Genetic Revolution Flashcards
What does a bacteria have?
Cell wall - murein
Plasmids
Flagellum
Circular chromosome
Cytoplasm
What are plasmids?
Small circles of DNA
What is a transgenic organism?
Organism with different DNA inserted in
How do bacteria replicate?
By binary fission - genetically identical
What are the key features of industrial fermenters and their uses?
Paddles - distribution of heat, glucose, nutrients…
Water jacket - to cool it down (bacteria respire and create heat)
Sterilised - kills any unwanted bacteria
Why should the same restriction enzyme be used to cut the plasmid and DNA?
Due to the complementary base pairing - allows plasmid and DNA to pair together
What does ligase do?
Sticks DNA and plasmids together
What is recombinant DNA?
A mixture of DNA from two organisms
What is a vector?
Used to transport DNA e.g. plasmids or virus
What are some advantages of GM crops?
Faster than selective breeding with same results
Improves crop yield - help food shortages
Insect and pest resistance can be developed
What are some negatives of GM crops?
Could transfer gene to another organism and harm them
Unethical as it interferes with nature
GM seeds are expensive - many developing nations can’t afford
What is a clone?
Organisms that are genetically identical
How do cells clone themselves?
Mitosis
What are the two ways of cloning plants?
Cuttings
Micropropagation
What is the limitation of cuttings?
Can’t get many clones - can’t be done on a large scale
What are advantages of animal cloning?
Can have animals with the same exact desirable characteristic
Clone animals with the best genetics
What are disadvantages of animal cloning?
Ethics
Potential unknown risks
Reduce genetic diversity - risk of being wiped out by a disease
What is an example of genetic modification?
Human gene for insulin inserted into bacteria
What is an example of animal cloning?
Dolly the sheep
Mice
Horses
What is the process of genetic modification?
Restriction enzymes cut the DNA
A plasmid is taken from a bacterium
The plasmid (vector) is cut with the restriction enzyme
Human DNA is then inserted into the plasmid
The recombinant plasmid is put into a bacterium
The bacterium clones the plasmid
What is the process of natural selection?
M - there is a mutation in the gene
V - this causes genetic variation to occur, so there is variation in the population
A - this gives the animal an advantage, so they can survive for longer
R - this animal then reproduces
P - this passes on the gene to their offspring
S - as they survive for longer this then passes down for several generations
What is the process of micropropagation?
The explant is taken from the growing tips of the parents shoots using a scalpel
The explant is then placed in sterilised agar, which includes nutrients, glucose and growth hormones
This stimulates shoot growth
They then grow into plantlets
Once they have grown shoots and roots, they are placed into soil
What is the process of animal cloning?
DNA is extracted from the animal that is going to be cloned
An egg cell is then taken from another animal and the nucleus is removed
This forms an enucleated cell
The DNA from the animal that will be cloned is fused into the egg cell either by electric shock or chemicals
This stimulates mitosis causing the cells to rapidly divide
This means an embryo is formed
The embryo is put into the uterus of the surrogate animal
The clone animal will then be born
