Genetic Engineering and Reproductive Strategies Flashcards
Reproductive Strategies in Agriculture
Selective breeding = selecting specific plants or animals to breed for desired traits
Artificial insemination = artificial transfer of semen to reproductive system
* Dairy cattle - the way dairy cows are bred, they cannot take in natural mating
* Semen catalogue
* There are downfalls to this selection
Embryo Transfer = fertilizing an egg outside of the womb, then transferring it into a reproductive tract
* Combats stress of physically transporting animals to breed
IVF
in vitro fertilization = Egg is fertilized outside of body
Reasons for IVF
- Blocked or damaged fallopian tubes - When eggs are extracted they are stuck in phase 1
- Male factor infertility
- Woman w ovulation failure
- Uterine fibroids
- Women who’ve undergone fallopian tube removed
- Individuals w genetic disorders (IVF can detect prior to fertilization)
- Unexplained infertility
Infertility issues have increased over the years due to:
- people having children when older
- Things in our foods
Biotechnology
use of organisms to make useful products
* Microorganisms used to make vaccines, antibiotics, hormones, etc.
Genetic Engineering (GMO)
intentional production of new genes and alterations of genomes by the substitution or introduction of new genetic material
* We can tailor the abilities of living organisms to meet needs in agriculture
Blue Jean Baby
- Until recently, blue jean colour was produced by plants
- Involves synthetic production using coal and oil → produced toxic by-products
- Bio-indigo from bacteria
- Alterations to the genome of e-coli have resulted in a strain that makes high levels of tryptophan
- Molecule can be converted into indigo in a series of steps
Plasmids
Genetic Loop in a bacterial cell
* bacteria = prokaryotic (before nucleus)
* Can replicate independently of chromosomes
How are plasmids used in lab maniupation of genes
- Move pieces of desired DNA (such as genes for producing indigo dye) into bacteria
- Plasmid is removed from bacteria cell, desired gene is inserted into the plasmid
Result: recombinant plasmid (original + new) - New recombinant plasmid is inserted back into bacteria cell where it replicates
Genetic Recombination
Bacteria are essential to modern biotechnology
* We can use them to mass produce useful genes and proteins (e.g. insulin)
* Recombinant DNA technology = combines genes from different sources, even different species into a single DNA molecule
2 Main Steps of Making Recombinant DNA
Cutting and pasting
* DnA containing gene that must be cut out of a longer DNA molecule
Restriction Enzymes
Used for cutting DNA
* Make staggered cuts, leaving single-stranded DNA at the ends of the fragments called “sticky ends”
* Sticky ends useful for recombining DNA, such as plasmid into a human gene
Why are sticky ends called sticky ends
Because they are available to bind to any sequence that is complementary to it
DNA Ligase
Used for pasting sticky ends back together
