科學家用幹細胞創造出人類的腎臟
The artificial organs were created in a laboratory using human amniotic fluid and animal foetal cells.
人工器官可以利用人類的羊水和動物的胚胎細胞在實驗室創造出來。
They are currently half a centimetre in length - the same size as kidneys found in an unborn baby.
它們如今只有0.5釐米長——跟未出生嬰兒的腎臟一樣大。
Scientists at Edinburgh University hope they will grow into full-size organs when transplanted into a human.
愛丁斯堡大學的科學家希望它們植入人體後能長成正常的器官。
The breakthrough could lead to patients creating their own replacement organs without the risk of rejection, a common complication in transplant procedures.
此項突破會促使病人創造出自己的替代器官，而且不會有排斥的風險，這在移植過程中是一種常見的併發症。
Physiologist Jamie Davies, a professor of experimental anatomy at Edinburgh University, said: ''It sounds a bit science fiction-like but it's not.
愛丁斯堡大學試驗解剖學教授生理學家Jamie Davies說：“這聽起來有點像科幻小說，但是它不是。”
''The idea is to start with human stem cells and end up with a functioning organ.
“該構思是以人類幹細胞開始，以器官的正常運作而結束。”
''We have made pretty good progress with that. We can make something that has the complexity of a normal, foetal kidney.''
“我們在這方面已經取得相當大的進步。我們可以創造一個跟正常嬰兒的腎臟一樣複雜的器官。”
The research team hopes that doctors will eventually be able to collect amniotic fluid, which surrounds the growing embryo in the womb, when a baby is born.
研究小組希望，當一個嬰兒出生時，醫生最終能夠收集子宮周圍成長中胚胎的羊水。
This will then be stored by scientists in case that person develops kidney disease later in life. The fluid can then be used to create a matching kidney.
這將由科學家儲存起來，以防他在以後患上腎臟疾病。這些羊水可以用來創造一個匹配的腎臟。
(恆星英語學習網原創內容,轉載請註明出處!)Creating an organ using a patient's own stem cells solves the problem of having to use powerful immunosuppressant drugs to stop the body rejecting a another person's kidney.
使用病人自己的幹細胞創造出的器官解決了由於使用別人的腎臟，不得不用功效強大的免疫抑制劑預防排斥的問題。
Professor Davies said the technology could be ready for use on humans in around 10 years.
Davies教授稱該技術將在約10年裏運用在人類身上。
He added: ''Freezing a few cells is cost-effective compared with the cost of keeping someone on dialysis for years.
他還說：“對於堅持多年透析的費用，凍結少數細胞相比較划算。”
''If you have got a bunch of stem cells sitting in a test tube, that is a long way from being a beautifully, anatomically organised organ like a kidney, which is quite a complicated structure.
“即使你試管裏有一大堆幹細胞，但你離擁有一個漂亮地，結構上像腎臟一樣複雜的組織器官還很遠。”
''So we are working on how you turn cells floating about in liquid into something as precisely arranged as a kidney.''
“我們正在努力研究如何把細胞懸浮液轉變成跟腎臟一樣精確安排。”
Around 7,000 people in the UK are on the waiting list for a new kidney and demand for organs is increasing.
在英國，大約7000人在等待換腎，需要腎臟的人數不斷上升。
The breakthrough will be officially unveiled at Edinburgh's Science Festival this month.
這項突破將於本月在愛丁斯堡大學的科技節上正式公佈。
The use of stem-cell technology is seen as a "holy grail", which promises to reduce shortages of several types of organs.
使用幹細胞技術被視爲一個“聖盃”，它預示着減少幾種缺乏的器官類型。
There are currently around 7,000 people on the waiting list for a kidney in the UK.
如今英國大約有7000人等着換腎。
Last week, Japanese scientists grew a retina from stem cells for the first time.
上週，日本科學家第一次用幹細胞種植視網膜。
(恆星英語學習網原創內容,轉載請註明出處!)
