Genetic Engineering

Manipulating genes outside of the organisms’ normal process

Genetic Engineering• Manipulating genes

outside of the organisms normal process

• Example: Genetically modified foods and recently developed viruses for medicine delivery

• Consequences: Mostly done for desired traits or products

Transformation• Genetic alteration of a cell to

express foreign DNA from outside the cell into its own DNA

• Example: Using bacteria to create insulin. Humans use the bacterial plasmid to insert desired genes and have the bacteria produce the product in this case, human insulin. Using transformation is a faster and cheaper process to assist humans need for insulin.

• Not certain how attempts to help us are hurting other organisms

Transformation• Examples: Bacteria to create insulin – insert human

gene into bacterial DNA, the new combination of genes is returned to bacterial cell. Bacteria can then produce human protein insulin. Insulin products help individuals with diabetes control their blood sugar.

Transgenic Organisms• Organisms containing genes

from another organism• How? A gene from one

organism is inserted into the cells of another

• A desired gene is extracted and placed into a carrier cell

Transgenic Organisms• Examples• Tobacco plants that glow

in the dark (they contain gene from a firefly)

• Cows that produce human milk (contain human gene)

• Consequences: Not certain how attempts to help us are hurting other organisms

Genetically Modified Organisms• Organisms’ whose DNA

has been modified• Problems: Scientists are

not sure what the consequences will be for humans.

• Example: Many food crops that we eat are less susceptible to pests and diseases because they have been modified for resistance.

Asexual Reproduction• Reproduction that does not involve

fertilization • Examples:

– single celled organisms (Binary Fission)

– New Mexico Whiptail, as well as several other all-female species of whiptail lizard, does reproduce, and all of its offspring are female. Moreover, it reproduces by parthenogenesis -- its eggs require no fertilization, and its offspring are exact and complete genetic duplicates of the mother. Cannot evolve as other species do. If their environment changes they would not survive.

• Consequences:– Lacks genetic recombination

(combining of traits)– creates exact replicas which passes

on good and bad mutations.

Cloning• Creating an identical copy

of something – produced from a single cell.

• When cloning animals we are not certain about the effects on the created organism. Usually cloned organisms are sick and do not live very long. – Ex. Dolly and

premature aging

Example

Know this process!!! See Fig. 13-13

Cloning animation

Cloning Process

Genetic Shuffling- Bacterial Antibiotic Resistance

• Bacteria are combated antibiotic drugs• Bacteria are becoming resistant to

antibiotic drugs. WHY?• They are mutating by switching

(shuffling)their bases during replication so that the antibiotics do not recognize and kill them antibiotic resistance.

Antibiotic Resistance

1- bacterial population with no antibiotic- 2 changed bacteria

2- antibiotic has been introduced and affect most of one population

3- Antibiotic resistant bacteria thrive

4- Antibiotics removed which allows growth of initial population and continued growth of the mutated population

Extinction• An organism no longer

exists • Examples:

– Dodo– Golden Toad

• Consequences:– Reduces biodiversity and

variety of genes.– Some of these organisms

might hold cures to medical problems, but we will never know.

WHO’S NEXT????