日本科學家培育出下'金蛋'的母雞
Japanese scientists have created hens that can lay multi-million pound "golden eggs" containing an expensive protein used to treat serious diseases such as cancer and hepatitis.
日前，日本科學家培育出可以產下價值數百萬英鎊的“金蛋”的母雞，這種蛋含有一種可用於治療癌症、肝炎等重病的昂貴蛋白質。The creation of the so-called "golden eggs" was masterminded by scientists at Japan's Biomedical Research Institute at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology.
培育這種所謂的“金蛋”的創意來自日本國家先進工業科技研究院生物醫學研究所的科學家。The new technology involved scientists using new genome editing technology to create hens that can produce eggs containing high quantities of the protein human interferon beta at a low cost.
這一最新技術需要科學家利用新基因組編輯技術來培育能低成本生產出含有大量人類干擾素β蛋白雞蛋的母雞。
The protein quantity in individual eggs ranged from 30 to 60 milligrams, resulting in each egg reportedly being valued as worth between around 408,000 and 2 million pounds a piece.
據報道，每枚雞蛋中這種蛋白的含量從30到60毫克不等，因此每枚蛋的價值在約40.8萬到200萬英鎊之間。Human interferon beta is a natural anti-viral protein with a hefty price tag which is commonly used as a therapeutic agent for diseases such as cancer and hepatitis.
人類干擾素β是天然的抗病毒蛋白，通常用來治療癌症、肝炎等疾病，價格高昂。The scientists are currently collaborating with Cosmo Bio, a Japanese reagent maker, to explore the potential commercial production of the hen-based protein.
這些科學家目前正與日本試劑製造商Cosmo Bio合作探索這種依靠母雞產出的蛋白的商業化生產潛力。Cosmo Bio plans to sell the protein, produced by its own in-house hens, from early next year for research use, with a view to making it commercially available in the future following further tests.
Cosmo Bio計劃明年初開始銷售該公司內部母雞生產的蛋白質，主要用於醫學研究用途，希望在未來進行測試後能將其商業化。
