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Biggest organ discovered
科學家發現人體最大的器官
You might think that after centuries of research into the anatomy there isn't much we don't know about the human body. But if the authors of a new paper published in Scientific Reports on March 27 are right, scientists have overlooked something big. In fact, they may have missed something really big: the largest organ in our body.
你也許會認為，在研究解剖學幾個世紀后，我們對人體幾乎已經無所不知了。然而，如果3月27日在《科學報告》雜志上發表新論文的作者所言正確的話，科學家們一直都忽略了一件大事。事實上，他們也許忽略了一件相當重要的事情——人體最大的器官。
Researchers from New York University's School of Medicine concluded that a "fluid-filled network of spaces" is spread throughout the human body. It's under the skin, between our organs, around blood vessels, and along the tissue between muscles, according to the researchers. They call this network an organ – the interstitium.
紐約大學醫學院的研究人員們發現了一種遍布人體全身、充滿液體的“網狀組織”。研究者們表示，這種組織位于我們的皮膚表層之下、器官之間、圍繞著血管并且沿著肌肉之間的組織分布。他們稱這種器官為間質組織。
Scientists didn't find the organ for years due to the way they typically study human body tissue. They treat tissue samples with chemicals and look at the samples under a microscope. But during this process the fluid is lost, causing the interstitium to collapse. The researchers discovered these fluid-filled spaces by using a new imaging technique, which allows them to examine living tissue on a microscopic level.
多年來，由于科學家們研究人體組織的常用方法存在問題，他們一直沒有發現這一器官。他們先用化學物質處理組織樣本，然后將其置于顯微鏡下觀察。然而在這個過程中，組織中的液體流失，導致間質也隨之分解。通過使用一種新的成像技術，研究者們發現了這些由液體組成的組織，這使得他們能夠在顯微鏡下檢驗活體組織。
Our skin, until now considered to be the largest human organ, accounts for about 16 percent of our body mass. But Neil Theise, a pathologist at NYU Langone Health in New York and co-author of the study, told CNN that the interstitium is bigger by 4 percent, making up 20 percent of the body's volume. This "is equivalent to about 10 liters in a young adult," Theise said.
直到現在，占人體體重16%的皮膚仍被視為人體最大的器官。但是，紐約大學朗格尼醫學中心的病理學家、該研究合著者之一的尼爾·泰澤在接受CNN采訪時表示，間質占人體體重的20%，比皮膚還多4%。這"相當于一個年輕人體內含有10升這樣的液體，"泰澤說道。
The study's authors say the interstitium's job is to protect the organs of the body, like a shock absorber. It also carries lymph, the fluid which contains infection-fighting white blood cells.
該研究的作者表示，間質的作用是保護人體器官，就像“減震器”一樣。同時，間質運輸淋巴液，后者含有抗感染的白細胞。
These findings, if they gain acceptance, promise a better understanding of questions such as why our skin wrinkles as we get older, why our limbs stiffen, and how certain diseases spread in humans. The interstitium may also help to explain why cancers that start in one place can move to other parts of the body.
這些發現如果獲得認可的話，人們有望對一些問題有更深入的認識，比如，為什么我們的皮膚隨著年齡的增長而起皺紋，為什么我們會四肢僵硬，某些疾病如何在人體內擴散的。間質也許可以解釋為什么癌細胞可以在人體內轉移。
According to Business Insider, the new organ may also shine some light on the success of techniques like acupuncture.
據商業內幕網報道，這種新器官或許也為針灸等技藝的成功帶來一些啟示。
The possibility that this network of spaces is a new organ reveals that in spite of how advanced modern medicine is, we still have a long way to go.
網狀組織是種新器官的可能性表明，無論現代醫療多么先進，我們還有很長的一段路要走。
