A man who lost sight in one eye in a fight 15 years ago has had his vision restored by British scientists using stem cells.

一名男子的一只眼睛在15年前的一次打斗中失明，近期英国科学家利用干细胞帮助他恢复了视觉。

The treatment, which has been developed at Newcastle University, could help thousands of people who suffer severely impaired vision through a condition known as Limbal Stem Cell Deficiency. The condition is caused by damage to the surface of the cornea from disease, chemical burning or physical injury.

纽卡斯尔大学(Newcastle University)研究出来的这一疗法，可帮助数以千计因“角膜缘干细胞缺损”(LSCD)而导致视力严重受损的人。角膜缘干细胞缺损的原因包括疾病、化学性灼伤或物理伤害造成的角膜表面受损。

Russell Turnbull, whose right eye was burned in an ammonia attack after he intervened in the fight on a bus, is one of eight patients who have undergone the stem cell treatment. He said: “This has transformed my life . . . I'm working, I can go jet skiing and also ride horses.

罗素·特恩布尔(Russell Turnbull)是八名接受干细胞治疗的病人之一，他在调停一起公共汽车上的打斗事件时，右眼被氨灼伤。他说：“治疗改变了我的生活……现在我可以去工作，可以去滑雪，还可以骑马。”

“The operation has improved the sight in my right eye from 10 per cent to 90 per cent. Best of all it has removed the constant pain and light sensitivity.”

“手术将我右眼的视觉从10%提高到了90%。最棒的是，它消除了持续疼痛和对光敏感的问题。”

Stem cell research with embryos has long been controversial, but this technique uses a patient's own cells. The Newcastle team took a small biopsy from the cornea of Mr Turnbull's good eye and multiplied its stem cells by 400 times. When the cells were transplanted back into the damaged eye, they restored the cornea.

胚胎干细胞研究一直处于争议之中，但这种疗法使用的是患者自身的细胞。纽卡斯尔的研究团队从特恩布尔健康眼睛的角膜上摄取了一个小组织切片，然后培养出400倍数量的干细胞。当这些细胞被移植到受损的眼睛后，它们修复了角膜。

Sajjad Ahmad, the scientist who developed the technique, said its success showed the scope for using the patient's own stem cells to treat the eye. Details are published in the journal Stem Cells. However, the technique depends on having a healthy eye from which to extract stem cells and is not suitable for retinal problems such as macular degeneration.

开发出这项技术的科学家萨贾德·艾哈迈德(Sajjad Ahmad)表示，手术成功表明了利用患者自身干细胞治疗眼科疾病的空间。关于本次手术的详细资料已发表在《干细胞》(Stem Cells)刊物上。然而，这项技术依赖于患者拥有一只健康眼睛，以便从中提取干细胞，而不适合视网膜黄斑变性等视网膜疾病的病人。

译者/功文