Ten years ago, with only about 1, 000 pandas left in the world, China was desperately trying to clone(克隆)the animal and save the endangered species(物种). That was a move similar to what Texas A & M University researchers had been undertaking for the past five years in a project called “Noah’s Ark”(诺亚方舟).
Noah’s Ark was aimed at collecting eggs, embryos(胚胎), semen and DNA of endangered animals and storing them in liquid nitrogen. If certain species should become extinct, Dr. Duane Kraemer, a professor in Texas A & M’s College of Veterinary Medicine, said there would be enough of the basic building blocks to reintroduce the species in the future.
It was estimated that as many as 2, 000 species of mammals, birds reptiles would become extinct in over 100 years. The panda, native only to China, was in danger of becoming extinct in the next 25 years.
This week, Chinese scientists said they grew an embryo by introducing cells from a dead female panda into the egg cells of a Japanese white rabbit. They were then trying to implant the embryo into a host animal.
The entire procedure could take from three to five years to complete.
“The nucleus transfer(核子移植)of one species to another is not easy, and the lack of available(capable of being used)panda eggs could be a major problem,”Kraemer believed. “They will probably have to do several hundred transfers to result in one pregnancy(having a baby). It takes a long time and it’s difficult, but this could be groundbreaking science if it works. They are certainly not putting any live pandas at risk, so it is worth the effort, ”added Kraemer, who was one of the leaders of the project at Texas A& M, the first-ever attempt at cloning a dog.
“They are trying to do something that’s never been done, and this is very similar to our work in Noah’s Ark. We’re both trying to save animals that face extinction. I certainly appreciate their effort and there’s a lot we can learn from what they are attempting to do. It’s a research that is very much needed. ”
At present, the project has worked. The number of the pandas has increased to more than 1, 500.
小题1:The aim of “Noah’s Ark” project was to
.
| A．make efforts to clone the endangered pandas |
| B．save endangered animals from dying out |
| C．collect DNA of endangered animals to study |
| D．transfer the nucleus of one animal to another |
小题2: According to Professor Kraemer, the major problem in cloning pandas would be the lack of
.
| A．available panda eggs | B．host animals |
| C．qualified researchers | D．enough money |
小题3: The best title for the passage may be
.
| A．China’s Success in Pandas Cloning |
| B．The First Cloned Panda in the World |
| C．Exploring the Possibility to Clone Pandas |
| D．China—the Native Place of Pandas Forever |
小题4:From the passage we know that
.
| A．Kraemer and his team had succeeded in cloning a dog |
| B．scientists tried to implant a panda’s egg into a rabbit |
| C．Kraemer would work with Chinese scientists in clone researches |
| D．about two thousand species would probably die out in a century |
