APIEVocabulary & Pronunciation: Gene Editing
Gene editing and bioethics
Answers and an explanation for each question appear once you add this activity to your own library.
Gene Editing and Bioethics
Master 10 key words for discussing genetics, modern medicine, and ethical boundaries with confidence.
📋 How to use this lesson
For the teacher
Spend 5 minutes on the word table, 10 minutes on practice, and 5 minutes on shadowing.
Check the auto-graded practice tasks together and have pairs compare their answers before listening.
For the learner
Read through the 10 words, word forms, and memory tips in the table first.
Complete the 16 practice tasks, then record yourself in the shadowing section to test your fluency.
Word table
Here are the 10 essential words organized into 3 themes. Review their forms, natural collocations, and memory tips.
🧬 Theme 1: Genes and inheritance
| Word | Meaning | Common collocations | Word forms | Example sentence | Memory tip |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| genome /ˈdʒiːnəʊm/ | The complete set of genetic material in an organism. | human genome, sequence the genome, whole-genome | genomic (adj) | Scientists took years to map the full human genome. | Gene + home: the home for all your genes. |
| variant /ˈveəriənt/ | A specific version of a gene that differs slightly from others. | genetic variant, rare variant, carry a variant | vary (v), variation (n) | She carries a rare variant that protects her heart. | Think of variety: a small change in code. |
| hereditary /həˈredɪtri/ | Passed down naturally from parents to children through genes. | hereditary disease, hereditary trait, purely hereditary | heredity (n) | Huntington’s is a severe hereditary condition. | Connect to heir: what you inherit from parents. |
| trait /treɪt/ | A particular physical or behavioral quality in a person. | physical trait, inherited trait, desirable trait | – | Eye colour is a simple inherited physical trait. | Sounds like trace: a visible mark or quality. |
🔬 Theme 2: Editing and medicine
| Word | Meaning | Common collocations | Word forms | Example sentence | Memory tip |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| embryo /ˈembriəʊ/ | An animal or human in the very earliest stage of development. | human embryo, early embryo, edit an embryo | embryonic (adj) | The team studied the early human embryo under a microscope. | Picture an egg / early bloom just beginning. |
| therapeutic /ˌθerəˈpjuːtɪk/ | Designed to treat, heal, or cure an illness. | therapeutic benefit, therapeutic trial, purely therapeutic | therapy (n) | Gene editing holds clear therapeutic value for sickle cell. | Root is therapy: healing rather than upgrading. |
| clinical /ˈklɪnɪkl/ | Related to medical work on real patients, not just in a lab. | clinical trial, clinical practice, clinical application | clinic (n), clinician (n) | The new therapy is entering its first clinical trial. | Link with clinic: real doctors and beds. |
⚖️ Theme 3: The ethical debate
| Word | Meaning | Common collocations | Word forms | Example sentence | Memory tip |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| enhancement /ɪnˈhɑːnsmənt/ | Improving abilities or traits beyond what is needed for normal health. | genetic enhancement, human enhancement, cosmetic enhancement | enhance (v) | Critics fear parents will pay for genetic enhancement. | Enhance means upgrade: making already well even better. |
| eugenics /juːˈdʒenɪks/ | The discredited idea of controlling human breeding to select desirable genes. | modern eugenics, rise of eugenics, warn against eugenics | eugenic (adj) | Bioethicists warn that designer babies could revive eugenics. | Prefix eu- (good) + genes: an old, dangerous idea. |
| germline /ˈdʒɜːmlaɪn/ | The cells (sperm and eggs) whose changes pass to future generations. | germline editing, germline modification, germline therapy | – | Modifying the germline permanently alters future descendants. | Germ (seed) + line: the uninterrupted line of life. |
Practice
Work through 16 exercises from easy to challenging.
Part 1: Collocation matrix
Match each action verb on the left to the noun it naturally pairs with.
Part 2: Conversation gap-fill
Complete the exchange between two researchers. Use each word from the bank exactly once.
Dr. Lee: "Our primary goal must always be ____ care, curing severe disorders rather than upgrading healthy bodies."
Dr. Gomez: "I agree. Going beyond healing into genetic ____ opens a dangerous door to social inequality."
Dr. Lee: "And what about the lab limits? Most nations ban gene changes on a living human ____ past fourteen days."
Dr. Gomez: "Exactly. Before anything moves into a real ____ trial, we must prove absolute safety in the lab."
Part 3: Choose the word
Every option keeps the sentence grammatically correct, but only one fits the intended meaning.
9. Sequencing the entire human ______ gave researchers the complete biological blueprint of our species.
10. Historians warn that selecting people by DNA risks reviving the dark ideology of ______.
11. Unlike somatic cells, edits to the ______ will be passed on to every future generation.
12. Doctors confirmed that her muscle weakness was a purely ______ condition inherited from her father.
Part 4: Word formation
Fill the gap using the correct form of the word in brackets. Use only forms from our word table.
13. The hospital opened a new ____ medicine unit to analyze patient DNA. (GENOME)
14. Gregor Mendel's classic pea experiments laid the foundation for the study of ____. (HEREDITARY)
15. An experienced ____ must closely observe how each patient tolerates the injection. (CLINICAL)
16. Many bioethics committees strictly regulate research on ____ stem cells. (EMBRYO)
Shadowing
Listen to the audio, repeat aloud with matching rhythm and stress, and record your voice.
Part A: Core Collocations
Collocation 1
[Bài tập luyện nói]
____Collocation 2
[Bài tập luyện nói]
____Collocation 3
[Bài tập luyện nói]
____Collocation 4
[Bài tập luyện nói]
____Part B: Natural Sentences
Each natural spoken sentence has at most 14 words.
Sentence 1 (11 words)
[Bài tập luyện nói]
____Sentence 2 (11 words)
[Bài tập luyện nói]
____Sentence 3 (11 words)
[Bài tập luyện nói]
____Sentence 4 (11 words)
[Bài tập luyện nói]
____Sentence 5 (12 words)
[Bài tập luyện nói]
____Sentence 6 (12 words)
[Bài tập luyện nói]
____Part C: Challenging Words
Focus on clean vowel sounds and word stress.
Stress the second syllable: huh-RED-ih-tree.
[Bài tập luyện nói]
____Stress the middle syllable: yoo-JEN-iks.
[Bài tập luyện nói]
____Related lessons
Class activity: Gene Talk Odd One Out
Gene editing and bioethics
Speaking · 20 min
Grammar: Adverb-Adjective Collocations in Bioethics
Gene editing and bioethics
Grammar · 12 min
IELTS Speaking: Gene Editing & Bioethics
Gene editing and bioethics
Speaking · 30 min
IELTS Writing: Gene Editing and Bioethics
Gene editing and bioethics
Writing · 55 min
C1 Agreeing, Disagreeing and Softening
Culture & entertainment
Vocabulary · 12 min
C1 Food and Dining Idioms
Food & drink
Vocabulary · 12 min