genetic engineering

Question 1

what is genetic engineering?

Answer 1

modifying genome of an organism by introducing a gene from another organism to give a desired characteristic

Question 2

why have plant cells been genetically engineered?

Answer 2

for disease resistance or to have larger fruits

Question 3

why have bacterial cells been genetically engineered?

Answer 3

to produce substances useful to humans, such as human insulin to treat diabetes

Question 4

describe the process of genetic engineering?

Answer 4

identify gene we want to transfer, use enzymes to isolate (cut) this gene from organism’s genome, transfer gene into a vector which is usually a plasmid or virus, vector is then introduced to target organism which transfers desired gene into cells of target organism

Question 5

what are the 3 benefits of genetic engineering?

Answer 5

increased yield in agriculture, developing nations have access to missing nutrients in plants, can be useful in medicine to mass produce certain hormones in microorganisms

Question 6

what are the 2 disadvantages of genetic engineering?

Answer 6

people are worried we dont understand effects of eating GM plants to health, GM crops are infertile and these genes could spread into wild plants

Question 7

during the process if genetic engineering, what is usually the vector?

Answer 7

plasmid or a virus