Match the English word combinations in the left-hand column with the Russian equivalents in the right-hand column

1. biotech process 2. control biological processes 3. a means of meeting societal needs 4. use biological systems 5. molecular level 6. genetic manipulation 7. gene transfer 8. DNA cell 9. reproductive cloning 10. forensic biotechnology 11. identical copy 12. software tool 13. bioprocess engineering 14. сhemical engineering

a. контролировать биологические процессы b. химическая технология c. молекулярный уровень d. применение биотехнологий в судебной практике e. инструментальное программное средство f. инженерия биопроцессов g. генетическое воздействие h. трансплантация гена i. идентичная копия j. репродуктивное клонирование k. средство удовлетворения социальных потребностей l. биологический процесс m. использовать биологические системы n. клетка ДНК

Scan Text 1 below to determine whether the statements are true (T) or false (F) and if they are false say why.

In my opinion it is true that… I’m afraid it is false that … because…

1. Biotechnology can be defined as the use of living systems, organisms, or parts of organisms to manipulate natural processes in order to develop products, systems, or environments to benefit people.

2. About 4,000–8,000 years ago, humans began using microorganisms to make products like beer, wine, yoghurt, cheese and bread. People were also beginning to use organisms or organisms’ products in medicine.

3. The scientists began to apply components of microorganisms at the molecular level to solve human problems thousands of years ago.

4. In the 1970s and 80s, many techniques were developed for working with HGH that contributed to our ability to sequence genomes from many organisms.

5. There can be considered three aspects of biotechnology: transgenic biotechnology, reproductive cloning, forensic biotechnology.

6. Bioinformatics helps analyze and catalogue the biological pathways and networks that are an important part of systems biology.

7. Biorobotics studies how to make biological organisms as manipulable and functional as robots, or make biological organisms as components of robots.

TEXT 1

WHAT IS BIOTECHNOLOGY?

The term “biotechnology” is familiar to most of us, but what does it mean? Biotechnology can be defined as the use of technology to control biological processes as a means of meeting societal needs.

“Biotechnology,” or “biotech” for short, refers to the application of biological research techniques to develop products and processes using biological systems, living organisms or derivatives of organisms. Biotech processes have been used for thousands of years, yet the industry we know today is scarcely more than a quarter century old. Bread, cheese and beer - all products made from microorganisms - have been part of the human diet for 6,000 years. But it was not until the 1970s that scientists began to apply components of these microorganisms at the molecular level to solve human problems in spheres ranging from medicine to agriculture and industry. Due to this breadth of applications, the term “biotechnology” gradually gave way to the more accurate “biotechnologies,” or a collection of techniques that apply cellular and molecular characteristics and processes to solve human problems. Such techniques are applied at the molecular level and include genetic manipulation, gene transfer, DNA typing and cloning, or microorganisms, plants and animals. Biotech products or “biologics,” as they are sometimes called, thus originate from living organisms - bacteria, cells or animals.

There can be considered four aspects of biotechnology:

· Transgenic biotechnology - the splicing of DNA from one species into another.

· Reproductive cloning - the production of mammals through cloning.

· Cell reprogramming - the production of needed cell types through the reprogramming of genomes.

· Forensic biotechnology - the use of biotechnology to establish identities (of criminals, of crime victims, and so forth).

Transgenic biotechnology. In the mid-1980s biotechnology produced synthetic HGH (human growth hormone): a gene was taken from one species (a human being) and spliced into another species (a bacterium). With this, the bacterium became a transgenic organism: an organism whose genome has stably incorporated one or more genes from another species.

Transgenic organisms that are used to produce a number of medicines and vaccines include bacteria, yeast, hamster cells, and mammals such as goats. Transgenic food crops are planted in abundance.

Reproductive cloning. A clone is a genetically identical copy of a biological entity. Genes can be cloned, as can cells. Reproductive cloning is the process of making adult clones of mammals of a defined genotype with desired traits. A cell can be made transgenic for such a trait and then used as the donor DNA cell in producing an adult mammal with the trait.

Cell reprogramming. Two promising methods now exist for generating human cells that are needed to treat victims of accident or disease: production through embryonic stem cells and production through induced pluripotent stem cells. Both methods employ the reprogramming of cells to yield desired cell types.

Forensic biotechnology. Identities of criminals, biological fathers, and disaster victims often are established through the use of forensic DNA typing.

Forensic DNA typing usually works through comparisons of short tandem repeat patterns that are found in all human genomes.

In many instances, biotechnology is also dependent on knowledge and methods from outside the sphere of biology including:

Bioinformatics (a new brand of computer science) - an interdisciplinary field that develops methods and software tools for understanding biological data.

Bioprocess engineering deals with studying, the design and development of equipment and various biotechnological processes for manufacturing products such as agriculture, food, feed, pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, chemicals, and polymers and paper from biological materials.

Biorobotics studies how to make robots that emulate or simulate living biological organisms mechanically or even chemically. They are created and designed by artificial means.

Chemical engineering designs large-scale processes that convert chemicals, raw materials, living cells, microorganisms and energy into useful forms and products.

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