STEMNNV

Curriculum Team
 Lo1
grade 2
STEMNNV bio team
 Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO)
• What is GMO?
• * a result of technology that has altered the DNA of living organisms (animals, plants or bacteria)
Other terms that mean the same thing:
• * Genetically engineered
• * Transgenic
• * Genetically modified organisms, GMOs, are designed to combine favorable genetic
…..traits not usually found together in nature into a single, superior organism
Mendel way GMO
slow very fast
How does this differ from
Mendel and his peas? imprecise precise
modification of genes that naturally can introduce genes into an organism
occur in the organism that would not occur naturally!
 Examples:-
• Tomatoes- Introduce genes to increase shelf life.

• * GMO corn is the most common plant:-

• GMO corn of various types has been bioengineered to include genes borrowed from
other plants in order to produce better quality corn and resist pests and parasites.
• Cornell University's Dr. Susan McCouch, associate professor of plant breeding, says
GMOs may help to alleviate world hunger

• * According to the Institute for Responsible Technology, examples of foods that may
contain GMO ingredients include bread, cereal, pasta, ice cream, fried foods,
crackers, cookies, chocolate, alcohol, peanut butter, soy cheese, protein powder, hot
dogs, hamburgers, mayonnaise, white vinegar, chips, vanilla, baking powder, veggie
burgers, meat substitutes and tofu. The Non GMO Shopping Guide notes that you
can avoid GMO food by purchasing certified organic foods, which are free of GMOs.
Some of pros of GMO:-
• * Seeds are genetically engineered for many reasons. Sometimes, it’s to boost seed resistance to insects or
to grow hardier crops. They can also be engineered to give foods stronger colors, longer shelf life, or to
eliminate seeds, so that we can buy seedless watermelons and grapes.
• * Some GMO foods have higher levels of nutrients, such as protein, calcium, and folate.
• * Animals can be engineered to require less food, grow quicker, and leave behind less environmentally
damaging waste.
• * Animals can be engineered to be more resistant to harmful and painful diseases
• * Animals can be engineered so their tissues, organs, and cells can be transplanted into humans.
• * Animals
Some can of
of cons be GMO:-
engineered to produce certain substances that offer a new source of medicine.

Some food companies have refused to use meat or milk that is

from genetically engineered animals
* This process is potentially dangerous and can be very harmful.
• Some animals die in experiments while other are born deformed
or huge.
* When engineering animals the natural ecosystem can be disturbed.
What Is DNA And How Do We Manipulate It?

• First, a little bit of molecular structure. Almost all of our cells contain a
full set of our genes, which is called a genome. Crammed inside the
nucleus of each cell are 23 pairs of chromosomes. Every pair contains
one chromosome from your mother and one from your father. It is
within these chromosomes that you’ll find the actual coils of DNA.
• The amount of information in these coils is immense. If fully extended,
the DNA in one human cell would stretch to around six feet long.
Considering the average diameter of the nucleus in a mammalian cell
is 6 micrometers, this is equivalent to folding 126,720 feet, or 24 miles,
of thin thread into a tennis ball.
• DNA sequencing (the processes of determining the order of
nucleotides in a strand of DNA), provides a genetic blueprint of an
organism. The sequence of the nucleotides, or chemical building
blocks, tells scientists the genetic information carried in specific
segments of DNA and helps to determine the function and location of
genes in a strand.
• The idea of sequencing the human genome was a daunting
task when the Human Genome Project first began in 1990.
However, in April of 2003, the project was declared complete
and because of that--along with many other advances in
technology, biology, and medicine--a true revolution has
occurred. Now, we have a map of the human genome that we
can not only read, but also manipulate.

• One of the most important ways in which we can manipulate

the genome involves recombinant DNA technology. This is a
series of laboratory procedures that enables us to combine
DNA molecules from multiple sources to create traits that
would not be found in the original genome. It is through this
technology that we can also isolate a single desired gene or
DNA segment to study, sequence, or mutate.
• Between our growing library of sequenced genomes and
advancements in recombinant DNA and DNA editing
technology, we can both duplicate and modify organisms
Countries which use this technology
The Countries that Grow 99% of the
World's Transgenic Crops

7% 1%

USA
23%
Argentina
Canada
69% China
 Literature cited
• If you don’t understand the concept well or some information are lost, you can open any link of these

• http://www.nongmoproject.org/learn-more/what-is-gmo/

• http://responsibletechnology.org/gmo-education/gmos-in-food/

• http://all-that-is-interesting.com/genetically-modified-humans

• http://www.nongmoproject.org/learn-more/

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfC689ElUVk

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2G-yUuiqIZ0

• https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyuFNJ7qwgFiZudgwd891DA
 Literature cited
• If you don’t understand the concept well or some information are lost, you
can open any link of these

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_ztZGbLEJ0

• https://classes.soe.ucsc.edu/cmpe080e/Spring05/projects/gmo/benefits.ht
m

• Pros and Cons - Genetically Engineered Animals

http://all-that-is-interesting.com/genetically-modified-humans
• 10 genetically modified animals
http://www.enkivillage.com/genetically-modified-animals.html
 Unintended consequences for humans and
ecosystems
• Abstract :-
Conversion of land to grow crops, raise animals, obtain timber, and build cities is one of the
foundations of human civilization. While land use provides these essential ecosystem goods, it
alters a range of other ecosystem functions, such as the provisioning of freshwater, regulation
of climate and biogeochemical cycles, and maintenance of soil fertility.
• It also alters habitat for biological diversity. Balancing the inherent trade-offs between
satisfying immediate human needs and maintaining other ecosystem functions requires
quantitative knowledge about ecosystem responses to land use. These responses vary
according to the type of land-use change and the ecological setting, and have local, short-term
as well as global, long-term effects. Land-use decisions ultimately weigh the need to satisfy
human demands and the unintended ecosystem responses based on societal values, but
ecological knowledge can provide a basis for assessing the trade-offs.
Unintended consequences for humans and
ecosystems
 Unintended consequences for humans and
ecosystems
• People transform landscapes to obtain food, fiber, timber, and other ecosystem
goods. This basic aspect of human existence holds true whether a subsistence
farmer is growing food to feed his family from marginal lands in southern Africa
or a multinational conglomerate is fertilizing and irrigating land in the midwestern
US to export crops worldwide.
• The intended consequence of this land use is clear–to appropriate primary
production for human consumption. The unintended consequences for the
watershed, atmosphere, human health, and biological diversity often remain
hidden.
• The implicit assumption is that the intended consequence of appropriating
primary production for human consumption outweighs the unintended
consequences for other ecosystem functions
 Unintended consequences for humans and
ecosystems
• Many changes wrought during the construction of “designer ecosystems” are intended to
ensure—and often succeed in ensuring—that a city can provide ecosystem goods and services;
but other changes have unintended impacts on the ecology of the city, impairing its ability to
provide these critical functions.
• Indian Bend Wash, an urbanizing watershed in the Central Arizona–Phoenix (CAP) ecosystem,
provides an excellent case study of how human alteration of land cover, stream channel
structure, and hydrology affect ecosystem processes, both intentionally and unintentionally.
• The construction of canals created new flowpaths that cut across historic stream channels, and
the creation of artificial lakes produced sinks for fine sediments and hotspots for nitrogen
processing.
• Further hydrologic manipulations, such as groundwater pumping, linked surface flows to the
aquifer and replaced ephemeral washes with perennial waters. These alterations of hydrologic
structure are typical by-products of urban growth in arid and semiarid regions and create
distinct spatial and temporal patterns of nitrogen availability.
• Unintended consequences can be grouped into three
types:-
1- Unexpected benefit : A positive, unexpected benefit (also referred to as luck )

2- Unexpected drawback : A negative, unexpected detriment occurring in addition to the

desired effect of the policy (e.g., while irrigation schemes provide people with water for
agriculture, they can increase waterborne diseases that have devastating health effects,
such as schistosomiasis).

3- Perverse result : A perverse effect contrary to what was originally intended (when an
intended solution makes a problem worse). This is sometimes referred to as 'backfire'.
 Evidence based debate

Evolution and adaptation

• Evolution theory seems different to understand and believe for most of the people, for
example: 40% of Americans don't believe evolution is a thing….
Let's start
• We are all from the first microorganism when life originated on the planet 3.8 billion years
ago…. It is one of the most common things in evolution theory as gene distribution changes
over time are an indisputable fact.
• Evolution has a lot of observations as it has huge mass of observations from embryology,
paleontology, batony, biochemistry, anatomy and geophysics….
• Evolution observations over thousands of years explain facts which are indisputable…
 Evidence based debate

• 1-fossils
• Organisms lived long time ago are different from today..
• -Dinosaurs observed in 1820s were basically giant iguanas so first dinosaur named Iguanodon
• -In 1850s, Observations said that organisms lived in the past similar to today like reptiles and
dinosaurs
• -And iguanas are really extinct whether die or evolution into organisms that survives to today
like birds
• # Also fossils taught us that whales used to walk ….
• Cetaceans like dolphins, porpoises, mammals that suspected whales are descended from land
mammals…..
 Evidence based debate
• Some modern whales still have vestigial remnants of pelvis and hind-limb bones

• As our unit is about genetics and things which are related so it is important to care about
evolution which makes our life possible but in 1990- 2000 things came together
Paleontologists discovered fossils of
A. Doroodons that had different skulls from modern whales but still have the same vestigial
leg bones
B. Rodhocetus: had hind legs in the pelvis, but the pelvis wasn't fused to the back bone like
ours so it swim like a whale and it still had ankle bones which are unique to the order that
include bison, pigs, hippos, deer,……
So paleontologists knew that the origin of whales is the same origin of bison and pigs
Evolution: Not how animals are different but how they are incredibly similar….
 Evidence based debate

2-Homlogeous structure
• Carl Linnaeus classified organisms by structural similarities without knowing about evolution or
genetics so he found many similarities between our organisms; they are different of how we use them
• For example the bat limbs and ours are very similar longish bone, two then bones, carpals then the
fingers, bat use them to fly, whales to swim and so on.
*All vertebrates are the same, all living organisms use DNA and/ or RNA to encode the
information that makes them what they are:-
• a- human genome is 98.6 the same like chimpanzee s we have 46 chromosome and the
chimpanzee have 48 chromosome and some scientists said that the chimpanzee's
chromosomes fused to 46 to be a human
• B-85% is like the mouse
• C-50% like fruit flies
 Evidence based debate

• DNA said we are from our parents also said from other organisms/ from microorganism 3.8 billion
years ago.
3-Biogeography
• Evolutionary changes from geographical change…They believe that barriers make differences like
marsupials which are common in Australia, north and South America…One of fossil marsupials
ancestors were in Australia before continental drift it into an island 30 million years ago.
• The distinguished one which observed that was Darwin.
• Darwin on Galapagos Islands, he found that species on the different islands are similar to each
another and similar to species found on south America main land
• He hypothesized that the finches on the island were all descended of mainland finch and changed
over time to fit for their environment
• Another hypothesis in 2009 is that the offspring of an immigrant finch from another island and Daphne
major had become a new species in less than 30 years
4-Adabtation:
• A-In 1959, they want to kill mosquitoes in village in India so DDT was the best solution, in the
first application, DDT killed about 95% of the mosquitoes….. 5% survived, replicated,
reproduced, passed their resistance into offspring, in the next year DDT killed 49% of the
mosquitoes... The same thing is in drugs with humans
• B-biologists transplanted 10 Italian wall lizards from one island off the coast Croatia to another
place…. 30 years later there were a lot of changes
1. Lizards which were used to eat insects they eat the most available things which are plants.
2. They develop muscles between small and large intestine which creates fermenting chamber
which allow them to digest vegetation.
3. Heads were longer and wider to bite and chew grass and leaves
All of these examples are enough to know that evolution is real but we will tell a story in the
following:-
 Evidence based debate

BT corn
• Common soil bacteria called Bacillus thuringeinsis (Bt) produce a protein toxic to the larvae of
certain insects, such as the European corn borer.
• This insect is found throughout Europe, North Africa, Canada, and most of the United States.
• A single generation of corn borers can reduce by as much as 5% the amount of corn a farm
produces. In warm climates up to three generations of corn borers will attack a crop during one
growing season, which causes an even greater percentage of crop loss.
• In the past, many farmers have sprayed chemical insecticides that kill corn borers and many
other insects. Many of these insecticides pose health risks to farm workers, consumers, and
bees and other beneficial insects.
• Also, the insecticides are expensive to buy and to spray on crops. Beginning in Europe in the
1930s, farmers in many regions of the world have sprayed Bt bacteria on fields of plants as an
insecticide.
 Evidence based debate

• The Bt toxin is generally considered safe for people and wildlife. Its drawbacks are that it remains
active for that it remains active for no more than a week after it is applied, and it is not effective
against all insects.
• In 1996, farmers in the United States began growing a new genetically modified corn plant, called
Bt corn. This corn plant had the Bt gene from Bacillus thuringeinsis inserted into its cells.
• This gene provides information that causes the plant cells themselves to produce the Bt protein. As
a result, the offspring of the modified plants are protected from the corn borer.
• Today, genetically modified corn is one of four genetically modified crops—along with canola,
cotton, and soybeans—grown in huge quantities. Today, the need for more food to meet the needs
of growing populations has led many countries to consider growing genetically modified crops as a
way to increase the amounts grown.
• People in various countries fear that such crops might harm humans, other organisms, and the
environment. These concerns have led to debate about which is greater: the benefits or risks of
genetically modified organisms.
 DNA
• The DNA segments that carry genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences
have structural purposes, or are involved in regulating the expression of genetic information.
• In eukaryotes such as animals and plants, DNA is stored inside the cell nucleus, while in
prokaryotes such as bacteria and archaea, the DNA is in the cell's cytoplasm.
• Unlike enzymes, DNA does not act directly on other molecules; rather, various enzymes act on
DNA and copy its information into either more DNA, in DNA replication, or transcribe it into
protein.
• Other proteins such as histones are involved in the packaging of DNA or repairing the damage
to DNA that causes mutations.
 DNA
• DNA is a long polymer of simple units called nucleotides, which are held together by a
backbone made of sugars and phosphate groups.
• This backbone carries four types of molecules called bases and it is the sequence of these four
bases that encodes information.
• The major function of DNA is to encode the sequence of amino acid residues in proteins, using
the genetic code
• The combination of base and sugar (deoxyribose) is referred
to nucleoside
DNA (genetic information and function)

DNA is fusion of 3different elements: abase (either a pyrimidine or •

purine ) , sugar ( in the case of DNA called deoxyribonucleic acid
and for RNA called Ribose ) and a phosphate (which links
individual nucleotides together by hydrogen bond )
• The leading strand runs from 5 end to 3 end, and the
complementary strand runs 3 to 5 ends
• The physical chemistry of the bases requires that a purine form a
specific hydrogen bond with pyrimidine : the purine adenine
always binds with pyrimidine thymine , and the purine guanine
always binds with pyrimidine cytosine
• When one parent strand joining a new daughter stand to form
double helix is called ' semi conservative replication '
DNA (genetic information and function)

• When DNA is used as a template for making mRNA , this always done in the direction of 5 to 3
end
• The double helix maintains a constant width because purines always face pyrimidine in
complementary A-T and G-C base pairs respectively
• Expression means that encoded RNA is used to make protein
Expression means that encoded RNA is used to make protein
Expression contains 2 stages :
1- transcription
2- translation
DNA (genetic information and function)

• TRANSCRIPTION is the synthesis of RNA from DNA template where the code in the DNA is
converted into a complementary RNA code. Translation is the synthesis of a protein from an
mRNA template where the code in the mRNA is converted into an amino acid sequence in a
protein
1. Transcription
The first step in the making of a protein, transcription, takes the information found in a gene in
the DNA and transfers it to a molecule of RNA.RNA polymerase , an enzyme that adds and links
complementary RNA nucleotides during transcription, is required.
DNA (genetic information and function)

• the steps of transcription.

1. Transcription begins when RNA polymerase binds to the gene’s promoter—a specific
sequence of DNA that acts as a “start” signal for transcription.
2. RNA polymerase then unwinds and separates the two strands of the double helix,
exposing the DNA nucleotides on each strand.
3. RNA polymerase adds and then links complementary RNA nucleotides as it “reads” the
gene. RNA polymerase moves along the nucleotides of the DNA strand that has the
gene, much like a train moves along on a track. Transcription follows the base-pairing
rules for DNA replication except that in RNA, uracil, rather than thymine, pairs with
adenine.
DNA (genetic information and function)
DNA (genetic information and function)

• As transcription proceeds, the RNA polymerase eventually reaches a “stop” signal in the DNA.
This “stop” signal is a sequence of bases that marks the end of each gene in eukaryotes, or the
end of a set of genes in prokaryotes.

Genetic Code
• DNA is important in terms of our genetic code, in the sense that it transfers genetic messages
to all of the cells in your body. If you think about DNA in a reproductive sense, consider that the
joining of an egg and sperm to create your first cell provided your completed genetic code that
your body would use for all of your life. Within that initial cell, half of your chromosomes -
containing your DNA - came from your father and half came from your mother.
• DNA clearly plays important roles in the human body and is one of the most significant
discoveries of the twentieth century.
DNA (genetic information and function)

• Translation takes place in the cytoplasm. Here transfer RNA molecules and ribosomes help in
the synthesis of proteins.
• Transfer (tRNA) molecules are single strands of RNA that temporarily carry a specific amino acid
on one end. Each tRNA is folded into a compact shape and has an anticodon.
• An anticodon is a three-nucleotide sequence on a tRNA that is complementary to an mRNA
codon. The amino acid that a tRNA molecule carries corresponds to a particular mRNA codon.
• molecules are RNA molecules that are part of the structure of ribosomes. A cell’s cytoplasm
contains thousands of ribosomes. Each ribosome temporarily holds one mRNA and two tRNA
molecules.
DNA (genetic information and function)

• Steps of the translation:

DNA (genetic information and function)
DNA (genetic information and function)

Coding for Proteins

• DNA holds the code for proteins, which are complex molecules that do huge amounts of work
around our body. Information in DNA is initially 'read' and then it is transcribed into a
messenger molecule.
• After, the information held in this messenger molecule is translated into a 'language' that the
body can understand. This language is one of amino acids, which are also known as the
building blocks of proteins. It is this specific language that dictates how the amino acids should
produce a particular protein. If you think about the twenty different kinds of amino acids, you
can see that the ordering can produce an enormous variety of proteins
DNA (genetic information and function)
DNA Replication
• DNA replication is vital for a virtually endless list of functions, from reproduction
to maintenance and growth of cells, tissues and body systems. To copy itself, a
DNA molecule essentially 'unzips,' thus resulting in a series of bases without pairs
along the backbone of the molecule. DNA has four bases - all part of a nucleotide
that also consists of a sugar and phosphate.
• The four bases in DNA are very specific about which base they will attach to,
which means that adenine only pairs with thymine and guanine will only pair with
cytosine. As the nucleotides connect with unpaired bases on the backbone of the
DNA molecule, they build a new strand that complements - or matches - the
original sequence. The end result is a strand that is a perfect match to the original
one prior to it unzipping.
DNA (genetic information and function)
DNA Replication
• Cells in your body replicate for purposes
such as making new skin or blood cells.
When mistakes occur, there are repair
systems in place to remedy the mistake
or alternately, a cell has a marker for
destruction. If a cell survives a mutation,
there are still benefits to an organism. In
fact, this concept is essentially the basis
for evolution.
Plasmid

• A plasmid is a small, circular, double-stranded DNA molecule that is distinct from a cell's
chromosomal DNA. Plasmids naturally exist in bacterial cells, and they also occur in some
eukaryotes.
• Often, the genes carried in plasmids provide bacteria with genetic advantages, such as
antibiotic resistance. Plasmids have a wide range of lengths, from roughly one thousand DNA
base pairs to hundreds of thousands of base pairs.
• When a bacterium divides, all of the plasmids contained within the cell are copied such that
each daughter cell receives a copy of each plasmid. Bacteria can also transfer plasmids to one
another through a process called conjugation.
Plasmid

• Scientists have taken advantage of plasmids to use them as tools to clone, transfer, and
manipulate genes. Plasmids that are used experimentally for these purposes are called
vectors. 
• Researchers can insert DNA fragments or genes into a plasmid vector, creating a so-called
recombinant plasmid. This plasmid can be introduced into a bacterium by way of the process
called transformation.
• Then, because bacteria divide rapidly, they can be used as factories to copy DNA fragments in
large quantities.
More information
http://biotechlearn.org.nz/themes/bacteria_in_biotech/bacterial_dna_the_role_of_plasmids
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNMJBMtKKWU
Selective breeding

What is selective breeding?

• Selective breeding is the process by which humans use animal breeding and plant breeding to
selectively develop particular characteristics by choosing which typically animal or plant males
and females will sexually produce and have offspring together
There are two types of selective breeding:
The first one is the traditional or ”beeder’s approach” in which the breeder applies by examining
the chosen trait and choosing to breed only those exhibits higher.
The second is called “controlled natural selection” which is essentially natural selecting in a
controlled environment. In this type the breeder doesn’t choose which individuals tested
“selection or reproduce” as her or she could in the traditional approach.
Selective breeding

Examples of selective breeding:

For animals:
Some breeds of goats produce more milk than others. Their milk is used to produce a variety of
dairy products. Other goats, such as angora goats, are bred for their Fine hair, which is spun into
yarn.
For plants:
• Plant breeding has been used for thousands of years, and began with domestication of wild
plants into uniform and predictable agriculture.
• So finally the selective breeding is very important for plans because we use it in the agriculture.
• Bio Team:
1. Yousef Elmetwally
2. Adham Shaaban
3. Ahmed G. Mattar
4. Mohamed Ashraf
5. Radwa Baya
6. Aya Ahmed
7. Mohamed Ahmed Sharf El-din
8. Reem Alaa
9. MØhãmmed Mãgdey
10.Sara Hammad