Despite an ongoing effort to increase worldwide public awareness of

Question

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Passage # 05, Date: 03-Apr-2020
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Despite an ongoing effort to increase worldwide public awareness of the importance of organ donations, there remains a serious shortage of viable human replacement organs. This shortage has led to increased efforts in xenotransplantation, the transplanting of animal organs into humans. The first such procedures were actually carried out in the early 20th century, when a pig’s kidney and a goat’s liver were implanted into two patients, neither of whom survived. The risks remain formidable; animals harbor viruses that, though relatively harmless to the animal, are potentially fatal to the human recipient. Some of these viruses are virtually unknown to modern science. But even a virus-free transplant can be rejected by the recipient, whose immune system will sense the presence of a foreign body, and will start producing white blood cells called lymphocytes to counter this new presence. Powerful drugs can suppress the immune system, but in so doing, they leave the body open to other infections.

There has been some progress in recent years. New drugs have been designed that suppress only certain aspects of the immune system. (A side benefit of research into these drugs is that they will likely help patients who have such immune system problems as arthritis and diabetes.) Even more promising is the research being made into genetically altering animal organs so that they will produce proteins that “fool” the human body into recognizing the transplanted organ as that of a human. And while doctors have yet to see many long-term xenotransplant successes, the procedure has proven successful as a stopgap until a suitable human organ can be found. This has been true in a number of cases involving transplants of pig organs. (Pigs are especially suitable donors, as they have many organs that are about the same size as those of humans. In addition, there has been less ethical opposition to using pigs -- who are already bred for food -- than to using baboons, another animal whose anatomy is quite similar to ours.) Genetically changing only one of the pig’s 100,000 genes -- its alpha-gal gene -- produces proteins on the surface of the pig’s organs that are recognized as human by our immune systems.

To efficiently exploit genetic programming, researchers will need to combine it with cloning techniques, which can produce many animals with the same desirable genetic alteration. At that point, the organs can be removed from animals that “naturally” have the desirable traits. It is important to note, however, that even after suitable animal organs are readily available and more sophisticated anti-rejection drugs have been developed, the need for human donors will remain high into the foreseeable future.    1

1. According to the passage, genetically altering animal genes in transplanted organs can ____________.

A. aid in treating arthritis and diabetes
B. remove the alpha-gal gene
C. increase the effectiveness of the human body’s immune system
D. decrease the negative effects of certain viruses
E. affect the human immune response

2 
 2. The passage states which of the following about animal cloning in regard to xenotransplants?

A. It can never take the place of human organ transplants.
B. It will increase the human body’s ability to cope with animal viruses.
C. It will allow humans in need of new organs to survive until suitable human organs are available.
D. It will make genetic programming more practical.
E. It can increase the effectiveness of anti-rejection drugs.

3 
 3. All of the following are mentioned in the passage as a difficulty associated with animal organ transplants EXCEPT:

A. Animal organ transplants are rarely successful on a long-term basis.
B. Genetically altering an animal can produce proteins that the human body rejects.
C. There are ethical questions associated with using animals for purposes of xenotransplantation.
D. Convincing the human body to accept the implanted organ can be problematic.
E. Some animals have viruses that can prove fatal to humans.

shameekv1989 · Answer

Summary  :-
|=|Introduce X - anim organ transp. in humans & risks inv
|+|ways to achieve succ transp. - new drugs, fool imm. sys, pigs - alpha-gal protein
|+|gen+clon; need for human donors still needed

"To efficiently exploit genetic programming, researchers will need to combine it with cloning techniques, which can produce many animals with the same desirable genetic alteration" statement in last paragraph supports that cloning will make genetic programming more practical.

Answer - D

Answer - D

Answer - E, D, A

razorhell · Answer

It is a descriptive passage, which mainly explains an alternative to human organ transplants.

1. According to the passage, genetically altering animal genes in transplanted organs can ____________.

A.  aid in treating arthritis and diabetes  No passage states that suppressing immune system may aid these diseases
B.  remove the alpha-gal gene  not related
C.  increase the effectiveness of the human body’s immune system  opposite is true
D.  decrease the negative effects of certain viruses  not mentioned
E.  affect the human immune response  ...  Correct answer .. AS the passage states that the human immune system will treat the animal organs as alien and produce lymphocytes, which may lead to other diseases

2. The passage states which of the following about animal cloning in regard to xenotransplants?

A.  It can never take the place of human organ transplants.   not mentioned
B.  It will increase the human body’s ability to cope with animal viruses.   incorrect statement
C.  It will allow humans in need of new organs to survive until suitable human organs are available. Correct .. as it is mentioned in the passage 
D.  It will make genetic programming more practical. not mentioned
E. It can increase the effectiveness of anti-rejection drugs. not related to question

3. All of the following are mentioned in the passage as a difficulty associated with animal organ transplants EXCEPT:

A.  Animal organ transplants are rarely successful on a long-term basis.  Mentioned
B.   Genetically altering an animal can produce proteins that the human body rejects.   Mentioned
 C. There are ethical questions associated with using animals for purposes of xenotransplantation. Correct ... Not mentioned 
D.  Convincing the human body to accept the implanted organ can be problematic. Mentioned
E.  Some animals have viruses that can prove fatal to humans. Mentioned

AnirudhaS · Answer

The correct answers are in  bold

1. According to the passage, genetically altering animal genes in transplanted organs can ____________.

A. aid in treating arthritis and diabetes
B. remove the alpha-gal gene
C. increase the effectiveness of the human body’s immune system
D. decrease the negative effects of certain viruses
 E. affect the human immune response

2. The passage states which of the following about animal cloning in regard to xenotransplants?

A. It can never take the place of human organ transplants.
B. It will increase the human body’s ability to cope with animal viruses.
C. It will allow humans in need of new organs to survive until suitable human organs are available.
 D. It will make genetic programming more practical.   Its stated in the passage - "To efficiently exploit genetic programming, researchers will need to combine it with cloning techniques" 
E. It can increase the effectiveness of anti-rejection drugs.

3. All of the following are mentioned in the passage as a difficulty associated with animal organ transplants EXCEPT:

A. Animal organ transplants are rarely successful on a long-term basis.
 B. Genetically altering an animal can produce proteins that the human body rejects.   it is mentioned that produced proteins to be accepted by human body, not reject. 
C. There are ethical questions associated with using animals for purposes of xenotransplantation.
D. Convincing the human body to accept the implanted organ can be problematic.
E. Some animals have viruses that can prove fatal to humans.

Gowtham91 · Answer

Q1. Option E. Can be inferred from para2. "Even more promising is the research being made into genetically altering animal organs so that they will produce proteins that “fool” the human body into recognizing the transplanted organ as that of a human."

Q2. Option C. Can be inferred from para2. "And while doctors have yet to see many long-term xenotransplant successes, the procedure has proven successful as a stopgap until a suitable human organ can be found."

Q3. Option B. The intent of genetically altering an animal is to "fool" the human body immune system. This can be inferred from last sentence of para2. "Genetically changing only one of the pig’s 100,000 genes -- its alpha-gal gene -- produces proteins on the surface of the pig’s organs that are recognized as human by our immune systems."

Sajjad1994 · Answer

OAs are posted now, If anyone needs official explanations kindly let me know.

1. E
2. D
3. B

Tally your answers with official answers.

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Hello AnirudhaS

You got all answers correct but you didn't put efforts in explanations, you should explain why wrong answers are wrong.

Good Luck

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Once again good effort, but unfortunately you got last one incorrect. Let me know if you need Official explanation for the last one.

Regards

pabpinor · Answer

1. According to the passage, genetically altering animal genes in transplanted organs can ____________.

A. aid in treating arthritis and diabetes  This could be possible but is not mentioned in the passage.   Wrong. 
B. remove the alpha-gal gene  This is not what can be done by altering genes but a gene alteration itself that works to ease the assimilation of pork organs.   Wrong. 
C. increase the effectiveness of the human body’s immune system  It would increase the effectiveness of the transplants by actually reducing the effectiveness of the immune system against foreign corpses (animal organs).   Wrong. 
D. decrease the negative effects of certain viruses  Nothing said about viruses and genes, the passage does not focus on developing the impact of viruses in xenotransplants.   Wrong. 
E. affect the human immune response  It can affect it in a way that will fake its no-human condition in order that the immune response is positive.   Right.

2. The passage states which of the following about animal cloning in regard to xenotransplants?

A. It can never take the place of human organ transplants.  Cloning animals by definition cannot overtake animal to human transplants, what the passage says is that in the foreseeable future, xenotransplants cannot fully overtake human transplants even with a "perfect" process (leaves the door open to a later future, so never is wrong).   Wrong. 
B. It will increase the human body’s ability to cope with animal viruses.  It could be that cloned animals have no viruses but the passage does not mention anything about it.   Wrong. 
C. It will allow humans in need of new organs to survive until suitable human organs are available.  No, what allows humans to survive rejection is cheating the immune system, cloning will help replicate the gene change needed to cheat the immune system.   Wrong. 
D. It will make genetic programming more practical.  More practical = efficiently exploit, it will allow to produce animals with the desired modifications in large numbers.   Right. 
E. It can increase the effectiveness of anti-rejection drugs.  Somehow could by programming the necessary gene changes, but would be an indirect consequence, the gene modification is the responsible not the cloning.   Wrong.

3. All of the following are mentioned in the passage as a difficulty associated with animal organ transplants EXCEPT:

A. Animal organ transplants are rarely successful on a long-term basis.  This is mentioned as a difficulty that so far, with the expectation on solving it at some point.   Wrong. 
B. Genetically altering an animal can produce proteins that the human body rejects.  There is no mention of a relation between the gene alteration and a negative impact on the transplant, just the opposit, gene alterations FACILITATE xenotransplants.   Right. 
C. There are ethical questions associated with using animals for purposes of xenotransplantation.  This is mentioned as a difficulty, it is mentioned that pigs generate less ethical conflict than baboons.   Wrong. 
D. Convincing the human body to accept the implanted organ can be problematic.  This is mentioned when talking about immune system attacks to animal organs.   Wrong. 
E. Some animals have viruses that can prove fatal to humans.  That is introduced in the first paragraph, it is definitely a great difficulty.   Wrong.

Regards,
Pablo

AnirudhaS · Answer

Ok Sajjad, I will definitely do that from next RC passage. Eagerly awaiting for 2 more!!

dianacaufman · Answer

This task is kinda difficult for me, I would say

1. E
2. D
3. B

pabpinor · Answer

Hey Diana, You have the official answers posted, you got everything right

If you want to understand better the solutions check my explanations three posts above, I got them right and posted my reasoning. Regards, Pablo

aniket2045 · Answer

SajjadAhmad  can you please let me know why C is wrong and how D is correct.

gmat8055 · Answer

SajjadAhmad

For 3Q Can you post the official explanation.

Where is option A mentioned in the passage?

Thank you!

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Official Explanation

1. According to the passage, genetically altering animal genes in transplanted organs can ____________.

Difficulty Level:   600

Explanation

For this type of  “specific”  question, you need to go find where the unique keywords given in the question stem (in this case  “genetically altering animal genes…” ) are discussed. The correct answer will be stated explicitly, albeit with different (and sometimes tricky) wording. At the end of the second paragraph you find the following:  “Genetically changing only one of the pig’s 100,000 genes -- its alpha-gal gene -- produces proteins on the surface of the pig’s organs that are recognized as human by our immune systems.”  From this you know that genetically altering the genes in the transplanted organs affects the human immune response, so  (E)  is correct.

For  (A) , the side benefit to people with arthritis or diabetes is from newly developed drugs, not from genetic alteration.

For  (B) , the gene is modified (not removed) in pigs to produce certain proteins.

For  (C) , the genetic modification makes the immune system LESS effective at countering the new organ.

For  (D) , genetic alteration is not mentioned in conjunction with viruses. Note that most of these incorrect answers are discussed somewhere in the passage, but either do not relate to genetic alteration of genes or have been tweaked with wording to make them incorrect.

Answer: E

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Official Explanation

2. The passage states which of the following about animal cloning in regard to xenotransplants?

Difficulty Level:   700-750

Explanation

For this type of  “specific”  question, you need to go find where the unique keywords given in the question stem (in this case  “animal cloning” ) are discussed. The correct answer will be stated explicitly, albeit with different (and sometimes tricky) wording. The first sentence of the last paragraph states that  “To efficiently exploit genetic programming, researchers will need to combine it with cloning techniques, which can produce many animals with the same desirable genetic alteration.”  Therefore  (D)  must be correct: since  “practical”  is nearly synonymous with  “efficient,”  you know that animal cloning will make genetic programming more practical.

For  (A)  you are told at the end of the passage that the need for human donors will remain high  “into the foreseeable future.”  Therefore, there may come a time when genetic modification and cloning do take the place of human transplants.

For  (B) , genetic modification and cloning are never said to affect the human body’s ability to cope with animal viruses.

For  (C) , the clear implication in the passage is that cloning is in the research stage, not that it has already been successful, even as a stopgap.

For  (E) , there is no connection made in the passage between cloning and anti-rejection drugs. The genetic modification and cloning might make the drugs unnecessary, but that is not the same as saying they will increase the effectiveness of the drugs.

Answer: D

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Official Explanation

3. All of the following are mentioned in the passage as a difficulty associated with animal organ transplants EXCEPT:

Difficulty Level:   650

Explanation

As with any  “except”  style specific question, you should go locate each of the incorrect answers and confirm their presence in the passage. The remaining choice will be the correct answer. The primary difficulty in this type of question usually comes from wordplay, so make sure you read each answer carefully to avoid accidentally misinterpreting one or more of them.

For  (A) , you can find this clearly in the middle of the  2nd paragraph  where it states:  “And while doctors have yet to see many long-term xenotransplant successes…”

For  (C) , you also find this in the  2nd paragraph  where the author discusses  “less ethical opposition”  relating to pigs and baboons – from this you know there has been ethical opposition to some animal organ transplants.

(D)  is found in multiple places and is easy to eliminate, as this is primary discussion point of the passage.

(E)  is concretely found in the first paragraph:  “animals harbor viruses that, though relatively harmless to the animal, are potentially fatal to the human recipient.”

(B) , the correct answer, is tricky because of wordplay. In the  2nd paragraph  you learn  “Even more promising is the research being made into genetically altering animal organs so that they will produce proteins that fool the human body into recognizing the transplanted organ as that of a human.”  So  “genetically altering an animal”  is discussed but the result is that the human body ends up accepting the organ, not rejecting it!  (B)  is only correct because it says  “reject”  at the end instead of  “accept.”  For any specific question like this, always read the answer choices very carefully for this type of subtle wordplay.

Answer: B

Sri07 · Answer

Hey I selected option C in this case thinking that given the context the fact that genetically altering animal genes can fool the immune system thereby making it more effective in accepting the transplant.

Can you help me understand why that reasoning is incorrect?

GMATNinja  
 SajjadAhmad

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Author doesn't said that making fool the immune system and making it more effective in accepting the transplant will lead to the success of the transplant. Read a few lines from the  first paragraph:

The risks remain formidable; animals harbor viruses that, though relatively harmless to the animal, are potentially fatal to the human recipient................But even a virus-free transplant can be rejected by the recipient, whose immune system will sense the presence of a foreign body, and will start producing white blood cells called lymphocytes to counter this new presence.

These lines help us to detect the answer as  E

PS: This is a medium level question. Picking up answer C mean you haven't understood the passage completely or at least to the extent of main idea of the passage.

Thank you

VerbalBot · Answer

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