Partie 3 : Sciences et techniques
Chapitre 25 : Care and cures
At the doctor′s and at the hospital, page 56
| a physician |
| a GP (general practitioner) |
| the doctor’s surgery, the doctor’s office |
| to listen to somebody’s chest |
| to take somebody’s blood pressure |
| a screening test |
| a prescription |
| a cure |
| an injection |
| a tablet |
| to have an X-ray |
| to undergo surgery |
| an operating theatre |
| a nurse |
| a ward |
| in intensive care |
| a graft |
| a drip |
| a scar |
| to heal |
| to recover |
| a shrink |
| a gynaecologist |
| to give birth to |
Christiaan Barnard (1922-2001) performed the world’s first successful human-to-human heart transplant in 1967.
In the 2010s minimally invasive surgery has become the norm for many operations.
Medical research and genetics, page 56
| the gene pool |
| a stem cell |
| a clinical trial |
| animal testing |
| cruelty-free |
| to ban experiments |
| selective breeding |
| to tamper with |
| a designer baby |
| to draw the line |
| long-term effects |
| a legal limbo |
| contentious |
| thorny |
In the United States, the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) is a governmental agency that approves or disapproves new drugs and devices.
DNA or Deoxyribonucleic acid is the molecule that encodes genetic information.
Food for thought, page 57
Even if you’re not an animal lover, you probably don’t like the idea of animals being used in research, because of the pain inflicted on them. Also, many people say that humans do not react to drugs the way rats or guinea pigs do. The good news is that new computer modelling and bioengineering techniques could make animal testing obsolete.
The idea is to create chips that can simulate how a whole body would react to a new drug. They are like humans on a chip, in which the vital organs are integrated.
Besides, some engineers have developed miniature hearts that can beat 30 times a minute, making it possible to induce diseases in them. These mini hearts are thought to be more efficient to test new drugs, as they are closer to real human hearts than the hearts of animals. Furthermore, they could reduce the time it takes to move towards clinical trials, with human volunteers.