Assessment Task 2: Depth Study Flashcards
What is biotechnology?
The manipulation of living organisms and/or parts of living organisms. It harnesses cellular and biomolecular processes to develop technologies and products that help improve our lives and the health of the planet.
What is a GMO?
An organism whose genome has been engineered in the laboratory in order to favour the expression of desired physiological traits or the generation of desired biological products.
What is a vector?
In genetic engineering, vectors refer to DNA molecules that can carry foreign DNA into a host cell, where it can be replicated and sometimes expressed. These vectors act as vehicles to transfer genetic material from one organism to another.
What is a Promoter?
A promoter is a sequence of DNA that plays a crucial role in gene expression. It is located upstream of a gene and serves as the binding site for proteins that initiate transcription of the gene.
What is a gene regulator?
A protein that can either increse or decrease the rate of transcription. They code for level of gene expression.
Why are regulators included when insertic rDNA?
Otherwise the desired gene will not be transcribed.
What is PCR?
A biotechnological process that is used to rapidly make millions of copies of a gene.
How is heat used in PCR?
Heating separates the strands of DNA.
Cooling allows the DNA primers to attach to the DNA template.
Heating enables the polymerase enzyme to add complementary nucleotides.
How are nucleotides used in PCR?
To build the copies of the target DNA segment.
What is DNA polymerase?
Proteins that assist in copying DNA.
How is DNA polymerase used in PCR?
To attach to the target DNA segments at the point where the primers are located and continues copying the strand.
What are primers?
Short, custom built sequences of DNA, usually about 20 nucleotides long.
How are primers used in PCR?
They are used in PCR to attach to DNA at the target segment and to guide the DNA polymerase on where to start copying.
What is recombinant DNA?
rDNA is the DNA that results from moving a section of DNA from its normal location and inserting it into DNA at another site. Either within the same, or a new organism.
How is rDNA used for cloning genes in bacteria?
A transgenic bacterium is created, with the desired gene inserted into its DNA plasmid, along with appropriate regulators. The bacteria undergoes asexual reproduction, via binary fission; many more transgenic bacteria are produced as a result. Each offspring has a clone of the gene, and can therefore produce the gene product.
What are the steps of gene splicing?
- A plasmid is removed from a bacterium and cut open with a restriction enzyme, creating sticky ends.
- The desired gene and regulators are “cut out” of a source species using the same restriction enzyme.
- The sticky ends of the open plasmid and “cut out” gene combine using complementary bases.
- A DNA ligase enzyme seals (anneals) the plasmid and “cut out” gene together.
- The recombinant plasmid is inserted into the bacterium.
- The bacterium reproduces asexually, creating more bacteria with recombinant DNA.
What are restriction enzymes?
An enzyme that can cut DNA. Each type of restriction enzyme will cut a strand of DNA at a particular sequence of bases leaving DNA overhangs called “sticky ends” that can bond with another strand of DNA that has complementary bases.
Why do we use GMO crops
This is often done to support the metabolic needs of the rapidly growing human population. GM Crops help combat food scarcity, as they tend to have higher yields than conventional crops. Sometimes they also offer extra nutritional value.
What is Bt corn?
It is a genetically modified organism that expresses a protein that is poisonous to very specific pests of corn, most often caterpillar stages of moth species.
What does Bt stand for?
Bacillus thuringiensis.
Why do we use Bt in cells and not as a topical insecticide?
it was found to break down quickly when exposed to UV rays, as well as being washed away in strong rains
What are the toxins in Bt?
The toxins are called insecticidal crystal proteins, or CRY proteins, coded for by the CRY genes.
What are protoxins?
A protoxin is a toxin that is only activated when it is altered in some way.
What happens when pests ingest these protoxins?
They get activated by the alkaline pH of the insect’s digestive system.
The CRY proteins bind with the receptors on the epithelial cells on the insect’s gut. This binding action creates pores in the epithelial cells, causing them to become perforated. When that happens, the extra, non-bound proteins can easily enter the intracellular environment.
What two methods are used for the insertion of Bt into the corn?
Gene guns, and AGROBACTERIUM TUMEFACIENS (A. tumefaciens)
