在线英语听力室

科学美国人60秒 SSS 实验室培养的微型人脑显示出聪明的活动

时间:2020-07-14 01:30:37

搜索关注在线英语听力室公众号:tingroom,领取免费英语资料大礼包。

(单词翻译)

This is Scientific American's 60-second Science, I'mSusanne Bard1.

这里是科学美国人——60秒科学系列,我是苏珊娜·巴德。

It's not easy to study the early development of thehuman brain.

研究人脑的早期发育并不容易。

"The brain is very inaccessible2, especially the earlyfetal stages. It's just not ethical3 to study normal, healthy human brains."

“大脑很难进入,尤其是胎儿早期。研究正常健康的人脑是不道德的。”

University of California, San Diego, biologist Alysson Muotri. He says researchers have insteadrelied on animal models.

加州大学圣地亚哥分校的生物学家阿里森·穆特里说到。他表示,研究人员转而依赖动物模型。

"But the human brain is so much different from other species that we're desperate to have, really, a human model so we can study the human brain."

“但人脑与其他物种的大脑存在相当大的区别,因此我们迫切需要人类模型来研究人脑。”

Now Muotri's team may have that model, in the form of small globules of brain cells they'vecreated in the lab. These pea-sized structures develop from stem cells that are bathed in aculture of nutrients4, along with proteins that control gene5 activation6. As the little structuresgrow, their constituents7 also specialize into different types of brain cells.

现在,穆特里的团队可能拥有了这种模型,其形式是他们在实验室中创造出来的脑细胞小球。这些豌豆大小的结构由干细胞发育而来,而这些干细胞浸泡在营养物质和控制基因激活的蛋白质培养物中。随着这些小结构的成长,其成分也会分化成不同类型的脑细胞。

"And they will form connections, and these connections will form functional8 synapses9 that will, later on, turn into networks."

“它们会形成连接,这些连接会形成功能性突触,突触随后会联成网络。”

After two months, the mini brains even begin to emit brain waves.

两个月后,微型大脑甚至会开始释放脑电波。

"And you can record every week to see how the activity has changed. And when they reachabout six months of age, we see a growth exponentially in the number of connections andsynapses that they can make."

“你可以每周进行记录,观察活动变化。当它们长到约6个月大时,其能形成的连接和突触数量呈指数级增长。”

And at around 10 months, their brain activity compares to that of premature10 human infants.

在大约 10个月大的时候,其大脑活动与早产儿类似。

"They're pretty much following the same trajectory11 as the human brain does."

“微型大脑的发育轨道与人脑非常相似。”

That could make the mini brains very useful for understanding how our brains become wiredearly on. And they could also provide insights into the development of neurological conditionssuch as autism and epilepsy.

这可能使微型大脑非常有助于理解人脑早期的连接形式。微型大脑还可以为自闭症和癫痫等神经系统疾病的发展提供思路。

"These very early stages are exactly when some neurological conditions appear. And we havethe possibility to help millions of people with neurological conditions."

“神经疾病往往出现在大脑发育非常早期的阶段。我们有可能帮助数百万名神经疾病患者。”

But Muotri also cautions that as the technology moves forward, ethical questions will start toemerge.

但穆特里也警告称,随着技术的进步,伦理问题将开始显现。

"Someone might ask, 'Are they conscious or are they self-aware? Can they feel pain?' I thinkwe are in a gray zone, where this technology could evolve to something more complex. Andthen I think the ethical question would be, 'What's the moral status of these miniaturizedbrains?'"

“有人可能会问,‘这些大脑有意识吗?或它们有自我意识吗?它们能感受到疼痛吗?’我认为我们处于技术可进化出更复杂事物的灰色地带。之后的伦理问题将是,‘这些微型大脑的道德地位如何?’”

Muotri says that same question has formed the basis for the rules and regulations governing theuse of animals in the lab, which can serve as a model to guide the mini brain research. Thefindings are in the journal Cell Stem Cell.

穆特里表示,同样的问题构成了在实验室使用动物的规章制度的基础,而这可以作为引导微型大脑研究的范例。研究结果发表在《细胞·干细胞》期刊上。

In addition to shedding light on neurological development, mini brains could also helpreveal how the human brain evolved and play a role in improving algorithms for artificialintelligence. These pea-sized brains may produce some big insights.

除了阐释神经发育,微型大脑还有助于揭示人类大脑的进化方式,并在改善人工智能算法方面发挥作用。这些豌豆大小的大脑可能会催生一些重大的见解。

Thanks for listening for Scientific American — 60-Second Science. I'm Susanne Bard.

谢谢大家收听科学美国人——60秒科学。我是苏珊娜·巴德。


分享到:


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 bard QPCyM     
n.吟游诗人
参考例句:
  • I'll use my bard song to help you concentrate!我会用我的吟游诗人歌曲帮你集中精神!
  • I find him,the wandering grey bard.我发现了正在徘徊的衰老游唱诗人。
2 inaccessible 49Nx8     
adj.达不到的,难接近的
参考例句:
  • This novel seems to me among the most inaccessible.这本书对我来说是最难懂的小说之一。
  • The top of Mount Everest is the most inaccessible place in the world.珠穆朗玛峰是世界上最难到达的地方。
3 ethical diIz4     
adj.伦理的,道德的,合乎道德的
参考例句:
  • It is necessary to get the youth to have a high ethical concept.必须使青年具有高度的道德观念。
  • It was a debate which aroused fervent ethical arguments.那是一场引发强烈的伦理道德争论的辩论。
4 nutrients 6a1e1ed248a3ac49744c39cc962fb607     
n.(食品或化学品)营养物,营养品( nutrient的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • a lack of essential nutrients 基本营养的缺乏
  • Nutrients are absorbed into the bloodstream. 营养素被吸收进血液。 来自《简明英汉词典》
5 gene WgKxx     
n.遗传因子,基因
参考例句:
  • A single gene may have many effects.单一基因可能具有很多种效应。
  • The targeting of gene therapy has been paid close attention.其中基因治疗的靶向性是值得密切关注的问题之一。
6 activation 24eed33ee38027d124839f0fcdf6adcb     
n. 激活,催化作用
参考例句:
  • A computer controls the activation of an air bag.电脑控制着气囊的启动。
7 constituents 63f0b2072b2db2b8525e6eff0c90b33b     
n.选民( constituent的名词复数 );成分;构成部分;要素
参考例句:
  • She has the full support of her constituents. 她得到本区选民的全力支持。
  • Hydrogen and oxygen are the constituents of water. 氢和氧是水的主要成分。 来自《简明英汉词典》
8 functional 5hMxa     
adj.为实用而设计的,具备功能的,起作用的
参考例句:
  • The telephone was out of order,but is functional now.电话刚才坏了,但现在可以用了。
  • The furniture is not fancy,just functional.这些家具不是摆着好看的,只是为了实用。
9 synapses 866e8ec5e7e57c04ff0daa7921c4d2a5     
n.(神经元的)突触( synapse的名词复数 );染色体结合( synapsis的名词复数 );联会;突触;(神经元的)触处
参考例句:
  • Nerve cells communicate with one another at the synapses, where their membranes almost touch. 神经细胞在突触部位彼此沟通,在这里它们的膜几乎接触到一起了。 来自辞典例句
  • Glutamatergic synapses are common excitatory chemical connections in mammalian central nervous system. 谷氨酸性突触是哺乳动物神经系统的主要兴奋性突触。 来自互联网
10 premature FPfxV     
adj.比预期时间早的;不成熟的,仓促的
参考例句:
  • It is yet premature to predict the possible outcome of the dialogue.预言这次对话可能有什么结果为时尚早。
  • The premature baby is doing well.那个早产的婴儿很健康。
11 trajectory fJ1z1     
n.弹道,轨道
参考例句:
  • It is not difficult to sketch the subsequent trajectory.很容易描绘出它们最终的轨迹。
  • The path followed by a projectile is called its trajectory.抛物体所循的路径称为它的轨道。

本文本内容来源于互联网抓取和网友提交,仅供参考,部分栏目没有内容,如果您有更合适的内容,欢迎 点击提交 分享给大家。