Biotechnology

Question 1

Biotechnology

Answer 1

The application of biological knowledge to the production of organisms (or their products) useful to humankind.

Question 2

Artificial Selection

Answer 2

The breeding of plants and animals to produce desirable traits.

Question 3

Cloning

Answer 3

The process of producing genetically identical individuals or the duplication of any kind of biological material.

Question 4

Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer

Answer 4

A laboratory technique for creating an ovum within a donor nucleus from a somatic cell.

Question 5

Genetically Modified Organism (GMO)

Answer 5

An organism whose genetic material has been altered using recombinant DNA technology.

Question 6

Transgenic Organism

Answer 6

An organism whose genome has been altered using genetic material from another species or breed.

Question 7

Restriction Enzyme (Nuclease)

Answer 7

An enzyme that cleaves DNA at or near specific recognition sites.

Question 8

DNA Scissors

Answer 8

Restriction enzymes that cut DNA into fragments.

Question 9

Sticky Ends

Answer 9

Fragments of unpaired DNA bases formed when particular base sequences are cut asymmetrically.

Question 10

DNA Ligase

Answer 10

A specific type of enzyme that facilitates the joining of DNA strands together.

Question 11

Reverse Transcriptase

Answer 11

A DNA polymerase enzyme that catalyses the process of reverse transcription- the use of an RNA molecule as a template for the synthesis of a complementary DNA strand.

Question 12

Reverse Transcription

Answer 12

The formation of DNA from an RNA template.

Question 13

DNA Polymerase

Answer 13

A type of enzyme that is responsible for assembling nucleotides to form new copies of DNA.

Question 14

Recombinant DNA (= Genetic Engineering)

Answer 14

The deliberate modification of the characteristics of an organism, or production of a new organism, by inserting or deleting genes into the DNA.

Question 15

Plasmid

Answer 15

A small DNA molecule that is physically separated from chromosomal DNA and can replicate independently within a bacterial cell.

Question 16

Vector

Answer 16

A DNA molecule used in the transfer of foreign genetic material into another cell, where it can be replicated and/or expressed.

Question 17

Gene Cloning

Answer 17

Production of identical copies of a gene.

Question 18

regulator Gene

Answer 18

A non-coding segment of DNA that produces transcription factors for gene expression.

Question 19

Gene Therapy

Answer 19

The introduction of normal genes into cells in place of missing or defective ones in order to correct genetic disorders.

Question 20

Somatic Gene Therapy

Answer 20

Replacement of defective genes in targeted cells that are affected by a genetic disease.

Question 21

Germ Cell Gene Therapy

Answer 21

Replacement of a defective gene with a normal gene in a reproductive cell (egg or sperm), allowing normal development of the embryo and preventing the disease variant from being passed down.

Question 22

Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)

Answer 22

Technique that permits the amplification of any short sequence of DNA.

Question 23

Thermophile

Answer 23

A microorganism that can tolerate temperatures higher than 45 degrees celsius.

Question 24

Gel Electrophoresis

Answer 24

A laboratory method for separating mixtures of DNA, RNA or proteins according to molecular size.

Question 25

Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphisms (RFLP’s)

Answer 25

Different length fragments of DNA that result from the single nucleotide repeats.

Question 26

DNA Profiling (Fingerprinting)

Answer 26

A technique used to identify (as for forensic purposes) he characteristics of an individual’s DNA by extracting and identifying the base-pair pattern of their DNA.

Question 27

DNA-Hybridisation

Answer 27

A technique that measures the degree of genetic similarity between DNA sequences of different individuals.

Question 28

Bioinformatics

Answer 28

Biological studies that use computer programming to assist with the collection, classification, storage and analysis of biochemical and biological information.

Question 29

BLAST (Basic Local Alignment Search Tool)

Answer 29

A computer program that compares unknown DNA or protein sequences with those of known sequences.