Genetic engineering involves altering the genes of organisms by transferring DNA between organisms. It is done by identifying a gene of interest, extracting DNA, isolating the gene, and inserting it into the DNA of another organism, such as by using a plasmid in bacteria. Genetically modified organisms are created through genetic engineering to have traits like herbicide or insecticide resistance. Cloning creates a genetic copy of an organism by transferring the nucleus from a donor adult cell into an egg cell. Green fluorescent protein from jellyfish is used as a tag in genetic engineering to track specific structures in living cells over time.
Genetic engineering involves altering the genes of organisms by transferring DNA between organisms. It is done by identifying a gene of interest, extracting DNA, isolating the gene, and inserting it into the DNA of another organism, such as by using a plasmid in bacteria. Genetically modified organisms are created through genetic engineering to have traits like herbicide or insecticide resistance. Cloning creates a genetic copy of an organism by transferring the nucleus from a donor adult cell into an egg cell. Green fluorescent protein from jellyfish is used as a tag in genetic engineering to track specific structures in living cells over time.
Genetic engineering involves altering the genes of organisms by transferring DNA between organisms. It is done by identifying a gene of interest, extracting DNA, isolating the gene, and inserting it into the DNA of another organism, such as by using a plasmid in bacteria. Genetically modified organisms are created through genetic engineering to have traits like herbicide or insecticide resistance. Cloning creates a genetic copy of an organism by transferring the nucleus from a donor adult cell into an egg cell. Green fluorescent protein from jellyfish is used as a tag in genetic engineering to track specific structures in living cells over time.
find in all living things It involves the transfer of genes or parts of DNA from one organism to another Organisms whose gene are altered or modified for specific purposes are called TRANSGENIC ORGANISMS HOW IS DNA USED IN GENETIC ENGINEERING? By definition, genetic engineering is the direct altering of an organisms GENOME This is achieved through manipulation of the DNA Doing this is possible because DNA is like a universal language; all DNA for all organisms is made up of the same nucleotide building blocks Thus, it is possible for genes from one organisms to be read by another organism In the cookbook analogy; this equates to taking a recipe from one organism’s cookbook and putting into another cookbook Now, imagine that all cookbooks are written in the same language; thus, any recipe can be inserted and used in any other cookbook In practice, since DNA contains the genes to build certain proteins, by changing the DNA sequence, engineers are able to provide a new gene for a cell organism to create a different protein. The new instructions may supplement the old instructions such that an extra trait is exhibited, or they may completely replace the old instructions such that a trait is changed Genetic Engineering Technique The process for genetic engineering begins the same for any organism being modified: A. Identify an organism that contains a desirable gene B. Extract the entire DNA from the organism C. Remove this gene from the rest of the DNA. One way to do this is by using a restriction enzyme. These enzyme search for specific nucleotide sequences where they will “cut” the DNA by breaking the bonds at this location D. Insert the new gene to an existing organism’s DNA. This may be achieved through a number of different processes When modifying bacteria, the most common method for this final step is to add the isolated gene to a PLASMID, a circular piece of DNA used by bacteria This is done by “cutting” the plasmid with the same restriction enzyme that was used to remove the gene from the original DNA The new gene can now be inserted into this opening in the plasmid and the DNA can be bonded back together using another enzyme called LIGASE This process creates a recombinant plasmid In this case, the recombinant plasmid is also referred to as a bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) What are the uses of Genetic Engineering? The purposes of doing genetic engineering are many. These include: 1. Repairing a genetic “defect” (as with the current early trials of gene therapy in humans) 2. Enhancing an effect already natural to that organism (e.g. to increase its growth rate) 3. Increasing resistance to disease or external damage (e.g. crops – blight, cold or drought) 4. Getting a micro-organism to produce human insulin for diabetics, or a sheep to produce a human blood-clotting protein in her milk, in both cases a transgenic method 5. Getting a tomato to ripen without going squashy – this can be done simply by taking one its own genes, turning its “pattern” upside down and putting it back again GMO (Genetically Modified Organisms) GMO (Genetically Modified Organisms) are living organisms whose genetic material has been synthetically manipulated in a laboratory through genetic engineering or GE This relatively new science creates unstable combination of plant, animal, bacterial and viral genes that do not occur in nature or through traditional crossbreeding methods Practically all commercial GMO’s are engineered to withstand direct application of herbicide and/or to produce an insecticide Despite biotech industry promises, none of the GMO traits currently on the market offer increased yield, drought tolerance, enhanced nutrition, or any other consumer benefit Meanwhile, a growing body of evidence connects GMO’s with health problems, environmental damage and violation of farmers and consumers rights What is Cloning?
In 1997, a 7-month old sheep named Dolly
became a celebrity Do you know why? Dolly is the first cloned animal What is cloning? CLONING is a method that scientists use to produce a genetic copy of another individual In other words, Dolly is a clone of her mother Well, actually, Dolly had three mothers. One mother gave Dolly her DNA One mother supplied an egg The third mother, her surrogate mother, gave birth to her Isn’t interesting? Normally, an animal gets half of its DNA from its mother and half from its father Dolly is an identical twin of the mother who gave her DNA But Dolly is six years younger However, Dolly and her mother are not identical in every way Since Dolly and her “DNA mother” have different experiences, they are different in many ways Like human twins, clones have unique personalities Unluckily, Dolly died after more or less 7 years of survival Dolly, who was naturally mated at the end of last year with a Welsh Mountain ram, gave birth to Bonnie Monday, April 13, 1998, proving that despite her unusual origins, she is able to breed normally and produce healthy offspring. Since 1997, the techniques used to clone Dolly have been applied to many other animals, including cattle, goats, pigs, cats, and even some endangered species such an Asian wild ox. GFP (Green Fluorescent Protein) The GFP exhibits bright green flourescence when exposed to blue light Although many other marine organisms have similar green fluorescent proteins GFP traditionally refers to the protein first isolated from the jellyfish Aequorea victori Scientists genetically altered these animals by inserting a jellyfish protein with genetic instructions to produce fluorescence into the embryos In biology, GFP is used for high-lighting specific structure Compared to other fluorescent proteins, it is much less harmful when illuminated in living cells The discovery and use of GFP has triggered the development of highly automated live-cell fluorescence microscopy systems, which can be used to observe cells over time expressing one or more proteins tagged with fluorescent proteins In 2008, Martin Chalfie, Osamu Shimomura and Roger Y. Tsien were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their discovery and development of the green fluorescent protein