In recent years a new farming revolution has begun, one that involves the 【B1】______ of life at a fundamental level--the gene. The study of genetics has 【B2】______ a new industry called biotechnology. As the name suggests, It 【B3】______ biology and modern technology through such techniques as genetic engineering. Some of the new biotech companies specialize in agriculture and are working feverishly to 【B4】______ seeds that give a high yield, that 【B5】______ diseases, drought and frost, and that reduce the need for 【B6】______ chemicals. If such goals could be achieved, it would be most 【B7】______ . But some have raised concerns about genetically engineered crops.
In nature, genetic diversity is created within certain 【B8】______ . A rose can be crossed with a different kind of rose, but a rose will never cross with a potato. Genetic engineering, 【B9】______ usually involves taking genes from one species and inserting them into another 【B10】______ to transfer a desired characteristic. This could mean, for example, selecting a gene which leads to the production of a chemical with anti-freeze 【B11】______ from an artic fish, and inserting it into a potato or strawberry to make it frost-resistant. 【B12】______ , then, biotechnology allows humans to 【B13】______ the genetic wails that separate species.
Like the green revolution, 【B14】______ some call the gene revolution contributes to the problem of genetic uniformity--some say even more so 【B15】______ geneticists can employ techniques such as cloning and 【B16】______ culture (培养), processes that produce perfectly 【B17】______ copies. Concerns about the erosion of biodiversity, therefore, remain. Genetically altered plants, however, raise new 【B18】______ , such as the effects that they may have on us and the environment. "We are flying blindly into a new 【B19】______ of agricultural biotechnology with high hopes, few constraints, and little idea of the potential 【B20】______ " said science writer Jeremy Rifkin.
【B1】______

A. manufacture
B. management
C. manipulation
D. maturity