Chapter 20 Flashcards
How are bacteria useful in biotechnology and genetic engineering?
Bacteria are useful due to their rapid reproduction rate and their ability to make complex molecules, as well as lack of ethical concerns over their manipulation and growth, genetic code shared with all other organisms and presence of plasmids
genetic engineering
changing the genetic material of an organism by removing, changing or inserting individual genes
Give examples of genetic engineering
Examples are the insertion of human genes into bacteria to produce human insulin, the insertion of genes into crop plants to confer resistance to herbicides, the insertion of genes into crop plants to confer resistance to insect pests and the insertion of genes into crop plants to provide additional vitamins
Outline genetic engineering using bacterial production of a human protein as an example
First, there is isolation of the DNA making up a human gene using restriction enzymes, forming sticky ends then cutting of bacterial plasmid DNA with the same restriction enzymes, forming complementary sticky ends. After, there is the insertion of human DNA into bacterial plasmid DNA using DNA ligase to form a recombinant plasmid and then insertion of plasmid into bacteria and replication of bacteria containing recombinant plasmids which make human protein as they express the gene
Describe the role of anaerobic respiration in yeast during production of ethanol for biofuels
Anaerobic respiration in yeast leads to the production of alcohol (ethanol) as glucose —-> ethanol + carbon dioxide + energy
Describe the role of anaerobic respiration in yeast during bread-making
Anaerobic respiration in yeast also helps to make bread rise as carbon dioxide produces the air bubbles in bread as glucose —-> ethanol + carbon dioxide + energy
Investigate and describe the use of pectinase in fruit juice production
pectinate is a useful enzyme that breaks down pectins in the cell walls of fruit, making it useful for juice production as breaking down cell walls releases juices from within the cells. You can test it by adding apple slices to 2 beakers and adding water in one and pectinase in the other and filtering the juice from each of the beakers
Investigate and describe the use of biological washing powders that contain enzymes
biological washing powders contain enzymes like lipase which can break down fats and proteases for proteins into smaller water soluble molecules that are easy to wash away. Making food stains easier to get rid of. You can investigate them by staining a fabric with food and putting them in 2 beakers (one with the washing powder and the other with water) then compare their cleanliness
Investigate and explain the use of lactase to produce lactose-free milk
lactase helps to break down lactose into simple sugars (like glucose). This makes it so people with lactose intolerances can drink the milk. You can test the effect of lactase by using glucose strips
Describe the role of the fungus Penicillium in the production of the antibiotic penicillin
Penicillium mold naturally produces the antibiotic penicillin
Explain how fermenters are used in the production of penicillin
Fermenters are used to produce a lot of the fungus Penicillium quickly and cheaply by controlling the conditions to maximise growth.
Give the advantages of genetically modifying crops, such as soya, maize and rice
The advantages are the plants are resistant to herbicides and disease, the plants can grow bigger and quicker and the plants can grow in harsher environments without need to continue to top up their nutrients.
Give the disadvantages of genetically modifying crops, such as soya, maize and rice
The disadvantages are that they can pass the new plants to other plants in the environment (affecting the balance and their resistance to herbicides) and we don’t know the long term affects of these crops on animals and humans long term.
