is an important breakthrough, which could offer hope to women with infertility in the future." The latest study, published in Molecular Human Reproduction, is the first time a human egg has been developed in the lab from its earliest stage to full maturity.
"這是一份重要的工作，首次證明人類卵子可以在實驗室中完全成熟。還需要幾年的時間才能將其轉化爲治療方法。但這是一次重大突破。在將來，或許能給無法生育的女性帶來希望。"最新的研究發表在Molecular Human Reproduction期刊上，首次在實驗室將人類卵子從最初階段培養至成熟階段。
