4. Read the text carefully and answer these questions according to the information in the text.

1. What is genetic engineering?

2. What is GMO?

3. When were the first genetically engineered organisms?

4. Why is genetic engineering a beneficial resource?

5. Where have genetic engineering techniques been successfully used and applied?

6. Are there any reasons to doubt and fear? What fears might genetic engineering provoke in people?

7. What are advantages and disadvantages of genetic engineering?

Language Development

Present Tenses

ǃ There are four present tenses:

The Present Simple Tense, which describes general truths, complete events and unchanging or regular events or actions

Look at this sentence from the article and underline the Present Simple Tense: Genetic engineering has the potential to improve our health and well-being dramatically, revolutionize our manner of living, help us to conserve limited resources, and produce new wealth.

The Present Continuous Tense, which describes events happening at this moment or which haven’t finished happening

Look at this sentence from the article and underline the Present Continuous Tense: Scientists are currently developing plants that contain drugs and vaccines, animals with beneficial proteins in their milk and stress tolerant crops.

The Present Perfect Tense, which refers to actions or situations that began in the past and which are still true or relevant now, or are now finished

Look at this sentence from the article and underline the Present Perfect Tense: New pesticides and remote sensing have already enabled reductions in the amount of hazardous chemicals entering the ecosystem, and allowed farmers faced with an ever-expanding human population to meet the food needs of a planet.

The Present Perfect Continuous Tense, which refers to actions or events which started in the past and haven’t finished happening

Look at this sentence from the article and underline the Present Perfect Continuous Tense: Various industries have been successfully applying genetic engineering techniques for more than ten years.

For more on the Present Tenses and their use refer to English Grammar in Use by R.Murphy Units1-4 and Units 13-19

1. Fill in the gaps with the proper Present Tense. Don’t forget about the passive forms of the verb.

Another technology which 1._________ (transform) our world is genetic engineering. The most common form of genetic engineering 2.___________ (copy) segments of DNA from one species of plant or animal and 3.___________ (insert) them into another. Future generations then 4.________ (continue) to carry the modification, leading to a new plant or animal variety.

Unlike most other technologies, genetic engineering is too dangerous to allow mistakes. But mistakes 5._____________(make) already, and some genetically modified plants 6.__________ (interbreed) accidentally with native varieties, causing genetic contamination that can never be repaired.

The worldwide protest against genetically modified food 7. __________( be) successful in forcing governments to impose strict laws and regulations.

But many governments 8. ___________ (compromise) still on safety. The worst case is their failure to label food products containing genetically modified ingredients. Part of the reason for this is because contamination 9. __________ (occur) already, and it is now too difficult to determine the actual percentage of genetic modification in every day food products.

Nevertheless, many varieties of genetically modified plants and animals 10._________(be) commercially successful, and the food that they produce 11.____________ (prove) to be safe so far. New genetically modified foods more and more12.___________(approve) for sale every year.

Cloning is another form of genetic engineering. The DNA from one animal 13. __________(insert) into the egg of another. But current cloning techniques have a very low chance of success. Most clones 14. __________(fail) to develop inside the mother, many 15. ____________(die) during pregnancy, and many also 16. _____________(kill) the mother. Those that survive usually 17. _______(die) at birth, or are so deformed that they die soon after birth. Clones that survive long enough to breed often have genetic defects that are passed on to their young.

The most promising applications for genetic engineering are in medicine. The first breakthrough came in the early 1980s when a harmless bacteria was engineered to produce insulin for diabetics. Since then, the scientists 18._______________ (engineer) successfully hundreds of plants and animals to produce a wide range of medicines and vaccines.

3. Find and learn Russian equivalents for the following words and expressions:

bring about	a)
productive purposes	b)
to reap the practical rewards	c)
the process of recombining DNA	d)
Insulin-producing bacteria	e)
the oncomouse	f)
insect resistant	g)
the knockout mouse	h)
stress tolerant crops	i)
hazardous chemicals entering the ecosystem	j)