实验室人造红细胞已被输入人体(下)

The next step is to measure just how long the manufactured cells actually do last.

下一步是检测人造红细胞的实际寿命。

To that end, they have been tagged with a special radioactive dye commonly used in medicine to track things around the body.

为此，研究人员在红细胞上涂上了一种特殊的放射性染料作为标签，这种染料在医学上通常用于跟踪人体的物质。

If they do indeed outlive conventionally transfused cells, as the researchers hope and preclinical studies suggest they will, then recipients will not need such frequent transfusions.

如果真的像研究人员希望以及临床前研究表明的那样，人造红细胞确实比常规输血中输入的细胞存活时间更长，那么接受者就可以减少输血频率。

That will help a lot.

这将为患者提供很大帮助。

At the moment, patients with blood disorders such as sickle-cell disease and thalassaemia may require a transfusion as often as every four to six weeks.

目前，患有镰状细胞病和地中海贫血症等血液疾病的患者可能需要每四到六周输血一次。

As a consequence, some develop iron overload, which causes severe complications.

一些人因此出现铁过剩的情况，从而患上严重的并发症。

Others end up forming antibodies against many blood types, which makes finding a matching donor harder.

还有人最终对多种血型形成抗体，导致更难寻找匹配的捐赠者。

If all goes well, the trial will be extended to include at least ten healthy volunteers.

如果一切顺利，试验将扩大到包括至少10名健康志愿者身上。

But that is only the beginning.

但这只是个开始。

Larger tests, including tests on actual patients, will be needed before this approach can be put into practice.

在将这一方法付诸实践之前，需要进行更大规模的测试，包括在实际患者身上进行测试。

That will take time, for it normally requires between five and 15 years to introduce a new medical treatment.

这需要一定的时间，而引入一种新的治疗方法通常需要5到15年的时间。

Even then, the technique will probably be reserved for a favoured few - those possessing extremely rare blood types being at the head of the queue.

即使到那时，这项技术也可能只会供少数人使用——那些血型极其罕见的人才有机会获得这种治疗。

Unless some unforeseen breakthrough occurs, making the cells in quantity will be challenging.

大规模细胞生产将极具挑战性，除非未来出现一些意想不到的突破。

At the moment, harvested stem cells eventually exhaust themselves, so the number of red cells a donation can yield is limited.

目前，从捐献者获得的干细胞最终会耗尽，所以一次干细胞捐赠所能产生的红细胞数量是有限的。

And manufacturing is a cottage industry.

并且，人造红细胞目前类似于家庭手工业。

Producing a batch of reticulocytes requires 24 litres of nutrient solution to generate a tablespoon or two of product.

24升营养液只能产生一汤匙或两汤匙那么多的网织红细胞。

The cost of scaling this up is unknown, but will probably be far more than the 145 pounds (166 dollars) that a normal blood donation currently costs in Britain.

扩大生产规模的成本尚不明确，但可能会远远高于英国目前正常输血的145英镑（即166美元）的成本。

It may eventually be possible to make the stuff in bulk.

在未来，人造红细胞也许会有大批量生产的可能。

But for now, human blood donors will continue to be extremely welcome.

但目前，人类献血者仍将受到极大的欢迎。