2002 WAEC English Language Theory  Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions on it.        Scientists…

 Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions on it. 

      Scientists have made spectacular advances in genetic engineering in the last fifty years. The benefits of this genetic revolution to mankind are immense and almost limitless. In the field of medicine many of the diseases that have hitherto proved incurable can now be eradicated using genetic engineering. It is now possible to identify the specific gene responsible for any given disease and to replace the diseased gene with a healthy one This new technology can now be used to cure such serious diseases as diabetes sickle-cell anaemia and cancer. Geneticists (specialists in genetic science) claim that there are several other medical benefits that can be derived from this new science. They assert that by increasing the neurons in the brain. we could slow down the ageing process. 
      Scientists are now on the threshold of being able to redesign the human body to make it function more efficiently. This interesting aspect of preventive medicine involves the intervention of the doctor to ensure that the foetus contains no diseased gene that can develop into a disease later on. Moreover scientists can now build or develop organs for transplant surgery. Patients who need heart or kidney transplants no longer have to wait endlessy for donors or be worried that the donated organs would be rejected by their body’s immune system.
      Perhaps the greatest benefits of the genetic revolution are in the areas of crop and livestock production. Cloning. or the creation of a new plant or animal from the genetic information carried in one cell, has already been done with plants and animals. The result is the production of grains that yield their own fertilizer or can be grown in factories without sunshine and soil. Already in the United State of America genetically modified (GM) potatoes, tomatoes, apples, etc. are on sale in supermarkets. The main difference between these GM products and their conventionally produced counterparts is that the former are usually bigger and have a longer shelf-life than the latter. Consequently, most shoppers would rather go for the GM products, other things being equal. GM livestock are usually a good bargain. Imagine being offered a chicken the size of a turkey or a sheep almost as big as a cow! If the price and the taste are comparable. then the housewife would naturally prefer the GM breed. just as we now prefer the so-called “Agric” fowls to our smaller, local breed. 
      There are, however, serious potential dangers. The greatest risk is the escape — by accident or by design of harmful microbes from the laboratory into a world that has no defences against them. Some scientists have speculated that the HIV virus may have originated from such an accidental escape. The world has not forgotten the case of Adolf Hitler who, in furtherance of his project of creating “a superior race.” abused scientific knowledge and plunged the world into World War 11. For this reason, many governments have been cautious. or even reluctant, to give the geneticists the necessary approval to implement the results of their researches. There is no guarantee that man can be trusted not to use this new found “power” for destructive ends.

(a) In four sentences, one for each, summarize four benefits of genetic engineering to man. 
(b) In two sentence, one for each, state two dangers inherent in genetic engineering.