"人面兽心"或将成为现实

Scientists in Melbourne, Australia, used a ventilator and pump to keep the animal lungs alive and "breathing" while human blood flowed in them.

澳大利亚墨尔本的科学家们让人的血液流过动物的肺，并用换气扇和打气筒帮助动物的肺存活并“呼吸”。

Experts estimated the work could lead to the first animal-human transplants within five years.

专家们估计有望在五年内实现第一例动物到人体的器官移植。

Dr Glenn Westall, who helped conduct the experiment, said: “The blood went into the lungs without oxygen and came out with oxygen, which is the exact function of the lungs."

领导这项实验的Glenn Westall医生说，“血液流入肺的时候是无氧的，流出来的时候是有氧的，这正是肺的功能。”

"It showed that these lungs were working perfectly well and doing as we were expecting them to do."

“这显示出这些肺运作良好，这正是我们预期要达到的目标。”

"This is a significant advance compared to experiments that have been performed over the past 20 years."

“比起过去二十年做过的实验来说，这是个重大的进展。”

The breakthrough came after scientists were able to remove a section of pig DNA, which had made the pig organs incompatible with human blood.

科学家们已经能够排除猪器官中和人体血液不相容的部分细胞了，本次突破正是在此基础上实现的。

Previous attempts to combine unmodified pig lungs and human blood ended abruptly two years ago when blood clots began forming almost immediately, causing the organs to become so blocked no blood could pass through.

早先科学家们曾经尝试把未经处理的猪肺和人体血液直接结合，但是因为血液流进肺部之后马上就凝结了，导致猪肺堵住了血液完全不能流通，所以两年前实验停止了。

Human DNA is now added to the pigs as they are reared to reduce clotting and the number of lungs which are rejected.

而现在的猪已经在饲养过程中添加过人类的DNA，用来减少凝固度和有排斥反应的肺的数量。

The full results of the research are due to be announced in Vancouver in August.

整个研究的结果预计将于八月在温哥华公布。

The issue has prompted an ethical debate about the use of animals for human transplants.

这项研究因为使用动物用来做人体移植，掀起了伦理方面的大讨论。

Medical ethicist Professor Nicholas Tonti-Filippini said: “It is basically a human-pig, a hybrid, or whatever you want to call it.

医学伦理学教授Nicholas Tonti-Filippini说，“不管你想怎么叫它，它实质上是一只人猪，一个杂交品种。”

"It is about whether the community is prepared to accept a part human, part animal."

“这关系到这个社会是否准备好接受半人半兽了。”