VOA慢速英语: 科学家设计的芯片像人体器官（双语）

Scientists Design Chips to Act Like Human Organs

科学家设计出的芯片像人体器官

Testing new drugs for safety and effectiveness is a costly process in the United States. It also can take a lot of time. Some scientists are now designing silicon computer chips that act like human organs. The scientists think they have found a way to make the process faster and more economical.

在美国，检测新药品的安全性和有效性是个非常耗财力的过程，同样也很耗费时间。一些科学家正在设计像人体器官的硅芯片。科学家认为他们已经找到一种方法能够让这一过程耗时更短，更经济实惠。

The silicon chips are smaller than a child's hand. Each one has living cells that act and react like a human organ. The chips are being created as part of a program to test the safety of drug compounds. It is called the Tissue Chip for Drug Screening Program.

硅芯片比小孩儿的手还小。每个芯片都有活细胞，能像人体器官那样的行动和反应。人们造出的这种芯片，作为测试复方药物安全性计划的一部分，叫做药品筛选计划的组织芯片。

It is a project of the US National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, or NCATS. Danilo Tagle is the center’s Associate Director. He says a three-dimensional computer chip can be designed to act like a human lung. He describes how such a device would operate.

这是美国国家转化科学推进中心的一个计划，丹尼洛·泰格尔是中心的副主任。他说能够设计出一个像人体肺一样的三维电脑芯片。他描述了一下如何操作那样一个仪器。

“In that case, it would be cells representing the air sacs, that would be represented on these bioengineered devices and allowing it to breathe and expand, and be able to take in air, take in fluids just like a normal lung would. In the case of a heart, it would be representing the heart muscles and be able to show contractibility and regular beating of the heart muscles.”

“那种情况下，细胞能够代表肺泡（气囊），代表着这些生物工程仪器，气囊能够呼吸，扩张，能够呼入空气，摄入液体，就像一个正常的肺一样运作。至于心脏，它能代表心脏肌，可以展现心脏肌的收缩以及规律的跳动。”

Some computer chips contain very small models of the human digestive system. They copy the real function or duties of the human stomach and intestine, moving when breaking down food.

一些电脑芯片包含一些很小的模型，它们是人体消化系统模型。模型是仿制人体胃和肠的功能和职责，分解食物，进行肠蠕动。

Drugs are added to the tiny organs for testing through instruments known as micro-tubes. Experiments with the tissue chips have produced more detailed information than tests using animal or cell models.

在这些微小的器官上附加药物，通过叫微量离心管的仪器来进行测试。组织芯片的试验已经产生的结果比使用动物或细胞模型来测试的结果更多、更详细。

NCATS just announced $17 million in grants to develop an entire human organ system over the next three years.

美国国家转化科学推进中心刚宣布了一项1700万美元的拨款，来资助未来三年里发展培养全部的人体器官系统的项目计划。

Researchers at Columbia University are working on a project that would combine models of the heart, liver and circulatory system. The scientists hope to test how well some drugs work on diseases of the heart and liver.

哥伦比亚大学的研究员正在进行一个项目计划：将心脏、肝脏和循环系统的模型相结合。科学家希望检测出药物对于心脏病和肝脏病到底有多好的疗效。

At Harvard University, researchers are developing a tissue chip modeled on the heart and lungs. Together, the heart and lungs are part of the cardiopulmonary system. Both the heart and lungs are targets of some diseases. Many new drugs fail during the testing process because they may damage the heart. The Harvard researchers hope to create a cardiopulmonary system model that acts like a human system, both when it is diseased and in good, working condition.

在哈佛大学，研究者正开发一种以心脏和肺为模型的组织芯片，心脏和肺是心肺系统的组成部分。心脏和肺都容易引发疾病。许多新药在测试阶段都失败了，因为那些药物也许会损害心脏。哈佛大学的研究者希望创造一种心肺系统的模型：就像人体系统那样会生病，会健康的运作状态，

Researchers say they can safely test the effects of a drug on different organ systems. They can use the tissue chips to observe a drug’s effect on the organ or organs it is designed to target.

研究者称他们能够安全测试药物对不同的器官系统的影响，可以使用组织芯片来观察药物对器官的影响效果或者药物对以那些器官为设计目标的影响效果。

Scientists want to make the process of developing drugs simpler. They hope the chips will help them find the safest and most successful drugs before human testing begins.

科学家想让制药的过程更加简单一些，他们希望这些芯片有助于他们找到在人体测试开始之前，最安全，最成功的药物。

I’m Jonathan Evans.

我是乔纳森·伊凡。

Words in this Story

cardiopulmonary – adj. relating to the heart and lungs.

grant – n. an amount of money that is given to someone by a government orcompany to be used for a particular purpose such as scientific research

model – n. an example; something, usually small, made to show howsomething will look or work

silicon – n. a chemical element that is found in the Earth's crust and is usedespecially in computers and electronics