EigoPro 準1級読解 — Rewriting the Code of Life

For most of history, biology was something to be observed and, at best, selectively bred. Synthetic biology proposes something bolder: to treat the cell as programmable matter, its DNA a kind of code that can be written from scratch rather than merely edited. Yeast has already been coaxed into brewing a malaria drug once extracted laboriously from a shrub; bacteria have been enlisted to manufacture fuels, fragrances and spider silk. The ambition is to make biology engineerable—predictable, modular, and as reliable as the components on a circuit board. Living systems, however, are stubbornly unlike circuits. A gene inserted to perform one task may interfere with a dozen others; cells mutate, adapt and sometimes simply ignore the instructions they are given. Much of the field's recent progress has come not from imposing engineering discipline on biology but from accepting its messiness and designing around it. This humbling recognition—that life is less a machine to be commanded than an ecosystem to be negotiated with—has tempered the early hype without dimming the promise. What unsettles many observers is less the technical risk than the principle. To synthesise a genome is to claim a power once reserved, in the popular imagination, for nature or the divine, and to do so for profit. Proponents reply that humans have remade living things for ten thousand years, and that a designed microbe is no stranger than a domesticated dog. The disagreement is unlikely to be settled by evidence, for it turns on values rather than facts: how much mastery over the living world we believe we are entitled to, and how wisely we trust ourselves to wield it.

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この単元の問題を3問、解説つきで公開しています

準1級 · 読解 · 全5問

問 1

What is the main idea of the passage?

The only obstacle to synthetic biology is the technical risk of accidents.
Synthetic biology aims to engineer life, but biology's messiness and deep value questions complicate that ambition.
Synthetic biology has already made cells as predictable as electronic circuits.
Selective breeding is a more powerful technology than synthetic biology.

Phrase

to treat the cell as programmable matter, its DNA a kind of code that can be written from scratch

準1級読解科学倫理主旨把握

⚡ひとことで

本文の論旨は『合成生物学は生命を工学化しようとするが、生物の乱雑さと価値観の問いが阻む』。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「Synthetic biology aims to engineer life, but biology's messiness and deep value questions complicate that ambition.」

正解

第1段で野望 (make biology engineerable) を提示し、第2段で Living systems ... are stubbornly unlike circuits と乱雑さを、第3段で it turns on values rather than facts と価値観の対立を述べる。よって『生命の工学化を目指すが、乱雑さと価値の問いが複雑にする』が主旨。

「Synthetic biology has already made living cells as predictable as ordinary electronic circuits are.」
= 細胞を回路並みに予測可能にした ━ stubbornly unlike circuits と述べており逆。
「Selective breeding is a more powerful technology than synthetic biology.」
= 選択育種の方が強力 ━ 本文は育種を過去の限界的手法として対比するだけ。
「The only obstacle to synthetic biology is the technical risk of accidents.」
= 唯一の障害は技術的リスク ━ less the technical risk than the principle と価値の問いを強調しており逆。

▦Collocation

パターン	意味	例
programmable matter	プログラム可能な物質	treat the cell as programmable matter
from scratch	ゼロから	written from scratch
be coaxed into ~ing	うまく~させられる	Yeast was coaxed into brewing a drug.
be enlisted to ~	~に動員される	bacteria enlisted to manufacture fuel
turn on ~	~次第である	It turns on values rather than facts.

❝例文

They treat the cell as programmable matter.
彼らは細胞をプログラム可能な物質として扱う。
DNA can now be written from scratch.
DNAは今やゼロから書ける。
The debate turns on values, not facts.
その議論は事実でなく価値観次第だ。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

主旨設問は3段それぞれの核 (野望/乱雑さ/価値) を束ねる肢を選ぶ。1段だけを拡大した肢 (回路並みに成功) や対比相手 (育種) を主役にした肢は誤り。

問 2

According to the passage, what is the central ambition of synthetic biology?

To return to observing and selectively breeding organisms as in the past.
To replace all manufactured goods with naturally occurring ones.
To prove that DNA cannot be written or altered by humans.
To make biology engineerable—predictable, modular, and reliable like circuit components.

Phrase

to make biology engineerable—predictable, modular, and as reliable as the components on a circuit board

準1級読解科学倫理詳細把握

⚡ひとことで

中心的野望=生物を工学化し、回路部品のように予測可能・モジュール式・信頼できるものにすること。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「To make biology engineerable—predictable, modular, and reliable like circuit components.」

正解

第1段末で The ambition is to make biology engineerable—predictable, modular, and as reliable as the components on a circuit board と明示される。よって『回路部品のように予測可能・モジュール式・信頼できる工学化』が中心的野望。

「return to observing and selectively breeding」
= 観察と選択育種に戻る ━ それは『過去』の姿で、合成生物学はそれを超えようとするので逆。
「prove that DNA cannot be written」
= DNAは書けないと証明 ━ written from scratch を目指すので正反対。
「To replace all manufactured goods with naturally occurring ones.」
= 全製品を天然品に置換 ━ 本文に無い拡大解釈。

▦Collocation

パターン	意味	例
make A engineerable	Aを工学的に扱えるようにする	make biology engineerable
modular	モジュール式の	predictable and modular
as reliable as ~	~と同じくらい信頼できる	as reliable as circuit components
a circuit board	回路基板	components on a circuit board
the ambition is to ~	野望は~することだ	The ambition is to make biology engineerable.

❝例文

The goal is to make biology engineerable.
目標は生物を工学的に扱えるようにすることだ。
They want cells as reliable as circuits.
彼らは回路並みに信頼できる細胞を望む。
Modular parts can be recombined freely.
モジュール部品は自由に組み替えられる。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

『中心的野望』設問は the ambition is to ~ の定義文をそのまま言い換えた肢を選ぶ。過去の手法 (育種) や正反対 (書けない証明) は典型的引っかけ。

問 3

What does the passage say has driven much recent progress in the field?

Accepting biology's messiness and designing around it rather than imposing rigid engineering.
Forcing cells to behave exactly like predictable machines.
Abandoning the use of yeast and bacteria altogether.
Proving that genes never interfere with one another.

Phrase

not from imposing engineering discipline on biology but from accepting its messiness and designing around it

準1級読解科学倫理詳細把握

⚡ひとことで

近年の進歩は『工学の規律を押し付ける』のでなく『乱雑さを受け入れ回避設計する』ことから生まれた。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「Accepting biology's messiness and designing around it rather than imposing rigid engineering.」

正解

第2段で Much of the field's recent progress has come not from imposing engineering discipline on biology but from accepting its messiness and designing around it と述べる。よって『乱雑さを受け入れ回避設計したこと』が進歩の源。

「Forcing all living cells to behave exactly like completely predictable machines.」
= 細胞を機械のように強制 ━ imposing discipline を否定する文脈なので逆。
「Abandoning the use of yeast and bacteria」
= 酵母や細菌の使用を放棄 ━ 本文はそれらの活用例を挙げており矛盾。
「Proving that genes never interfere」
= 遺伝子は決して干渉しないと証明 ━ may interfere with a dozen others と述べ逆。

▦Collocation

パターン	意味	例
impose A on B	AをBに押し付ける	impose discipline on biology
design around ~	~を回避して設計する	designing around its messiness
not from A but from B	AからでなくBから	not from imposing but from accepting
messiness	乱雑さ	accepting its messiness
interfere with ~	~を妨げる	interfere with a dozen others

❝例文

Progress came from designing around the mess.
進歩は乱雑さを回避設計することから来た。
They stopped imposing rigid discipline on cells.
彼らは細胞に硬直した規律を押し付けるのをやめた。
A gene may interfere with a dozen others.
一つの遺伝子は十余りの他に干渉しうる。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

not A but B 構文の詳細設問は B (accepting messiness) が正解の核。A (imposing discipline) をそのまま正解にした肢は逆を突く罠。

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EigoPro 準1級 読解 — Rewriting the Code of Life

この単元の問題を3問、解説つきで公開しています

to treat the cell as programmable matter, its DNA a kind of code that can be written from scratch

to make biology engineerable—predictable, modular, and as reliable as the components on a circuit board

not from imposing engineering discipline on biology but from accepting its messiness and designing around it

EigoPro 準1級読解 — Rewriting the Code of Life