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Politics-driven Graham-named Russia sanctions bill exposes US political coercion in global energy supply chains: expert_我的网站

阿凡达

A | 当谈到人体器官时，大脑和它们一样复杂，同样，它也是一个非常难以研究的对象。

File picture of US Capitol. Photo: VCG
The US Senate on Friday overwhelmingly approved a bill that would impose sanctions on buyers of Russian oil, a measure that had long been championed by the late senator Lindsey Graham before his death last month, CNBC reported. A Chinese expert criticized the legislation, warning that if implemented, the bill, driven largely by political motives aimed at catering to US domestic political correctness, could severely disrupt the already fragile global energy market and economy. He also noted that the bill is essentially a tool of political coercion, weaponizing tariffs and unilateral sanctions to hijack normal global energy trade and override sovereign economic choices of independent nations.
The legislation, named The Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, aims to hurt Russia's war effort in Ukraine by penalizing purchasers of Russian oil and Russian leaders. It passed with bipartisan support 86-11 and will now proceed to the House, which is on recess until September, per CNBC.
The bill would impose tariffs of up to 100 percent on countries that are among the top five purchasers of Russian crude oil or gas, which includes China and India.
It also includes sanctions targeting Russian leaders, officials, targeting Russian leaders, oligarchs and financial institutions. At the request of US President Donald Trump, the bill extends sanctions on Iran's weapons and energy sectors, CNBC reported.
Notably, the bill's excessive tariff discretion has sparked fierce internal doubts within US political circles. Representatives Gregory Meeks of New York and Don Beyer of Virginia said in a statement they still had "fundamental concerns" about the tariff powers for the president, who has made them a central piece of his "America First" approach to foreign policy.
"What the bill does grant ... are sweeping new tariff authorities that the president could weaponize with abandon, as he has repeatedly done in the past," said Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Beyer, the senior Democrat on the Joint Economic Committee, according to Reuters.
Chinese experts have strongly criticized the bill's politically driven nature, its economic coercion, and its severe spillover risks to the global economy.
The bill, aimed at putting pressure on Russia, would disrupt global energy markets and create new uncertainties for the world economy if implemented, Yang Jin, associate research fellow at the Institute of Russian, Eastern European and Central Asian Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times.
Many economies retain legitimate, market-based energy cooperation with Russia out of practical economic and energy security needs. Russia's energy exports have long been a key component of the global energy system, with countries including India and some European nations continuing to rely on Russian oil and gas, said Yang, noting that even some European countries have received exemptions to maintain energy imports from Russia, underscoring the role of Russian supplies in supporting economic stability.
India's reliance on Russian crude increased further after the conflict in West Asia disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. With Gulf supplies affected during the US war on Iran, Indian refiners turned more heavily towards Russian oil as an alternative source, Indian media Hindustan Times reported on Saturday after US Senate passed the bill.
When asked about the bill on July 15, Lin Jian, spokesperson from China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that China firmly opposes unilateral sanctions that have no basis in international law or authorization of the UN Security Council, and will take necessary measures to firmly defend the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese businesses and citizens.
Practicing double standards and resorting to coercion and pressuring will eventually prove to be self-defeating, said Lin.
Yang further pointed out that the push for the bill, labeled after Lindsey Graham, who was known as one of the toughest Russia hawks in Washington, lays bare Washington's distorted domestic political logic.
The legislation, which represents another typical case of US hegemonic long-arm jurisdiction, is largely designed to ease US domestic governance pressure. As the Trump administration fails to deliver substantive progress in de-escalating the Russia-Ukraine conflict as promised, ramping up external sanctions and forcing third-party sovereign countries into abandoning normal economic and trade cooperation has become a convenient political tool for US politicians to showcase tough posturing and ease domestic pressure, Yang said.
。近年来，我们看到科学家在实验室培养的大脑器官方面取得了令人印象深刻的进展。这些干细胞开始接触生长因子，以刺激其成熟为不同类型的脑细胞，然后将其组装成类似于大脑中的三维结构。这不会产生意识，但确实为科学家提供了一个研究癫痫、自闭症、精神分裂症等疾病的模型，并研究不同药物的效果。

B | 我们还看到了一些版本的脑器官，它们能够生长出自己的血管，发出电信号，甚至生长出能够感知光线的基本眼睛。去年，斯坦福大学医学院精神病学和行为科学教授Sergiu Pasca共同撰写了一份关于20个月大的实验室培养的大脑器官的研究。在这项工作之前，人们认为实验室培养的大脑没有能力成熟到相当于胎儿发育的阶段。这项研究证明，这些有机体可以像人脑一样成熟，遵循内部时钟，在与体内发育平行的时间轴上达到产后成熟度。虽然Pasca和该领域的其他人继续开发代表不同大脑区域的先进有机体，如大脑皮层，但在培养皿中研究这些结构有其局限性。Pasca说：“我们一直在使用有机体和它们的复杂组合在培养皿里制作越来越复杂的电路，称为组装体。但是，与你在自然发育的人类大脑中看到的情况相比，这些实验皿中的神经元在发育方面仍然落后。许多挑战--例如缺乏营养物质和生长因子、形成血管的内皮细胞或感觉输入--阻碍了实验皿中的发育。”在他们的最新工作中，Pasca和他的团队将类似于人类大脑皮层的大脑器官移植到近100只幼鼠体内。

C | 这些幼鼠两三天大，相当于人类的婴儿期，在这个阶段被植入，以便器官可以形成连接并与它们自己的大脑共同进化。不久之后，大鼠内皮细胞迁移到人体组织中，形成血管，为其提供营养和信号能力，以处理废物。大鼠大脑中的免疫细胞紧随其后，在移植的组织中自成一体。从那以后，植入的器官组织不仅存活下来，而且成长到占据了它们被植入的大鼠大脑半球的大约三分之一的位置。来自器官的单个神经元也迅速生长，在大鼠大脑中形成了与啮齿类动物天然大脑电路的连接，包括与丘脑区域的连接，该区域负责传递来自身体的感觉信息。Pasca表示：“这种连接可能为人类神经元的最佳成熟和整合提供了必要的信号。”科学家们随后将目光转向了疾病，利用来自蒂莫西综合症患者的皮肤细胞创建了一个类器官，蒂莫西综合症是一种与自闭症和癫痫有关的大脑疾病。这个类器官被移植到老鼠大脑的一侧，而由健康受试者的细胞创建的类器官被移植到另一侧作为对照。五到六个月后，这显示了电活动的明显差异，而蒂莫西综合症的神经元也小得多，并且具有较少的信号结构，称为树突。

D | Pasca说：“通过研究保存在培养皿中的器官，我们已经了解了很多关于蒂莫西综合症的情况。

E | 但只有通过移植，我们才能看到这些与神经元活动有关的差异。”但最引人注目的发现来自于旨在衡量混合大脑处理感官信息能力的实验。将空气吹向大鼠的胡须，科学家们发现这使得人类的神经元有了电的反应。

F | 另一个实验涉及经过改造的器官，使其对蓝光作出反应，蓝光通过超薄光纤电缆施放。

G | 蓝光脉冲被用来激活这些神经元，只有在这些蓝光事件发生后，大鼠才能获得水。这发生在一个为期15天的"训练期"，教导大鼠，这些神经元的激活意味着奖励即将到来，促使它们在期待中窜向水口。大鼠学会了将蓝光刺激与水的供应联系起来，这表明植入的人体组织可以作为大鼠大脑寻求奖励电路的一部分发挥作用。奥地利分子生物技术研究所科学主任Jürgen Knoblich博士说：“研究人员表明，人类神经元在被激活时，会干扰大鼠的行为，”他没有参与这项研究。