Chapter 12: Biotechnology and Genomics

Question 1

Biotechnology

Answer 1

the use of natural biological systems to create a product or achieve a desire for humans

Question 2

Genetically modified organisms (GMO)

Answer 2

one whose genome has been modified in some way.

Question 2

Genetic engineering

Answer 2

allows scientists to modify the genomes of different organisms from plants, bacteria, and animals to improve the characteristics of an organism or make biotechnology products

Question 3

Recombinant DNA (rDNA)

Answer 3

containing two genes from two or more different sources, to make it you need vectors

Question 3

Transgenic organism

Answer 3

an example of a GMO that has had a gene from another species inserted into its genome

Question 4

Vector

Answer 4

a piece of DNA that acts as a carrier for the foreign DNA, needed to make rDNA. most commonly used are plasmid, a small ring of DNA from bacterial cells

Question 5

Restriction enzymes

Answer 5

cleave or cut, DNA at specific places. Needed to introduce foreign DNA into plasmid DNA

Question 6

DNA ligase

Answer 6

a second enzyme that has the role of sealing the foreign piece of DNA into the plasmid, the same enzyme that functions in DNA replication to repair breaks in a double-stranded helix

Question 7

Sticky ends

Answer 7

the overhanging bases at the ends of the two DNA molecules, help facilitate the insertion of foreign DNA into vector DNA similar to puzzle pieces

Question 8

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR)

Answer 8

a way to create billions of copies of a segment of SNA in a test tube in a matter of hours and is very specific. It amplifies or makes copies of a targeted DNA sequence, usually a few hundred bases in length

Question 9

Steps of PCR

Answer 9

1. DNA is heated so it becomes a single stand.
2. then cooled to a lower temperature to allow the primers to stick onto the DNA stands.
3. DNA is heated again so Tac DNA polymerase can extend the primers

Steps repeat over and over again until a sufficient amount is made

Question 10

Gel electrophoresis

Answer 10

an electrical current used to force DNA fragments of various sizes.

Question 11

DNA profile or DNA fingerprints

Answer 11

smaller fragments moved further through the gel than larger fragments, resulting in a pattern of distinctive bands

Question 12

Short tandem repeat (STR) profiling

Answer 12

a preferred method of DNA analysis is short sequences of DNA bases that recur serval times, as GATAGATAGATA. Advantageous doesn’t require the use of restriction enzymes.

Question 13

Genome editing

Answer 13

the targeting of specific sequences in the DNA for removal or replacement

Question 14

CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats)

Answer 14

first discovered in prokaryotes, acting as a form of immune defense against invading viruses

Question 15

Viruses function?

Answer 15

inserting their DNA into host cells, causing those cells to form a new viruses