18. Lost for Words, Spoilt for Choice

Google Images

A blog’s stats seem to be as important as its very existence. Needless to say, it is conclusive for the author whether a blog’s followers feel like commenting on the various posts, and how thoroughly they imply themselves in the issue at hand every time.

So, it’s not without consequences that the haves and the have-nots have received lesser support than the topic on, say, physical beauty; it may mean – why not? – that being is by far more important than having. What with those contrasts between a luxurious mansion and a shabby cottage, or between a relaxed, confident look to the future and a demanding inner-city job making you want to emigrate – the farther the better!

Google Images

The next logical step would have been to ask you to imagine the Spellings’ home, what the rooms, furniture and furnishings look like. Likewise, I should have asked you to try to imagine what the Grangers’ cottage looks like inside, and how it might differ from the Spellings’ mansion. And then, of course, finish by enquiring about your preferences: which of the two places would you prefer to live in? Why? The questions are still open, as – in fact – all the questions put forward thus far. I welcome any comment on the ideas that this workshop submits to scrutiny.

Google Images: DNA logo

Yet by the time I set to devising a sequel to the previous post, and about to plunge into a get-rich-quick case which might stir opinions, an unexpected array of possible topics crowded the screen. But why should I waver? The ideas are here, in your comments, and I am actually spoilt for choice! Scrolling down and re-reading your comments I was lost for words: among them, there is one that had been thought of as a topic to be tackled further on, namely genes.

Now, that’s a special case, for it is difficult to say whether we are what we are because we have them, or, conversely, we have what we have because we came into being thanks to our DNA.

One thing at a time. First, let’s have a look at some basic facts:

Dictionary work

Read this short passage and underline any words and phrases which you feel need explanation or definition. Some of these have already been underlined. Look up the words in a dictionary (some of them appear in the article to be posted in the next entry) and then rewrite the passage where necessary. It is a good idea not to copy the dictionary definitions but to use suitable methods of explaining or defining, such as relative clauses or appositions. The first sentence contains such an example of defining.

Google Images

DNA AND ITS USES

DNA is the basic genetic material present in most animate organisms. Molecules of DNA are found in a cell’s chromosomes. Chromosomes occur in pairs: one from the mother and one from the father. The number of chromosomes differs from species to species: a normal human cell has 46.

DNA is made up of genes, linear sections of a DNA molecule which contain the instructions for the development of particular characteristics that living things inherit from their forbears, such as eye colour. DNA molecules contain the genetic instructions needed for cells to organise and function. DNA is a large molecule made up of two separate strands wrapped around each other to form a double-helix.

Google Images

 In 1985 Professor Alec Jeffreys discovered that the DNA of every living thing has its own unique genetic pattern. This ‘fingerprint’ can be determined and used to identify criminals from biological materials left at the scene of a crime or to settle paternity disputes conclusively.

DNA and its uses

DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) is the basic genetic material present in most animate or living organisms...

So, don't delay! Work out your own variant before you go  on.

The construction of the genes which we inherit from our parents and which determine our physical appearance was discovered by James Watson and Francis Crick in 1953. They discovered DNA, deoxyribonucleic acid, the molecule containing a chemical code which determines every aspect of our bodies. Since this discovery scientists have made further progress and are now at the stage where it is theoretically possible to remove, alter, improve and even create human genes. Recent developments have led people to speculate about the effect of genetic engineering on medicine and human life.

 

Model answer DNA and its uses

 

DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) is the basic genetic material present in most animate or living organisms. Molecules – the smallest units of a substance – of DNA are found in a cell’s chromosomes, the parts of the cell which carry genes. Chromosomes occur in pairs: one from the mother and one from the father. The number of chromosomes differs from species to species: a normal human cell has 46.

DNA is made up of genes, linear sections (sections organised in lines) of a DNA molecule which contain the instructions for the development of particular characteristics that living things inherit from their forbears or parents and ancestors, such as eye colour. DNA molecules contain the genetic instructions needed for cells to organise and function. DNA is a large molecule made up of two separate strands wrapped around each other to form a double-helix, which means ‘organised in two spirals’.

In 1985 Professor Alec Jeffreys discovered that the DNA of every living thing has its own unique genetic pattern – which means that every living thing has its own organisation of genes and that no two patterns are ever the same. This ‘fingerprint’ can be determined and used to identify criminals from biological materials left at the scene of a crime or to settle paternity disputes (questions of identifying a person’s true biological parents) conclusively.