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概括：The report marks the first time that scientists have produced direct evidence that human embryonic stem cells may have helped a patient. The cells had only previously been tested in the laboratory or in animals.
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Rob Stein
Steven Schwartz
UCLA
Human embryonic stem cells have generated a lot of excitement and a lot of controversy, but no results yet - at least not in human patients. Well, scientists are now reporting the first hints that the cells may have helped someone get better. Two women appear to have unexpectedly regained some vision while volunteering for a preliminary study. As NPR's Rob Stein reports, everyone involved in the work is being extremely cautious about how they interpret the results so far. The provocative news is about two patients with progressive, incurable eye diseases. Steven Schwartz of UCLA is leading the research and describes their conditions this way. "If you wanted to imagine what one of these patients was going through, you could hold the palm of your hand about one inch from your nose and look straight ahead. You'd see a huge blind spot. If you look down to the right or the left, the palm of your hand or the blind spot would move with you. So wherever you look, you can't see." Eventually, patients with macular degeneration often lose their ability to read, recognize faces, drive, work, even go outside on their own. Now, the main goal of this study is really just to see whether it's safe to inject cells made from human embryonic stem cells into someone's eye.