Read interesting facts about cloning, discuss them and find your own.

Did you know…?

􀀹 Dolly the cloned sheep was named after country singer Dolly Parton, because she started life as a mammary cell.

􀀹 We leave our DNA around all the time, everywhere: on the door, on the table, on the keyboard… For the moment we couldn’t clone from it, but hey, perhaps later we may be able to clone you from the tiny bits of DNA you leave about!

􀀹 Humans have far fewer genes than expected at 35,000 to 42,000, compared to the nematode worm with 18,000 and the fruit fly with 13,000. However, scientists say we may still have more – we don’t know the whole genome set yet and we may have missed some genes.

􀀹 The difference between humans and fruit flies or worms is that human genes work differently, are capable of multitasking, and we have more control genes.

􀀹 Most mutations occur in males.

􀀹 In each of our cells, there are six feet of DNA packed into a chromosome only 0.0004 inches across.

􀀹 Lining up all of the DNA in the human body, it would reach to the sun and back more than 600 times.

􀀹 The information would fill 200 500-page telephone directories.

􀀹 Our DNA is 99.9% identical to all other members of the human race.

Talk with your partner(s) about cloning the people / animals in the table. What are the pros and cons of each? Change partners and share your ideas.

_____ dogs to sniff out drugs at airports

_____ yourself

_____ super-intelligent scientists

_____ expert soldiers

_____ cows that produce lots of milk

_____ world class sports stars

_____ very kind voluntary workers

_____ endangered species

Grammar: Phrasal verbs.

 

A phrasal verb is a combination of a verb and preposition, a verb and an adverb, or a verb with both an adverb and a preposition.

 

A phrasal verb has a meaning, which is different from the original verb. That's what makes them fun, but confusing. You may need to try to guess the meaning from the context, or, failing that, look it up in a dictionary.

 

The adverb or prepositions that follow the verb are sometimes called a particle. The particle changes the meaning of the phrasal verb in idiomatic ways.

 

They are also known as ‘compound verbs’, ‘verb-adverb combinations’, ‘verb-particle constructions", “two-part words/verbs’ and ‘three-part words/verbs’ (depending on the number of words).

 

Phrasal verbs are usually used informally in everyday speech as opposed to the more formal Latinate verbs, such as “to get together” rather than “to congregate”, “to put off” rather than “to postpone”, or “to get out” rather than “to exit”. They should be avoided in academic writing.

 

Translate sentences and pay attention to the underlined adverbs in these sentences.

Example: There`s a film on television. Can I put it on?

 

1) We finished all the food up.

2) I`m writing in pencil so I can rub out my mistake.

3) Martin didn`t answer. He just went on reading.

4) A woman in the audience shouted something out.

5) I`ll just read over what I`ve written.

6) The water was off for an hour today.

7) Ellie has an aggressive manner that frightens people off.

8) The company is trying to get its costs down.

9) The embassy was burnt down by terrorists.

10) I`ve got this form that I have to fill out.

11) Social workers were giving out soup to the hungry.

12) The boss is optimistic. The sales figures are moving up again.

Put in the correct adverb.

1) Everything is so expensive. Prices seem to go up all the time. – Yes, and the government is supposed to be bringing inflation____________.

2) You shouldn`t leave the television__________ all night. – Sorry, I forgot. I usually turn it_________.

3) I`ve written the wrong here. – Well, rub it_________. – I can`t. It`s in biro. I`ll have to write it all ___________ again.

4) They`re going to pull________ this beautiful old building. – I know. There are some protestots handing _______ leaflets about it.

5) Hold _________ a minute. I thought I heard some call___________. – You imagined it. Come _______, or we`ll be late.

6) Why don`t you read _______ the letter so that we all know what`s in it? – Yes, and could you speak________ so that everyone can hear you.

Read the following text and translate it.

Human cloning

Human cloning is the creation of a geneticallyidentical copy of an existing or previously existinghuman. There are two commonly discussed types ofhuman cloning: therapeutic cloning and reproductivecloning. Therapeutic cloning involves cloning cellsfrom an adult for use in medicine and is an active area of research. Reproductivecloning would involve making cloned human beings. Such reproductive cloning has notbeen performed and is illegal in many countries. A third type of cloning called replacement cloning. It is a theoretical possibility, and would be a combination of therapeutic and reproductive cloning. Replacement cloning would entail the replacement of an extensively damaged, failed, or failing body through cloning followedby whole or partial brain transplant.

Some people and groups oppose therapeutic cloning, but most scientific, governmental and religious organizations oppose reproductive cloning. Many scientific organizations have made public statements suggesting that human reproductive cloning be banned until safety issues are resolved. Serious ethical concerns have been raised by the idea that it might be possible in the future to harvest organs from clones.

Some people have considered the idea of growing organs separately from a human organism - in doing this, a new organ supply could be established without the moral implications of harvesting them from humans.

American Cell Technologies created the first human hybrid human clone in November 1998. It was created from a man's leg cell, and a cow's egg whose DNA was removed. It was destroyed after 12 days.

On January 2008, Wood and Andrew French, Stemagen's chief scientific officer in California, announced that they successfully created the first 5 mature human embryos using DNA from adult skin cells, aiming to provide a source of viable embryonic stem

cells. It is not clear if the embryos produced would have been capable of further development, but Dr. Wood stated that if that were possible, using the technology for reproductive cloning would be both unethical and illegal. Thus, the 5 cloned embryos were destroyed.