Genetic Engineering
• Genetic engineering: Changing the DNA in
living organisms to create something new.
• This organisms are called Genetically
Modified Organism (GMO)
• Example:
• Bacteria that produce human insulin
• Genetically Modified organism are called
transgenic organism; since genes are
transferred from one organism to another.
Advantages of genetically engineered foods include but not limited to:
GM crops are more productive and have a larger yield.
Offer more nutritional value and better flavor.
A possibility that they could eliminate allergy-causing properties in some
foods.
Inbuilt resistance to pests, weeds and disease.
More capable of thriving in regions with poor soil or adverse climates.
More environment friendly as they require less herbicides and pesticides.
Foods are more resistant and stay ripe for longer so they can be shipped
long distances or kept on shop shelves for longer periods.
•As more GM crops can be grown on relatively small parcels of land, GM
crops are an answer to feeding growing world populations
Some genetic engineering techniques are
as follows:
1. Artificial selection
A. selective breeding
B. hybridization
C. inbreeding
2. Cloning
3. Gene splicing
4. Gel electrophoresis: analyzing DNA
1. artificial selection: breeders choose which
organism to mate to produce offspring with
desired traits.
• They cannot control what genes are passed.
• When they get offspring with the desired traits,
they maintain them.
Three types of artificial selection:
A. selective breeding
B. hybridization
C. inbreeding
A. Selective breeding: when animals with
desired characteristics are mated to
produce offspring with those desired traits.
• Passing of important genes to next
generation.
• Example: Champion race horses, cows
with tender meat, large juicy oranges on a
tree.
• For example people breed dogs for specific
purposes.
• Dachshund were once bred to hunt badgers
and other burrowing animals.
• They must be small to fit into the animals hole
in the ground.
• Selective breeding occurs when you choose the
best male and female to breed.
• This allows you to fine tune and control the
traits
• The offspring or babies will then have the best
traits.
• Then you continue to breed those organism
with the best traits, those traits will be
maintained.
• Examples of
selective breeding:
• Angus cows are bred to
increase muscle mass so
that we get more meat,
• Egg-Laying Hen-
produces more eggs
than the average hen
• B. Hybridizations: two individuals with unlike
characteristics are crossed to produce the best in both
organisms.
• Example: Luther Burbank created a disease resistant
potato called the Burbank potato.
• He crossed a disease resistant plant with one that had
a large food producing capacity.
• Result: disease resistant plant that makes a lot of
potatoes.
Other Examples of hybridization:
1. Liger: lion and tiger mix
2. Grape + apple= grapple. The fruit
tastes like grapes and looks like apple.
C. Inbreeding breeding of organism that
genetically similar to maintain desired traits.
• Dogs breeds are kept pure this way.
• Its how a Doberman remains a Doberman.
• It keeps each breed unique from others.
• Risk: since both have the same genes, the
chance that a baby will get a recessive genetic
disorder is high.
• Risks: blindness, joint deformities.
• Variation: difference between
individuals of a species.
• The differences are in the
genes but we see the physical
differences.
• For example: Some humans
have blond hair and some
have brown. This is a variation
among humans.
• Some finches have short
beaks, some have long beaks.
• Inbreeding decreases
variations.
2. Cloning: creating an organism that is an exact
genetic copy of another.
• There are human clones in our school.
• identical twins are naturally created clones.
• Clone: group of cells or organisms that are
genetically identical as a
result of asexual reproduction
• They will have the same exact
DNA as the parent.
How is cloning done?
► A single cell is removed from a parent
organism.
► An entire individual is grown from that cell.
► Remember one cell has all the DNA needed
to make an entire organism.
► Each cell in the body has the same DNA, but
cells vary because different genes are turned
on in each cell.
Dolly:
• Dolly was the first
mammal cloned.
• She had the same exact
DNA as her mother and
had no father.
• Cloning is a form of
asexual reproduction.
• Only one genetic parent.
http://content.tutorvista.com/biology_11/content/media/cloning.swf
• Since Dolly, cats and other organisms have
been cloned.
• The cat that was cloned had the same
exact DNA but different color fur than the
mother.
• How can this be?
• Environment plays a huge part in the way
organisms develop.
• Eggs are haploid
• Haploid: half the
chromosomes, 23 in
humans
• Body cells are diploid:
• Diploid: two sets of
chromosomes, one from
mom and one set from
dad 46 in humans.
How could you clone
a human?
• Step 1: An egg is
removed from a female
human
• Eggs are haploid: 23 23
chromosomes.
EGG CELL
• The nucleus of the egg
is removed and is
thrown away.
• Step 2: A body cell is
removed from another
person.
• The nucleus of the
body cell is removed
• Body cells are diploid:
46 chromosomes.
46
Body Cell
• Step 3:
• The nucleus of the
diploid body cell is put
into the egg.
• This egg no longer
needs to be fertilized
since it has all 46 46
chromosomes.
EGG CELL
• Step 4: The egg is then
charged with electricity to
start mitosis.
• Step 5: Its then put into a
surrogate mother so it can
grow.
• Its going to be genetically
identical to the parent of the
body cell.
• But it will be a baby.
• Plants and animals can be
cloned.
Benefits of cloning:
1. you can make exact
copies of organisms
with strong traits.
2. Increase food supply
3. Medical purposes: Saber Tooth Tiger extinct
clone organs for
transplants.
4. Bring back or Stop
species from going
extinct.
Risks of cloning:
1. Decreases genetic
diversity
2. If one of your clones
gets a disease, they all
get it: same immune
system.
3. Inefficient: high failure
rate: 90%+
4. Expensive
3. Gene splicing: DNA is cut
out of one organism and put
into another organism
• A trait will be transferred from
one organism to another.
• For example: the human
insulin gene can be removed
from a human cell.
• It can be put into a bacterial
cell.
• The bacterial will now make
human insulin.
• This picture represents gene splicing.
• However, DNA is much smaller.
• Its done with high tech lab equipment since
DNA, is too small to hold or see without a
microscope.
The red piece the woman
is holding is an insulin
gene from a human
being. It is being
combined with DNA from
a bacteria.
Creates recombinant
DNA, something that has
never existed before.
Benefits:
• insulin is cheaper
• There are no side
effects because it
is human insulin.
• We once used pig
insulin but there
are side effects
and it more
expensive.
4. Gel electrophoresis: a
technique used to compare
DNA from two or more
organisms.
Why compare DNA:
1. Find your baby’s daddy
2. Who committed a crime.
3. How closely species are
related.
How is
electrophoresis
done?
A. The DNA is cut into
fragments with a
restriction enzyme.
B. The cut DNA is then
put into the wells of a
machine filled with
gel.
• The gel is spongy and
the DNA squeezes
through the pores.
C. The machine is plugged in and the
fragments get separated based on their size.
• The smaller fragments move further than the
large.
Separation of DNA based on
size of fragments.
• Electrophoresis
results
Final result of electrophoresis
• Electricity provides the energy
• Why does DNA move?
• DNA has a negative charge.
• When the machine is plugged it, its moves towards
the positive pole created by the electricity
electrophoresis
Your DNA is so unique its considered to be a
DNA fingerprint.
Gel electrophoresis will separate your DNA
differently from anyone else.
Nova: who done it
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sheppard/analyze.html
http://www.teachersdomain.org/asset/tdc02_i
nt_creatednafp2/
• Genetic engineering creates organisms with
recombinant DNA.
• Recombinant DNA: when DNA is
combined from at least two organisms.
Which techniques create recombinant DNA
1. Sexual reproduction: natural
2. selective breeding
3. Hybridization
4. Gene splicing
• Does cloning create organisms with
recombinant DNA?
• No, the DNA from one organism is
copied.
• DNA is not recombined.
