Real-Life Communication
Geneticists present their research at conferences. It is an effective
way to inform people about your findings -- if you can speak well.
"If
you give a good talk at a conference and you have 500 people watching you,
that's much more than will ever read your papers, so it really has a high
impact," says geneticist Elizabeth Schultz.
Often, poor speakers and
writers will fill their sentences with extra verbs. They think it sounds like
they have more to say than they really do. In fact, it usually just sounds
drawn-out and wordy. They'll say "at the present" instead of "now." Or "does
not pay attention to" instead of "ignores."
The following is the introduction
for a speech you plan to deliver. Rewrite it, eliminating as many wordy phrases
as possible. It's 165 words long, but could be much shorter!
Research
in the field of genetics has exploded greatly over the past decade. New advances
in the areas of in vitro fertilization and genetic screening are leading to
new procedures. Human embryo cloning might become possible during the course
of the next few years.
Human cloning, however, brings up many new,
never-before-seen ethical questions. The scientific community and the public
need to come to terms with the implications of this research. Scientific advances
are bringing about social changes that many thousands of people will not be
able to accept. They are realizing they need to bring pressure to bear on
the government to regulate research.
As with any scientific or technological
advance, the most important question that needs to be asked is whether or
not the gains outweigh the potential losses. Human cloning might become a
brave new step in fighting disease and improving the quality of life. But
on the other hand, it might bring about dehumanization and a new genetic underclass.