Clone Farm
Factory farming could soon enter a new era of mass production. Companies in the US are developing the technology needed to clone chickens on a massive scale. Once a chicken with desirable traits has been bred or genetically engineered, tens of thousands of eggs, which will hatch into identical copies, could roll off the production lines every hour. Billions of clones could be produced each year to supply chicken farms with birds that all grow at the same rate, have the same amount of meat and taste the same.
This, at least, is the vision of the USs National Institute of Science and Technology, which has given Origen Therapeutics of Burlingame, California, and Embrex of North Carolina $4.7 million to help fund research. The prospect has alarmed animal welfare groups, who fear it could increase the suffering of farm birds.
Thats unlikely to put off the poultry industry, however, which wants disease resistant birds that grow faster on less food. Producers would like the same meat quantity but to use reduced inputs to get there, says Mike Fitzgerald of Origen. To meet this demand, Origen aims to create an animal that is effectively a clone, he says. Normal cloning doesnt work in birds because eggs cant be removed and implanted, Instead, the company is trying to bulk-grow embryonic stem cells taken from fertilized eggs as soon as theyre laid. The trick is to culture the cells without them starting to distinguish, so they remain pluripotent, says Fitzgerald.
Using a long-established technique, these donor cells will then be injected into the embryo of a freshly laid, fertilized recipient egg, forming a chick that is a chimera. Strictly speaking a chimera isnt a clone, because it contains cells from both donor and recipient. But Fitzgerald says it will be enough if, say, 95 percent of a chickens body develops from donor cells. In the poultry world, it doesnt matter if its not 100 percent, he says.
Another challenge for Origen is to scale up production. To do this, it has teamed up with Embrex, which produces machines that can inject vaccines into up to 50,000 eggs an hour. Embrex is now trying to modify the machines to locate the embryo and inject the cells into precisely the right spot without killing it.
In future, Origen imagines freezing stem cells from different strains of chicken. If orders come in for a particular strain, millions of eggs could be produced in months or even weeks. At present, maintaining all the varieties the market might call for is too expensive for breeders, and it takes years to bread enough chickens to produce the billions of eggs that farmers need.
41.Which statement is the best description of the new era of factory farming according to the first paragraph?
A. Eggs are all genetically engineered.
B. Thousands of eggs are produced every hour.
C. Cloned chickens are bulk-produced with the same growth rate, weight and taste.
D. Identical eggs can be hatched on the production lines.
42. Which institution has offered $4.7 million to fund the research?
A. The USs National Institute of Science and Technology.
B. Origen therapeutics of Burlingame, California.
C. Embrex of North Carolina.
D. Animal welfare groups.
43. In the third paragraph, by saying Producers would like the same meat quantity but to use reduced inputs to get there. Mike Fitzgerald means that he wishes
A. chickens quality could be maintained but with less investment.
B. chickens taste could be improved but at less costs.
C. chickens growth rate could be quickened but with less inputs.
D. chickens could grow to the same weight but with less feed.
44. Which of the following statements about Origen and Embrex is correct according to the fifth paragraph?
A. Origen and Embrex will jointly invent machines to increase production.
B. Origen wants to purchase an efficient donor cells injecting machine.
C. Origen has joined hands with Embrex in producing cell-injecting machines.
D. Origen is the leading company in producing embryo-locating machines.
45. The technology of freezing stem cells from different strains of chicken can do all the following EXCEPT that
A. farmers can order certain strains of chicken only.
B. Origen can supply all the strains of chicken the market might need.
C. chicken farmers order certain strains of chicken for economic reasons.
D. chicken farmers can be supplied with whatever strain they need.
2017届高三(人教版)英语复习全国通用活页作业38
2017届高三(人教版)英语复习全国通用活页作业33
2017年高考英语语法复习专题巧突破 第一部分 专项专讲:介词(短语)(含2017试题)
2017届高三(人教版)英语复习全国通用活页作业23
2017年高考英语语法复习专题巧突破 第二部分 专项专练: 动词和动词短语(含详解,含押题)
2017年高考英语语法复习专题巧突破 第一部分 专项专讲:动词和动词短语(含2017试题)
2017届高三(人教版)英语复习全国通用活页作业27
2017届高三(人教版)英语复习全国通用活页作业28
2017届高考英语(课标全国)一轮复习课件:语法突破 第1讲(冠词)
2017届高三(人教版)英语复习全国通用活页作业22
2017届高考英语一轮复习单元提升:选修8 Unit 1 The written word(译林版)
2017年高考英语语法复习专题巧突破 第二部分 专项专练: 名词、冠词和代词(含详解,含押题)
2017届高三(人教版)英语复习全国通用活页作业26
2017届高考英语一轮复习单元提升:选修9 Unit 1、2(译林版)
2017届高三(人教版)英语复习全国通用活页作业35
2017年高考英语语法复习专题巧突破 第二部分 专项专练: 特殊句式及其他(含详解,含押题)
2017届高考英语一轮复习单元提升:选修8 Unit 2 The universal language(译林版)
2017届高三(人教版)英语复习全国通用活页作业29
2017届高考英语一轮复习单元提升:选修10 Unit 3、4(译林版)
2017届高三(人教版)英语复习全国通用活页作业32
2017届高三(人教版)英语复习全国通用活页作业19
2017年高考英语语法复习专题巧突破 第一部分 专项专讲:情景交际(含2017试题)
2017届高考英语(课标全国)一轮复习课件:写作提升 第9讲
2017届高三(人教版)英语复习全国通用活页作业20
2017届高考英语(课标全国)一轮复习课件:语法突破 第2讲
2017年高考英语语法复习专题巧突破 第二部分 专项专练: 情态动词和虚拟语气(含详解,含押题)
2017届高考英语(课标全国)一轮复习课件:写作提升 第13讲
2017届高考英语一轮复习单元提升:必修1 Unit 2 Growing pains(译林版)
2017届高三(人教版)英语复习全国通用活页作业39
2017届高考英语(课标全国)一轮复习课件:写作提升 第12讲
不限 |
英语教案 |
英语课件 |
英语试题 |
不限 |
不限 |
上册 |
下册 |
不限 |