2. 外语
  3. Paolo Fril, chairman and scientific officer of GeneDupe, based in San Melito, California, is a man with a dream. The dream is a

Paolo Fril, chairman and scientific officer of GeneDupe, based in San Melito, California, is a man with a dream. The dream is a

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问题     Paolo Fril, chairman and scientific officer of GeneDupe, based in San Melito, California, is a man with a dream. The dream is a dragon in every home.
    GeneDupe’s business is biotech pets. Not for Dr. Fril, though, the cloning of dead cats and dogs. He plans a range of entirely new animals—or, rather, of really quite old animals, with the twist that when they did exist, it was only in the imagination.
    Making a mythical creature real is not easy. But GeneDupe’s team of biologists and computer scientists reckon they are equal to the task. Their secret is a new field, which they call "virtual cell biology".
    Biology and computing have a lot in common, since both are about processing information—in one case electronic; in the other, biochemical. Virtual cell biology aspires to make a software model of a cell that is accurate in every biochemical detail. That is possible because all animal cells use the same parts list—mitochondria for energy processing, the endoplasmic reticulum for making proteins, Golgi body for protein assembly, and so on.
    Armed with their virtual cell, GeneDupe’s scientists can customize the result so that it belongs to a particular species, by loading it with a virtual copy of that animal’s genome. Then, if the cell is also loaded with the right virtual molecules, it will behave like a fertilized egg, and start dividing and developing—first into embryo, and ultimately into an adult.
    Because this "growth" is going on in a computer, it happens fast. Passing from egg to adult in one of GeneDupe’s enormous Mythmaker computers takes less than a minute. And it is here that Charles Darwin gets a look in. With such a short generation time, GeneDupe’s scientists can add a little evolution to their products.
    Each computer starts with a search image (dragon, unicorn, griffin, etc), and the genome of the real animal most closely resembling it (a lizard for the dragon, a horse for the unicorn and most taxingly, the spliced genomes of a lion and an eagle for the griffin). The virtual genomes of these real animals are then tweaked by random electronic mutations. When they have matured, the virtual adults most closely resembling the targets are picked and cross-bred, while the others are culled.
    Using this rapid evolutionary process, GeneDupe’s scientists have arrived at genomes for a range of mythological creatures—in a computer, at least. The next stage, on which they are just embarking, is to do it for real.
    This involves synthesizing, with actual DNA, the genetic material that the computer models predict will produce the mythical creatures. The synthetic DNA is then inserted into a cell that has had its natural nucleus removed. The result, Dr. Fril and his commercial backers hope, will be a real live dragon, unicorn or what you have. Dr. Fril is confident about his new idea. Indeed, if he can get the dragon’s respiration correct, he thinks they will set the world on fire.
Now GeneDupe’s scientists are trying to find out
选项 A、the existence of mythical animals.
B、the causes for the extinction of some animals.
C、the similarities between biology and computing.
D、the possibilities of creating mythical creatures.
答案D
解析 推断题。题目问的是“现在基因复制公司的科学家们正在试着找出________。”根据第八段的“GeneDupe’s scientists have arrived at genomes for a range of mythological creatures—in a computer，at least. The next stage，on which they are just embarking，is to do it for real. ”可知，基因复制公司的科学家们至少已经在计算机中完成了一系列神话生物的基因组，下一步，也是他们刚刚着手的工作，就是把这些生物变成现实。A选项和B选项文中没有提及，C选项出现在第四段“Biology and computing have a lot in common，since both are about processing information一in one case electronic；in the other，biochemical. ”但这里只是提及有相同点，科学家们并没有对此进行研究。故选D。
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