A scientist points out the location of the interstitium in the human body. CFP
你也许会认为，在研究解剖学几个世纪后，我们已经对人体几乎无所不知。然而，如果《科学报告》杂志3月27日的一篇论文的作者所言正确的话，科学家们一直都忽略了一件重要的事情。事实上，他们也许忽略了一件相当重要的事情——人体最大的器官。
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.
纽约大学医学院的研究者们发现了一种遍布人体全身的、充满液体的结缔组织。研究者们表示，这种组织位于皮肤表面之下、我们的器官之间、围绕着血管并且沿着肌肉之间的组织分布。他们称其为间质组织。
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.
多年来，由于科学家们研究人体组织的常用方法存在问题，他们一直没有发现这一器官。他们先用化学物质处理组织样本，然后将其置于显微镜下观察。然而在这个过程中，组织中的液体流失，导致间质也随之分解。通过使用一种新的成像技术，研究者们发现了这些由液体组成的组织，这使得他们能够在显微镜下检验活体组织。
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.
直到现在，占人体16%的皮肤仍然被视为人体最大的器官。但是，纽约大学朗格尼医学中心的病理学家、该研究的合著者之一的尼尔·泰泽在接受CNN采访时表示，间质占人体体积的20%，比皮肤还多4%。这“相当于一个年轻人体内含有10升这样的液体，”泰泽说道。
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.
该研究的作者表示，间质的作用是保护人体的器官，就像一个“减震器”一样。间质同时也运输着淋巴液，其中含有抗感染的白细胞。
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.
这些发现如果获得认可的话，人们有望对一些问题有更深入的认识，比如，为什么随着年龄的增长我们的皮肤会起皱纹，为什么我们会四肢僵硬，某些疾病是如何在人体内扩散的。间质也许也可以解释为什么癌细胞可以在人体内转移。
According to Business Insider, the new organ may also shine some light on the success of techniques like acupuncture.
据商业内幕网报道，这种新器官或许也为针灸等技艺的成功带来一些启示。
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.
网状组织是种新器官的可能性表明，无论现代医疗多么先进，我们还有很长的一段路要走。
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