People might be seriously ill if the cells in their body ().
A.grow without being instructed B.die regularly C.fail to follow people’s instructions D.develop in the human body
A.
Whatever our differences as human beings are, we all think we’re more like the rest of the animal world than we realize. It is said that we share 40 percent of our genetic (遗传的) structure with the worm.
B.
But that fact has helped Sir John Sulston win the 2002 Nobel Prize for Medicine. Sir John is the founder of the Sanger Institute in Cambridge, which was set up in 1992 to get further understanding of the human genuine (染色体组).
C.
To help them do this, they turned to the worm. The nematode (线虫类的) worm is one of the earliest creatures on planet earth. It is less than one millimeter long, completely transparent and spends its entire life digging holes through sand. But it still has lots to say about human life, and what can be done to make it better.
D.
What the worm told Sir John and his colleagues was that each of cells in the human body is programmed like a computer. They grow, develop and die according to a set of instructions that are coded in our genetic make-up.
E.
Many of the diseases that humans suffer from happen when these instructions go wrong or are not obeyed. When the cell refuses to die but carries on growing instead, this leads to cancer. Heart attacks and diseases like cause more cell deaths than normal, increasing the damage they do to the body. Sir John was the first scientist to prove the existence of programmed cell death.
We walked so quietly that the nurse at the desk didn’t even lift her eyes from the hook. Mum pointed to a big chair by the door and I knew she wanted me to have a seat. While I watched, mouth open in surprise, mum took off her hat and coat and gave them to me to hold. She walked quietly to the small room by the lift and took out a wet mop (拖把). She pushed the mop past the desk and as the nurse looked up, mum nodded and said, "Very dirty floors."
B.
"Yes. I’m glad they’ve finally decided to clean them," the nurse said. She looked at mum strangely and said, "But aren’t you working late"
C.
Mum just pushed harder, each swipe (拖) of the mop taking her farther and farther down the hall. I watched until I couldn’t see her and the nurse had turned back to write in the big book.
D.
After a long time mum came back. Her eyes were shining. She rapidly put the mop back and took my hand. As we turned to go out of the door, mum nodded politely to the nurse and said, "Thank you."
E.
Outside, mum told me: "Dagmar is fine. No fever."
F.
"You saw her, mum"
G.
"Of course. I told her about the hospital rides, and she will not expect us until tomorrow. Dad will stop worrying as well. It’s a fine hospital. But such floors! A mop is no good. You need a brush.\