首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
(1)That smoking causes lung cancer is well established. But what causes smoking? This is the question at the heart of a study pu
(1)That smoking causes lung cancer is well established. But what causes smoking? This is the question at the heart of a study pu
admin
2016-11-03
86
问题
(1)That smoking causes lung cancer is well established. But what causes smoking? This is the question at the heart of a study published in Nature by a group of researchers who work at deCODE, an Icelandic genomics company. They do not, quite, answer it. But they do think they have the answer to the related question of why some smokers smoke in moderation whereas others are rarely found without a fag in their hands—and thus why some people are, genetically speaking, more susceptible to lung cancer than others.
(2)That answer lies in part of human chromosome 15, and depends on what is known as allele T of SNP rsl051730. A SNP, or single-nucleotide polymorphism, to give its full name(the short version is pronounced "snip"), is a place where genomes routinely differ from one another by a single genetic letter.
(3)In this case, the variation happens inside a gene for one of the receptor molecules that nicotine attaches itself to when it produces its buzz. Based on a study of 13,945 Icelandic smokers, deCODE’s researchers showed that having a T in the appropriate part of the gene correlates very strongly indeed with being a heavy smoker. The team estimates that the chance of their being wrong is less than one in a thousand trillion.
(4)Not surprisingly, having the T variant also correlates with the chance of a smoker getting lung cancer. Each copy(there may be none, one or two, since one can come from a person’s father and one from his mother)increases that chance by 30%. The T variant does not, however, increase the likelihood that someone will take up smoking in the first place. That is either a matter of free will or, if it is genetic, is controlled by genes somewhere else. It all looks neat and simple—and extremely plausible. Genes promote smoking; smoking promotes cancer. However, it might be wrong, for another paper in Nature, and a third in its sister journal Nature Genetics, report similar studies that have drawn rather different conclusions.
(5)Paul Brennan and Christopher Amos both agree mat something significant is going on in the part of chromosome 15 studied by deCODE. But they have concluded that genetic variation there acts directly on a person’s susceptibility to lung cancer, rather than acting indirectly by modifying his smoking behavior. That does not mean the gene or genes in question actually cause lung cancer. Rather, it means that they amplify the effects of smoking instead of the amount of smoking.
(6)Like deCODE, both Dr. Brennan(who works at the International Agency for Research on Cancer, in France)and Dr. Amos(who works at the University of Texas)identified rsl051730 as an important SNP. Unlike deCODE, though, both think a second SNP, rs8034191, is involved as well. That, and the fact that the region of chromosome 15 under scrutiny has two other nicotine-receptor genes in it, suggests the situation may indeed be more complex.
(7)On top of this, Dr. Brennan and Dr. Amos both used a different method from deCODE’s. They compared lung-cancer patients directly with otherwise similar cancer-free smokers, in what is known as a case controlled study, and concluded that genetic variants in the nicotine-receptor-rich part of chromosome 15 are changing not smokers’ behavior, but their susceptibility to cancer. Moreover, Dr. Brennan also claims to have discovered an increased susceptibility to lung cancer in non-smokers with the relevant SNPs, though his sample size is small and his result is not supported by Dr. Amos’s work.
(8)These contradictory conclusions are both puzzling and intriguing. DeCODE has one further piece of evidence in its favor. Besides the correlation with lung cancer, the T variant also seemed to correlate with peripheral arterial disease, another common side-effect of smoking. On the other hand, the firm also acknowledges that the link it thinks it has discovered does not account for the whole of the risk of smoking-induced lung cancer. What is not in doubt, however, is that there is some sort of a link between genetics and lung cancer.
(9)That raises interesting issues, particularly as genetic testing becomes easier. DeCODE has already announced it will add rsl051730 to the standard screen it offers to those who wish to know their susceptibility to diseases. The day is not far off, therefore, when those who take the essentially irrational decision to start smoking tobacco will be able to find out in advance exactly how foolish they are being.
All of the following have enough evidence EXCEPT that _____.
选项
A、lung cancer is related to chromosome 15
B、lung cancer is related to genetics
C、smoking is genetically decided
D、smoking causes lung cancer
答案
C
解析
第4段倒数第2句提到基因诱导吸烟,而最后一句却用it might be wrong来否定这个说法,且第5段第2句提到基因变异与个人吸烟习惯没有直接关系,故选C。第4段首句的胸腺嘧啶的变异和吸烟者发生肺癌的机会呈正相关;而根据第2段首句可知,胸腺嘧啶存在于chromosome 15,也属于基因变异这一系列的事实,可推出A、B符合文意;D与第4段倒数第2句中的smoking promotes cancer相符。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/mc7O777K
0
专业英语八级
相关试题推荐
Whatwillbetheimpactofaglobalcomputernetworkonculturalforms?Theconstructionofexclusiveinformationsocietieshas
Thephenomenonthatwordsofdifferentmeaningsareidenticalinsoundiscalled
Whenawordiscreatedthroughchangingitspartofspeech,theword-formationmethodiscalled
Theworld-famousHollywoodvillage,whichdominatesthefilm-makingindustryofAmerica,isin
______,locatedinthecentreofLondon,wasbuiltbyWilliamtheConqueror.
Language-basedlearningdisabilitiesareproblemswithage-appropriatereading,spelling,and/orwriting.Thisdisorderisnot
Thefirstmoderndigitalcomputersweredevelopedinthe1940sformilitarypurposesthataroseduringWorldWarII.Thesecomp
DouglasAdams,thelatelamentedauthorofTheHitchhiker’sGuidetotheGalaxy,dreamedupmanycomiccreations.Oneofhisgre
Despitethefactthattodayvirusesareknowntocausecancerinanimalsandincertainplants,whereexistsagreatreluctance
PASSAGEONE
随机试题
证券公司申请融资融券业务资格的,需经营证券经纪业务已满()年。
Shynessisthecauseofmuchunhappinessformanypeople.Shypeopleare【C1】______andself-conscious,thatis,theyareexcessiv
男性,22岁,进食后突发上腹痛,撕裂样,迅速波及全腹,3小时后于急诊求治,既往有溃疡病史,腹肌紧张,全腹压痛,肠鸣音弱,wBCl0.1×109/L。如为空腹发病,最适宜的处置方式是
经某市人民政府批准,市节水办受市公用事业管理局的委托对某企业进行了处罚。这里的行政主体是()。
地方各级人民政府应急管理部门应当每年对应急预案的监督管理工作进行总结,并报()。
下列选项中,()是属于项目的合法性调查。
根据消费税法律制度的规定,下列各项中,不缴纳消费税的是()。
按照近代政治学理论观点,共和含义比较广泛,涵盖着民主概念。具体来说,共和国相对于君主国而言,凡是非君主制国家便是共和国,共和国在历史上分成贵族共和国和民主共和国。应当说,这种政治理论观点可能适用于近代国家情况,但不合乎古代政治观念。共和国概念源于古罗马,在
1,4,13,40,121,()
A、 B、 C、 D、 D前一组图中除大圆弧以外,“”、“”、“”轮换出现,后一组图中这些元素也应轮换出现,故本题正确答案为D。
最新回复
(
0
)