Japan‘s government approved a request by scientists to conduct stem-cell experiments to create an animal-human hybrid and allow it to be brought to term.

　　日本政府近日批准科学家开展培育人兽杂交胚胎的干细胞实验，并允许其足月分娩。

　　Japan’s science ministry last week gave provisional approval to a proposal from researchers at the University of Tokyo to create animal embryos that contain human cells and transplant them into surrogate animals， Japan‘s？Asahi Shimbun？newspaper reported.

　　据日本《朝日新闻》报道，日本文部科学省上周为东京大学研究人员的一项研究议题发出临时许可，该研究计划培养含有人类细胞的动物胚胎，并将其移植到代孕动物体内。

　　The study would create a human pancreas in rodents using human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. According to UCLA’s Broad Stem Cell Research Center， these are cells that have been reprogrammed back into an embryo-like state and can be used to create virtually any other type of cell.

　　这项研究将利用人类诱导多能干细胞（iPS）在啮齿动物体内形成人类胰腺。据加州大学洛杉矶分校布罗德干细胞研究中心介绍，这些细胞已经被重新编程回到胚胎状态，可以用来创造几乎任何其他类型的细胞。

　　Final approval from the ministry is expected next month， according to the British scientific journal？Nature.

　　据英国科学杂志《自然》报道，日本文部科学省预计将于下月正式批准这一实验。

　　According to？Asahi， researchers will take fertilized eggs from rodents that have been gene-edited to remove the ability to produce a pancreas themselves. To this， they will add human iPS cells to create hybrid animal-human embryos.

　　据《朝日新闻》报道，研究人员将从经过基因编辑的啮齿动物身上提取受精卵，以去除自身发育胰腺的能力。在此基础上，他们将添加人类的iPS细胞来创造人兽杂交胚胎。

　　These in turn would be implanted into a host animal， in this case a rat or mouse， and allowed to grow.

　　之后，这些胚胎将被植入宿主动物体内，在这项实验中是一只老鼠，并得以生长。

　　According to researchers， the goal of the experiment is to create organs viable for transplant into humans.

　　据研究人员称，这项实验的目标是创造出可以移植到人体的器官。

　　“Finally， we are in a position to start serious studies in this field after 10 years of preparation，” said Hiromitsu Nakauchi， a researcher at the Institute of Medical Science of the University of Tokyo， according to？Asahi.

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