美国科学家研究“起死回生术”

探究死者大脑能否重获新生的开创性实验已获卫生监管部门批准可以开展。

A biotech company in the US has been granted ethical² 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.

美国一家生物科技公司获得伦理许可，将招募20位因脑创伤被宣布临床死亡的病人，用于测试他们的部分中枢神经系统能否被复苏。

Scientists will use a combination of therapies, which include injecting the brain with stem cells and a cocktail⁴ of peptides, as well as deploying⁵ lasers and nerve stimulation⁶ techniques which have been shown to bring patients out of comas⁸.

科学家们将合用多种治疗方法，包括给大脑注入干细胞和混合多肽，以及利用激光和神经刺激技术等等。激光神经刺激技术此前被证实能让病人从昏迷中苏醒。

起死回生术

The trial participants will have been certified⁹ 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 spinal¹⁰ cord - the lowest region of the brain stem which controls independent breathing and heartbeat.

接受试验者必须已经被确认为死亡，只靠生命维持设备维持生命体征。研究者将通过大脑成像设备进行几个月的监测，寻找重生信号，特别是在高位脊髓区域。高位脊髓是脑干的最低部位，它控制着独立呼吸和心跳。

The team believes that the brain stem cells may be able to erase¹¹ 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.

研究团队相信，基于周围组织，脑干细胞也许可以抹去历史，重启生命。这样的过程经常见于动物王国，比如像娃娃鱼这样的生物就可以重新长出完好的肢干。

Dr Ira Pastor¹², the CEO of Bioquark Inc. said: “This represents the first trial of its kind and another step towards the eventual¹³ reversal of death in our lifetime.

“Bioquark”公司执行总裁艾拉·帕斯特博士说：“这是人类首次进行此类实验，是我们在有生之年逆转死亡的又一次尝试。

"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.

“我们刚得到批准，可以先对20位受试者进行试验，我们希望能立刻开始招募病人，就从这里的第一个试验地点开始着手——我们现在正与院方携手，看看哪些家庭可能由于宗教或医疗限制不能捐献器官。

"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 disorders¹⁴ of consciousness.

“为了开展如此复杂的试验，我们将运用生物再生医学方法，并结合其它通常用于刺激中枢神经系统的医疗手段，治疗患有其它严重意识障碍的病人。

"We hope to see results within the first two to three months."

“我们希望在两三个月内看到结果。”

The ReAnima Project has just received approval in India, and the team plans to start recruiting patients immediately.

这项重生计划也刚在印度获得批准，研究团队计划立即开始招募病人。

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.

此研究的第一阶段——“人类首次神经复苏和再生”，将会是一组非随机的“概念验证”，试验将在印度北阿坎德邦卢德拉普尔的安努帕姆医院进行。

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.

在长达六周的疗程里，研究人员每天都会通过泵送的方式往病人脊髓里注入多肽，每两周注入一次干细胞。

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."

帕斯特博士补充说：“我们认为，从长远来看，这样的病人是有可能完全复苏的。尽管我们第一次试验还达不到这样的目标，但却是最终实现这一目标的桥梁。”

Brain stem death is when a person no longer has any brain stem functions, and has permanently¹⁵ lost the potential for consciousness and the capacity to breathe.

如果一个人的脑干不再有任何功能，并永久失去了恢复意识和恢复呼吸的可能，就算脑干死亡。

A person is confirmed as being dead when their brain stem function is permanently lost.

如果一个人永久丧失了脑干功能，就被临床确认为死亡。

However, although brain dead humans are technically¹⁶ no longer alive, their bodies can often still circulate blood, digest food, excrete waste, balance hormones¹⁷, grow, sexually mature, heal wounds, spike¹⁸ a fever, and gestate and deliver a baby.

然而，尽管从技术上讲，脑死亡的人已经死了，但他们的身体通常还能进行血液循环、消化食物、排泄废物、平衡荷尔蒙、生长、性成熟、愈合伤口、抑制发烧、怀孕和生小孩。

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，脑细胞死亡后，脑电活动和血液流通仍在继续，只不过还不足以作用于整个身体。

And while human beings lack substantial regenerative capabilities¹⁹ in the central nervous system, many non-human species, such as amphibians²⁰ and certain fish, can repair, regenerate and remodel²¹ substantial portions of their brain and brain stem even after critical life-threatening trauma³.

尽管人类中枢神经系统中缺少强劲的重生能力，但很多非人类物种，比如两栖动物和某些鱼类，甚至在大脑受到威胁生命的严重创伤之后，仍然可以自我修复、新生并重建大脑和脑干的很多部分。

“Through our study, we will gain unique insights into the state of human brain death, which will have important connections to future therapeutic²² development for other severe disorders of consciousness, such as coma⁷, and the vegetative and minimally²³ conscious states, as well as a range of degenerative CNS conditions, including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease,” added Dr Sergei Paylian, Founder²⁴, President, and Chief Science Officer of Bioquark Inc.

“Bioquark”公司创始人、总裁兼首席科学官谢尔盖·佩林博士说：“通过这项独特的研究，我们可以深入了解人类大脑死亡的状况，对今后治疗其它严重意识障碍有重要影响，比如昏迷、植物状态、阿尔兹海默和帕金森等一系列中枢神经系统退化问题。”

Commenting on the trial, Dr Dean Burnett, a neuroscientist at the Cardiff University’s Centre for Medical Education said: “While there have been numerous demonstrations²⁵ in recent years that the human brain and nervous system may not be as fixed²⁶ 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.

卡迪夫大学医学教育中心神经科学家迪恩·伯内特博士这样评论此次试验：“近年来，尽管很多证据都表明人类大脑和神经系统也许不像人们通常设想的那样不可更改、难以修复，但是，鉴于我们现有的能力和对神经科学的理解，‘大脑死亡能被轻易扭转’的这个想法仍然是非常不着边际的。”

"Saving individual parts might be helpful but it's a long way from resurrecting a whole working brain, in a functional²⁷, undamaged state."

“修复某几个部分也许还有可能，但要复活整个大脑，使其功能运转正常、完好无损，还有很长的路要走。”

Vocabulary

traumatic: 创伤的

cocktail: 鸡尾酒：混合物

spike: 以尖物刺伤；阻止

gestate: 孕育

degenerative: 退化的

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