美國科學家研究起死回生術
A groundbreaking trial to see if it is possible to regenerate the brains of dead people, has won approval from health watchdogs.
探究死者大腦能否重獲新生的開創性實驗已獲衛生監管部門批准可以開展。
A biotech company in the US has been granted ethical permission to recruit 20 patients who have been declared clinically dead from a traumatic brain injury, to test whether parts of their central nervous system can be brought back to life.
美國一家生物科技公司獲得倫理許可，將招募20位因腦創傷被宣佈臨牀死亡的病人，用於測試他們的部分中樞神經系統能否被複蘇。
Scientists will use a combination of therapies, which include injecting the brain with stem cells and a cocktail of peptides, as well as deploying lasers and nerve stimulation techniques which have been shown to bring patients out of comas.
科學家們將合用多種治療方法，包括給大腦注入幹細胞和混合多肽，以及利用激光和神經刺激技術等等。激光神經刺激技術此前被證實能讓病人從昏迷中甦醒。
The trial participants will have been certified dead and only kept alive through life support. They will be monitored for several months using brain imaging equipment to look for signs of regeneration, particularly in the upper spinal cord - the lowest region of the brain stem which controls independent breathing and heartbeat.
接受試驗者必須已經被確認爲死亡，只靠生命維持設備維持生命體徵。研究者將通過大腦成像設備進行幾個月的監測，尋找重生信號，特別是在高位脊髓區域。高位脊髓是腦幹的最低部位，它控制着獨立呼吸和心跳。
The team believes that the brain stem cells may be able to erase their history and re-start life again, based on their surrounding tissue – a process seen in the animal kingdom in creatures like salamanders who can regrow entire limbs.
研究團隊相信，基於周圍組織，腦幹細胞也許可以抹去歷史，重啓生命。這樣的過程經常見於動物王國，比如像娃娃魚這樣的生物就可以重新長出完好的肢幹。
Dr Ira Pastor, the CEO of Bioquark Inc. said: “This represents the first trial of its kind and another step towards the eventual reversal of death in our lifetime.
“Bioquark”公司執行總裁艾拉·帕斯特博士說：“這是人類首次進行此類實驗，是我們在有生之年逆轉死亡的又一次嘗試。
"We just received approval for our first 20 subjects and we hope to start recruiting patients immediately from this first site – we are working with the hospital now to identify families where there may be a religious or medical barrier to organ donation.
“我們剛得到批准，可以先對20位受試者進行試驗，我們希望能立刻開始招募病人，就從這裏的第一個試驗地點開始着手——我們現在正與院方攜手，看看哪些家庭可能由於宗教或醫療限制不能捐獻器官。
"To undertake such a complex initiative, we are combining biologic regenerative medicine tools with other existing medical devices typically used for stimulation of the central nervous system, in patients with other severe disorders of consciousness.
“爲了開展如此複雜的試驗，我們將運用生物再生醫學方法，並結合其它通常用於刺激中樞神經系統的醫療手段，治療患有其它嚴重意識障礙的病人。
"We hope to see results within the first two to three months."
“我們希望在兩三個月內看到結果。”
The ReAnima Project has just received approval in India, and the team plans to start recruiting patients immediately.
這項重生計劃也剛在印度獲得批准，研究團隊計劃立即開始招募病人。
The first stage, named 'First In Human Neuro-Regeneration & Neuro-Reanimation' will be a non-randomised, single group 'proof of concept' and will take place at Anupam Hospital in Rudrapur, Uttarakhand India.
此研究的第一階段——“人類首次神經復甦和再生”，將會是一組非隨機的“概念驗證”，試驗將在印度北阿坎德邦盧德拉普爾的安努帕姆醫院進行。
The peptides will be administered into the spinal cord daily via a pump, with the stem cells given bi-weekly, over the course of a 6 week period.
在長達六週的療程裏，研究人員每天都會通過泵送的方式往病人脊髓裏注入多肽，每兩週注入一次幹細胞。
Dr Pastor added: "It is a long term vision of ours that a full recovery in such patients is a possibility, although that is not the focus of this first study – but it is a bridge to that eventuality."
帕斯特博士補充說：“我們認爲，從長遠來看，這樣的病人是有可能完全復甦的。儘管我們第一次試驗還達不到這樣的目標，但卻是最終實現這一目標的橋樑。”
Brain stem death is when a person no longer has any brain stem functions, and has permanently lost the potential for consciousness and the capacity to breathe.
如果一個人的腦幹不再有任何功能，並永久失去了恢復意識和恢復呼吸的可能，就算腦幹死亡。
A person is confirmed as being dead when their brain stem function is permanently lost.
如果一個人永久喪失了腦幹功能，就被臨牀確認爲死亡。
However, although brain dead humans are technically no longer alive, their bodies can often still circulate blood, digest food, excrete waste, balance hormones, grow, sexually mature, heal wounds, spike a fever, and gestate and deliver a baby.
然而，儘管從技術上講，腦死亡的人已經死了，但他們的身體通常還能進行血液循環、消化食物、排泄廢物、平衡荷爾蒙、生長、性成熟、癒合傷口、抑制發燒、懷孕和生小孩。
Recent studies have also suggested that some electrical activity and blood flow continues after brain cell death, just not enough to allow for the whole body to function.
最近的研究也表明，腦細胞死亡後，腦電活動和血液流通仍在繼續，只不過還不足以作用於整個身體。
And while human beings lack substantial regenerative capabilities in the central nervous system, many non-human species, such as amphibians and certain fish, can repair, regenerate and remodel substantial portions of their brain and brain stem even after critical life-threatening trauma.
儘管人類中樞神經系統中缺少強勁的重生能力，但很多非人類物種，比如兩棲動物和某些魚類，甚至在大腦受到威脅生命的嚴重創傷之後，仍然可以自我修復、新生並重建大腦和腦幹的很多部分。
“Through our study, we will gain unique insights into the state of human brain death, which will have important connections to future therapeutic development for other severe disorders of consciousness, such as coma, and the vegetative and minimally conscious states, as well as a range of degenerative CNS conditions, including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease,” added Dr Sergei Paylian, Founder, President, and Chief Science Officer of Bioquark Inc.
“Bioquark”公司創始人、總裁兼首席科學官謝爾蓋·佩林博士說：“通過這項獨特的研究，我們可以深入瞭解人類大腦死亡的狀況，對今後治療其它嚴重意識障礙有重要影響，比如昏迷、植物狀態、阿爾茲海默和帕金森等一系列中樞神經系統退化問題。”
Commenting on the trial, Dr Dean Burnett, a neuroscientist at the Cardiff University’s Centre for Medical Education said: “While there have been numerous demonstrations in recent years that the human brain and nervous system may not be as fixed and irreparable as is typically assumed, the idea that brain death could be easily reversed seems very far-fetched, given our current abilities and understanding of neuroscience.
卡迪夫大學醫學教育中心神經科學家迪恩·伯內特博士這樣評論此次試驗：“近年來，儘管很多證據都表明人類大腦和神經系統也許不像人們通常設想的那樣不可更改、難以修復，但是，鑑於我們現有的能力和對神經科學的理解，‘大腦死亡能被輕易扭轉’的這個想法仍然是非常不着邊際的。”
"Saving individual parts might be helpful but it's a long way from resurrecting a whole working brain, in a functional, undamaged state."
“修復某幾個部分也許還有可能，但要復活整個大腦，使其功能運轉正常、完好無損，還有很長的路要走。”
