TED Paul Root Wolpe: Bio-

engineering
Comprehension Questions
1. What have been the three great stages of evolution?
2. What are some of the animal hybrids he presents?
3. What have scientists done with bioluminescent cells from jellyfish?
4. What does he say about the differences in regulations on genetic
modifications between the US and Europe?
5. Name a few of the animals that have been successfully cloned.
6. What have scientists managed to do with cockroaches and goliath
beetles?
7. What was so special about the monkey with the prosthetic arm?
8. What was grown on a mouses back?
9. What is Pauls view on bio-engineering?
10.What changes does he predict in the future?

Discussion Questions
1. What did you think of the talk?
2. Did you like his presenting style?
3. Whats your opinion in the different experiments?
4. Which ones do you find interesting?
5. Which ones do you think go too far?
6. What uses can you see for the different bio-engineered animals?
7. How far do you think we should go?
8. Should we clone humans?
9. What problems do you foresee if we were to start cloning humans?
10.Who should decide the limits of where science can go?
11.Should people be able to design their own pets/children/bodies?

Language
Look at the language in bold. What do you think it means?

1. By changing our environment, we put new pressures on our bodies to

evolve. Whether it was through settling down in agricultural
communities
2. So I want to take you through a kind of whirlwind tour of that
3. Someday, perhaps pretty soon, you will have beefalo patties in your local
supermarket.
4. Dogs are the result of selectively breeding traits that we like.
5. The scientists that made this cute little creature ended up slaughtering it
and eating it afterwards.
6. We had to do it the hard way in the old days by choosing offspring that
looked a particular way and then breeding them.
7. What are the ethical guidelines that we will use then?