6.2.4 genetic engineering

Question 1

what is genetic engineering

Answer 1

changing the genetic material of an organism by removing or altering genes within that organism, or by inserting genes from another organism

Question 2

what is the organism called if it has engineering done to it

Answer 2

genetically modified

Question 3

how does this work for food

Answer 3

plants that have had foreign DNA inserted into their genome

Question 4

reasons for plants to be modified

Answer 4

make them bigger, more nutrients, immune to diseases

Question 5

advantages of genetic engineering

Answer 5

reduce use of chemicals better for environment, cheaper for farmers, increased yield of crops as they aren’t competing with weeds for resources

Question 6

disadvantages of genetic engineering

Answer 6

plants don’t grow as well, reduce biodiversity, genes can be contracted from other plants like weeds making them resistant, increased need of chemicals making them expensive, increase of seed cost

Question 7

what are GM crops

Answer 7

contain a gene from a bacterium that produces a poison that kills insects, making them resistant to insect pests such as caterpillars. This can improve crop yields

Question 8

advantage of GM crops

Answer 8

better vitamins and resistant to weed killer