1 o n 1

Lesson 1: Bringing Back the Dead

s
s Bringing Back
Le the Dead
•Have you ever seen the movie Jurassic Park ?

an
scientists In this movie use genetic engineering
techniques to recreate extinct dinosaurs. With
the advances in genetic technology today, we are
now a step closer to realizing the premise of the
movie. This lesson introduces the development
of genetic engineering techniques to resurrect
extinct animals.

km In addition, you will learn:

• howtopredictthecontentofthearticlefromthetitle
• howtosummarizethemainideas
• whatcompoundadjectivesandwordpartsare
• howtouse5w1hprinciplestoconductaninterview
• howtowriteasimplenewspaperarticle
• additionalknowledgeaboutDNA

Before You Read

Discussthefollowingquestionsinasmallgroup:
oo
1.Areyouinfavorofbringingbackanimalspeciesthatareextinct?Whyorwhynot?Pleasegive
atleastthreereasons.
2.HowdoyoufeelaboutrecreatingtheNeanderthals?
3.Whatmightbetheconsequences,bothpositiveandnegative,ofresurrectingextinctanimals?

ReadingSkills,Predictingfromthetitle—pleasecarefullyreadthefollowingexplanation.
B

Thetitleofanarticleusuallygivesreadersanoverviewofthecontentofthetext.Wecanthususe
ittopredictthemainideasofanarticle,givingourimaginationssometimetopredictthecontent
beforewestarttoread.Thisisacommontechniqueusedforreadingthenewspapersincewecan
quicklylearnwhatthemajorstoriesarebysimplylookingattheheadlines.

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 Lesson 1: Bringing Back the Dead 1
For example, the key words of the title “When a parent is bipolar, kids are at risk too” are
“parents,”“bipolar”and“kids.”Whenyouseethewordsparentsandkids,youmightguessthat
thearticlewillbeaboutfamilyissues.Thewordbipolarmeansapsychiatricdisorder,soyoucan

an
predictthattheissueisrelatedtomentalhealthandthearticlemightbeabouthowbipolardisorder
ispasseddowntothechildrenfromtheirparents.

Workinsmallgroups.Readthefollowingheadlinesandpredictwhatthearticlesmightbeabout.
Ifpossible,giveyourownopinionsonthestories.

1.HeartDiseaseontheRiseinIndia
2.SeeingColorinSoundsHasGeneticLink
3.FeelingLonely?GenesMightBeatFault
4.SuicidalBehaviorMayRuninFamilies
km 5.FloridaCoupleClonesBelovedDogfor$155,000

Readthetitleofthearticlebelowandwritedownfivewordsthatyouthinkmightbeusedinthe
story.Sharethewordswithyourgroup,andworktogethertopredictwhatinformationthearticle
willpresent.

Reading

Bringing Back the Prehistoric Dead

oo
(April, 12, 2009) – Have you ever seen the movieJurassic Park ? The movie is about
recreatingdinosaursusingdinosaurDNAcontainedinawell-preservedmosquitotrapped
inamber.Theideaofthemoviemaysoundcrazy,butateamofscientistsatPennState
University,USA,isbringingusone step closertorealizingthisfantasyofbringingextinct
5 speciesback to life.

This groundbreaking achievement is being made possible by using a genome-wide
sequencingtechniquetoanalyzetheDNAofwoollymammothsfoundintheSiberian
B

permafrostthathavebeenburiedfor20,000and60,000years.Thewoollymammothisa
prehistoricspeciesofelephantwhichdisappearedattheendofthePleistoceneepoch,the
10 periodoftimefrom1.8millionto10,000yearsago.

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1 Lesson 1: Bringing Back the Dead

Scientistshaveusedmammothhairsfoundontwofrozenmammothmummiestoanalyze
theDNA.ThehairshaftofthemammothencasestheDNAlikeabiologicalplastic,so
thegeneticinformationislesspronetoenvironmentaldamageandpossiblebacterialand

an
viralcontamination.Beforethis,scientistsusuallyusedbonetissueasthesourceofDNA,
15 butthisismoresusceptibletocontamination,andisthusnotanidealsourceforcomplete,
undamagedDNAinformation.
Mostofthegeneticcodeofthewoollymammothhasnowbeenuncovered,whichprovides
thebasisforrecreatingthisalreadyextinctcreature.“Thisreallyisthefirsttimethatwe
havebeenabletostudyanextinctanimalinthesamedetailastheoneslivinginourown
20 time,”saidStephanSchuster,aPennStateUniversitybiochemistryprofessorandco-author
oftheresearch.
ScientistshaverecordedthesequenceofmorethanthreebillionDNAbuildingblocksofthe
km mammoth,enoughtoallowthemtoglimpseintothetimingofitsevolutionandnowthey
aresearchingthemammoth’sgenomeforcluesaboutitsextinction.Someexpertsbelieve
25 thatthelowgeneticdiversityofthemammothpopulationmaybeoneofthereasons.

“Bydecipheringthisgenome,wecould,intheory,generatedatathatonedaymayhelpother
researchersbringthewoollymammothbacktolifebyinsertingtheuniquelymammoth
DNAsequencesintothegenomeofthemodern-dayelephant,”Schustersaid.“Itcouldbe
done,”headded.“Thequestionis,justbecausewemightbeabletodoitoneday,should we
30 doit?”

SomeexpertsareexcitedabouttheideaofpiecingtogethercluesintheDNAofextinct
animalsandtheirmodernrelativesinthehopeofresurrectinglongdeadspecies.However,
somefearthatwemightdisturbtheentireecosystembybringingthembacktolife,arguing
oo
thatthesealready-extinctcreatureshavehadtheirchanceatsurvival,andMotherNature
35 haschosentoeliminatethem.“Theseanimalsmustbeextinctforareason,andthatshould
beenoughforustoleavethemundisturbed,”saidoneofthelabtechniciansworkingina
relatedresearchteam.
Withtherapidly-advancingtechnologytoday,geneticengineeringtechniqueswillcontinue
todevelop,whetherpeoplelikeitornot.Maybeoneday,insteadofgoingtothezootosee
40 lions,elephantsandgiraffes,wewillbegoingtoadinosaurthemepark,justliketheonein
B

“JurassicPark.”Let’sjusthopethatwewon’tsharethesamefateasthemaincharactersin
thatmovie.

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 Lesson 1: Bringing Back the Dead 1
After You Read
I  ReadingComprehension—readthefollowingstatementsanddecideiftheyaretrue(T)or

an
false(F),accordingtothearticle,orunknown(U),notmentioninthearticle.

1.Projectscientistshavesequencedmorethan9billionDNAbuildingblocksofthe
mammoth.
2.ScientistscoulduseDNAsequencingtore-createanextinctcreature.
3.TheDNAfoundinthemammothhairsiswellpreserved.
4.Afterthemammoth,scientistsplantoresurrectNeanderthals.
km 5.Amodernelephantcanactasasurrogatemotherforamammothbaby.

II  Summarizing—usethefollowingstepstosummarizethemainpointofeachparagraphinone
sentence.

Step1:Readtheparagraphcarefullyanddecidewhichinformationisimportant.Underline
theimportantconcepts.
Step2:Writeonesentencethatincludesalloftheseimportantideas.
Step3:Trytoshortenthatsentence.Usethefewestwordspossibletodescribethemainpoints
oftheparagraph.

Summary
Paragraph1 Scientistsarenowonestepclosertorecreatingextinctanimals.
oo
Paragraph2
Paragraph3
Paragraph4
Paragraph5
Paragraph6
B

Paragraph7
Paragraph8

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1 Lesson 1: Bringing Back the Dead

Vocabulary Comprehension
ESP Vocabulary

an
Thisvocabularyiscommonlyusedinthefieldofbio-andmedicalscience.

creature n anylivingthingsexceptplants
ecosystem n alltheplantsandanimalsinaparticulararea,consideredasasystem
withpartsthatdependononeanother
extinct adj whenananimal,plantorlanguagenolongerexists
geneticcode n theinformationthatiscontainedDNA
genome n thetotalamountofgeneticinformationinthechromosomesofaliving
thing,includinggenesandDNA
km hairshaft
mammoth

mummy
n

n
thepartofahairprojectingbeyondtheskin
ahairyanimalverysimilartoanelephantthatbecameextinctabout
10,000yearsago
adeadbodythathasbeentreatedwithspecialoilsandwrappedinlong
narrowpiecesofclothtopreventitfromdecaying,especiallyinancient
Egypt
permafrost n groundthatstayspermanentlyfrozen,forexampleinthepolarregions
species n aplantoranimalgroupwhosemembersallhavesimilargeneralfeatures
andareabletoproduceyoungplantsoranimalstogether
sequencing n themethodofdecodingthegeneticcode
oo
tissue n asubstancethatismadeofanimalandplantcells

General Vocabulary
Thisvocabularyisusedforgeneralpurposes.

achievement n aparticularthingthatyouhaveachieved
contamination n whensomethingispollutedorbecomesimpure
B

decipher v findoutthemeaningofsomethingcoded,decode
diversity n thefactthatverydifferentpeopleorthingsexistwithinagrouporplace
encase v tocompletelycoverorenclosesomething

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 Lesson 1: Bringing Back the Dead 1
factor n oneofthethingsthatinfluencewhetheraneventhappensortheway
thatithappens
groundbreaking adj usingnewmethods,orachievingnewresults

an
insert v toputsomethinginsidesomething
Pleistocene n aperiodoftimebeginningabouttwomillionyearsagoandending
10,000yearsago
population n thenumberofpeoplewholiveinaparticulararea

Exercise
I  Inordertoexpandyourvocabularythroughassociationofideas,workinsmallgroups.
km ThefirstpersonpicksawordfromtheESPFocussectionandsaysittothegroup.The
secondpersoncontinuesbysayingawordthatisassociatedwiththefirstword.Thegame
endswhenastudentcannotcomeupwithawordtokeepthesequencegoing.NOTE:
onlythefirstwordneedstobefromthevocabularyintroducedabove.

Forexample,
extinctmammothiceage…

II  EachpersonshouldtakeaturnmakingasentencewithaVocabularyword.Aftersaying
his/hersentence,thefirststudentpicksadifferentwordforthesecondstudent,thesecond
studentpicksadifferentwordforthethirdstudent,andsoon.
oo
Forexample,
Student1:Decifer.Iliketodecifersecretcodes.Extinct
Student2:Thedinosaursbecameextinct65millionyearsago.Mammoth
Student3:Iwenttoseethemammothexhibitioninthesciencemuseumyesterday,andI
likedit.Species
Andsoforth…
B

Phrases
Herearesomephrasesusedinthearticlethatareusefulinspeakingand/orwriting.
Workinpairstodiscussthemeaningofthesephrases,andthenpracticethedialogsthatfollow.

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1 Lesson 1: Bringing Back the Dead

one step closer to

A:Detective,whathaveyoudiscoveredfromquestioningthesuspects?
B:We’vegotsomehardevidence.Ithinkweareone step closer tothetruth.

an
to bring ... back to life
A:Haveyoureadtoday’snewspaper?Somescientistsarehopingto bringextinctanimalsback to
life.
B:Wow,thatwouldbecool!

less prone to
A:Ifeelsodepressedlately.
B:Cheerup!Ifyoulookonthebrightsideofeverything,youwillbeless prone todepression.
km to piece ... together
A:Herearethelabfindingsandsomephotosfromthecrimescene.
B:Let’spiecethemtogether.Maybetheywillbringusonestepclosertothetruth

Language Focus
Compound Words
Theword“well-preserved”inparagraph1isahyphenatedword—twowordswithahyphen
betweenthem,andinthetextitisusedasanadjectivetodescribethestateofamosquito.Thiskind
oo
ofstructureiscalledacompound wordandisoftenusedasanadjective.Compoundadjectivescan
haveafewdifferentforms:

Type of compound adjective Examples: definitions

1.adj/adv/noun+pastparticiple cold-blooded:Hewasacold-bloodedserialkiller.

2.adj/adv/noun+presentparticiple good-looking:BradPittisagood-lookingmoviestar.
B

3.noun+adj world-famous:Beckhamisaworld-famousfootballer.

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 Lesson 1: Bringing Back the Dead 1
4.adj+noun last-minute:Last-minuteplaneticketsarecheaper.

5.number+noun forty-mile:Itisaforty-mileridetomyoffice.

an
Exercise
I  Findapartner.Together,findthecompoundadjectivesinthearticleandwritethem
downwiththeirdefinitionsinthechartonpage8-9nexttothetypethattheymatch.

km II  Workinpairs.Thinkabouttwomorecompoundadjectivesforeachtypefromthechart.

Word Parts
Englishwordsareformedfrommanyparts.Forexample,thewordprehistoricisformedfrom
theprefix“pre”andthewordroot“historic.”“Pre”meansbefore,soprehistoricisanadjective
describingthingsorpeopleexistingatatimebeforehistory,orbeforeinformationwaswritten
down.Knowingthemeaningofthesepartsandhowawordisformedwiththemcanhelpyou
identifythemeaningofanewwordandremembernewwordsmoreeasily.

Prefix Def. Word root Def. Word Def.

pre before + historic todowiththepast = prehistoric ofthetimebefore
history
oo
re again + create tomakesomething = recreate tomakeagain
un opposite + cover putsomething = uncover takeoffthecover
of oversomething
else
co together + author writerofa = coauthor smonewhowrites
smethingetc abookwithsmone
else
B

de the + cipher asecretcode = decipher findoutthe

opposite meaningofacode

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1 Lesson 1: Bringing Back the Dead

Exercise
Workinsmallgroupsandbrainstormasmanywordsaspossibleforeachofthecategoriesin
thechart.

an
prefix word root word
pre
inter
re
un
co
km de

Canyouthinkofanyotherprefixesandsomeexamplesofhowtheyareused?

Tasks
Speaking: 5W1H Questions
Interviewingisacommonwayformedicalprofessionalstogetinformationfrompatients,the
generalpublicorresearchsubjects.Conductinganoralinterviewrequirescarefulpreparation
oo
ofthequestionstobeasked.Inthissection,youaregoingtolearnabasictechniqueforforming
effectiveinterviewquestions.

The 5W1H Principles

The5W1HprinciplesinvolveformingquestionsthatbeginwithWho , What , Where , When , Why ,
and How .Usingthe5W1Hprinciplescanhelpyouidentifythebasicinformationyouneed to
obtainfromaninterviewee.
B

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 Lesson 1: Bringing Back the Dead 1
Exercise
Five-minute Interview with a Mad Scientist

an
I  Workinpairs;oneplaysanewspaperreporterwhoisgoingtointerviewascientistabout
his/herlatestproject,whichinvolvesbringingbackadeadspecies.Thereportershouldtake
notesonwhatthescientistsaysintheinterview.Duringaninterview,trytousequestions
startingwiththe5W1Hwordstohelpyougatherthenecessaryinformationandtolearnmore
aboutwhatyouraudiencewantstoknow.Forexample,thereportermayaskthescientistthe
followingquestions:

1.Whatextinctanimalareyoutryingtoresurrect?
2.Whendidyoustarttheproject?
km 3.Howwillyourecreatetheanimals?
4.Wheredidyoucollectthedataforyourresearch?
5.Whydidyoupickthisresearchtopic?
6.Whoisopposedtothisresearch,andwhy?

II  First,writeyourinterviewquestionswithyourpartner:

1.
2.
3.
4.
oo
5.
6.

III  Nowconducttheinterviewbasedonyourinterviewquestions.

Reporter: Goodmorning,Dr.____.Iam________from___________.It’smypleasuretohave
theopportunitytointerviewyouaboutyourlatestproject.Canyoufirsttellus_______
Scientist: Yes,_____________.
B

Reporter: Canyoupleasetellustheimportanceofyourresearch?
Scientist: Yes.Myresearchisimportantbecause_________.
Reporter:
Scientist:

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1 Lesson 1: Bringing Back the Dead

Writing: a News Article

Inthissection,wearegoingtolearnhowtostructureasimplenewsarticle. Thefollowing
information isaboutageneticfinding.PleaseuseA-Gstatementstomakeaclearandorganized

an
newsarticle.Inotherwords,readthestatementsandthenarrangethemintoanappropriate
sequence.Afterorganizingthestatements,readthearticleagainandchooseagoodtitleforthe
reorganizedarticle.

A. ThechiefexecutiveofficerofDecode,KariStefansson,saidthattheycouldmakethisdiscovery
becausetheywereintheuniquepositionofbeingabletodistinguishwhatisinheritedfromthe
motherfromwhatisinheritedfromthefather.
B. Anewtype-2diabetesgenehasbeendiscoveredbyresearchers.Thisnewlydiscoveredgeneisa
singlenucleotidepolymorphismorSNP—asingle-letterchangeinthegeneticcode.
km C. Whenanewgeneisinheritedfromthemother,itprotectsthechildfromthedisease.However,
ifinheritedfromthefather,thereisariskofdisease.Threeotherdiabetesgenesarevariedin
theireffects,butlessso,dependingonwhichparentthegenecomesfrom,researchersreported
inthejournalNature.
D. Fivedisease-relatedgenesfoundbyateamatIceland’sDecodeGeneticsInctakeeffectif
inheritedfromacertainparent.
E. Thefindingshowedtheriskofbreastcancerwasraisedwheninheritedfromthefather,and
thegenefromthemotherwasabletobeprotective.
F. Thetype-2diabetesgenecanhaveanimpactthatisnotonlylarge,butalsounusual:whenfrom
thefather,theriskofdiabetesis30percenthigherthanthosewhoinheritthenondiabetes-
linkedversion,researcherswrote.
oo
G. B asal-cell carcinoma is a slow-growing skin cancer which is far more dangerous when
inheritedfromthefather.
B

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 Lesson 1: Bringing Back the Dead 1
_______________________________(thetitle)

Paragraph1:______ Paragraph5:______

an
Paragraph2:______ Paragraph6:______

Paragraph3:______ Paragraph7:______

Paragraph4:______ Paragraph8:______
(Source:ChinaPost,19,December,2009.http://www.chinapost.com.tw/health/2009/12/19/237223/
Genetic%2Dgift.htm)
km Further Reading: Inside the Technology
Hereismoreinformationaboutthelatestdevelopmentsingeneticengineering!

Website of the Day

Hereisausefulwebsitewhereyoucanlearnthelatestinformationonthedevelopmentof
importanttechnologyinthefieldofgenetics.
CNNnewsarticlesongenetics
http://topics.cnn.com/topics/Genetics
Facts & Myths
Q:Canweresurrectdinosaurslikeinthemovie“JurassicPark”?
No,becauseDNAover1millionyearsoldisdamagedbeyondrecognitionandrepair.
oo
Extra Info: What is DNA?
Weallknowthatelephantsonlygivebirthtolittleelephants,giraffestogiraffes,dogstodogs
andsoonforeverytypeoflivingcreature.Butwhyisthisso?
Theanswerliesinamoleculecalleddeoxyribonucleicacid(DNA),whichcontainsthebiological
instructionsthatmakeeachspeciesunique.DNA,alongwiththeinstructionsitcontains,is
passedfromadultorganismstotheiroffspringduringreproduction.
DNAisfoundinsideaspecialareaofthecellcalledthenucleus.Becausethecellisverysmall,
andbecauseorganismshavemanyDNAmoleculespercell,eachDNAmoleculemustbetightly
packaged.ThispackagedformoftheDNAiscalledachromosome.ResearchersrefertoDNA
B

foundinthecell’snucleusasnuclearDNA.Anorganism’scompletesetofnuclearDNAiscalled
itsgenome.

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1 Lesson 1: Bringing Back the Dead

DNAismadeofchemicalbuildingblockscallednucleotides.Thefourtypesofnitrogenbases
foundinnucleotidesare:adenine(A),thymine(T),guanine(G)andcytosine(C).Theorder,
orsequence,ofthesebasesdetermineswhatbiologicalinstructionsarecontainedinastrand
ofDNA.Forexample,thesequenceATCGTTmightinstructforblueeyes,whileATCGCT

an
mightinstructforbrown.
EachDNAsequencethatcontainsinstructionstomakeaproteinisknownasagene.Thesizeof
agenemayvarygreatly,rangingfromabout1,000basesto1millionbasesinhumans.
ThecompleteDNAinstructionbook,orgenome,forahumancontainsabout3billionbasesand
about20,000geneson23pairsofchromosomes.
Source:NationalHumanGenomeResearchInstitute,USA.(http://www.genome.gov/)

End-of-Lesson Quiz
km Testyourselfonhowmuchyouunderstandandrememberfromthislesson!

Matching
MatchtheVocabularyontheleftwiththedefinitionsontheright.
_____1. tissue
_____2. factor
_____3. achievement
_____4. geneticcode
_____5. contamination
_____6. extinct
oo
_____7. encase
_____8. decipher
_____9. ecosystem
_____10. hairshaft
_____11. mammoth
_____12. species
B
A. thesubstancethatismadeofanimalandplantcells
B. aparticularthingthatyouhaveachieved
C. whensomethingispollutedorbecomesimpure
D. tofigureoutthemeaningofacode
E. verydifferentpeopleorthingsexistingwithinagroupor
place
F. tocompletelycoverorenclosesomething
G. oneofthethingsthatinfluencewhetheraneventhappensor
thewaythatithappens
H. usingnewmethods,orachievingnewresults
I. toputsomethinginsidesomething
J. thenumberofpeoplewholiveinaparticulararea
K. anylivingthingexceptplants
L. alltheplantsandanimalsinaparticulararea,consideredas
asystemwithpartsthatdependononeanother

_____13. diversity M. ananimal,plant,orlanguagethatnolongerexists

_____14. groundbreaking N. thearrangementofgenesthatmakesanindividualdevelop
inaparticularway

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 Lesson 1: Bringing Back the Dead 1
_____15. mummy O. t hetotalamountofgeneticinformationinthechromosomes
ofalivingthing,includingitsgenesandDNA
_____16. insert P. thepartofahairprojectingbeyondtheskin
_____17. permafrost Q. ananimalverysimilartoanelephant,exceptithaslonghair

an
andisnowextinct
_____18. population R. a  dead body that has been treated with special oils and
wrappedinlongnarrowpiecesofclothtopreventitfrom
decaying,especiallyinancientEgypt
_____19. genome S. groundthatstayspermanentlyfrozen,forexampleinthe
polarregions
_____20. creature T. aplantoranimalgroupwhosemembersallhavesimilar
km generalfeaturesandareabletoreproducetogether
oo
B

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