The impact of cigarette damage to unborn babies has been revealed in a new stem cell study.

在一项新的干细胞研究中，香烟对未出生婴儿的影响已经得到了揭示。

Scientists found that the cocktail¹ of chemicals in cigarettes is particularly harmful to developing liver cells.

科学家们发现，香烟中化学物质的混合物对正在发育的肝细胞伤害特别大。

They developed a method of studying the effects of maternal² smoking on liver tissue using embryonic³ stem cells.

他们开发了一种方法，用胚胎干细胞来研究母体吸烟对胎儿肝脏组织的影响。

The team, led by the University of Edinburgh, also discovered the cigarette chemicals affect male and female foetuses differently.

由爱丁堡大学为首的这个研究团队，还发现了香烟中的有害化学物质对男性胎儿和女性胎儿的影响有所不同。

During their research they used pluripotent stem cells - cells which have the ability to transform into other cell types - to build foetal liver tissue.

在他们的研究中，所使用的是多能干细胞--这种细胞能够转化成其他类型的细胞，以此来创建胎儿肝组织。

Liver cells were exposed to the harmful chemicals found in cigarettes, including specific substances known to circulate in foetuses when mothers smoke.

将胎儿肝细胞与香烟中发现的有害化学物质相接触，包括已知孕母吸烟时出现在胎儿循环中的具体物质。

The study showed that a chemical cocktail - similar to that found in cigarettes - harmed foetal liver health more than individual components⁴.

研究表明，一种化学混合物--类似于香烟中发现的物质--对胎儿肝脏健康的损害远远大于其他成分。

Dr David from the University of Edinburgh's centre for regenerative medicine, said: "Cigarette smoke is known to have damaging effects on the foetus, yet we lack appropriate tools to study this in a very detailed⁵ way.

爱丁堡大学再生医学中心的戴维博士表示：“已知香烟烟雾会对胎儿健康造成破坏性的影响，但是我们缺乏合适的工具对这个问题进行详尽的研究。”

"This new approach means that we now have sources of renewable tissue that will enable us to understand the cellular⁶ effect of cigarettes on the unborn foetus."

“这种新方法意味着我们现在有了可再生组织的来源，使我们能够了解香烟对未出生胎儿细胞的影响。”