Meaning

[philadelphia]

"The debate over human cloning is just beginning, but as science advances, it could be the biggest ethical dilemma of the 21st century."

What does 'but as' mean? I would say 'although', 'while'..

By the way, if you are interested in translating 'but as' into French, it would be so nice. If not, I may do without that

Thank you in advance, folks

 

[thedeebo]

Not a teacher

But is a conjunction that indicates a contradiction or exception to the previous clause. In this sentence, "but" and "as" are not actually a combined phrase.

You could change the sentence to say:

"Even though the debate over human cloning is just beginning, as science advances, it could become the most ethical dilemma in the 21st Century."

I rewrote the sentence, using "even though" to essentially replace "but." The sentence means that we can already see evidence that human cloning will be a controversial issue even though it is a relatively new issue.

I hope I was helpful. Sorry I don't speak French, otherwise I would attempt to translate. :-(

 

[philadelphia]

Not a teacher

But is a conjunction that indicates a contradiction or exception to the previous clause. In this sentence, "but" and "as" are not actually a combined phrase.

You could change the sentence to say:

"Even though the debate over human cloning is just beginning, as science advances, it could become the most ethical dilemma in the 21st Century."

I rewrote the sentence, using "even though" to essentially replace "but." The sentence means that we can already see evidence that human cloning will be a controversial issue even though it is a relatively new issue.

I hope I was helpful. Sorry I don't speak French, otherwise I would attempt to translate. :-(

The problem is that I must not change the sentence. So what does 'but as' mean? Give the closest meaning with the sentence I have written above

 

[thedeebo]

You can't assign a new word for "but" and have the sentence mean the same thing in this case, unfortunately. Also, the phrase is not "but as," it is "but" and "as science advances." I can't think of a way to rewrite the sentence without changing word order around.

The "but" is saying that there is a difference between the last clause and the next one. The difference is that even though the science of human cloning has just begun, the potential for being the biggest ethical dilemma in the 21st Century exists.

The "as science advances" refers to the fact that the dilemma will emerge with the advance of the science of human cloning.

 

[Raymott]

The problem is that I must not change the sentence. So what does 'but as' mean? Give the closest meaning with the sentence I have written above

The comma is wrongly placed.
"The debate over human cloning is just beginning but, as science advances, it could be the biggest ethical dilemma of the 21st century."

The phrase "as science advances" is parenthetical; it can be removed and you still have a sentence, or it can be moved.

"The debate over human cloning is just beginning but it could be the biggest ethical dilemma of the 21st century, as science advances."
"The debate over human cloning is just beginning. However, since science is advancing, it could be the biggest ethical dilemma of the 21st century.

 

[philadelphia]

Thank you so much both of you for the great help! I am so grateful