Reading 11: Glimmer of Hope to Save Fertility

READING 11

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1 – 14 which are based on Reading 11.

Glimmer of Hope to Save Fertility

A.        Japanese researchers have removed ovaries from fetal mice and matured the eggs in a test tube, a technique that someday could save the fertility of girls being treated for cancer.

B.        The Japanese research involved removing the ovaries from mice fetuses and placing them in test tubes. The immature eggs were isolated and cultured for 28 days. The nuclear DNA material was then removed from the immature eggs and transferred into mature eggs. The eggs were then fertilized and the embryos were inserted into the surrogate mothers to develop normally. The scientists removed genetic material from the immature eggs and transferred it into mature eggs. Those eggs were then fertilized and the embryos were inserted into the wombs of surrogate mothers. Of the 64 embryos, 16 pups — or 25 percent — were produced by seven adult mice. None of the offspring displayed abnormalities, and all were fertile following development.

C         While the technique has not been tried on humans, the study's author says it could work because female mammals of all kinds are born with a full complement of eggs, and the ability to freeze eggs for later use is already available. "This is specifically effective for childhood cancer patients because they don't have any fully mature eggs," says author Issue Hatada of the Gene Research Center at Gunma University, Gunma, Japan.

D         Other scientists who did not participate in the experiment were cautiously optimistic, although they said the method raises some of the same concerns that surround cloning human tissue. "It's promising research with clinical applications," said Jamie Grifo, director of reproductive endocrinology at New York University Medical School. He has performed similar work that involved transferring nuclear material from an older woman's eggs into a younger woman's eggs and producing an embryo.

E          Reproductive damage is not as common in children as in adults with cancer. However, a higher occurrence does appear in children who undergo certain types of chemotherapy or radiation treatment for bone marrow transplants and ovarian cancer. "There are subgroups where this sort of technology would be very important because there really aren't good alternatives for these young girls," said Charles Sklar, director of a program for survivors of childhood cancer at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

F          But if it is tried on humans, the Japanese technique could run into some of the same ethical and legal complications that Grifo experienced. He said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration pulled the plug on his research in 1999 because the procedure was similar to controversial cloning techniques, even though the embryo would not have resulted in an exact copy of one parent.

G         Robert Lanza, medical director of Worcester, Mass.-based Advanced Cell Technology says the science involved may differ somewhat from cloning, but the same dangers exist. "It's the same procedure as used for cloning, therefore it could pose many of the same risks, such as developmental abnormalities and genetic defects," he said. "I think the FDA and most medical scientists, including myself, would very strongly counsel against using this technology in humans."

H         Lanza said he would support using the research once such techniques are proven to produce more positive results. "As soon as cloning technology is safe, this technology would be safe," he said. "You could use the cloning procedure to generate a child without it being an identical copy of one of the parents. It would be the natural mix just like it would occur through normal sexual reproduction."

I           Hatada also said the research could help save endangered species by inserting eggs into animals in the same family. Similar techniques have already been used by Lanza's firm when it sponsored research in 2001 for cloning an endangered Asian ox called a gaur. A cow gave birth to the animal, which died two days later of dysentery.

Questions 1 – 3

Reading Passage 11 has 9 paragraphs labeled A – I.

Answer questions 1 – 3 by writing the appropriate letters A –I in boxes 1 – 3 on your

answer sheet.

1. Which paragraph describes the experiment of the Japanese scientists?

2. Which paragraph explains why this technique may work on human beings?

3. In which paragraph will you find information about reproductive damage, young and

adult patients, and method of treatment?

Questions 4 – 8

Complete the summary below describing the scientific experiments. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 4 – 8 on your answer sheet.

The Japanese scientists … 4 … the ovaries from mice fetuses and placed them in test tubes. The nuclear DNA material of the immature eggs - isolated and cultured for 28 days - was then removed from the immature eggs and …5 … mature eggs. The eggs were then fertilized and … 6… were inserted into the surrogate mothers to develop further. None of the offspring … 7…. Similar techniques have already been used by Lanza's firm in 2001. In this case a cow give birth to an … 8 …

Questions 9 – 12

Choose the appropriate letters A – D and write them in boxes 9 – 12 on your answer sheet.

9. The Japanese scientists conducted the experiment …

A. on fetal and mature mice.

B. on mice and young girls.

C. on mice and a cow.

D. on mice and an endangered Asian ox.

10. The possibility that this technique may work on humans is based on the fact that …

A. female mammals of all kinds are born with a full complement of eggs, and scientists are already able to freeze eggs for later use.

B. mice and humans are both mammals and their reproduction is similar.

C. modern science and technology are developing very fast.

D. An endangered Asian ox has already been born.

11. According to the director of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, young girl cancer patients lose their reproductive ability …

A. because of the particular types of cancer they are suffering from.

B. because they are still young when they suffer from cancer.

C. because they are given certain types of chemotherapy or radiation treatment.

D. because there really are not good alternatives for these young girls.

12. Despite that the embryo would not have resulted in an exact copy of one parent with this technique, the Japanese technique, if tried on humans, will also face …

A. more challenging cloning techniques.

B. the challenge of US scientists.

C. the regulation of the US Food and Drug Administration.

D. ethical and legal complications.

Questions 13 – 14

Answer questions 13 – 14 using NO MORE THAN FIVE WORDS from the passage. Write your answers in boxes 13 – 14 on your answer sheet.

13. According to Robert Lanza, medical director of Worcester, Mass.-based Advanced Cell Technology, what are some of the risks this technique could pose?

14. What is the term used by Lanza, which is similar to and also closely related to natural mix?