2017考研英语拓展阅读：：哺乳动物胚胎可在外太空完整发育
Two-cell mouse embryos, four hours before launch.
The latest experiment results from China’s SJ-10 recoverable satellite have been sent back with some groundbreaking news. For the first time in human history, it has been proven that the early stages of embryos in mammals can be developed completely in a space environment.
China launched the country’s first microgravity satellite, the SJ-10, on April 6. The return capsule on the satellite will stay in orbit for several days before heading back to Earth. An orbital module will continue to conduct experiments for a few more days.
High-resolution photographs sent back by SJ-10 show that the mouse embryos carried by the return capsule completed the entire developing process within 96 hours from the launch, the first reported successful development of mammalian embryos in space.
"The human race may still have a long way to go before we can colonize the space. But before that, we have to figure out whether it is possible for us to survive and reproduce in the outer space environment like we do on Earth," said Duan Enkui, Professor of the Institute of Zoology affiliated to the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and principle researcher of the experiment.
"Now, we finally proved that the most crucial step in our reproduction – the early embryo development – is possible in the outer space," Enkui said.
The SJ-10 carried more than 6,000 mouse embryos in a self-sufficient, enclosed chamber, the same size of a microwave oven. Everything on the test load, from the cell culture system to the nutrient solution was refined with hundreds rounds of ground tests.
Mouse embryos that developed into blastocyst 80 hours after the launch.
A camera took pictures of the embryos every four hours and sends the pictures back to Earth. It turns out some embryos developed into advanced blastocysts in four days.?
After the embryos are recovered from the returning capsule, scientists will immediately transport them to Beijing and perform further analyses on the developmental speed and changes in embryonic gene and protein expression.
发射前四小时的双细胞小鼠胚胎
中国SJ-10返回式卫星最新发回的实验结果带来了突破性消息。人类历史上首次证明：哺乳动物早期胚胎可以在宇宙环境中完全发育。
中国于4月6日发射该国第一个微重力卫星SJ-10。卫星回收舱将在轨道上运转数日，后将返回地球。轨道舱将继续进行数日实验。
SJ-10发回的高分辨率照片表明，回收舱携带的小鼠胚胎在卫星发射96小时内完成了整个发育过程，这是史上首个人类胚胎在宇宙环境中成功发育的案例。
“人类要移居宇宙还有很长的路要走，但在那之前我们必须弄明白人类在外太空环境下是否能够像在地球上一样生存和繁衍。”中科院附属动物研究所段恩奎教授说，他是这项实验的主任研究员。
“现在我们终于证明了繁衍后代中最为关键的一步-胚胎早期发育-在外太空是可行的。”恩奎说。
SJ-10携带了6000多只小鼠胚胎，置于一个像微波炉一样的自给自足的密闭空间中。从细胞培养装置到培养液，实验荷载的所有细节都经过成百上千次地面实验调整测试。
小鼠胚胎在卫星发射后80小时发育成囊胚。
相机每隔四小时拍照记录胚胎发育过程，并将照片送回地球。实验表明，有些胚胎在四天内就发育成高级囊胚。
当胚胎从返回舱中移出后，科学家们将立刻转送至北京，对胚胎基因和蛋白质表达的发展速度和变化展开进一步研究分析。
(责任编辑：田学江)
