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  3. To understand the roughly 100,000 genes in the human genome, researchers say they must investigate an even more complicated set

To understand the roughly 100,000 genes in the human genome, researchers say they must investigate an even more complicated set

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问题     To understand the roughly 100,000 genes in the human genome, researchers say they must investigate an even more complicated set of molecules-proteins. Genes are the blueprints for making proteins, and the "sequence" of a gene—its structural pattern—determines the kind of protein it makes. Some proteins become building blocks for structural parts of the cell. Other proteins become molecular "machines" enzymes, hormones, antibodies that carry out the myriad activities necessary to keep the cell and the body working properly.
    With an understanding of human proteins (or the proteome), scientists will be able to fight disease on many fronts. For example, scientists at the Center for Proteome Analysis in Odense, Denmark, have isolated a protein, galectin, that may fight diabetes. Diabetes seems to be caused when insulin-producing cells in the pancreas are inadvertently killed by the body’s immune system.
    The Danish scientists spent years analyzing the proteins present in diabetes-prone and diabetes-resistant cells, and they tentatively concluded that galectin protects diabetes-prone cells from being attacked by the immune system. Preliminary animal tests, in which the galectin gene has been inserted into diabetes-prone cells, seem to confirm the hypothesis.
    Effective cancer drugs may also arise from a deeper understanding of genes and proteins, says Ken Carter, president of Therapeutic Genomics, one of the many biotech companies working to devise new drugs based on genetic knowledge. Soon, scientists will be able to quickly and accurately compare cancer tissue with normal tissue to see which genes are "switched on" and making proteins and which genes are not, he says.
    "If you found a gene that was highly expressed in prostate cancer cells but not other tissues, you could deduce that gene was involved in prostate cancer," according to Carter. "We would try to develop in the lab a way to block the expression of that gene." One possibility would be a "small molecule" drug that would attach to and inactivate that gene’s protein.
    Finally, drugs themselves will likely become safer and more effective because they will be tailored to an individual’s genetic ability to process medicines, predicts Robert Waterston, director of the Human Genome Project sequencing center at Washington University in St. Louis.
    In the future, a blood test could show how much of a particular drug-processing enzyme a person has, Waterston explains. The doctor would then adjust the dose accordingly or prescribe a drug custom designed for that person’s genetic makeup. This new field, called pharmacogenomics, should eliminate many of the drug side effects that result from our current, cruder methods of determining dosage.
选项 A、to plan for making proteins
B、to determine the kind of protein it makes
C、like that of building blocks
D、to carry out the myriad activities
答案A
解析 本题是细节题，参见文章第1段：Genes are the blueprints for making proteins，and the "sequence" of a gene—its structural pattern—determines the kind of protein it makes．基因是制造蛋白质的蓝图，基因排序决定了制造出的蛋白质的种类。
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