영어2 YBM 박준언 3과 본문 빈칸

It appears that viruses exist solely to bring ____ to humanity.

The 1918 influenza pandemic is ____ to have killed 50 to 100 million people.

Smallpox claimed the lives of a further 200 million ____ in the 20th century alone, according to estimates.

And of course, the recent COVID-19 pandemic has taken several ____ lives, affecting almost every aspect of human life worldwide.

Outbreaks of ____ diseases are frequently linked to contact with wild animals such as bats.

____ contacts allow new viruses to enter human bodies that have no prior immunity to such viruses.

Historically, ____ barriers such as mountains and forests prevented animal viruses from infecting humans.

Industrialization has destroyed these barriers, and climate change has ____ some wild animals out of their original habitats.

These changes have resulted in an increase in ____ between human and wild animals, meaning more opportunities for the viruses present in wild animals to spread to humans.

This is the primary reason for ____’ concern that pandemics may increase in the future.

Then, is the virus truly a ____ presence to humans? Not necessarily.

What is less commonly known is that viruses play crucial roles in ____ much of life on Earth.

This is because researchers have ____ recently begun investigating the viruses that sustain us and the planet, instead of just those that harm us.

Therefore, scientists have much more to learn ____ viruses than they currently know.

What they do know is that viruses ____ as the primary regulators of bacterial and insect populations.

Since viruses do not have reproductive functions on their own, they steal the reproductive functions of other ____ to multiply.

Some types of viruses ____ bacteria.

When the virus continues to multiply inside the bacteria, the bacteria eventually die, and the newly produced viruses go on to ____ other bacteria.

This whole process helps viruses control the excessive ____ of certain bacteria.

The greater significance of viruses infecting bacteria is that they ____ a vital role in supplying oxygen to our planet.

About half of the oxygen on ____ is produced by plankton in the oceans, and the primary food source for these plankton is nutrients released from bacteria killed by viral infections.

If viruses did not infect and kill bacteria, there ____ be no bacterial remains, leading to a lack of plankton.

Without plankton, half of Earth’s oxygen would ____.

In short, without viruses, the ____ of oxygen would make it impossible for humans to survive.

Insect species ____ are also regulated by viruses.

When a specific type of insect ____ excessively, the viruses that infect those insects also increase, reducing their numbers.

This, in turn, creates room for ____ types of insects to flourish.

Considering the chain of food in nature, it would not be difficult to ____ that viruses fulfill important functions in regulating other species.

We have ____ started to understand their various roles in the ecosystem.

Another less recognized role of viruses is their contribution to the evolution of life on ____.

____ a virus infects a reproductive cell of its host, such as an egg or sperm, the viral DNA may be passed down to the host’s offspring.

The insertion of new ____ into genomes is a significant mechanism of evolution.

Without viruses, in other words, the ____ potential for all life on the planet would be impacted.

One example of viruses’ contributions to evolution is their role in the ____ of the placenta in mammals.

A placenta is a complex organ that helps the fetus ____ securely inside its mother’s body.

It facilitates the exchange of oxygen, nutrients, and waste products while protecting the ____ from the mother’s immune system.

In the early days of evolution, female ____ had to leave their offspring in one location, like eggs in a nest, making them vulnerable to predators.

After the emergence of the placenta, ____ were able to carry their young inside their bodies safely from one location to another.

Viruses that infected our remote ancestors more than 130 million years ago have been reported to have served a key function in the development of this vital ____.

As scientific ____ about viruses continues to expand, new opportunities for utilizing them in the battle against diseases are arising.

Of ____ interest are the areas of gene therapy and cancer treatment.

Genes can be ____ to instruction guides that govern how our bodies function.

Sometimes, people are ____ with genetic disorders, which can lead to health problems.

Gene ____ steps in to fix these issues.

The essence of gene therapy lies in delivering corrected genetic instructions to a patient’s ____, enabling them to function properly.

In this ____, specially modified viruses are used as one of the carriers of the genetic instructions.

If the patient’s cells function properly, it can potentially help the body fight ____ certain diseases.

Using viruses to treat cancer, another use of viruses, is based on the notion of utilizing their natural ability to infect and kill ____.

If successful, viruses can be ____ to specifically target and destroy cancer cells while leaving healthy cells unharmed.

The use of viruses in ____ therapy and cancer treatment is still in the early stages.

However, many researchers are involved in hundreds of projects with the goal of discovering cures for diseases that were once ____ to be incurable.

We have yet to find out how many virus types even exist, let alone the characteristics of ____ of them.

The ____ we learn about viruses, however, the better equipped we will be to use certain viruses for beneficial purposes and to develop defenses against viruses that could lead to the next pandemic.

More ____ that, learning more about viral diversity will help us reach a deeper understanding of the working of our planet, ecosystems, and our own bodies.