意大利科学家启用冷冻精子，助北部白犀牛物种延续

意大利科学家为北部白犀牛卵子受精

Silvia Colleoni’s hand holding a syringe was trembling as she injected liquid into a micro pipette to facilitate the aspiration of sperm that had been removed and later frozen from one of the last then-living male northern white rhinos on Earth.

西尔维娅·科洛尼拿着注射器的手颤抖着，她把液体注入一个微型吸液管，以促进精子的吸入，这些精子是从地球上最后一只活下来的雄性北方白犀牛身上取出并冷冻下来的。

Her nervousness in the Avantea laboratory in northern Italy on Sunday was understandable. Whether the artificial fertilization of eggs taken from the last two living females succeeds could determine whether the species has a future, or is doomed to end.

周日在意大利北部的Avantea实验室，她的紧张情绪是可以理解的。从最后两只存活雌性身上提取的卵子的人工受精成功与否，将决定这个物种是有未来，还是注定要灭绝。

AP

“It does create a little emotion,” Colleoni said, reflecting in a phone interview the day after the fertilization procedures that could result in as many as seven embryos.

科莱尼在接受电话采访时说：“确实会产生一点情绪。”这是受精后的第二天，可能会导致多达七个胚胎。

“After it was over, I was calm, but it’s a manual task, any error, any slipping, if it falls, will result in irreparable damage.”

“结束后，我很平静，但这是一项体力劳动，任何错误，任何滑倒，如果它掉下来，都会造成无法弥补的损害。”

Eggs that were removed last week in Kenya from the last two female northern white rhinos, Najin and Fatu, were fertilized in the lab with frozen sperm from two now-dead males. It will be about 10 days before it is known whether the eggs have become embryos, the Italian assisted-breeding company said Monday.

上周，肯尼亚最后两只雌性北方白犀牛Najin和Fatu的卵子被从实验室中取出，并与两只现已死亡的雄性白犀牛的冷冻精子受精。这家意大利辅助育种公司周一表示，这些卵子是否已经发育成胚胎还需要大约10天的时间。

Wildlife experts and veterinarians are hoping that the species can reproduce via a surrogate mother rhino since neither Najin nor Fatu can carry a pregnancy.

因为Najin和Fatu都不能怀孕，野生动物专家和兽医希望该物种能够通过代孕母犀牛进行繁殖。

AP

On Tuesday, Colleoni predicted that “there will be more tension, more emotion,” when she peers through a microscope to see if the fertilized eggs start dividing, in two, then four, then more cells.

周二，科莱尼预测，当她通过显微镜观察受精卵是否开始分裂时，“有更多的紧张，更多的情绪”，发现细胞分成了两个，然后是四个，然后是更多的细胞。

She recounted how, using joysticks, she guided the fertilization process. “It takes so much concentration, a lot of attention,” Colleoni said. To facilitate success, an electronic impulse is also sent to the eggs.

她叙述了如何使用操纵杆指导受精过程。科莱尼说：“这需要太多的注意力。”为了促进成功，还使用了电子脉冲。

“We expect some of them will develop into an embryo,” Cesare Galli, a founder of Avantea and an expert in animal cloning, said after the procedures were carried out.

“我们预计其中一些会发育成胚胎，”Avantea的创始人、动物克隆专家塞萨尔·加利在手术后说。

The ultimate goal is to create a herd of at least five animals that could be returned to their natural habit in Africa. That could take decades.

最终的目标是创造一个至少有五只动物的群体，这些动物可以在非洲恢复它们的自然习性。这可能需要几十年的时间。