 英國(guó)科學(xué)家將創(chuàng)造“人造血” [ 2009-03-25 08:29 ]
英國(guó)的科學(xué)家們史無(wú)前例地計(jì)劃從胚胎干細(xì)胞中制造出大量人造血液。這些血液將用于緊急事故中的無(wú)感染輸血。人造血液的出現(xiàn)，將有助于營(yíng)救那些在交通事故中的傷者或者在戰(zhàn)場(chǎng)上受傷的士兵們。
愛(ài)丁堡大學(xué)的Marc Turner教授將主導(dǎo)這項(xiàng)研究。除了英國(guó)以外，瑞典，法國(guó)，澳大利亞的科學(xué)家們也正努力做著相同的嘗試。
科學(xué)家希望通過(guò)刺激胚胎干細(xì)胞，使之發(fā)育成為成熟的，具有攜氧能力的紅細(xì)胞，來(lái)制造人造血液用于緊急輸血。這種人造血液的優(yōu)點(diǎn)在于它不會(huì)被HIV病毒、肝炎病毒和瘋牛病毒等感染。對(duì)于軍隊(duì)而言，人造血可以滿足其對(duì)大量新鮮血液的需求。
然而，并非所有人都贊同從多余的體外受精胚胎中提取干細(xì)胞制造血液。這將勢(shì)必引起一場(chǎng)巨大的道德?tīng)?zhēng)議。
British scientists to create 'synthetic' blood
23 March 2009
Scientists in Britain plan to become the first in the world to produce unlimited amounts of synthetic human blood from embryonic stem cells for emergency infection-free transfusions. It could help to save the lives of anyone from victims of traffic accidents to soldiers on a battlefield.
The project will be led by Professor Marc Turner, of Edinburgh University, the director of the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service.
Scientists in other countries, notably Sweden, France and Australia, are also known to be working on the development of synthetic blood from embryonic stem cells.
The aim is to stimulate embryonic stem cells to develop into mature, oxygen-carrying red blood cells for emergency transfusions. Such blood would have the benefit of not being at risk of being infected with viruses such as HIV and hepatitis, or the human form of "mad cow" disease. The military in particular needs a constant supply of fresh, universal donor blood for battlefield situations when normal supplies from donors can quickly run out.
But developing blood made from the cells of spare IVF embryos will raise difficult ethical issues for people not happy with the idea of destroying embryos to create stem cells.
（Source: The Independent，英國(guó)使館文化教育處提供）
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