實驗顯示，微重力似乎能中和大多數(shù)癌細胞

實驗顯示，微重力似乎能中和大多數(shù)癌細胞

There are a number of health risks that come with going to space. Aside from the increased exposure to solar radiation and cosmic rays, there are the notable effects that microgravity can have on human physiology.

太空旅行有很多健康風險。除了越來越多地暴露在太陽輻射和宇宙射線下外，微重力還會對人體生理產生顯著的影響。

As Scott Kelly can attest, these go beyond muscle and bone degeneration and include diminished organ function, eyesight, and even changes at the genetic level.

正如Scott Kelly所證明的，這些不只是肌肉和骨骼的退化，還包括器官功能、視力甚至基因水平的改變。

Interestingly enough, there are also a number of potential medical benefits to microgravity. Since 2014, Joshua Choi, a senior lecturer in biomedical engineering at the University of Technology Sydney, has been investigating how microgravity affects medicine and cells in the human body.

有趣的是，微重力還有許多潛在的醫(yī)療益處。2014年以來，悉尼理工大學生物醫(yī)學工程高級講師喬舒亞·崔(Joshua Choi)一直在研究微重力如何影響人體內的藥物和細胞。

Early next year, he and his research team will be traveling to the ISS to test a new method for treating cancer that relies on microgravity.

明年初，他和他的研究團隊將前往國際空間站，測試一種依靠微重力治療癌癥的新方法。

According to Chou, the inspiration for his research came from a conversation he had with the late and great Stephen Hawking. During the conversation, Hawking remarked how nothing in the Universe defies gravity.

據(jù)周說，他的研究靈感來自于他與已故的偉大的史蒂芬霍金的一次談話。在談話中，霍金談到宇宙中沒有什么東西能抵擋地心引力。

Later, when a friend of Chou's had been diagnosed with cancer, he recalled what Dr. Hawking had said and began to wonder, "What would happen to cancer cells if we take them out of gravity?"

后來，當周的一個朋友被診斷出患有癌癥時，他回憶起霍金博士所說的話，開始想：“如果我們把癌細胞從重力中取出，會發(fā)生什么?”

Simply put, cancer is a disease where cells begin dividing uncontrollably and spread to certain parts of the body and take them over. Cancer cells do this by coming together to form a solid tumor in the body, which then grows until the cells are signaled to invade healthy tissues – such as the heart, lungs, brain, liver, pancreas, etc.

簡單地說，癌癥是一種細胞開始不受控制地分裂并擴散到身體的某些部位并控制它們的疾病。癌細胞聚集在一起，在體內形成實體瘤，然后生長，直到細胞發(fā)出信號入侵健康組織，如心臟、肺、大腦、肝臟、胰腺等。

One of the biggest stumbling blocks with cancer research is that no one knows exactly when that point is reached. However, the process through which cancer grows and spreads would seem to indicate that there is a means through which the cells are able to sense each other and gravitate together to form a tumor.

癌癥研究最大的障礙之一是，沒有人確切地知道何時達到這一臨界點。然而，癌癥生長和擴散的過程似乎表明，存在一種方法，通過這種方法，細胞能夠彼此感知，并相互吸引，形成腫瘤。

However, biomedical researchers do understand that the only way cancer cells could sense each other is through mechanical forces, and that those forces evolved to work in an environment where there's gravity. This motivated Chou to think of ways in which the lack of gravity might impede cancer cells' ability to divide and spread.

然而，生物醫(yī)學研究人員確實明白，癌細胞相互感知的唯一方式是通過機械力，這些力在有重力的環(huán)境中進化而來。這促使周思考了缺乏重力可能阻礙癌細胞分裂和擴散的方式。

Chou has some experience in conducting space-based medical research. While working at Harvard, he took part in a project that resulted in the creation of a drug to treat osteoporosis. Part of their research took place aboard the International Space Station (ISS). As Chou explained:

周在進行天基醫(yī)學研究方面有一些經驗。在哈佛工作期間，他參加了一個項目，結果發(fā)明了一種治療骨質疏松癥的藥物。他們的部分研究是在國際空間站上進行的。周解釋的：

"This first experience of seeing how the space environment impacts our understanding of cell biology and disease progression inspired me to ask: 'Why can't we apply the same strategy to studying other cells and diseases?'"

“第一次看到太空環(huán)境如何影響我們對細胞生物學和疾病進展的理解，我不禁要問：‘為什么我們不能在研究其他細胞和疾病時采用同樣的策略呢?’

Already, Chou and his team have tested the effects of microgravity on cancer cells in their laboratory. To do this, one of his graduate students created a device that is essentially a tissue box-sized container with a small centrifuge inside. The cells of different diseases are contained in a series of pods within the centrifuge, which then spins them up until they experience the sensation of microgravity.

周和他的團隊已經在實驗室里測試了微重力對癌細胞的影響。為了做到這一點，他的一個研究生發(fā)明了一種設備，基本上是一個紙巾盒大小的容器，里面有一個小型離心機。不同疾病的細胞包含在離心機內的一系列豆莢中，然后將它們旋轉起來，直到它們體驗到微重力的感覺。

As Chou indicated, the results were rather encouraging. "Our work has found that when placed in a microgravity environment, 80 to 90 percent of the cells in the four different cancer types we tested – ovarian, breast, nose and lung – were disabled," he said.

正如周所說，結果相當令人鼓舞。“我們的研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，當置于微重力環(huán)境中時，我們測試的四種不同癌癥類型(卵巢癌、乳腺癌、鼻癌和肺癌)中80%到90%的細胞都是殘疾的。”。

"By disabled, I mean they either die or float off because they can no longer hold on. Those four cancer types are some of the hardest cancers to kill."

“我說的殘疾，是指他們不是死了就是漂走了，因為他們再也抓不住了。這四種癌癥是最難治愈的癌癥。”

Even more impressive is the fact that these results were obtained by simply altering the gravitational forces – i.e. without the help of drugs. When subjected to microgravity-conditions, the cancer cells were unable to sense each other and therefore had a very hard time coming together.

更令人印象深刻的是，這些結果是通過簡單地改變引力而獲得的，也就是說，沒有藥物的幫助。在微重力條件下，癌細胞無法相互感知，因此很難聚集在一起。

"Driving this mission has been a whole team effort – I feel very fortunate to be supported by my faculty and a group of very talented female engineering students who inspire me to keep going. They do so much of the hard work in making this project a reality."

“推動這項任務是整個團隊的努力——我感到非常幸運，能夠得到我的教員和一群非常有才華的女工科學生的支持，她們激勵我繼續(xù)前進。他們做了很多艱苦的工作，使這個項目成為現(xiàn)實。”

The next step, which will be happening early next year, will involve the team sending their experiment to the ISS aboard a specially-designed space module (SpaceX will be providing launch services). Chou and his colleagues will spend the duration of the experiment (seven days) on the ground, where they will monitor the experiment's progress and conduct live-cell imaging via data feeds.

下一步，將在明年初進行，包括團隊將他們的實驗發(fā)送到國際空間站上一個特別設計的空間模塊(SpaceX將提供發(fā)射服務)。周和他的同事將在地面上進行為期7天的實驗，他們將在那里監(jiān)測實驗的進展，并通過數(shù)據(jù)源進行細胞活體成像。