小小药片作用大 白发变黑发
One gray fiber is enough to shatter a life. Even if someone has 20 million dark hairs on her head, this single strand can create a tremendous cascade of grief.
Someday soon, gray hair may be forever postponed by taking a pill that would prevent the estimated 110,000 hairs on the average head from going gray.
"It could be like using toothpaste to prevent tooth decay," said Gummer, a senior research fellow at Procter & Gamble labs in London, U.K..
The possibility of tinkering with the scalp's genes to prevent the onset of graying gained momentum four years ago when scientists made an albino mouse turn black in one patch.
Vitaly Alexeev of Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia created molecules of DNA that, when introduced to the mutant DNA within the albino mouse's hair follicles, corrected the mutation and restored pigment to its hair.
"The mutation was corrected," said Alexeev. "The hair turned black."
For Alexeev, the experiment was exciting because it presented a new method that doctors could use to treat painful genetic skin disorders, such as epidermolysis bullosa, a condition that creates open sores and blisters on the skin's surface.
"As a localized treatment, it might lessen the pain and perhaps ease this very painful disease," said Alexeev.
For cosmetic scientists, meanwhile, it offered a different kind of potential. If the gene therapy could make the white hair of an albino mouse turn black, it should also help banish gray hair - without dyes.
"I do think we'll achieve it within 10 years, but the challenges in delivering it will be quite hard," said Gummer.
In fact, most agree there are some formidable hurdles yet ahead since the target is a complex one.
(Agencies)
一根灰白的头发就足以破坏你的生活，即使一个人头上有两千万根黑发，这一缕白发也会给你带来巨大的悲伤。
不久的将来，只要服用一种药片也许就可以永久推迟头发变白。服用这种药片能够防止普通人头上大约11万根头发变白。
“这就像用牙膏来防止蛀牙一样,”宝洁公司英国伦敦实验室的高级研究员冈默说。
四年前，科学家已经可以使患白化病的老鼠的一小块皮毛变黑，这为研究修补头皮基因来防止头发变灰的可能性提供了动力。
费城杰斐逊医学院的维塔利·阿莱克谢耶夫研究出一种DNA分子。把这种分子引入白化病老鼠的毛囊里发生突变的DNA中可以纠正突变分子，恢复毛发颜色。
“突变被纠正了，毛发就变黑了。”阿莱克谢耶夫说。
对于阿莱克谢耶夫来说，这次实验是令人振奋的，因为它提出了一种新方法，医生们可以用这种新方法来治疗棘手的遗传性皮肤疾病，比如表皮分解性水疱症，这种病会使皮肤表面产生暴露的伤口和水疱。
“作为一种局部治疗，它也许可以减轻疼痛，缓解这种极其痛苦的症状。”阿莱克谢耶夫说。
对化妆品研究学家来说，它同时提供了另一种潜在的使用价值。如果基因疗法能使患白化病的老鼠毛发变黑，那不用染发剂而使用基因疗法也应该有助于消除灰白头发。
“我相信我们能在十年内做到，但是制造这种东西所面临的挑战是艰巨的。”冈默说。
事实上，大多数人同意，前方还有一些难以克服的障碍，因为这一目标非常复杂。
tinker: 修补
albino: 白化病
hair follicle: 毛囊
gene therapy: 基因疗法
(中国日报网站译)
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