Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering Flashcards
Why are bacteria useful for the biotechnology?
Because of their rapid reproduction rate
Their ability to make complex molecules
Lack of ethical concerns over their manipulation and growth
Genetic code shared with all other organisms
Presence of plasmids
What is alcohol produced by fermentation used for?
Biofuel
What causes bread dough to rise?
Yeast respires anaerobically and produces CO2
What is pectinase used for?
It is an enzyme that is added to chopped up fruit and more juice is released as it breaks down the pectin which is found inside plant cell walls and therefore more juice is squeezed out
What does Pectinase help do?
Produce a clearer juice as once polysaccharides are broken down into smaller molecules the juice becomes clearer
What are many stains?
Organic molecules
What do biological washing powders contain?
Enzymes similar to the digestive enzymes
What are advantages of biological washing powders?
- Quickly breaks down large insoluble molecules into smaller soluble ones that dissolve in water
- They are effective at lower temps so less energy and money wasted
- They can be used to clean delicate clothing
What is lactose?
a sugar found in milk
What does lactose intolerant mean?
React badly to dairy products- nausea, flatulence and diarrhoea as their digestive system is upset
How can milk be made lactose free?
By adding the enzyme lactase to it
What was the first antibiotic to be discovered?
Penicillin
What is penicillin?
A chemical produced by the fungus penicillium which inhibits bacterial growth
How have we been able to make lots of penicillin?
Using industrial fermenters
What are industrial fermenters?
Containers used to grow microorganisms like bacteria/fungi in large amounts. Those are then used for producing genetically modified bacteria and the penicillium mould that produces penicillin.
What are advantages of industrial fermenters?
Conditions are carefully controlled to produce large amounts of exactly the right type of microorganism
How is agitation controlled in an industrial fermenter?
Stirring paddles ensure that microorganisms, oxygen and nutrients are evenly distributed
How are septic precautions carried out in an industrial fermenter
Fermenter is cleaned by steam to kill microorganisms and prevent chemical contamination which ensures only desired microorganisms will grow
Define Genetic Engineering
Changing the genetic material of an organism by removing, changing or inserting individual genes
Give examples of genetic engineering
The insertion of human genes into bacteria to produce human insulin
The insertion of genes into crop plants to confer resistance to herbicides and insect pests
The insertion of genes into crop plants to provide additional vitamins such as golden rice which makes the rice grains produce a chemical that is turned into Vitamin A
What are advantages of Genetic engineering
Reduced use of chemicals such as herbicides
Increased yields from the crops as they are not competing with weeds
Disadvantages of Genetic engineering
Increased costs of seeds- GM seeds are more expensive meaning smaller and poorer farms cannot compare with larger farms
Reduced biodiversity as there are fewer plant species when herbicides have been used
Research says that plants that have had genes inserted into them do not grow as well as non- Gm plants
Outline the genetic engineering using bacterial production of a human protein
- Isolation of the DNA making up a human gene using restriction enzymes, forming sticky ends
- Cutting off bacterial plasmid DNA with the same restriction enzymes forming complementary sticky ends
- Insertion of human DNA into bacterial plasmid DNA using DNA ligase to form a recombinant plasmid
- Insertion Of plasmid bacteria
- Replication of bacteria containing recombinant plasmids which make human protein as they express the gene
