Japans 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.日本政府近日批准后科学家积极开展培育人兽杂交胚胎的干细胞实验，并容许其足月怀孕。Japans 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, Japans Asahi Shimbun newspaper reported.据日本《朝日新闻》报导，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收到临时许可，该研究计划培育所含人类细胞的动物胚胎，并将其重制到领养动物体内。

The study would create a human pancreas in rodents using human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. According to UCLAs 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）在啮齿动物体内构成人类胰腺。据加州大学洛杉矶分校布罗德干细胞研究中心讲解，这些细胞早已被新的编程返回胚胎状态，可以用来建构完全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《大自然》报导，日本文部科学省预计将于下月月批准后这一实验。

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》报导，研究人员将从经过基因编辑的啮齿动物身上萃取受精卵，以除去自身发育胰腺的能力。在此基础上，他们将加到人类的iPS细胞来建构人兽杂交胚胎。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，并以求生长。

According to researchers, the goal of the experiment is to create organs viable for transplant into humans.据研究人员称之为，这项实验的目标是建构出有可以重制到人体的器官。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.据《朝日新闻》报导，东京大学医学研究所的研究员中内啓光说道：“经过10年的打算，我们再一可以开始在这一领域展开坦率的研究。

”We dont expect to create human organs immediately, but this allows us to advance our research based upon the know-how we have gained up to this point.“我们没希望能立刻生产人体器官，但这让我们需要基于目前所掌控的技术前进研究。”Japan had previously banned such experiments.日本此前曾禁令此类实验。It reversed its decision in March of this year after consulting with experts.今年3月，在咨询了专家后，日本政府转变了要求。

The government has said that experiments like these can take place as long as researchers take steps to prevent the birth of a creature that contains a mix of animal and human genetics.日本政府曾回应，只要研究人员采取措施避免人兽杂交动物的问世，这样的实验就可以展开。Researchers will also monitor the animal-human hybrids once they are born for up to two years and will suspend the experiment if they detect that brains inside the growing animals contain more than 30% human cells, Asahi said.《朝日新闻》称之为，在怀孕后，研究人员还将对人兽杂交动物展开宽约两年的监测，如果他们找到这些发育中的动物大脑中所含多达30%的人类细胞，将停止这项实验。While other countries have experimented on creating human-animal embryos, Japan is now the first country to support experiments that will allow the animals with human cells to come to full term.虽然其他国家也积极开展过建构人兽杂交胚胎的实验，但日本目前是首个反对这项实验，容许胚胎发育到足月怀孕的国家。

Scientists in the US have experimented with pig-human hybrid fetuses and allowed them to develop for three to four weeks before destroying them, as required by US ethics regulations.根据美国伦理法规的拒绝，美国科学家对猪与人的杂交胚胎展开了实验，并让它们发育三至四周，然后将其封存。But according to Jun Wu, a biologist at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California, only about 1 in 100,000 cells in the fetuses were human.但据加州纳荷亚索尔克研究所的生物学家吴军（音译）说道，胚胎中只有约十万分之一的细胞是人类细胞。In the UK, scientists at Kings College London, Newcastle University, and Warwick University created dozens of hybrid embryos that were used to create embryonic stem cells that could potentially treat a wide range of illnesses.在英国，伦敦国王学院、纽卡斯尔大学和华威大学的科学家们建构了数十个杂交胚胎，用作生产胚胎干细胞，这些干细胞有可能化疗多种疾病。

Concerns about the ethical implications of such research remain.人们仍然忧虑这类研究的伦理影响。Some bioethicists are disturbed by the possibility that human cells implanted into animals may behave unexpectedly, and could affect an animals brain or cognition.一些生物伦理学家担忧，植入动物体内的人类细胞可能会经常出现意料之外的反应，并有可能影响动物的大脑或理解。It is problematic, both ethically and from a safety aspect, to place human iPS cells, which are still capable of transforming into all types of cells, into the fertilized eggs of rats and mice, said Jiro Nudeshima, a researcher specializing in the ethical implications of life science research, according to Asahi.《朝日新闻》报导称之为，生命科学研究伦理问题研究员Jiro Nudeshima说道：“将依然需要转换成所有类型细胞的人类iPS细胞植入老鼠的受精卵，这在伦理和安全性方面都有问题。

”Nakauchi, the researcher proposing the experiment, dismissed concerns, saying that his experiments are focused on the creation of specific organs, and not the development of a new species.明确提出这一实验的研究员中内啓光驳斥了人们的忧虑，称之为他的实验注目的是特定器官的建构，而不是新物种的培育。We are trying to do targeted organ generation, so the cells go only to the pancreas, he said, according to Nature.据《大自然》杂志报导，他说道：“我们正在尝试培育特定的器官，这样细胞就不能抵达胰腺。

”He added that in his previous experiments, the number of human cells inside of a sheep embryo has been extremely small.他补足说道，在他之前的实验中，绵羊胚胎中的人类细胞数量非常少。The number of human cells grown in the bodies of sheep is extremely small, like one in thousands or one in tens of thousands, he said, according to Asahi.据《朝日新闻》报导，他说道：“绵羊体内生长的人体细胞数量非常少，只有数千分之一或数万分之一。”At that level, an animal with a human face will never be born, Nakauchi said.他说道：“在这个水平上，是会长成宽着人脸的动物的。

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