Source: BBC
22 September 2011 Last updated at20:02
GMT
Article written by F Medical
correspondent
Julia Hawkins has Stargardt's disease
朱莉婭霍金斯罹患黃斑部病變眼疾
From the age of five Julia Hawkins has been
losing her sight. She has Stargardt's
disease, a form of macular degeneration.
朱莉婭霍金斯自五歲起失去了她的視線。她眼睛罹患黃斑病變，一種黃斑部斑點衰退的眼疾。
Her central vision has almost entirely
disappeared, leaving her with only peripheral vision.
她的中心眼睛視力幾乎完全消失了，只留有周邊視力。
She has to use a magnifier to read - but
the vision loss does not prevent her getting about.
她必須使用放大鏡閱讀 - 但是，視力減退並不妨礙她想獲得資訊。
She negotiated the train and London tube network on Thursday to get to Moorfields Eye
Hospital in London
from her home in Berkshire .
上週四她順利的從她伯克郡的家搭上火車和倫敦地鐵網絡到倫敦的摩菲眼科醫院。
British regulators have given Moorfields
approval to begin trials using retinal cells derived from human embryonic stem
cells (hESCs).
英國監管機構已同意批准摩菲醫院開始使用人類胚胎幹細胞(hESCs)在視網膜細胞的試驗。
The real benefit would be for children. It
could mean they don't need to lose any sight and have normal vision."”
Julia Hawkins Patient with Stargardt's
disease
真正獲得好處將是兒童。這可能意味著他們不需要失去任何視力而讓視力正常。“
朱莉婭霍金斯是黃斑部病變的患者
Excitement 令人興奮的事
Twelve patients with Stargardt's disease
will have the cells injected into the eye. You can read more about the trial here.
Although there is great excitement about
the trial, Julia knows that the initial phase will simply check safety.
Larger doses of the retinal pigment
epithelium (RPE) cells would be used in later studies only if the treatment was deemed to be safe.
雖然目前相關試驗非常令人雀躍，朱莉婭知道，初始階段將需簡易安全檢查。
只有治療在被認為是安全的時候，則在後來的研究將使用大劑量的視網膜色素上皮（RPE）細胞。
"It would be marvellous if I could get
some of my sight-loss reversed", said Julia. "Even if it simply halts
the deterioration, that would be great. And the real benefit would be for
children. It could mean they don't need to lose any sight and have normal
vision."
“如果我能因此恢復我的視線，這將是了不起的”，朱莉婭說。“即使它只是停止惡化，也將是巨大的收獲。而真正受益的將是兒童，這可能意味著他們不需要失去任何視力而能擁有正常的視力。”
But doctors are urging caution. They are
aware that there has been a lot of hype surrounding human embryonic stem cells,
because of their potential to turn into any of the 200 or so cell types in the
body.
但醫生督促謹慎。他們知道有很多圍繞在人類胚胎幹細胞事件被炒作，因為該細胞有在身體裡可以變成 200個左右任何類型的細胞的潛力。
Talk of replacing diseased tissue and even
growing whole replacement organs has been commonplace.
But it is only now that the therapies are
being tested in patients.
取代病變組織，甚至可滋長成更換器官的談論已屢見不鮮。
但它目前僅僅只是對病患測試的一種療法。
The Moorfields trial is a partnership with
another American firm, Advanced
Cell Technology, which has already treated some patients with Stargardt's
disease.
Controversial 爭議性
It is always worth pointing out that other
forms of stem cell treatments have been used successfully for many years.
Bone marrow transplantation is a
well-established and proven technology.
值得指出的是建的是，其他形式的幹細胞治療已成功地運行多年。
骨髓移植是一個健全的和可靠的技術。
Of course we must look for cures for
degenerative eye diseases, but not if the unethical trade-off is the destruction
of viable human embryos.”
當然，我們必須尋找治療退化性眼疾的方法，但不是去破壞人類胚胎這種不道德的權衡交換。“
Josephine Quintavalle Comment on
Reproductive Ethics
More recently, stem cells from a patient's
own bone marrow have been used to help create them a new windpipe.
約瑟芬昆塔瓦萊生殖倫理評論
最近，從患者自身的骨髓幹細胞已被運用在協助創建一個新的氣管。
Contrast that with human embryonic stem
cells, which have yet to prove themselves in patient trials. Which is why the
Moorfields study is potentially important in testing this technology.
It remains controversial. The creation of a
stem cell line this way begins with the destruction of a donated human embryo
at the blastocyst stage, when it is a small clump of cells.
The cell line that results is, in effect,
"immortal", in the sense that it can continue to produce cells
indefinitely.
相對的人類胚胎幹細胞，目前尚未用有病患臨床試驗來驗證效果。這是為什麼摩菲研究這項技術的測試具潛在的重要性。
它仍然是有爭議的。建立一個幹細胞系的方式始於銷毀捐贈的在囊胚階段的人類胚胎，當它還仍是一個小的細胞叢。
細胞系，結果是，實際上是“永垂不朽的”，因在某種意義上說，它可以繼續無限期地產生細胞。
Those opposed to embryo research on moral
or religious grounds would prefer research on adult-derived stem cells, such as
those found in bone marrow.
Scientists can also now create stem cells
without destroying embryos, so-called induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells but
these have yet to make it into patients.
而那些持道德或宗教的理由的人反對胚胎研究上而寧願支持成人幹細胞，如那些在骨髓中發現的研究。
科學家們現在還可以創造出不破壞胚胎的幹細胞，即所謂的誘導多能幹細胞（iPS）細胞，但這些努力尚未實際在患者上試驗。
Significant 顯著性
Josephine Quintavalle from Comment on
Reproductive Ethics said: "That vulnerable UK
約瑟芬生殖倫理評論昆塔瓦萊說：“那脆弱的英國患者將在製置於高度實驗性治療，若這在世界其餘各地大部分是被禁止的話也不是件勝利的事，當然，我們必須尋找治癒退行性眼疾的方法。而不是去破壞人類胚胎這種不道德的權衡交換。“
Scientists involved in this new field of
medicine believe the Moorfields trial is a significant moment.
參與這一醫學新領域的科學家們相信，摩菲的試驗，是一個重要的時刻。
參與這一醫學新領域的科學家們相信，摩菲的試驗，是一個重要的時刻。
Chris Mason, Professor of Regenerative
Medicine at University College London points out that it was only 13 years ago
that scientists discovered a method to derive stem cells from human embryos and
grow them in the laboratory.
英國倫敦大學學院再生醫學教授克里斯 - 梅森指出，科學家自發現了一種方法，從人類胚胎中獲取幹細胞，並在實驗室培養他們只有13年而已。
He said: "New therapies can often take
10 or 20 years to get to market, so we are about half-way through the
process".
Professor Roger Pederson, Professor of
Regenerative Medicine, University
of Cambridge
他說：“新的治療方法，往往需要10年或20年才能進入市場，所以我們目前是在這整個過程的中途”。
劍橋大學教授再生醫學羅傑佩德森教授，也持樂觀態度。
He said: "These stem cells are capable
of forming all body tissues, and it is possible that the retinal cells formed
from them will be useful in preventing age-related blindness as well as in
treating certain genetic eye diseases. I believe we will now see increasing
numbers of such trials in the US
and UK
So after all the talk about human embryonic
stem cells, before too long we should have hard evidence as to whether the hype
and the promise have been justified.
他說：“這些幹細胞能形成所有的身體組織，而且它若可能使用他們形成的視網膜細胞，將有助於防止與年齡有關的眼盲以及治療某些遺傳性眼病疾病 。我相信我們在美國和英國將看到越來越多此種試驗。“
因此，在所有有關人類胚胎幹細胞的討論後，不久我們應該有確鑿證據能大量運用並合理的承諾。
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