Applied Genetics

Breeding Strategies
- Selecting parents with desirable traits is the oldest method of getting better traits in
offspring
- By constantly breeding such parents, the breeder develops purebred or thoroughbred
types
Purebred 
- carry two dominant genes or two recessive genes for a given trait.

METHODS
Selection
- choosing parents with desirable genes and rejecting parents with undesirable genes. 
Luther Burbank (1849-1926)
- the world’s foremost selective breeder
- produced more than 250 varieties of fruit

Inbreeding
- mating closely related to individuals
- produces such as breeds as German Shepherds, Toy Poodles and Great Danes

Hybridizing or Crossbreeding
- parents with different traits are crossed
- can also be performed in plants

Mule 
- a hybrid resulting from the cross between a donkey and a female horse
- they have more endurance than horses, and stronger than donkeys
- sterile yet cannot reproduce

Plants
- pure breeds are obtained through inbreeding. The pure breeds are then crossed to
produce the hybrid generation

OTHER PLANT-BREEDING METHODS

Plant Breeding
- the manipulation of plant species in order to create desired varieties. It has been
practiced for many years and still developed to ensure food security.

Embryo-Culture Technique
- an in vitro development, or maintenance of isolated mature or immature embryos on a
nutrient medium
- the technique makes use of inexpensive components of the standard media and
minimum transfer of culture
- aims to cut down on production cost while increasing plant production

Synthetic Seed Engineering

- man-made seeds, the products of genetic engineering
- produced form stem cells grown and cultured in the laboratory
- these plants may also be pathogen free, which means that they are suitable for export
and transport across international borders

Gene Splicing Techniques

- process of taking genes from one organism and combining them into the genes of
another
- a gene or genetic trait can be inserted into a plant to obtain a result
- recombinant DNA is produced by gene splicing

Genetic Improvement on Humans

- the Mendelian laws also applies to humans
- researchers theorized that men may be able to discover the secret of life, the cure of
hereditary diseases and defects and possibly produce a race with superior qualities through
genetic engineering
- moral and ethical issues are involved in manipulating genes to clone human beings

OTHER DEVELOPMENT IN GENETICS

Mutation
- the process is like selective breeding
- used to produce new kinds of organisms

Restriction Enzymes
- genes can be cut at specific DNA sequences by proteins known as restriction enzymes,
which surrounds the DNA molecule at the point it seeks

DNA Insertion
- DNA fragments containing the desired gene are obtained and inserted into the DNA that
has been removed from the recipient cell

DNA Sequencing
- has become indispensable for studying biological processes as well as in diagnostic and
forensic studies

Modern DNA Sequencing

- sequencing technology has been used in the large scale sequencing of the human
genome and has generated the complete, sequencing of many animals, plants, microbial
genomes

Genetic Engineering
a. Humans
- when the gene used to code for a human protein is properly inserted into bacteria, the
recombinant cells can be used to produce large amounts of protein
b. Plants
- DNA can be injected directly into the cells or attached to the plasmids or certain species
of bacteria that infect plant cells
c. Animals
- genetic engineering has successfully produced a variety of transgenic insects,
roundworms, and vertebrates

DNA Fingerprinting
- used in criminal investigations
- DNA samples matches up a suspect with samples of DNA containing material left at the
scene of the crime