科學傢們在不使用精子、卵子和子宮的情況下培育出瞭一種與人類早期胚胎非常相似的實體。魏茨曼研究所的研究團隊稱，他們使用幹細胞創建的 “胚胎模型” 看上去如同一個典型的發育到14天大的真實人類胚胎。
We all start as a single egg fertilised by a sperm, but those steps, going from a group of cells to something you can see and recognise on a baby scan, are poorly understood, so scientists have created embryo models in the lab to explore this crucial time.
我們每個人的生命都是從一個受精卵開始的，但從起初的一組細胞發育成嬰兒掃描影像中可以看清並辨識出的胎兒，這之間經過瞭哪些階段，我們知之甚少，因此科學傢們在實驗室中創建瞭胚胎模型，以探索這個關鍵時期究竟發生瞭什麼。
Instead of sperm and egg, they use stem cells. These can become any tissue in our bodies. They’re grown in just the right way to mimic a two-week-old human embryo.
科學傢們用幹細胞代替精子和卵子來培育胚胎。幹細胞可以分化為體內的各種組織細胞類型。他們精心培育這些幹細胞，使其模擬兩周大人類胚胎的結構。
The researchers hope their work can help improve IVF rates, understand miscarriage and even test which medicines are safe to use in pregnancy.
研究人員們希望他們的工作成果能夠幫助提高體外受精的成功率、找到導致流產的原因，甚至能夠幫助測試懷孕期間使用哪些藥物是安全的。
詞匯表
egg 卵子
fertilised 受精
sperm 精子
steps 階段
scan 掃描
embryo 胚胎
models 模型
stem cells 幹細胞
tissue （人體）組織
mimic 模擬
IVF 體外受精
miscarriage 流產
閱讀理解：請在讀完上文後，回答下列問題。
1. Why have scientists created embryo models?
2. What type of cells are scientists using?
3. True or false? The stem cells grown by the scientists are like a two-week-old human embryo.
4. What do researchers want to achieve with their work?
答案
1. Why have scientists created embryo models?
Because the steps going from a group of cells to something you can see and recognise on a baby scan are poorly understood.
2. What type of cells are scientists using?
Instead of sperm and egg, they use stem cells.
3. True or false? The stem cells grown by the scientists are like a two-week-old human embryo.
True. The stem cells are grown in just the right way to mimic a two-week-old human embryo.
4. What do researchers want to achieve with their work?
The researchers hope their work can help improve IVF rates, understand miscarriage and even test which medicines are safe to use in pregnancy.
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