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科学家对成体细胞功能重编程——干细胞将退出
Advance Stirs Up Debate on Embryos
进步引起人们对胚胎的讨论
By Rob Stein
Rob Stein写
Washington Post Staff Writer
华盛顿Post Staff Writer
Thursday, August 28, 2008; Page A01
2008年8月28日，星期四，A01页
Scientists have transformed one type of fully developed adult cell directly into another inside a living animal, a startling advance that could lead to cures for a variety of illnesses and sidestep the political and ethical quagmires associated with embryonic stem cell research.
在活体动物体内，科学家已成功地把一种完全发育的成体细胞直接转化为另一种类型的细胞，这是一项非常惊人的进步，为治疗多种疾病指明了方向，并且避开了与胚胎干细胞研究相关的政治和伦理泥潭。
Through a series of painstaking experiments involving mice, the Harvard biologists pinpointed three crucial molecular switches that, when flipped, completely convert a common cell in the pancreas into the more precious insulin-producing ones that diabetics need to survive.
在小鼠中，经过一系列兢兢业业的试验，哈佛的生物学家精确地找到三个关键的分子开关，当对这三个开关翻转的时候，把小鼠胰腺中的一种普通细胞完全转化成更加宝贵的产生胰岛素的细胞，糖尿病人需要这种细胞来存活。
The experiments, detailed online yesterday in the journal Nature, raise the prospect that patients suffering from not only diabetes but also heart disease, strokes and many other ailments could eventually have some of their cells reprogrammed to cure their afflictions without the need for drugs, transplants or other therapies.
这个实验在昨天的natrue杂志已详细在线刊登，不仅为遭受糖尿病的病人，也为心脏病，中风以及其它疾病的病人点燃了希望。最终可以通过对他们的细胞重编程来治疗他们的苦痛，不需要药物，移植物和其它疗法。
"It's kind of an extreme makeover of a cell," said Douglas A. Melton, co-director of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, who led the research. "The goal is to create cells that are missing or defective in people. It's very exciting."
“这是细胞的一种极端的转变，” Douglas A. Melton说，他是哈佛大学干细胞研究所的共同主任，他领导了这项研究。“研究的目的是创造人们身体中丢失的或缺陷的细胞，这是非常让人兴奋的。”
The work was hailed as a welcome development even by critics of research involving embryonic stem cells, which can be coaxed to become any tissue in the body but are highly controversial because they are obtained by destroying embryos.
这项研究作为一个可喜的发展为人们欢迎，甚至进行胚胎干细胞研究的批评家也很欢迎。干细胞可以被诱导变成身体内的任何组织，但是干细胞的获取需要破坏胚胎，这是有高度争议的问题。
"I see no moral problem in this basic technique," said Richard Doerflinger of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, a leading opponent of embryonic stems cell research. "This is a 'win-win' situation for medicine and ethics."
“我认为这项技术没有伦理问题，” 美国天主教主教讨论会的Richard Doerflinger说，他是胚胎干细胞研究的主要反对者。“这对医学和伦理学来说是双赢。”
Researchers in the field, who have become accustomed to rapid advances, said they, too, were surprised by the advance.
这个领域的科学家已经习惯了这种快速的进步，但他们说这项进步另他们感到吃惊。
"I'm stunned," said Robert Lanza, chief scientific officer of Advanced Cell Technology in Worcester, Mass., a developer of stem cell therapies. "It introduces a whole new paradigm for treating disease."
伍斯特高级细胞技术的首席科学家Robert Lanza说“我被震惊了”。干细胞疗法的开发者Mass.说，“这为治疗疾病引入了一种全新的模式。”
Melton and other researchers cautioned that many years of research lay ahead to prove whether the development would translate into cures.
Melton和其它的研究人员提醒说，摆在我们面前的是，还需要多年的研究来证明这项发展能否转化为治疗。
"It's an important proof of concept," said Lawrence Goldstein, a stem cell researcher at the University of California at San Diego. "But these things always look easier on the blackboard than when you have to do them in actual patients."
“这是这个概念的一个重要证据，” Lawrence Goldstein说，他是圣地亚哥加利福尼亚大学的干细胞研究员。“但是这些事情看起来简单，当真正用到病人身上就难了。”
Although the experiment involved mice, Melton and other researchers were optimistic that the approach would work in people.
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作者:admin@医学,生命科学 2010-12-23 17:11
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