双语新闻:人工培育肌肉组织研究获重大进展

2014-04-25 15:30:59来源：可可英语

　　Duke University researchers and other scientists are making strides in growing muscle in the lab that not only repairs itself but exhibits strength similar to that of normal muscle.

　　Duke University这幅放大影像显示了植入老鼠体内两周之后的实验室肌肉纤维。这些纤维通过染色标明了不同的蛋白。杜克大学(Duke University)的研究人员和其他科学家在利用实验室培育肌肉方面取得了很大的进展。这些肌肉不仅自我修复，还展现出与正常肌肉相近的力量。

　　Using lab-grown muscle could one day help people with certain muscle injuries, including accident victims with big gashes that lead to significant scar tissue. Engineering muscle that works like natural tissue could also accelerate the testing of new drugs: Scientists could use this tissue in place of animals.

　　有朝一日，利用从实验室培育的肌肉可能能够帮到有某些肌肉创伤的人，比如因为大伤口而长出明显瘢痕组织的事故受害者。制造出像天然肌肉一样发挥作用的肌肉，还有可能加快新药的测试，因为科学家可以用这类组织来替代动物。

　　Scientists have succeeded in developing ears, windpipes and livers, among other body parts, and even implanted some into humans. Muscle is among the more challenging because the fibers need to have the right structure and fit densely together. It must also be able to contract and exert force like natural muscle. And it needs good blood supply to cells, which can be difficult because muscle is very dense.

　　科学家已经成功地培育了耳朵、气管、肝脏等人体器官，甚至把一些器官移植到人类身上。培育肌肉的挑战更大，因为肌肉纤维必须拥有合适的结构，从而能够紧密地结合在一起。它还要能够像天然肌肉一样收缩、发力，其细胞需要拥有充足的血液供应，而由于肌肉非常紧密，这一点有时候很难实现。

　　Skeletal muscle, the most abundant tissue in the body, typically is very good at repairing itself because it contains many adult stem cells that can create new muscle fibers. With diseases like muscular dystrophy or injuries that cause scar tissue, muscle stops being able to regenerate, which can lead to difficulty moving or even paralysis. Scar tissue, made of collagen, doesn't generate force and thus weakens the muscle. During normal aging, muscles also become weaker and gradually cease being able to repair themselves.

　　Nenad Bursac杜克大学生物化学工程学教授内纳德•布尔萨奇。人体最丰富的组织骨骼肌往往非常善于自我修复，因为它含有很多成年干细胞，可以生成新的肌肉纤维。如果有肌肉萎缩等疾病或形成瘢痕组织的伤口，肌肉就不再能够再生，有可能导致行动困难，甚至是瘫痪。由胶原质组成的瘢痕组织不产生力量，因此对肌肉起到削弱作用。在正常衰老过程中，肌肉也会变得越来越弱，并逐渐失去自我修复的能力。

　　'The hurdle is if there is an injury to try to get new muscle tissue that can form quicker' than scar tissue, says Herman Vandenburgh, a pioneer in the field and a professor emeritus of pathology and laboratory medicine at Brown University.

　　这个领域内的先驱、布朗大学(Brown University)病理学与检验医学荣誉教授赫尔曼·范登伯格(Herman Vandenburgh)说：“障碍在于有没有一个创伤去努力获得能够比瘢痕组织更快形成的新肌肉组织。”

　　For about two decades, scientists have been trying to grow muscle in the lab that exerts force and repairs itself, in hopes of one day helping to restore functioning in patients. Understanding the process of muscle regeneration may lead to better understanding of the muscle-wasting process that occurs with aging or disease.

　　大约20年以来，科学家一直试图在实验室里培育能够使力并自愈的肌肉，希望有朝一日帮助恢复病人的机能。明白了肌肉再生的过程，或许就能更好地理解伴随衰老或疾病而发生的肌肉萎缩。

　　Researchers approach muscle regeneration in different ways, with some growing tissue in the lab that is then used to repair injuries. Others focus on finding genes or a drug that could reverse muscle wasting across the body.

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