Terza prova biologico-sanitario - Simulazione

3002

Istituti Tecnici

Il Gene dei Geni: il fisico giustifica i mezzi

La prova è rivolta agli studenti dell'ultimo anno dell'istituto tecnico per attività sociali, indirizzo biologico sanitario.

Le discipline interessate sono: inglese, storia, anatomia, biotecnologia, microbiologia.

La proposta prende spunto da un testo in lingua inglese, che in questo caso assume valenza veicolare sul potenziamento muscolare degli atleti ottenuto mediante tecniche di manipolazione genetica. Il percorso affronta il tema della sfida, che l'uomo ha sempre sostenuto per potenziare le proprie capacità psico-fisiche e raggiungere traguardi più alti, affidando alla scienza il ruolo di sfruttare al massimo le potenzialità umane.

La prova vuole verificare le conoscenze e le competenze acquisite dagli studenti relativamente alla struttura e alla funzione degli apparati nervoso e muscolare, all'utilizzo dei virus e di materiale extracromosomico e alle applicazioni, talvolta dannose, dell'ingegneria genetica. Il riferimento ad un passo di un discorso hitleriano sul mito della razza biologicamente perfetta offre lo spunto per verificare conoscenze storiche relativamente alla politica nazista degli anni Trenta.

Analizzare e comprendere un testo in lingua straniera.

Conoscere e utilizzare la terminologia, i linguaggi, i contenuti, i metodi specifici delle discipline in oggetto.

Individuare i risvolti dell'uso distorto e illecito della ricerca scientifica.

Collocare correttamente eventi nel relativo contesto.

È consentito l'uso del dizionario di lingua straniera.

Tempo previsto: 4 ore.

Testo A

[...] Organizations such as the International Olympic Committee have for decades tried to suppress drugs by testing athletes and censuring those found to have cheated. But as soon as new drugs are invented, they are co-opted by dishonest athletes, forcing officials to develop new tests. Gene therapy is now being researched intensively in most developed countries. Like ordinary genes the artificial gene consists of DNA. It can be delivered in the body in several ways [...]

One of these could be the direct approach. This would be to inject the DNA into the muscle. The muscle fibres would then take up the DNA and add it to the normal pool of genes. This method is not efficient yet, so researchers often use viruses to carry the gene payload into a cell's nuclei. A virus is essentially a collection of genes packed in a protein capsule that is able to bind to a cell and inject the genes. Scientists replace the virus's own genes with the artificial gene, which the virus will then efficiently deliver to cells in the body.

Unfortunately, undesirable side effects could very well occur, for example, if a gene causing extended muscle hypertrophy were injected, this would lead to hypertrophy of another kind of muscle, namely that of the heart, giving rise to all the well-known complications of having an enlarged heart. So researchers have explored another approach, which entails removing specific cell types from the patient, adding the artificial gene in the laboratory and reintroducing the cells into the body. These techniques will be abused by athletes in the future [...]

What will athletes be like in an age of genetic enhancements? [...] By 2012 gene therapy will probably be a well-established and widely used medical technology. What if any sprinter could make his/her muscle cells express the fastest myosin isoform? This enticing myosin would give muscle fibres a much higher velocity of contraction and power [...] Let us imagine:

"ON your mark. Get set. BANG!" The runners are away.

A couple of seconds later the hypothetical athlete is already ahead by two metres and his/her lead grows [...] But then, at 65 metres, s/he feels a sudden twinge in the hamstring The patella tendon pulls out part of the tibia bone, which then snaps, and the entire quadriceps shoots up along the femur bone. The sprinter crumples to the ground, his/her running career over. This is not the scenario that generally springs to mind in connection with the words "genetically engineered superathlete". But it is clear that as genetic technologies begin trickling into the mainstream of medicine they will change sports profoundly [...].

L. Andersen, P. Scjerling, B. Saltrin, Scientific American, New York, Scientific American, IX 2000, pp. 35-37

1) Choose the right definition for the following word Co-opted?

1. Co-operated
2. Invited
3. Compelled
4. Identified.

2) Choose the right definition for the following word Take up?

1. Absorb
2. Build
3. Reject
4. Inject.

3) Match the expressions on the left with the suitable ones on the right.

• Gene payload - 3. Carrying via virus
• Direct approach - 4. Gene injection
• Hypertrophy - 2. Side effect
• Myosin - 1. Contraction

4) Choose the suitable expression to complete the following Viruses are used to:

• Replace the gene payload
• Infect the cells