In this podcast, Sarah Vitak and Mikhail Shapiro discuss how synthetic biology can be used in fighting cancer. The recording is divided into three sections. You can listen once all the way through, and then listen again to each section separately. Read the questions carefully and choose the best alternative.

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3.1 What are scientists trying to make the cells do? (3 p.)
React to the environment
Perform desired tasks
Duplicate themselves

3.2 What has proven to be problematic regarding the engineered cells? (3 p.)
They are not able to recognize their target
Some molecules seem to incapacitate them
Researchers cannot find them in the body

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3.3 What does the structure of a gas vesicle resemble? (3 p.)
A nanoscale balloon
A minuscule chicken egg
A tiny ping pong ball

3.4 What was the original purpose of gas vesicles? (3 p.)
To absorb the light needed in photosynthesis
To serve as an oxygen tank for living organisms
To help microbes reach the surface of the water

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3.5 What did Dr. Shapiro’s team use ultrasound for? (3 p.)
Locating the tumors
Breaking the vesicles
Monitoring the bacteria

3.6 What feature of cancer was used against itself? (3 p.)
Its ability to turn healthy cells into infected ones
Its evasion of the body’s defence mechanisms
Its recurrence in spite of treatment efforts