full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Talya Hackett: Ethical dilemma Should we get rid of mosquitoes?

Unscramble the Blue Letters


Because of the pathogens they crary, mosquitoes are responsible for more human datehs every year than any other animal, including other humans. But very few of the 3,500 mosquito species actually transmit dealdy dsieeass to humans. So what if we could get rid of the most lethal mosquitoes? Over the last two decades, scientists have begun conducting experiments using engineered tlohnoceiegs claeld “gene drives” that could theoretically do just that. So, should we?

To begin grappling with this question, we have to get a sense of how the technology works. In the uasul process of inheritance, the genomes of each parent recombine randomly. So their opfirsnfg end up with the DNA that’s a rough 50/50 mix from their parents. But gene drives thwart this psroces and ensure they're passed on. Gene drives are found in nature but, using new gene-editing technology, scientists have also begun engineering them in contained labs.

Open Cloze


Because of the pathogens they _____, mosquitoes are responsible for more human ______ every year than any other animal, including other humans. But very few of the 3,500 mosquito species actually transmit ______ ________ to humans. So what if we could get rid of the most lethal mosquitoes? Over the last two decades, scientists have begun conducting experiments using engineered ____________ ______ “gene drives” that could theoretically do just that. So, should we?

To begin grappling with this question, we have to get a sense of how the technology works. In the _____ process of inheritance, the genomes of each parent recombine randomly. So their _________ end up with the DNA that’s a rough 50/50 mix from their parents. But gene drives thwart this _______ and ensure they're passed on. Gene drives are found in nature but, using new gene-editing technology, scientists have also begun engineering them in contained labs.

Solution


  1. called
  2. technologies
  3. deaths
  4. process
  5. offspring
  6. usual
  7. deadly
  8. diseases
  9. carry

Original Text


Because of the pathogens they carry, mosquitoes are responsible for more human deaths every year than any other animal, including other humans. But very few of the 3,500 mosquito species actually transmit deadly diseases to humans. So what if we could get rid of the most lethal mosquitoes? Over the last two decades, scientists have begun conducting experiments using engineered technologies called “gene drives” that could theoretically do just that. So, should we?

To begin grappling with this question, we have to get a sense of how the technology works. In the usual process of inheritance, the genomes of each parent recombine randomly. So their offspring end up with the DNA that’s a rough 50/50 mix from their parents. But gene drives thwart this process and ensure they're passed on. Gene drives are found in nature but, using new gene-editing technology, scientists have also begun engineering them in contained labs.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
gene drives 7
gene drive 6
mosquito species 2
anopheles gambiae 2


Important Words


  1. animal
  2. begun
  3. called
  4. carry
  5. conducting
  6. contained
  7. deadly
  8. deaths
  9. decades
  10. diseases
  11. dna
  12. drives
  13. engineered
  14. engineering
  15. ensure
  16. experiments
  17. gene
  18. genomes
  19. grappling
  20. human
  21. humans
  22. including
  23. inheritance
  24. labs
  25. lethal
  26. mix
  27. mosquito
  28. mosquitoes
  29. nature
  30. offspring
  31. parent
  32. parents
  33. passed
  34. pathogens
  35. process
  36. question
  37. randomly
  38. recombine
  39. responsible
  40. rid
  41. rough
  42. scientists
  43. sense
  44. species
  45. technologies
  46. technology
  47. theoretically
  48. thwart
  49. transmit
  50. usual
  51. works
  52. year