2. Complete these word combinations with a verb. They all appear in the text. Translate the word combinations into Russian.

1. to … into the field

2. to … up with particular other ones

3. to … at the very early “proof-of-principle” stage

4. to … calculations

5. to … hidden patterns

3. Find out: true or false?

1. The scientists had built the computer made from the molecule which carries our genes.

2. DNA computing could start to become a reality in the next ten years.

3. The double-helix molecule is found in the nucleus of all cells.

4. Information of the double-helix molecule is stored as a code of three chemical bases.

5. The strands of DNA perform trillions of calculations at the same time.

4. Answer the questions.

1. What is DNA computing?

2. What kind of computers had scientists built last month?

3. When did the idea of using DNA to store and process information take off?

4. How much information can the double-helix molecule hold?

5. What kind of machines might scientists invent in the future?

5. Translate these sentences into English.

1. Ученым удалось построить первый программируемый компьютер, сделанный на основе молекулы, несущей генетическую информацию.

2. Идея следовать законам природы и использовать ДНК для хранения и обработки информации появилась в 1994 году.

3. Основания специфическим образом соединяются друг с другом.

4. ДНК-чипы будут скорее дополнять, нежели совсем заменят кремниевые микросхемы.

5. ДНК-компьютинг может стать реальностью в ближайшие пятьдесят лет.

IV. Speaking

Imagine that you are assistant professor of a research group. What have you discovered last ten years?

Unit 9

Leeches’ neurons

I. Warm up

Read and translate the following quotation. Do you agree with the author?

A zygote is gamete’s way of producing more gametes. This may be the purpose of the universe.

(Robert Heinlein)

II. Vocabulary focus

Useful words for learning.

to create - создавать

to perform - выполнять

to devise - разрабатывать, изобретать

connection - связь, соединение

approach - подход

recognition - понимание, осознание

to insert - вставлять, помещать

to respond - реагировать

feature - свойство

to represent - представлять

to link up - соединять, сцеплять

sentient - ощущающий; сознающий

III. Reading

1. Read the text and translate it into Russian.

A computer made of leeches’ neurons has been created by a team of US scientists. At present, the device can perform simple sums - the team calls the novel calculator the “leech-ulator.” But their aim is to devise a new gеneration of fast and flexible computers that can work out for themselves ho to solve a problem. The Professor, leading the project, says he is amazed that today’s computers are still so dumb. “Unlike ordinary computers needing absolutely correct information every time to come to the right answer biological computer will come to the correct answer by filling in the gaps itself,” he says. The device the team has built can think for itself because the leech neurons are able to form their own connections from one to another. Normal silicon computers only make the connections they are told to by the programmer. This flexibility means the biological computer works out its own way of solving the problem. “With the neurons, we only have to direct them towards the answer and they get it themselves,” says the Professor. This approach to computing is particularly suited to pattern recognition tasks like reading handwriting. The neurons are harnessed in a petri dish by inserting micro-electrodes into them. Each neuron has its own electrical activity and responds in its own way to an electrical stimulus. These features are used to make each neuron represent a number. Calculations are then performed by linking up the individual neurons. Leech neurons are used because they have been extensively studied. Though much simpler, the neuron computer works in a similar way to the human brain. The Professor says a robot brain is his long-term aim, noting that conventional supercomputers are far too big for a robot to carry around. “We want to be able to integrate robotics, electronics and these type of computers so that we can create more sentient robots,” he says. Now the team are working on enabling their computer to do multiplication.

Notes:

neuron - нейрон

leech – пиявка

to amaze – поражать, удивлять

to harness – использовать

human brain – человеческий мозг

long-term – долгосрочный, длительный

to carry around – иметь при себе, носить с собой