6.4 Cloning And Biotechnology Flashcards
What are clones
Genetically identical organisms or cells
How can clones be produced
asexually (mitosis, budding, binary fission) or sexually
Advantages of natural cloning
if the condition is good for the parents it will be good for the offspring = high yield of the product, cloning is fast, reproduction can happen even in the absence of parents = good if it’s a rare species
Disadvantages of natural cloning
through natural cloning areas can become overcrowded by offspring, no genetic diversity unless there’s mutations = little variation, if something happens that wipes one of them out it’ll wipe all of them out
What does plant cloning happen using
Their vegetative parts = aka vegetative propagation = natural cloning in plants involves this
Examples of how vegetative parts of plant are creating clones:
Runners/stolon, suckers
Bulbs, corms
Tubers
how natural cloning occurs in plants bc it gives rise to new plants that are genetically identical.
Runners/stolon
when the stems grow on the surface of the ground
Rhizome
If the stems grow underground
Sucker
extension of the roots underground
Tubers
underground stems e.g. potatoes = example of plant natural cloning
Natural cloning in animals overview
When zygote splits into 2 daughter cells + produces twins
Natural cloning in insects
not common but water fleas and green flies can reproduce asexually.
Plant cuttings
- to get a plant cutting you have to cut the stem at two nodes (internode contains meristem tissues)
- The stem should then be placed in moist soil and new roots will form
- Some plants will naturally form roots, some may need help so you can add rooting powder (contains rooting hormones)
Where else can plant cuttings be taken from
Root, leaf
Larger scale version of plant cuttings
Tissue culture (vegatative propagation
Vegetative propagation
concept of growing cells, tissues or organs from a small sample of cells/tissues
To make tissue culture large scale
Micro propagation
Example of piece of plant tissue is used for Micropropagation
a leaf (best piece to use is meristem because it is free from viruses)
Callus
small lump of undifferentiated cells
Outline Micropropagation
-take a small piece of plant tissue
- Cut this into smaller pieces + call these pieces the explants
- Take the explants and sterilise them using bleach or alcohol
- Place the explant on a sterile growth medium e.g. agar containing suitable nutrients including glucose, amino acids, auxins and cytokinins = stimulates mitosis in the plant so you’ll see some growth = initial growth is known as a callus
- Take the callus and move it to a new agar which has a nutrient content to promote shoot growth = needs high concentration of auxins compared to cytokinins
- Once the shoot grows move it to a new agar which has nutrient content to promote root growth = needs low concentration of auxins compared to cytokinins = gives rise to tiny plants called plantlets.
- Move plantlets to a greenhouse to be grown in soil/compost
Advantages of artificial cloning in plants
- Fast
- Can be done when sexual reproduction is not possible
- Plant would have genetically identical features to parents = if these are desirable characteristics e.g. pest resistant or disease resistant, this can be beneficial
- Plants have the same phenotype = easier to grow + harvest them together
- When using meristems = new plants are free from viruses
Disadvantages of artificial cloning in plants
- labour intensive
- Expensive to set up the ideal conditions = specialised equipment
- Low genetic diversity = all clones are susceptible to same diseases
- No genetic diversity unless there’s a mutation
Use of reproductive cloning
for selective breeding, to increase the yield of a good characteristic
2 main techniques of reproductive cloning
Embryo twinning and somatic cell nuclear transfer
Embryo twinning
- fertilise the egg with a sperm in vitro of two high value animals of the same species
- Let zygote divide by mitosis to form small balls of cells
- Impregnate surrogate mothers with small balls of cells
Somatic cell nuclear transfer
- Take body cells from the sheep you want to clone and take an egg donor
- Remove the nucleus from both the egg and the body cell and place the desired nucleus into the empty egg cell
- Fuse them together using electrofusion
- Put the new egg cell into the sheep so that it starts replicating and collect the early embryo
- Implant the early embryo into a surrogate mother
- This clones the exact body cell’s phenotype
non reproductive cloning in animals
- process of cloning cells/tissues but not the whole animal
What can you do with non reproductive cloning in animals
- Can grow skin in a lab = can be used to repair damage
- Can be used for medical damage e.g. spinal chord issues, restoring the function of the pancreas
- Can grow organs in the lab
Benefit of non reproductive cloning in animals
less chance of rejection bc it’s the patient’s own body cells
Advantages of non reproductive cloning in animals
- can produce high yield of ideal characteristics
- Genetically identical embryos can be used for scientific research to check the effect of environment on a gene
- Drugs can be tested on cloned cells and tissues to avoid testing on humans/animals
- Therapeutic cloning reduces the chances of rejection
- Individuals from endangered species can be cloned to increase their numbers
Disadvantages of non reproductive cloning in animals
- lack of genetic variation = all susceptible to the same disease
- Success rate is poor and the method is very expensive
- Ethical issues regarding how long the embryo survives
- Doesn’t increase genetic diversity
Biotechnology
- use of microbes/ any living thing for commercial purposes
Most common uses of biotechnology
for food and job production
Why are microbes used in biotechnology
fast growth rate, no growth requirements
Examples of microbes in biotechnology (food)
Organism used:
- yeast to make ethanol for beer
- yeast as source of carbon dioxide for baking
- lactobacillus to make lactic acid for yoghurt + cheese
- mycoprotein as a source of protein for vegetarians
What is mycoprotein made from
Fungus
Microbes in Biotech examples (pharmaceutical drugs)
penicillium fungus for penicillin, other antibiotics and insulin
Microbes in Biotech examples (enzymes)
protease and lipase in washing powders uses enzymes taken from bacteria
lactase from bacteria to make lactose free milk
Bioremediation
bacteria and fungi can be used to cleanse water
ADVANTAGES OF USING MICROBES IN BIOTECH:
- cheap + easy to grow
- Fast reproduction rate
- Production takes place at lower temperatures and pressures than normally required
- Production isn’t climate dependent = can happen anywhere in the world
- Can use byproducts from other reaction as nutrients for bacteria and fungus in these reactions
- Easier to genetically modify microbes
- Few ethical considerations
- Easier to purify + isolate products for microbes than in the conventional method
Other forms of biotechnology
- gene technology
- Genetic modification + gene therapy
- Selective breeding
Examples of using biotech to make food
Brewing, baking, cheese, yoghurt
What is brewing and what does it use and why
alcohol production + uses yeast = promotes anaerobic respiration in yeast. Grapes used bc grapes have yeast on their surface + also contains glucose and fructose
Explain brewing using grapes
When the grapes are crushed, the Yeast on surface uses sugars from the grapes to anaerobically respire to produce carbon dioxide and alcohol
Explain brewing for beer
use barley grains just at the peak of germination = as the grains start to germinate they convert starch into maltose = used by yeast to respire anaerobically to produce co2 and alcohol.
Baking
yeast used = proof dough to allow the yeast to respire anaerobically = produces the co2 that allows the dough to rise.
Cheese
milk is treated w bacteria that uses lactose to make lactic acid = acidifies the milk. Milk is then mixed with rennet which contains the enzyme rennin. Rennin coagulates milk under the presence of calcium ions= forms curd which is separated from the liquid components of milk. The bacteria keeps forming more lactic acid. Take the curd and press it into moulds = produces cheese. Microbes can also be used to flavour cheese.
Whic bacteria ferment milk for yoghurt production
lactobacillus and streptococcus thermophilus
Yoghurt production
Allow bacteria to ferment milk
Lactose converted to lactic acid
Denatures the milk proteins which allows the milk to coagulate. Bacteria partially digest the milk = easier to digest yoghurt. Fermentation process is what gives rise to the taste of yoghurt. Probiotics can be added to yoghurt from other microbes to make it more nutritionally beneficial.
What else can biotechnology be used to make
Penicillin and insulin
Biotech for penicillin
secondary metabolite of the fungus penicillium
Biotech for insulin
genetically modify E. coli bacteria to produce human insulin
Bioremediation
- when microbes are used to clean soils and underground water