Genetic engineering

 Involves the use of molecular techniques to

modify the traits of a target organism.

1. Classical breeding - which is considered as the

traditional way of genetic engineering which practices
the mating of organisms with desirable qualities.

2. Recombinant DNA technology (rDNA), - to produce

new genetic combinations that are of value to science,
medicine, agriculture, and industry.

General Outline of rDNA;

I. Cutting or cleavage of DNA(gene of interest) by

restriction enzymes (REs)

II. Selection of an appropriate vector or vehicle which

would propagate the recombinant DNA. The most
commonly used as vectors are plasmids (circular DNA GENERAL BIOLOGY 2 THE HISTORY OF LIFE
molecules that originated from bacteria, viruses and ON EARTH
yeast cells).
Geologic Time Scale - is used as the calendar of events
III. Ligation (join together) of the gene of interest (e.g. in Earth history.
from animal) with the vector (cut bacterial plasmid).
The spans of time are the ff;
IV. Transfer of the recombinant plasmid into a host cell
Age (millions of years), Epoch (several millions of years),
(that would carry out replication to make huge copies of
Period (tens of millions of years), Era (several hundred
the recombined plasmid).
million years) and Eon (half billion years or more).
V. Selection process to screen which cells actually
Eons have the biggest spans of time. Eons are divided
contain the gene of interest or filtering the transformed
into smaller units called eras.
host cells.
Eras are subdivided into periods.
VI. Sequencing of the gene to find out the primary
structure of the protein. (Expression of the gene Periods are subdivided into even smaller time spans
introduced to the host). called Epoch.
 - This era is also known as the Age of Mammals.

MECHANISM OF CHANGE
1. Artificial selection- the identification of desirable
traits in plants and animals and the steps taken to
enhance and perpetuate those traits for future
generation. Example is classical breeding.

2. Natural selection- the process through which

population adapt and change; (survival of the fittest)

3. Mutation- this is a change in the DNA sequence of

the gene. Mutation is a source of new alleles in the
population.

4. Genetic Drift- It is simply the effect of change. It is

most important in small populations because drift
The Earth Geological Life Subdivision would be completely absent in a population with
infinite individuals.
1. The Precambrian life (Hadean, Archean and
Proterozoic eras) 5. Gene Flow- The flow of alleles in and out of the
population resulting from the migration of individuals or
-The Precambrian life covers approximately 88% of the
gametes.
Earth’s history.
6. Recombination- It occurs during meiosis when
-The Earth become more conducive to life and allowed
chromosomes exchange genes. This process ultimately
single-celled cyanobacteria to exist.
leads to the formation of unique gametes with
-The earliest life comprising Precambrian (Ediacaran) chromosomes that are different from those in parents.
biota was long believed to include only tiny, sessile soft-
bodied sea creatures.

2. Paleozoic Era - This era known as “Old Life”,

This era is divided into six periods: Cambrian,

Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous and
Permian. NATURAL SELECTION

3. The Mesozoic Era or the “middle life” 3 principles;

- It is subdivided into three periods; Triassic, Jurassic 1. Offspring vary among each other with regard to their
and cretaceous periods. characteristics and those variations are inherited
(Variation)
-This era is known also as the era of dinosaurs.
2. More offspring are produced than are able to
- Small mammals and birds also thrive d in this era
survive. Thus, there is a competition for those resources
because of being warm-blooded and hair.
in each generation. (Competition)
4. The Cenozoic Era or ‘recent life’ - This era started 65
3. Offspring with inherited characteristics that allow
million years ago and continues up to the present time.
them to best compete for limited resources will survive
-It is divided into three periods: Paleogene, Neogene
and have more off spring than those individual with
and Quaternary.
variations that are less able to compete. (Adaptation)
-The formation of these mountain ranges contributed to
the cooling down of the climate in this era.
ARTIFICIAL SELECTION
An evolutionary process in which humans consciously
select for or against particular features in organisms.
Example, Dog domestication provides another dramatic
example of the power of artificial selection. The
ancestors of pet dogs were probably domesticated from
multiple distinct wolf lineages.
MUTATION
A change in the DNA sequence of the gene. It is the
ultimate source of genetic variation in all populations-
new alleles, and, therefore, new genetic variations arise
through mutation.
-The outcomes or effect of mutation in an organisms’
phenotype or appearance.
a. It may affect the phenotype of organism in a way that
gives it reduced fitness- lower likelihood of survival,
resulting in fewer offspring.
b. It may produce a phenotype with a beneficial effect
on fitness
c. Neutral mutations will have no effect on fitness.
GENETIC DRIFT
-Alleles may or may not make it to the next generation
due to chance events including mortality of an
individual.
-Genetic drift in a population can lead to the elimination
of an allele from a population by chance.
GENE FLOW
-The migration of individuals or gametes.
-Gene flow can occur when an individual travels from
one geographic location to another and joins a different
population of the species.
RECOMBINATION
-This process ultimately leads to the formation of
unique gametes with chromosomes that are different
from those in parents. Promotes genetic diversity
between generations.
GENERAL BIOLOGY 2 EVOLUTION AND
ORIGIN OF BIODIVERSITY
WHAT IS SPECIES?
“Species are groups of interbreeding natural
populations that are reproductively isolated from other
such groups.”
Reproductive Isolating Mechanism
-The mechanisms of reproductive isolation are a
collection of evolutionary mechanisms, behaviors and
physiological processes critical for speciation.
-These barriers maintain the integrity of a species by
reducing gene flow between related species.
1. Pre-zygotic isolation mechanisms – prevent
fertilization and zygote formation. These happens
before fertilization occurs between gametes.
1.1 Geographic or ecological or habitat isolation -
occurs when two species that could interbreed do
not because the species live in different areas.
1.2 Temporal or seasonal isolation - different groups
may not be reproductively mature.
1.3 Behavioral isolation – pattern of courtship is
different. For example, eastern & western
meadowlark songs differ.
1.4 Mechanical isolation - differences in reproductive
organs prevent successful interbreeding.
Mechanical isolation occurs when mating is
physically impossible
-For animals, Left-coiling snails cannot mate with
right-coiling snails.
-Flowering plants that do not have the correct
shape for a pollinator will not receive a pollen
transfer, and will therefore not be fertilized.
1.5 Gametic isolation - incompatibilities between egg
and sperm prevent fertilization. Often this occurs
because the female immune system recognizes
sperm as foreign and attacks it.
2. Post-zygotic isolation mechanisms - It allows
fertilization but nonviable or weak or sterile hybrids are
formed.
2.1 Hybrid in viability (hybrid incompatibility) -
fertilized egg fails to develop past the early embryonic
stages. For example, when tigers and leopards are
crossed, the zygote begins to develop but the
pregnancy ends in miscarriage or stillborn.
2.2 Hybrid sterility -their hybrids are sterile because
gonads develop abnormally or there is abnormal
segregation of chromosomes during meiosis. A horse
and a donkey may produce a hybrid offspring, a mule.
Mules are sterile.
2.3 Hybrid breakdown - F1 hybrids are normal, vigorous
and viable, but F2 contains many weak or sterile
individual.

Mode of Speciation
Speciation - is the evolutionary process by which
populations evolve to become distinct species. It is the
process by which new species develop from existing
species.
3. Parapatric Speciation (para – beside, patric – place;
‘beside each other’) - occurs when the groups that
evolved to be separate species are geographic
neighbors.

A. Allopatric Speciation (allo – other, patric –

place; ‘other place’) – known also as geographic
speciation occurs when some members of a
population become geographically separated
from the other members thereby preventing
gene flow.

B. Allopatric Speciation (allo – other, patric –

place; ‘other place’) – known also as geographic
speciation occurs when some members of a
population become geographically separated
from the other members thereby preventing
gene flow.

Examples of geographic barriers are bodies of

water and mountain ranges.

2. Sympatric Speciation (sym – same, patric –

place; ‘same place’) - occurs when members of a
population that initially occupy the same habitat
within the same range diverge into two or more
different species.

Example is change in chromosome number

(polyploidization).
EVOLUTIONARY THOUGHTS
Carolus Linnaeus (1207-1778)
- Known as binomial nomenclature.
- He is known as the “father of taxonomy.”
Thomas Malthus (1766-1834)
- He published the Essay on the Principle of
Population.
Georges Cuvier (1769-832)
- Father of Paleontology
- Theory of Catastrophism = boundaries
represent floods, droughts, etc.
James Hutton - Theory of Gradualism = Profound
changes can result from cumulative effect of slow but
continuous processes.
Charles Lyell - Principles of Geology = argued that the
formation of Earth's crust took place through countless
small changes occurring over vast periods of time, all
according to known natural laws.
Jean Baptiste Lamarck - Principle of use and disuse.
Charles Darwin - The Origin of Species.
EVIDENCES OF EVOLUTION
1. Fossils - are preserved remnants of once living
organisms trapped in rocks, tar pits, frozen in ice or
embedded in amber.
- Fossils found in rocks to track the evolutionary history
of many organisms.
2. Embryology - An embryo is an organism in its initial
phases of development. While embryology is the study
of the development of the anatomy of an organism.
3. Anatomical Evidence The more body structures that
two species have in common, the more closely they are
related.
-Homology seems to indicate descent from common
ancestor.
Analogous structures are structures which are different
in appearance but have the similar function.
- Analogy does not indicate common
ancestry.
Vestigial structures are anatomical features that are
usually reduced and have no function in many
organisms.
- Other example of vestigial structure in
humans are; Coccyx (tail bone), Ear muscles
for wiggling and Wisdom teeth.
4. Biochemical - The more closely linked organisms are
the more related is their biochemical genetic makeup.
A. DNA/Nucleic acids- Genes are located in the
chromosomes, which are made of DNA or
deoxyribonucleic acid.
5. Biogeography - Is the study of the geographic
distributions of organisms.
- The common ancestors of these organisms had come
from one place, expanding out into other accessible
regions.
TAXONOMY AND SYSTEMATICS
Systematics is the study of the diversification of life
forms over time, both past and present, and their
relationships between other species.
Taxonomy is the science of organizing and categorizing
living organisms into classes called taxa.
Both a systematist and a taxonomist provide scientific
names; give detailed descriptions of organisms; collects
and keeps volumes of specimens; offer classifications
for the organisms by constructing identification keys
and data on their occurrence and distribution.
Structural and developmental characteristics and
relatedness of DNA sequences: Bases for classifying
living organisms
1. Anatomy and embryology
- Anatomical features shared between organisms
(including ones that are visible only during embryonic
development) can indicate a shared evolutionary
ancestry.
2. Molecular biology (DNA evidence for evolutionary
relationships)
- Structural homologies, similarities may reflect shared
evolutionary ancestry between biological molecules.
Similarities and variations in various species between
the "same" gene (that is, a pair of homologous genes)
will help us decide how closely the organisms are
related. In general, the more DNA similarities between
the two species in homologous genes, the more closely
related the species is.
Cladistics
Phylogeny
- Phylogeny is the study of relationships and
their evolutionary development among
different groups of organisms. A phylogeny
is commonly represented by a phylogenetic
tree called a tree diagram.
- In a rooted tree, the branching indicates
evolutionary relationships. The point where
a split occurs, a branch point, represents
where a single lineage evolved into a
distinct new one. We call a lineage that
evolved early from the root that remains
unbranched a basal taxon. We call two
lineages stemming from the same branch
point sister taxa. A branch with more than
two lineages is a polytomy and serves to
illustrate where scientists have not
definitively determined all of the
relationships. Note that although sister taxa
and polytomy do share an ancestor, it does
not mean that the groups of organisms split
or evolved from each other. Organisms in
two taxa may have split at a specific branch
point, but neither taxon gave rise to the
other.
- Cladistics is derived from the term clade. A
clade is a collection of organisms that
include an ancestor species and all of their
descendants. A diagram showing
evolutionary relationships is called a
cladogram within one or more clades. The
most common way to integrate information
into phylogenetic trees is called cladistics.
Based on features of ancestor and
 descendant species, cladistics explains
theories about how organisms are linked. In
the 1950s, a scientist named Willi Hennig
established cladistics.

DESERVE NATIN MAG JOLLIBEE AFTER

NG EXAM.
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