讓動物長出人類器官？日本人獸雜交胚胎實驗獲批
科幻片《人獸雜交》中半人半獸的生物很可能將會成爲現實。近日，日本批准了創造含有人類細胞動物胚胎的實驗，並且可以讓這些胚胎移植到動物體內並被足月分娩。預計實驗成果將用於人類器官移植。
Japan's government approved a request by scientists to conduct stem-cell experiments to create an animal-human hybrid and allow it to be brought to term.
日本政府近日批准科學家開展培育人獸雜交胚胎的幹細胞實驗，並允許其足月分娩。
Japan's science ministry last week gave provisional approval to a proposal from researchers at the University of Tokyo to create animal embryos that contain human cells and transplant them into surrogate animals, Japan's Asahi Shimbun newspaper reported.
據日本《朝日新聞》報道，日本文部科學省上週爲東京大學研究人員的一項研究議題發出臨時許可，該研究計劃培養含有人類細胞的動物胚胎，並將其移植到代孕動物體內。
surrogate ['sʌrəgət]：adj.替代的，代理的
The study would create a human pancreas in rodents using human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. According to UCLA's Broad Stem Cell Research Center, these are cells that have been reprogrammed back into an embryo-like state and can be used to create virtually any other type of cell.
這項研究將利用人類誘導多能幹細胞（iPS）在齧齒動物體內形成人類胰腺。據加州大學洛杉磯分校布羅德干細胞研究中心介紹，這些細胞已經被重新編程回到胚胎狀態，可以用來創造幾乎任何其他類型的細胞。
pancreas ['pæŋkrɪəs]：n.胰腺
rodents['rodnt]：n.齧齒動物，齧齒類
reprogram：[riː'prəʊgræm]：v.爲……重編程序。細胞核重新編程，是將成熟體細胞重新誘導回早期幹細胞狀態，以用於發育成各種類型的細胞。
Final approval from the ministry is expected next month, according to the British scientific journal Nature.
據英國科學雜誌《自然》報道，日本文部科學省預計將於下月正式批准這一實驗。
According to Asahi, researchers will take fertilized eggs from rodents that have been gene-edited to remove the ability to produce a pancreas themselves. To this, they will add human iPS cells to create hybrid animal-human embryos.
據《朝日新聞》報道，研究人員將從經過基因編輯的齧齒動物身上提取受精卵，以去除自身發育胰腺的能力。在此基礎上，他們將添加人類的iPS細胞來創造人獸雜交胚胎。
These in turn would be implanted into a host animal, in this case a rat or mouse, and allowed to grow.
之後，這些胚胎將被植入宿主動物體內，在這項實驗中是一隻老鼠，並得以生長。
According to researchers, the goal of the experiment is to create organs viable for transplant into humans.
據研究人員稱，這項實驗的目標是創造出可以移植到人體的器官。
"Finally, we are in a position to start serious studies in this field after 10 years of preparation," said Hiromitsu Nakauchi, a researcher at the Institute of Medical Science of the University of Tokyo, according to Asahi.
據《朝日新聞》報道，東京大學醫學研究所的研究員中內啓光說:“經過10年的準備，我們終於可以開始在這一領域進行嚴肅的研究。”
"We don't expect to create human organs immediately, but this allows us to advance our research based upon the know-how we have gained up to this point."
“我們沒有期望能立即製造人體器官，但這讓我們能夠基於目前所掌握的技術推進研究。”
know-how['nəuhau]：n.訣竅；實際知識；專門技能
Japan had previously banned such experiments.
日本此前曾禁止此類實驗。
It reversed its decision in March of this year after consulting with experts.
今年3月，在諮詢了專家後，日本政府改變了決定。
The government has said that experiments like these can take place as long as researchers take steps to prevent the birth of a creature that contains a mix of animal and human genetics.
日本政府曾表示，只要研究人員採取措施防止人獸雜交動物的誕生，這樣的實驗就可以進行。
Researchers will also monitor the animal-human hybrids once they are born for up to two years and will suspend the experiment if they detect that brains inside the growing animals contain more than 30% human cells, Asahi said.
《朝日新聞》稱，在分娩後，研究人員還將對人獸雜交動物進行長達兩年的監測，如果他們發現這些發育中的動物大腦中含有超過30%的人類細胞，將暫停這項實驗。
While other countries have experimented on creating human-animal embryos, Japan is now the first country to support experiments that will allow the animals with human cells to come to full term.
雖然其他國家也開展過創造人獸雜交胚胎的實驗，但日本目前是首個支持這項實驗，允許胚胎髮育到足月分娩的國家。
full term：足月，妊娠期滿
Scientists in the US have experimented with pig-human hybrid fetuses and allowed them to develop for three to four weeks before destroying them, as required by US ethics regulations.
根據美國倫理法規的要求，美國科學家對豬與人的雜交胚胎進行了實驗，並讓它們發育三至四周，然後將其銷燬。
But according to Jun Wu, a biologist at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California, only about 1 in 100,000 cells in the fetuses were human.
但據加州拉荷亞索爾克研究所的生物學家吳軍（音譯）說，胚胎中只有大約十萬分之一的細胞是人類細胞。
In the UK, scientists at King's College London, Newcastle University, and Warwick University created dozens of hybrid embryos that were used to create embryonic stem cells that could potentially treat a wide range of illnesses.
在英國，倫敦國王學院、紐卡斯爾大學和華威大學的科學家們創造了數十個雜交胚胎，用於製造胚胎幹細胞，這些幹細胞有可能治療多種疾病。
Concerns about the ethical implications of such research remain.
人們一直擔憂這類研究的倫理影響。
Some bioethicists are disturbed by the possibility that human cells implanted into animals may behave unexpectedly, and could affect an animal's brain or cognition.
一些生物倫理學家擔心，植入動物體內的人類細胞可能會出現意料之外的反應，並可能影響動物的大腦或認知。
"It is problematic, both ethically and from a safety aspect, to place human iPS cells, which are still capable of transforming into all types of cells, into the fertilized eggs of rats and mice," said Jiro Nudeshima, a researcher specializing in the ethical implications of life science research, according to Asahi.
《朝日新聞》報道稱，生命科學研究倫理問題研究員Jiro Nudeshima說：“將仍然能夠轉換成所有類型細胞的人類iPS細胞植入老鼠的受精卵，這在倫理和安全方面都有問題。”
一些網友也表示並不能接受：
也有一些網友表達了支持：
Nakauchi, the researcher proposing the experiment, dismissed concerns, saying that his experiments are focused on the creation of specific organs, and not the development of a new species.
提出這一實驗的研究員中內啓光反駁了人們的擔憂，稱他的實驗關注的是特定器官的創造，而不是新物種的培養。
"We are trying to do targeted organ generation, so the cells go only to the pancreas," he said, according to Nature.
據《自然》雜誌報道，他說:“我們正在嘗試培育特定的器官，這樣細胞就只能到達胰腺。”
He added that in his previous experiments, the number of human cells inside of a sheep embryo has been extremely small.
他補充說，在他之前的實驗中，綿羊胚胎中的人類細胞數量非常少。
"The number of human cells grown in the bodies of sheep is extremely small, like one in thousands or one in tens of thousands," he said, according to Asahi.
據《朝日新聞》報道，他說:“綿羊體內生長的人體細胞數量非常少，只有數千分之一或數萬分之一。”
"At that level, an animal with a human face will never be born," Nakauchi said.
他說：“在這個水平上，是不會生出長着人臉的動物的。”
