An IVF breakthrough could signal the end of the ’test tube baby’ by allowing fertilisation to occur inside a woman’s body for the first time.
近日试管受精技术取得一项突破性进展，首次实现了在女性体内进行受精，这可能标志着“试管婴儿”时代的结束。
The development, to be offered within weeks to British couples having trouble conceiving, means the crucial first stage of embryo development can take place in the natural surroundings of the womb rather than in the laboratory – just as in normal conception.
这一进展意味着胚胎发育的第一步可以像正常受孕时一样在子宫自然环境中进行，而不是在实验室。接下来几周，这一技术将提供给在受孕方面有困难的英国夫妇。
The cutting-edge process involves inserting a device smaller than a matchstick, containing a mixture of sperm and eggs, into the woman’s body. It is removed after 24 hours to allow doctors to assess which of the resulting embryos are healthy enough to be implanted in the hope of achieving a successful pregnancy.
实施这一尖端技术，需要将一个比火柴棍还小、其中含有精子和卵子的设备嵌入女性体内，并在24小时后移出，随后，医生会对产生的胚胎进行评估，将其中足够健康的胚胎移植回女性体内，以期实现成功受孕。
Leading fertility experts say it offers women an important psychological benefit as it gives them greater biological involvement in the creation of their children. Doctors believe it may also boost IVF success rates and the long-term health of the children.
前沿的生育专家表示，这将为女性带来重要的心理抚慰，因为从生理角度看她们更大程度的参与了孩子的孕育。医生相信这项技术还将极大提高试管婴儿的成功率以及促进儿童的长期健康。
The technique, which has been used successfully in some European clinics, was formally approved by the fertility regulator, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), in September.
这一技术已在欧洲一些诊所得到成功应用，它于今年9月正式获得生育监管机构人类受精和胚胎学管理局的批准。
It will be available at the Complete Fertility clinic, based at University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, from the New Year and will cost a few hundred pounds more than the 3,800 pounds cost of standard IVF.
总部位于英国NHS信托基金会南安普顿大学医院的完全生育诊所从明年新年开始将提供这一技术，它比标准试管婴儿技术的价格(3800镑，约36608元)要贵几百镑。
Clinic director Nicholas Macklon, a professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at the University of Southampton, said: ’The advantage is that the early embryo is being exposed to the same natural chemical environment of a spontaneous pregnancy.
诊所主任、南安普顿大学产科和妇科教授尼古拉斯·麦克隆表示：“这一技术的优势在于早期胚胎将暴露在与自然受孕相同的自然化学环境里。
We know IVF babies are slightly different – the birth weight is slightly lower. Although that’s not significant for early survival, we know it’s linked to long-term health.
我们知道试管婴儿与正常受孕的婴儿略有不同，试管婴儿的出生体重较轻，虽然这对早期阶段的胚胎存活并不重要，但会影响婴儿此后长期的健康状况。
’There’s increasing evidence this is to do with the culture medium we use in the laboratory – so if we can keep them for as long as possible inside the uterus, not only do we expose them to all the goodies only mum can provide but we save them from being exposed to a synthetic environment at a very sensitive stage of early development.’
有越来越多的证据表明这与实验室使用的培养基有关，因此，如果我们能使胚胎尽可能长时间的待在子宫里，那么胚胎就能享受母体提供的各种营养物质，还避免了在早期发育的敏感阶段暴露在人工合成的环境里。
During IVF, an egg is removed from the woman’s ovaries and fertilised with sperm in a laboratory. The fertilised embryo is then returned to the woman’s womb after six days to grow and develop.
试管婴儿技术过程中，需要取自女性卵巢的一个卵子，将其与实验室的精子受精结合。6天后，受精的胚胎被重新注入女性子宫中进行生长发育。
IVF involves six main stages: first the menstrual cycle is suppressed with medication, then other drugs are used to encourage the ovaries to produce more eggs than usual. Ultrasound scans check the development of the eggs, and further medication is used to help them mature.
试管婴儿技术主要有6步：首先通过药物抑制女性月经周期，接着使用其他药物刺激卵巢产生比平时多的卵子。利用超声波扫描检查卵子的发展状态，根据卵子的发展状况进一步使用药物促使卵子成熟。
To ’harvest’ the eggs, a needle is inserted into the ovaries, via the vagina. Traditionally, the eggs are then mixed with the sperm for a few days ’in vitro’ – in a lab dish – to allow them to be fertilised before one or two are placed into the womb.
到卵子成熟的时候，用针管经由阴道插入卵巢获取卵子。传统试管婴儿技术中，在移入子宫前，卵子和精子结合后在实验室培养皿这一体外环境中进行受精。
The new process involves mixing the sperm and eggs and placing them instead in the Anecova AneVivo device, which is about 1cm long and 1mm wide. This is inserted painlessly without an anaesthetic. Couples return home from the clinic while fertilisation takes place.
而最新的试管受精过程，精子和卵子结合后，将它们放置在一个长约1厘米，宽1厘米的Anecova AneVivo设备中培养，这一设备无需麻醉剂即可无痛注射至女性体内，从诊所回家的路上受精过程就已经发生。
The HFEA agreed at a meeting last month that there was no evidence the technique was unsafe. However, it cautioned that there was also no evidence so far it was more effective than standard IVF and might ’add an unnecessary cost to patients’.
上个月HFEA在一次会议上表示目前尚未有任何证据表明这种技术不安全。然而，它警告称目前也没有任何证据表明它比标准的试管婴儿技术更有效，它或可能“为病人增加不必要的开销”。