A Lifeline Beyond the Womb 「脐带血」下生命新页
- 详细资料
- 创建于 2002年12月06日
- 最后更新于 2024年5月25日
- 发布于 2011年5月18日
- 作者：Mike Lee
- 点击数：400
课文朗读
课文讲解
Everyone knows that the umbilical cord is our lifeline in the womb. But, until recently, most umbilicals were discarded after birth without so much as a second thought. Now, an increasing number of doctors believe that the three to five ounces of blood that the umbilical contains could be as vitally important outside the womb as the cord itself is inside it.
大家都知道，脐带是我们在母亲子宫里的生命线。但直到前一阵子，脐带大多还是在生产后即遭丢弃，没有人会多加思索。现在，有越来越多医师相信，脐带所含三到五盎司的血液在子宫外头的重要性，与脐带本身在子宫内部的不相上下。
In the event that someone contracts a serious illness such as leukemia, cord blood cells could provide the only hope of rebuilding his or her blood-cell-producing system. While it is true that stem cells can also be harvested from relatives’ bone marrow, a patient’s own cord blood cells provide a genetically perfect match and are very young and healthy.
如果有人罹患如白血病等严重的疾病，脐带血细胞是供其重建造血系统的唯一希望。尽管干细胞其实亦可由亲人骨髓中获得，然而病患自己的脐带血细胞不止在基因上完全吻合，而且既年轻又健康。
The process for saving cord blood is simple, painless, and safe: Shortly after delivery, the umbilical is clamped and cut as usual; the blood is then drained and cryogenically stored at a cord blood bank.
保存脐带血的过程简单，无痛又安全：在生产后与平常一样将脐带夹紧后剪断；再将血液排出，放入脐带血银行低温贮存即可。
Cord blood storage is not yet common practice—the exact shelf life of cord blood cells is still unknown and the cost of storage is somewhat prohibitive at about NT$130,000; nevertheless, the idea that our umbilical cords could sustain us far beyond the womb remains an intriguing one.
贮存脐带血的习惯尚未风行；脐带血细胞确实的贮藏寿命仍不清楚，而且约需十三万台币的贮存费用，多少令人望而却步。尽管如此，脐带在远离子宫后仍能维系生命的观念，还是相当引人入胜。
Vocabulary
单词发音
lifeline [ˋlaɪf͵laɪn] n. 生命线﹐命脉
umbilical [ʌmˋbɪlɪk!] adj. 脐的；脐状的
umbilical cord 脐带
womb [wum] n. 子宫
discard [ˋdɪskɑrd] v. 抛弃，摒弃，丢弃
without so much as 甚至不..., 甚至连...都不做
second thought【口】〔经过重新考虑之后〕改变主意 after having thought about something again
contract [kənˋtrækt] v.【正式】感染〔疾病〕﹐患〔病〕
leukemia [luˋkimɪə] n.【医】白血病（俗称血癌）
stem cell【医学】造血干细胞
harvest [ˋhɑrvɪst] v. 获得，得到
delivery [dɪˋlɪvərɪ] n. 分娩
clamp [klæmp] v. 钳紧；夹住
drain [dren] v. 排出（液体）；使流出
cryogenically [͵kraɪəˋdʒɛnɪklɪ] adv. 低温地
cord blood bank 脐带血库（亦作cord bank，用来保存新生儿脐带血中丰富的造血干细胞，旨在进行医学研究或为需要造血干细胞移植的患者提供储备资源）
shelf life（罐装食品等的）保存期限；货架寿命；耐储时间
prohibitive [prəˋhɪbɪtɪv] adj.（费用、价格等）过高的
sustain [səˋsten] v. 维持，供养；支援
intriguing [ɪn`trigɪŋ] adj.〔由于奇特﹑神秘或出人意料而〕引起好奇心的; 令人感兴趣的
Sentence of the Day
We’re saving something for a rainy day.
我们正未雨绸缪。
save something for a rainy day 节省(尤指金钱)以备不时之需; 未雨绸缪
课文朗读
课文讲解
George is reading an article to his wife, Mary, who is six months pregnant with baby Alice: 乔治正在读一篇报导给太太玛莉听，她肚里怀着六个月大的爱丽斯：
G: Did you know that the birth of Wu Shu-chen’s grandchild could help her to walk again?
你知道吴淑珍女士的外孙说不定能帮她重新站起来行走吗？
M: Are you kidding? That’s unbelievable!
开什么玩笑？那太不可思议了！
G: it’s true; doctors believe they could use stem cells from the baby’s umbilical cord to repair Wu’s damaged nerve system.
是真的：医师们相信他们可以用新生儿脐带中的干细胞来修复吴女士受损的神经系统。
M: I’ve heard about using stem cells to cure diseases, but I didn’t know that doctors could use them to cure paralysis.
我是听过用干细胞来治病啦，但我不知道医师们还可以用它来治疗瘫痪。
G: They’re not so sure if it will work; this kind of therapy is still in the experimental stage.
他们不确定那有没有效；这种疗法仍在实验的阶段。
M: I thought as much; Wu’s doctors would probably need special approval before they could try such a radically new technique on the first lady.
我也这么想；医师们在第一夫人身上尝试这种全新技术之前，八成需要特别许可才行。
G: True, but who better to give approval than her husband! There is another complication though: Wu’s bone marrow cells would also have to be regrown.
没错，但有谁比她丈夫更适合做首肯一事呢！不过是有个情况挺复杂的：吴女士的骨髓细胞非得再生不可。
M: Would she need a bone-marrow transplant for that?
她需要为此接受骨髓移植吗？
G: No, doctors say they can use the stem cells taken from the umbilical cord for that, too.
不需要，医师们说他们也可以使用从那脐带中取得的干细胞来使骨髓细胞再生。
M: Hmm….maybe we should consider saving little Alice’s cord blood cells.
嗯……或许我们该考虑贮存小爱丽斯的脐带血细胞。
G: I don’t think that’s necessary! I’m not planning on getting paralyzed any time soon!
我不认为有那个必要！我可没马上瘫痪的打算！
－by Michael Costello
Vocabulary
单词发音
paralysis [pəˋræləsɪs] n. 麻痹，瘫痪
I think as much 我就是这么想的; 果然不出我所料 something that you say when you discover that something you thought was true is really true
radically [ˋrædɪk!ɪ] adv. 1.根本地, 完全地; 2. 激进地；极端地
complication [͵kɑmpləˋkeʃən] n.（新出现的）困难，障碍
regrow [rɪˋgro] v. 再生
transplant [trænsˋplænt] v. 【医】移植
Sentence of the Day
They’re trying to push it through.
他们正设法将其迅速完成(通过)。
push something through 使〔新法律〕获得通过