Topical News Lessons

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Koreans succeed in cloning human embryos
Level 1 | 
Elementary
1
1
Key Vocabulary
Fill the gaps using these key words from the text:
stem cells
organs
cloning
disease
embryo
blatocyst
1.
Copying an animal or a human to make another animal or human is called ____________ .
2.
The small egg that eventually becomes a baby is called an ____________ .
3.
____________ change a fertilised egg into 10 trillion cells during pregnancy.
4.
Diabetes is a long-term ____________ .
5.
A ____________ is a tiny ball of cells that together become an embryo.
6.
The heart, brain, liver and kidneys are all human ____________ .
2
Find the Information: Correct the statements
Look in the text and correct the underlined words in these sentences:
1.
The first cloned animal was a horse.
2.
President Bush is in favour of stem cell research.
3.
Scientists have now cloned a human baby.
4.
They used 252 eggs from 16 women to clone 30 blatocysts.
5.
The scientists were from the US and Japan.
6.
The research could lead to treatment for short-term diseases.
7.
The first stages for cloning for use in medical treatment and for cloning
babies are different.
8.
Humans have 10 billion cells.

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This page can be photocopied
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Koreans succeed in cloning human embryos
Level 1 | 
Elementary
2
Cloning is copying an animal or a human to
make another animal or human which is exactly
the same. Scientists take DNA from one egg and
put it into another egg. This then makes a copy
which is exactly the same as the first egg. The
first cloned animal was a sheep but scientists
have also cloned mice, rats, rabbits, horses and
even a mule. Now, for the first time, they say
they have also cloned a human embryo, the
small egg that eventually becomes a baby.
South Korean and American scientists say they
have cloned human embryos and taken cells
called stem cells from one of them. Stem cells
are very important in the development of an
unborn baby. They change a single fertilised
human egg into about 10 trillion cells during a
nine month pregnancy.
The Korean and US scientists used 242 eggs
from 16 women to clone 30 blastocysts. A
blatocyst is the tiny ball of cells that together
become an embryo. Then the scientists took
the original DNA out of the egg, and replaced
it with chromosomes from an adult cell. "This
is not a human clone," said Donald Kennedy, a
leading biologist. This research could lead to
treatments for long-term diseases such as
diabetes, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.
American politicians do not allow US
government money to be used for stem cell
research. Dr Kennedy said he hoped that now
they would change their decision. But the
White House said that President George Bush
is against stem cell research. Leon Kass,
chairman of the president's council on bioethics
said "The age of human cloning has arrived.
Today we have cloned blastocysts for medical
research, tomorrow we will have cloned
blastocysts for baby-making.".
Scientists have been working on cloning
research for many years and hope that their
research will help to treat many different
diseases. Now that they have cloned stem cells,
they will have to find out how to change these
cells into human tissue. They will then be able
to use this tissue to treat diseases. In the long
term, some scientists believe it could be
possible to grow complete human organs, such
as livers or kidneys.
Many people are against stem cell research
and cloning. They say that it will lead to human
cloning and cloned babies. The first stages of
cloning for use in medical treatment and
cloning to produce a cloned baby are exactly
the same.
The Guardian Weekly 20-4-02, page 3
Koreans succeed in cloning human embryos

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