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Genetic change - Module 6 

 
Mutation​ - ​How does mutation introduce new alleles into a population?  
- explain how a range of mutagens operate, including but not limited to:  
- electromagnetic radiation sources  
- chemicals  
- naturally occurring mutagens  
- compare the causes, processes and effects of different types of mutation, including but 
not limited to:  
- point mutation  
- chromosomal mutation  
- distinguish between somatic mutations and germ-line mutations and their effect on an 
organism  
- assess the significance of ‘coding’ and ‘non-coding’ DNA segments in the process of 
mutation 
- investigate the causes of genetic variation relating to the processes of fertilisation, 
meiosis and mutation 
- evaluate the effect of mutation, gene flow and genetic drift on the gene pool of 
populations   
 
​ ow do genetic techniques affect Earth’s biodiversity?  
Biotechnology​ - H
- investigate the uses and applications of biotechnology (past, present and future), 
including: 
- analysing the social implications and ethical uses of biotechnology, including 
plant and animal examples  
- researching future directions of the use of biotechnology  
- evaluating the potential benefits for society of research using genetic 
technologies  
- evaluating the changes to the Earth’s biodiversity due to genetic techniques  
 
Genetic Technologies - ​Does artificial manipulation of DNA have the potential to 
change populations forever?  
- investigate the uses and advantages of current genetic technologies that induce genetic 
change  
- compare the processes and outcomes of reproductive technologies, including but not 
limited to:  
- artificial insemination  
- artificial pollination  
- investigate and assess the effectiveness of cloning, including but not limited to:  
- whole organism cloning  
- gene cloning  
- describe techniques and applications used in recombinant DNA technology, for 
example:  
- the development of transgenic organisms in agricultural and medical 
applications 
- evaluate the benefits of using genetic technologies in agricultural, medical and 
industrial applications 
- evaluate the effect on biodiversity of using biotechnology in agriculture  
- interpret a range of secondary sources to assess the influence of social, economic and 
cultural contexts on a range of biotechnologies  
 
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⚄ ​Genetic change can either occur 
- Accidentally- mutation (random and unpredictable change in DNA) 
- Cause by- mutagen or cellular error 
- Radiation, toxins, chemicals 
- Chromosomal, point 
- On purpose 
 
 explain how a range of mutagens operate, including but not limited to:  

- electromagnetic radiation sources  


⚄ ​Electromagnetic radiation​- short, high wavelengths 
- Make cells ​absorb some energy as it passes through​, and the atoms in it will ​lose some electrons​. This makes ​bonds 
break,​ and cells can ​die​ or ​mutate. 
- Radioactive​ elements made in chemistry labs, nuclear bombs 
- Medical imaging​ machines like X Rays, PET scanners 
- Nuclear radiation​- protons repelling each other 
- Directly - changing the DNA straight away 
- Knock off some electrons in one of the bases - can change a G to a U, which will pair with an A in DNA 
replication (ionising radiation) (deaminating agent) 
- Knocking off a phosphate, which apparently leads to a mutation 
- Indirectly - changing something else, that then changes DNA 
- Perhaps splitting up an oxygen atom into two oxygen free radicals - likely will react with water and form 
hydrogen peroxide, which will damage DNA 
- Acute exposure can tamper with the body’s ability to repair mistakes in DNA replication 
 
-  chemicals  
⚄ ​Chemicals that interact with DNA - Alcohol, smoke, tobacco, heavy metals 
- Highly reactive, can react with DNA to become stable 
- Free radicals as above 
- Intercalating agents - those that get in the way of DNA, like ethidium bromide that stains in gel electrophoresis 
- Heavy metals can stop the DNA’s ability to repair itself - stop enzymes that help 
 
⚄ ​Three types 
- Chemical imported​ into DNA ​instead​ of nucleotides 
- 5BDU- DNA polymerase ​thinks it’s thymine​ in DNA replication 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
- Chemical ​inserts itself into DNA 
- Actinomycin D creates a bulge, preventing DNA replication 
 
 
 
 
 
 
- Chemical makes ​gaps in DNA 
- Dimethyl sulfate, ​breaks bond 
 
 
 
 
-  naturally occurring mutagens  
⚄ From microbes, plants and animals 
Biological  
- Microbes - ​Mycotoxins​ - chemicals produced by ​fungi​, found in ​contaminated food​ - ​distorts DNA 
- Plants - ​Cycasin​ - leaves of cycad plants, reacts with ​enzymes and causes mutations 
- Animals - Dimethylnitrosamine - can ​cause mutations​ as it contains ​nitrites​, in ​hams and deli food 
Non biological 
- Heavy metals, charred food 
 
 compare the causes, processes and effects of different types of mutation, including but not limited to:  

- point mutation  
⚄ Change in ​only one nucleotide 
- Usually ​errors in DNA replication 
- Point mutations- substitution and inversion 
- Frameshift point mutations- insertion and deletion 
- Frameshift ​point​ mutation - FRAME where the bases are read is SHIFTed 
- Can have a ​big impact​, easily c​hange the amino acid. ​Especially if it occurs at a ​critical​ point, like start/stop. 
- Insertion 
- Deletion 
- Substitution 
- Missense - Codes for a ​different 
amino acid  
- Nonsense - Codes for a ​stop codon 
- Silent - ​Same amino acid​ produced 
- Inversion - two or more nucleotides 
become back to front 
- Different amino acid, usually a minor change, organism might not be affected at all 
- If it occurs at a critical point, like start/stop, a major defect may arise 
- Sickle cell anemia - ​missense​ substitution 
- Glutamic acid is valine instead, making the protein (haemoglobin) ​fold abnormally 
 
Example: 
How much DNA changed - point mutation 
 
How is the DNA different - substitution 
 
Effect - missense mutation 
 
 
 
 
 
 
-  chromosomal mutation  
⚄ Change in ​arrangement or structure of a chromosome​, messing with a ​big section of DNA 
- Usually occur during ​errors in cell divisions​, often meiosis 
- If breakage occurs in the ​middle​ of a gene, it will be ​destroyed and inactive 
- Deletion​ - section is lost 
- Effect: genes moved to a new place 
- Inversion​ - section ​breaks off, flips and reattaches 
- Effect: genes moved to a new place  
- Translocation​ - section ​breaks off​ and ​sticks to another chromosome 
- Effect: genes moved to a new place 
- Duplication​ - section is ​copied more than once 
- May change amount of proteins produced 
- Non disjunctions​ - chromosomes ​don’t separate properly 
- Effects not as distinct 
⚄ Number mutations 
- Polyploidy - extra set of chromosomes, gametes have 2n chromosomes. Mating with a normal gamete will produce 
offspring with 3n chromosomes. 
- Often when a gamete undergoes mitosis instead of meiosis I. 
- Aneuploidy - extra or one less chromosomes. 
- Sometimes homologous chromosomes fail to separate in meiosis I, nondisjunction. 
- Down syndrome​ - three copies of chromosome 21, because of non disjunction in the formation of gametes 
 
 distinguish between somatic mutations and germ-line mutations and their effect on an organism  

⚄ Germ cell- cell that ​divides via meiosis​ to form sex cells 
- Mutations here are ​germline mutations 
- Passed to ​offspring​ while the ​parent is unaffected​, as the mutation occurs in their sex cells 
- Down syndrome 
 
⚄ Somatic mutations 
- Only affect the ​two daughter cells in mitosis​, not human offspring 
- May not have any impact eg. may occur for a protein that the cell doesn’t used 
- Lung cancer uncontrolled cell growth, forming tumors which interrupt functioning and break down alveoli 
 
 assess the significance of ‘coding’ and ‘non-coding’ DNA segments in the process of mutation 

⚄ Coding DNA - ​codes for a protein 


- Effects of mutations here depend on the ​type of mutation 
- Germline or somatic, insertion, deletion or substitution, ​everything​ above 
 
⚄ Non coding DNA - all DNA that ​doesn’t code for proteins 
- Can make ​functional RNA molecules 
- Mutations here mean there will be ​problems in protein synthesis 
- Regulatory sequences​- control ​amount of DNA produced​ by coding DNA 
- Mutations here may ​change the amount​ of proteins produced 
- RNA polymerase ​can’t bind 
- Repetitive sequences​ - sections of DNA ​repeated over and over​, some are ​inactive gene copies 
- Mutations here have ​no effects 
⚄ Lung cancer - mutation in ​regulatory sequences​, which control cell growth 
 
 investigate the causes of genetic variation relating to the processes of 

fertilisation, meiosis and mutation 


⚄ Cystic fibrosis carriers - have Cc alleles, they will produce some defective proteins 
from the little c 
- But they will produce effective ones from C, so they won't have the symptoms 
- Mutation preventing solutes to move across the cell membrane - proteins 
allowing passageway 
⚄ Fertilisation - shuffles alleles that are already there, does not produce new ones. 
- Independent assortment 
- shuffles what genes line up with what 
- Gives different genotypes of the offspring 
- Crossing over 

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 evaluate the effect of mutation, gene flow and genetic drift on the gene pool of populations   

⚄ ​Order of bases​ in DNA act as an instruction manual for making proteins 


- Gene- tells the cell ​how to make a protein​, codes for a gene 
- Allele- different versions of a gene 
 
⚄ Gene pool - total collection of ​all genetic information in a population​- so all allele numbers, gene numbers, allele 
frequencies 

- island has bigger gene pool 


- Natural selection - over time, the variations that produce less favourable traits will not be selected for and 
eliminated 
- Populations could evolve similarly, with the best traits 
 
⚄ Gene flow- ​movement of alleles between populations​, as individuals are ​moving​ from one population to another 
- High gene flow- gene pools are ​similar 
- Low gene flow- gene pools become ​increasingly different​, could evolve into ​new species​ and be unable to breed 
 
⚄ Genetic drift- ​random events​ occurring in the population leading to ​changes in the gene pool 
- Births, deaths, human interference 
- Gene pool will be filled with ​luckier individuals 
- Mutations introduce ​new alleles​, which makes the gene pool bigger (with greater genetic diversity) 
- Bottleneck effect - a sudden effect that wipes out unlucky individuals, not dependent of who is more suitable 

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- Founder effect - sudden event that starts a new population (moved to a different environment), where the animals 
there may not be representative of the original population 

- recessive beetles 
- Gene flow - beetles form each island are able to migrate to each other 
- Could introduce new alleles, eg. green colour 
 
⚄ Selection pressures - ​external factor​ affecting an organism’s ​ability to survive​ in its environment 
- Change allele frequency- organisms with ​advantageous alleles​ will survive 
- Positive- Increase the ​frequency of the allele​ in the gene pool 
- Negative- ​Decrease the frequency of the allele​ in the gene pool 
 
IQ 1 - How does mutation introduce new alleles into a population? 
- Mutations can be caused by radiation or chemical mutagens 
- They are the only source of new alleles - through germ line mutations, and if it occurs in coding DNA 
 
 investigate the uses and applications of biotechnology (past, present and future), including: 

- analysing the social implications and ethical uses of biotechnology, including plant and animal examples  
⚄ Biotechnology - ​use​ of biological systems, processes and organisms in the ​creation of new products 
- Used to ​improve the quality​ of human life, and environment 
- Used in ​many fields​, but mainly ​medicine, agriculture, environment and industry 
 
⚄ Historical - has been used for thousands of years 
- Selective breeding​ in agriculture - old civilisations breed only certain individuals, with ​particular traits 
- Cows, who produced more milk, wheat that was more disease resistant, chickens that laid more eggs and 
juicier corn 
- Retain these traits in future generations 
- Making tomatoes edible, bananas, carrots, peaches. 
- Fermentation​ - microbes (bacteria and yeasts) break down sugar in the absence of oxygen to produce alcohols and 
acids 
- Beer, wine, bread, cheese, yoghurt, pickles 
- Extend shelf life​ of food - important in old times 
- Traditional medicine​ - using fungi, bacteria, maggots 
- Antibiotics in mouldy soybeans to treat skin infections- stopped the growth of the infection 
- Birth control pill and drugs such as aspirin 
- Vaccines (smallpox) 
- Soaps and detergents 
 
⚄ Present uses and applications - started with the ​discovery of DNA​ in the mid 1900s 
- Improvement​ of historical biotechnology 
- Selective breeding- use knowledge of inheritance 
- Antibiotics, reproductive technologies, [​MORE​] 
- New molecular techniques to manipulate DNA 
- Polymerase chain reaction​ (PCR) - used to ​amplify​ sections of DNA so scientists can more easily use it 
- DNA sequencing​ - determining the ​base order​ of DNA 
- DNA profiling​ - analysing ​DNA regions​ that are different from other people to identify a person 
- Cloning​ - making a genetic copy of an organism 
- Transgenic organisms​ - organisms containing genes from other organisms 
- Medicine - IVF, producing human proteins, more vaccines, gene therapy, stem cell research 
- Industry - biofuels and bioplastics being a more sustainable source of fuel 
- Agriculture - pesticide resistant crops (BT cotton), genetically making high-yield crops, changing animals to do the 
same thing, cloning 
 
⚄ Future uses and applications 
- Driving force behind improvements in many fields 
- Improving ​health​, ensuring sufficient food for growing population sizes 
- Unpredictable impacts in ​ecosystems​ and ​mass disease​, due to reduced genetic diversity 
- Implications on social, ethical and economical aspects of humanity 
 
⚄ Implications of biotechnology using animals - morals, ethics, concerns about the unknown 
- If ​animal viruses will affect humans 
- Vegetarians - animal gene may be used in products 
- Religious people - sacred animal genes may be used in products 
- Is genetic modification for human convenience immoral? 
 
⚄ Implications of biotechnology using plants - affect native species, less variation, original varieties disappear 
- Spread of unnatural genes from GMOs to create harmful/resistant strains 
- Now allergens may be created - people allergic to things use in genetic modification, can’t use the GMOS 
- Vegetarians, labelling laws 
- Smaller farms can’t compete with large scale ones 
- Using a particular company’s seeds 24/7 - make the world dependent on the company 
 
-  researching future directions of the use of biotechnology  
⚄ There has been an exponential growth of technological ability, and it's still increasing 
- Possibly do more to edit genes and help people to live longer 
 
-  evaluating the potential benefits for society of research using genetic technologies  
Synthetic meat production  Longer life  Genome editing and cures for diseases 

End world hunger  Impacts on  Yay   Overcrowding  Better health  Equity issues 
Vegetarians may  farmers  Unemployment  Less suffering  Insurance issues 
decide to eat meat 
as it is cruelty 
free 
Better for the 
environment 
 
 
-  evaluating the changes to the Earth’s biodiversity due to genetic techniques  
Cloning -bypasses crossing over and other processes that shuffle up alleles 
 
Genetic engineering - increases variation, as it makes new alleles by using those of other species 
- However, it eventually decreases biodiversity, as farmers will want to plant the better ones rather than the usual 
ones. Genetic diversity may be lost 
 
IQ 2 - How do genetic techniques affect Earth’s biodiversity? 
- Biotechnology has been used extensively in medicine, industry, agriculture and the environment to benefit humans 
- Genes can be spliced into GM organisms 
- They can be introduced to other populations - gene flow 
- Biodiversity of a species may be lost if GM crops are grown, as they are preferable to everyone 
 
 investigate the uses and advantages of current genetic technologies that induce genetic change  
 
 
 compare the processes and outcomes of reproductive technologies, including but not limited to:  

⚄ Using transformed bacteria to produce, drugs, hormones and enzymes/organic compounds 


⚄ Using transgenic plants to make proteins eg. antibodies. Also improving yield and quality 
⚄ Genetically modifying animals to increase yield and disease resistance eg. bigger salmon 
⚄ Gene therapy correcting recessive genes that cause diseases/disorders 
⚄ CRISPR editing DNA - precisely cutting DNA 
- artificial insemination  
⚄ Injecting the semen of a male directly into a female’s reproductive system 
- No need to keep bulls 
- More semen from bulls can be obtained, stored and shipped 
- Better yield etc 
 
- artificial pollination 
⚄ Pollen transferred from the anthers of a plant to the stigma of another 
 
⚄ Selective breeding and the gene pool 
- In the wild - all animals can breed, variation is maintained 
- In farms - only those with desirable traits can breed. Their traits are continually passed down, decreasing variation 
- Artificial insemination - one bull can inseminate many cows, contributes a lot to the gene pool 
 
 investigate and assess the effectiveness of cloning, including but not limited to:  

- whole organism cloning  


⚄ Plants 
- Cutting​ - a section of the plant is ​removed​ and placed in some soil or water 
- Develops its ​own roots and leaves​, and turns into a full size version of the original plant 
- Grafting​ - A cutting of a plant is ​bound to the cut stem​ of another plant, already with ​developed roots 
- Stems fuse​ and grafting grows 
- Tissue cultures​ - section of the plant is ​pulverised​ (blended) to get individual ​plant cells 
- Grown on a ​special medium​ with nutrients and hormones 
- Sprouts are moved to ​another medium​ or re-introduced to the n ​ atural environment 
 
⚄ Animals 
- Artificial embryo twinning - After an egg is fertilised, it starts ​dividing into identical cells​ which become part of the 
organism. In this cloning process, these cells are ​split​ to form more embryos 
- Transported to new mothers 
- Artificially making twins​, then separating them 
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- Somatic cell nuclear transfer 
- Somatic cell​ taken from the organism to be cloned 
- DNA extracted​ from cell 
- Egg cell​ taken from ​different​ organism 
- Nucleus​ removed 
- Egg cell and nucleus ​fused 
- Using ​electric shocks​, embryo starts ​dividing​, develops into ​copy​ of original organism 
 
 
Guaranteed to  Not very effective - it took over 277 tries to clone Dolly the sheep 
express the trait 

  Health and longevity - generally low compared to usual 

  Ethics - not right for humans to get involved in nature 


- Go against creation 
- Animals could be suffering 
- Could lead to cloning humans 
 
⚄ Applications 
- Animal testing- ​reactions to drugs​ are the same, so the results are ​more reliable 
- Agriculture- ​desirable traits​ are passed on quickly, like tissue culturing 
- Wildlife conservations- saves ​endangered species​, or ​bring back extinct​ species 
 
-  gene cloning  
⚄ In vitro- ​combining chemicals in a test tube​, using PCR 
⚄ In vivo- inside a living organism - ​recombinant DNA​- inserting genes back into DNA 
 
⚄ Applications 
- DNA itself - DNA ​sequencing​, so scientists can ​analyse a sample​, determine base sequence 
- DNA ​profiling-​ scientists produce DNA fingerprints 
- Indirect - ​cloned gene inserted​ into an organism 
- Transgenic​ organisms 
- Gene analysis​ - adding or removing genes to understand how they work 
- Gene therapy​- replacing a disease-causing gene with a normal gene 
- Prevents expression​ of genes, or ​corrects​ them 
⚄ Disadvantages 
- Expensive 
- Ethical questions - we don’t know the ​effects of cloned foods​ on our bodies 
- Cloned animals have ​more health problems​, and live a ​shorter life 
- Reduce ​genetic diversity 
 
 describe techniques and applications used in recombinant DNA technology, for example:  

- the development of transgenic organisms in agricultural and medical applications 


⚄ Genetic ​code​ is ​universal 
- Genes can be ​transferred​ from one organism to another, and the other organism can then ​express​ those genes 
- Organism has genes from two or more different sources 
 
⚄ Process - recombinant DNA/Gene cloning/Gene therapy 
- DNA fragments ​extracted 
- Target gene- gene we’re interested in and plasmid 
- Example - Insulin 
- Get some human cell, some will have the insulin 
- Plasmid​ (circular piece of DNA in bacteria), usually ​codes for genes​ that are not crucial for 
organisms’ functioning, like antibiotic resistance  
- Its a vector- transmitted​ between bacterial species​ just casually, so we use this 
- Digestion 
- DNA fragments cut using the ​same restriction enzyme​, which cuts the DNA at a ​certain place 
- Restriction endonuclease 
- End up with just the ​target gene​ and an o​ pen plasmid 

-  
- ↓ 
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- The ​same enzyme​ is used to cut the plasmid and the target gene 
- This way the ​sticky ends are complementary​ to each other 

-  

-  
- Insertion​ - ​sticky ends bind​, the the target gene is ​inserted​ into the plasmid 
- According to ​base pairing​ rules, they quickly form a strong bond

 
- Ligation​ - An enzyme called ​DNA ligase stitches up the broken bond​ in the backbone 

- →  
⚄ ​Selecting​ recombinant plasmids 
- Sometimes they just ​rejoin after being separated​, or match up the ​wrong way around​, or some ​don’t take up a 
plasmid at all 
 
 
⚄ Bacterial transformation 
1. Introducing ​foreign DNA into bacteria​ - It’s easy for scientists to make them multiply 
- Add the bacteria and recombinant plasmid to a ​solution of calcium ions​, which makes ​holes​ in the bacteria’s 
membrane 
- Temperature is increased for a short amount of time, which ​pushes them into the cell 
- Since the recombinant plasmid carried the gene, it’s a vector 
- Bacteria are placed in a ​nutrient rich solution​ to recover and reproduce 
- However, not all take in the plasmid. Those that do are ​transformants 
- Those that don’t are non transformants, that either don’t pick it up by chance or are killed in the high 
temperature 
- To tell which ones picked it up, scientists use ​plasmids with a selectable marker​, usually an antibiotic 
resistance gene 
- Allows bacteria to survive in the presence of a specific antibiotic 
- Bacteria placed with antibiotics, those with the gene don’t die, those without do 
2. Uses of Transformants 
- Protein​ - Can be harvested and purified for use, eg insulin 
- Copies of the target gene used for other things eg ​DNA sequencing and profiling​, ​transgenic​ organisms 
- This way is ​cheaper​ than PCR, and has ​less errors 
⚄ Much fewer risks and issues than other genetic technology 
- Biopharmaceuticals - eg. insulin  
- Gene therapy - used to correct fault genes eg. cystic fibrosis 
 
⚄ Restriction enzymes - used in gene therapy 
- Like a bacteria’s immune response - protect against bacteriophages/bacteria viruses 
- Cut up viral DNA 
- Each has a certain recognition site - whenever it sees a certain base combination (eg. AACTGC) it will cut the RNA 
- It could cut twice and leave sticky ends 
- It could cut once and leave a blunt end 
- Palindromic sequence - reads it from 5’ to 3’, and the code is the same 
- They will naturally attract and joining together, however ligase is needed to rejoin the sugars and phosphates again 
 
⚄ CRISPR - there may not be a 6 base palindromic sequence that can be cut by a restriction enzyme 
- CRISPR - little bits of DNA that a bacteria has kept from pervious viruses that have infected it 
- Bacteria can produce RNA from this - enclosed in an enzyme - Cas9 - crispr associated protein 
- If the bacteria in infected again, the Cas9 runs along the virus RNA strand, and if it finds a match, it cuts the RNA 
- Scientists can put any piece of RNA into a Cas9 enzyme, and cut the DNA of anything 
 
⚄ Getting DNA into a host cell - can be tricky 
- Bacteria can take up plasmids using chemical treatments like heat and electricity 
- Microinjection 
- Agrobacterium  
 
⚄ Transgenic organisms - organism containing a gene from another species 
- Goats that can produce milk that can be spun into spider silk 
- Cows that produce human milk 
- BT ​cotton 
 
⚄ Genetically modified organisms GMOs - have their DNA modified, doesn’t have to be by adding external genes 
- Disrupting genes, adding genes that were synthesised in a lab 
- RNAi technology - in edrolo 
 
 evaluate the benefits of using genetic technologies in agricultural, medical and industrial applications 

⚄ Most applications of GMOs involve agriculture 


- Agriculture - BT cotton, food 
- Medical - growth hormone, human milk, human insulin 
- Bananas include vaccine for cholera, malaria resistant mosquitoes 
- Industry - biofuels being more sustainable, taq polymerase is made from GM E.coli 
 
 evaluate the effect on biodiversity of using biotechnology in agriculture  

⚄ Crops - monoculture - growing genetically identical plants, genetic erosion 


- Natural selection relies on variation - if it is decreased, disease can easily affect a whole species 
- If a particular plant is very successful, it may be used instead of other types, and be affected by disease similarly 
 
 interpret a range of secondary sources to assess the influence of social, economic and cultural contexts on a range 

of biotechnologies  
⚄ Case study - GM mosquitoes 
- A type of mosquito Aedes Aegypti is associated with viruses such as Dengue fever.  
- Genetically modified, it requires an antibiotic to be supplied to it in order to live. It's a dominant alleles, and hence 
when breeding with a female, their kids cannot grow into an adult, which will hinder reproduction 
- Social context - dengue fever is not very developed in the west, people aren’t really trying these strategies 
- Cultural context - what people believe, ethical issues, fear of them escaping and doing more harm, fear of unknown 
- Economic context - dengue costs 5.5 million, could be cheaper than the GMO mosquitos 
- Environmental - GMO mosquitos are more specific than using pesticide, they could wipe out butterflies etc as well 
- What if mosquitos build a tolerance or it doesn’t work properly - gene flow won’t work 
- Mosquitos are eaten by some animals - bats and birds mostly 
 
IQ 3 - Does artificial manipulation of DNA have the potential to change populations forever? 
- Reproductive technologies such as artificial insemination and selective breeding can alter the gene pool by limiting 
the amount of animals allowed to breed 
- Gene cloning and genetic engineering have potential for good impacts, but also have the ability to change 
populations, by adding in new genes 
- Whole organism cloning could reduce biodiversity in species as well, by creating farms that contain genetically 
identical, high yielding varieties of animals and plants. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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