The Gene IndustryMajor companies are already in pursuit of commercial applications of the

The Gene Industry

Major companies are already in pursuit of commercial applications of the new biology. They dream of placing enzymes (酶) in the automobile to monitor exhaust and send data on pollution to a microprocessor (微处理器) that will then adjust the engine. They speak of what the New York Times calls metal--hungry microbes that might be used to mine valuable trace metals from ocean water. They have already demanded and won the right to patent new life forms.

Nervous critics, including many scientists, worry that there is corporate, national, international, and inter-scientific rivalry in the entire biotechnological (生物科技的) field. They create images not of oil spills, but of microbe spills that could spread disease and destroy entire populations. The creation and accidental release of extremely poisonous microbes, however, is only one cause for alarm. Completely rational and respectable scientists are talking about possibilities that stagger (使震惊) the imagination.

Should we breed people with cowlike stomachs so they can digest grass and hay, thereby relieving the food problem by modifying us to eat lower down on the food chain？ Should we biologically alter workers to fit the job requirement, for example, creating pilots with faster reaction times or assembly-line workers designed to do our monotonous work for us？ Should we attempt to eliminate inferior people and breed a super-race？ (Hitler tried this, but without the genetic weaponry that may soon issue from our laboratories.) Should we produce soldiers to do our fighting？ Should we use genetic (遗传的) forecasting to pre-eliminate (除去) unfit (不合适的) babies？ Should we grow reserve organs for ourselves, each of us having, as it were, a "savings bank " full of spare kidney, livers, or hands？

Wild as thses notions may sound, every one has its advocates (and opposers) in the scientific community as well as its striking commercial application. As two critics of genetic engineering, Jeremy Rifkin and Ted Howard, state in their book Who Should Play God？ "Broad scale genetic engineering will probably be introduced to America much the same way sa assembly lines, automobiles, vaccines, computers and all the other technologies. As each new genetic advance boomes commercially practical, a new consumer need will be exploitde and a market for the new technology will be created. "

According to the passage, the new biology could potentially solve the pollution problem of automobiles by

A．using metal-hungry microbes.

B．making use of enzymes.

C．adjusting the engines.

D．patenting new lifeforms.