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
Though explaining the entire human genetic blueprint is still a few years away, scientists have begun laying claim to the stretc
Though explaining the entire human genetic blueprint is still a few years away, scientists have begun laying claim to the stretc
admin
2013-03-09
100
问题
Though explaining the entire human genetic blueprint is still a few years away, scientists have begun laying claim to the stretches of DNA whose codes they have succeeded in cracking. In recent years researchers have flooded the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office with applications for thousands of genes and gene fragments — and they have stirred a lot of controversy in the process.
The biggest problem with patenting genes is that while scientists have at least a general idea of what specific strands of genetic coding do, often it’s just that — general. Investigators do sometimes succeed in isolating a single, crisp gene with a single known function. Often, however, researchers trying to map genes get no further than marking off fragmentary stretches of DNA that may be thousands of bases in length. These so-called expressed sequence tags may have real genetic information embedded in them, but determining where those fragments are and what their structure is takes more digging. Geneticists have lately been filing patent applications for these ESTs anyway. "I would guess that in many cases the scientists didn’t even examine all the material," says Bruce Lehman, commissioner of the Patent and Trademark Office.
Not only can such filings be careless genetics, they can also be bad business. EST applications may lead to so-called submarine patents, claims that are made today and then vanish, only to reappear when some unsuspecting scientist finds something useful to do with genes hidden in the patent.
More troubling is an economic issue. If the entire genetic schematic is preemptively (抢先) owned by the research teams studying it now, where is the incentive for independent scientists — often sources of great innovation — to work on it later: Licensing costs, warns Jeffrey Kahn, director of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Bioethics, could hold medical progress hostage. Patenting supporters insist that an equally persuasive argument could be made that the large genome-mapping groups need patent protection to make their work worthwhile to them.
Stickier than the economic question is the ethical one. Most of us shrink from the idea of anyone’s owning the rights to any part of the human form. Besides, if the first anatomist (解剖学家) to spot, say, the pancreas (胰腺) was not granted title to it, why should modern genome mapping scientist be able to claim even a single gene: That kind of argument is grounded not in law but in the very idea of what it means to be human — an issue that even the highest federal court is not likely to settle.
The word "submarine" (Line 2, Para. 3) is closest in meaning to ______ .
选项
A、careless
B、expensive
C、unsuspecting
D、hidden
答案
D
解析
第三段第二句后半句的“claims that are made today and then vanish”对这种专利的特征作了解释,选项中与“vanish(消失)”意思相近的词是hidden,因而submarine应意为hidden,故D项为答案。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/pwI7777K
0
大学英语六级
相关试题推荐
OneofthoserarelocalcreationsofAmerica,cowboypoetryhasalongandvividhistory,drivenbyitscolorfulpractitionersa
OneofthoserarelocalcreationsofAmerica,cowboypoetryhasalongandvividhistory,drivenbyitscolorfulpractitionersa
A、Hemightattendthewedding.B、Hemaypostponehandinginhispaper.C、Hemaynotprepareforhisexamandessay.D、Heistoo
Televisionisnowplayingaveryimportantpartinourlife.Buttelevision,likeotherthings,hasbothadvantagesanddisadvan
A、Thebuildingwithlogshape.B、Thetraditionallogcabin.C、Theseniorhomeswithlogs.D、Theblockingbeamsandwalls.B推理判断题
A、Theyhavetoomanyshows.B、Theydon’thaveenoughteachers.C、Theydonothaveenoughregularschools.D、Theyhavetoworkse
A、Thewomangetsaticket.B、Themanarreststhewoman.C、Thewomanistakentocourt.D、Thewomanranaway.A选项中的Thewoman,gets
Therichhavetraditionallypassedtheirwealthontotheirchildren.Butanincreasingnumberofbillionairesarechoosingnot
A、Lookattheslidesofthemodernloghouses.B、Seesomepicturesofthemountainretreats.C、Listentothepresentationofthe
______(如果我们提前中止合约),we’llcompensatefortheirloss.
随机试题
孕12一14周起,子宫出现不规则的无痛性收缩
急性心肌梗死时,最先恢复正常的心肌酶是
男,25岁,左手食指指甲旁红肿、疼痛1天。3天前该处曾被木刺刺伤。实验室检查:血WBC15.0×109/L,N0.79。引起该患者感染的常见细菌是()
2008年,富顺县A房地产开发公司(以下简称A公司)在修建A住宅小区时,擅自改变建设规划、突破建筑容积率,在规划6层建筑规模的基础上加层、超面积修建6000多平方米并予以出售,致使小区的建筑规模、容积率均超过规划要求。在A住宅小区修建完工后,相关行政主管机
疏浚与吹填工程合同双方对于采用同一测图分别计算的工程土方量,两者的差值小于或等于两者中()的2%时,其土方量取两者的平均值。
胶合板作为装修材料使用时,说法正确的有()。
某企业有一处房产,2007年1月1日原值为3000万元,5月1日将其中原值为1000万元的房屋出租给某商店,月租金5万元。当地政府规定允许减除30%后的余值计算缴纳房产税,该企业当年应缴纳房产税()。
镜泊湖、长白山天池、云南滇池、从成因上分类,属于()。
根据下面材料回答问题。2012年某市开展了市民阅读情况调查。调查采取随机抽样方式,访问了本市12周岁以上的1000名市民。调查显示,多数受访者保持每天阅读的良好习惯。其中,阅读时间在1~2小时的为44.8%,2~3小时的为11.6%,3
A、 B、 C、 B此句意为:现在是六点半。关键词是halfpastsix,所以B为答案。
最新回复
(
0
)