Universidad Nacional de Moreno

Departamento Ciencias Aplicadas y Tecnología INGLÉS I

Licenciatura en Biotecnología – CURSADA DE VERANO

ASSIGNMENT 6

1.- Warmup: Watch the following video “The ethical dilemma of designer babies” and write
down keywords.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOHbn8Q1fBM&t=8s (up to 5:02)

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2.- Pre-reading: Read the title, the first paragraph, take a look at the image and write down
your reading hypothesis in Spanish.

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First genetically modified humans could exist within

two years
Sarah Knapton, SCIENCE EDITOR
12 NOVEMBER 2015 • 5:45PM

Humans who have had their DNA genetically

modified could exist within two years after a
private biotech company announced plans to start
the first trials into a ground-breaking new
technique.

Editas Medicine, which is based in the US, said it

plans to become the first lab in the world to ‘genetically edit’ the DNA of patients suffering from
a genetic condition – in this case the blinding disorder ‘leber congenital amaurosis’.

The disorder prevents normal function of the retina; the light-sensitive layer of cells at the back
of the eye. It appears at birth or in the first months of life and eventually sufferers can go
completely blind.

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 Universidad Nacional de Moreno
Departamento Ciencias Aplicadas y Tecnología INGLÉS I
Licenciatura en Biotecnología – CURSADA DE VERANO

The rare inherited disease is caused by defects in a gene which instructs the creation of a
protein that is essential to vision.
But scientists at Editas Medicine in the US believe they can fix the mutated DNA using the
ground-breaking gene-editing technology Crispr.

Katrine Bosley, the chief executive of Editas Medicine, told a conference in the US that the
company hopes to start trialling the technology on blind patients in 2017.

It would be the first time the technology has been used on humans. Gene editing is currently
banned in the US, so the company would need special permission from health regulators.

“It feels fast, but we are going at the pace science allows,” Bosley told the EmTech conference
in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Crispr, which stands for Clustered, Regularly Interspaced, Short Palindromic Repeat, is a
naturally-occurring defence mechanism used by bacteria.

Bacteria carry in their DNA strands of genetic code belonging to viruses so that they can
recognise them when they come near. When they spot a virus they release an enzyme which
attacks, snipping away this area of code.

Scientists have harnessed this mechanism to use as a kind of ‘molecular scissors’ which
removes mutated areas of DNA.

But the technology is controversial because it fundamentally changes a person’s genetic code
which can then be passed down to offspring. Critics also worry it could have unintended
consequences for other parts of the genome and could lead to designer babies.

In April, China was ordered to ‘rein in’ scientists who had engineered non-viable embryos to
modify the gene responsible for the fatal blood disorder thalassaemia.

But Prof Darren Griffin, Professor of Genetics at the University of Kent, said the new treatment
offered real hope for people with genetic conditions: “CRISPR technology is offering a range of
exciting applications including treatment options for genetic diseases.

“Hereditary eye disease in an obvious place to start given that there is already precedent in
classical gene therapy.

“The “engineering the perfect baby” argument is, in my opinion, a red herring when the
alternative is children losing their sight.”

According to the MIT Technology Review, patients in the Editas trial would have a ‘soup of
viruses’ injected into their eye, loaded with instructions to delete around 1,000 DNA letters from
a gene called CEP290 in a patient’s photoreceptor cells.

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 Universidad Nacional de Moreno
Departamento Ciencias Aplicadas y Tecnología INGLÉS I
Licenciatura en Biotecnología – CURSADA DE VERANO

If successful similar treatments could work for several thousand inherited disorders caused by
gene mistakes such as Huntington’s disease and cystic fibrosis.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2016/03/15/first-genetically-modified-humans-could-exist-within-two-years/
(modified for educational purposes)

3.- Reading Comprehension: State if the following sentences are true or false and justify your
answer by marking the information in the text.

a) There are many labs in the world that genetically edit the DNA of patients who suffer from a
genetic condition.

b) The US prohibits gene editing.

c) The technology doesn’t modify a person’s genetic code.

d) Strands of genetic code that belong to virus’ are carried in the bacteria’s DNA

e) If the treatment is successful, it could be used for several thousand inherited disorders.

4.- Tenses: Match the tense with it’s use.

Tense Use
Present Continuous Definite action in the past.
Present Perfect Completed action before another one in the past
Simple Past Action that takes place at the time of speaking (now).
Simple Present Future facts or predictions.
Past Perfect To talk about experiences when the time of the action is not
important or known.
Simple Future Routines or facts.

 Now, find an example for three of these tenses and write them down below
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5.- Relative Clauses and Pronouns: What are they?

 Humans who have had their DNA genetically modified could exist within two years.
 CRISPR, which stands for Clustered, Regularly Interspaced, Short Palindromic
Repeat, is a naturally-occurring defense mechanism used by bacteria.

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 Universidad Nacional de Moreno
Departamento Ciencias Aplicadas y Tecnología INGLÉS I
Licenciatura en Biotecnología – CURSADA DE VERANO

 (…) The creation of a protein that is essential to vision.

 CRISPR has great potential that is attracting the attention of researchers around the
world.

What do these sentences have in common? Discuss 

6.- Translation: Translate the underlined paragraphs.

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7.- Moodle: Go to the Campus, watch the video about relative clauses and, then, do the
activities stated there.