Объясните значение следующих слов и словосочетаний:

to revolutionize our life, biodefence, human disorder, AIDS.

3. Задайте вопросы к выделенным словам в следующих предложениях:

Biotechnology made it possible to produce recombinant insulin in large quantities.

Аn explosive development in Life Sciences and in particular in Molecular Genetics-deciphering of the human genome led to newly acquired molecular knowledge.

Biotechnology impacts on almost every human activity including health care, food industry and security.

For over two decades researchers have been trying to study the molecular origin of a large number of human diseases.

Genetic discoveries have significantly advanced our understanding of major illnesses such as cancer, diabetes, AIDS, arthritis, osteoporosis.

Virtually every human disorder has an inherited (genetic) component.

The underlying molecular mechanisms are responsible for the development of a disease.

Pharmaceutical companies, Biotech SMEs, and cutting edge University research groups compete in the race for the most rapid production of high efficacy drugs with less adverse effects.

4. Переведите следующие предложения на английский язык:

1) Производство новых высокоэффективных лекарств должно отвечать высоким требованиям рынка.

2) Достижения в области биотехнологии и молекулярной генетики помогли бесплодным семьям иметь детей.

3) Биотехнология оказывает влияние на многие сферы человеческой деятельности: здравоохранение, производство пищи, безопасность.

4) Крупные научные достижения привлекают внимание растущего числа ученых, средств массовой информации, общественности.

5) Используя новейшие знания в области происхождения болезней, возможности биотехнологии и молекулярной генетики, ученые могут помочь миллионам больных людей во всем мире.

5. Ответьте на следующие вопросы:

1. What were the main achievements in the field of biotechnology in the early eighties?

2. In what fields of science and spheres of human life can newly acquired molecular knowledge be applied?

3. Why does the development of biotechnological science attract to such a great degree the attention of increasing number of scientists? Why are unprecedented investments made in bio-related projects?

4. What information about biotechnological developments do you know from the mass media and other sources?

5. What knowledge do recent genetic discoveries bring us? How are they interconnected with advances in the field of biotechnology?

6. What are the crucial steps towards the production of novel drugs? How do you understand them?

Назовите смежные науки биотехнологии. Что Вы о них знаете?

7. Расскажите о развитии достижений в области биотехнологии и смежных наук, используя данные ниже указатели времени. Переведите, запомните их и составьте с ними свои предложения, используя лексику текста:

in the late seventies/early eighties, since then, nowadays, during the end of the second decade, for over two decades, within the last few years, in the years to come, in the 21 century.

SUPPLEMENTARY READING

PRINCIPLES OF BIOTECHNOLOGY

Biotechnology Defined

Biotechnology can be broadly defined as "using living organisms or their products for commercial purposes." As such, biotechnology has been practiced by human society since the beginning of recorded history in such activities as baking bread, brewing alcoholic beverages, or breeding food crops or domestic animals.

A narrower and more specific definition of biotechnology is "the commercial application of living organisms or their products, which involves the deliberate manipulation of their DNA molecules" (see glossary for definitions of bold-print words). This definition implies a set of laboratory techniques developed within the last 20 years that have been responsible for the tremendous scientific and commercial interest in biotechnology, the founding of many new companies, and the redirection of research efforts and financial resources among established companies and universities. These laboratory techniques provide scientists with a spectacular vision of the design and function of living organisms, and provide technologists in many fields with the tools to implement exciting commercial applications.

Principles of Biology

All living organisms are composed of cells that contain a substance called DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) in the chromosomes. The structure of DNA molecules contains information that is used by cells as a "recipe" for the organism; that is, the characteristics of any living thing essentially are determined by the information in DNA. The "words" for the DNA recipe, called genes, are derived from a 4-letter alphabet (A, C, G, T) and usually contain between 1,000 and 100,000 letters. The entire recipe, called the genome, may contain between 4 million (simple bacteria) and 3 billion (human) letters or more.

Except for the sequence and number of letters in each recipe, DNA from any organism is chemically and physically the same. One of the great scientific discoveries of biotechnology is that DNA from any organism will function if it is transferred into any other organism!