Genetics: Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) Flashcards
Test review
What are transgenic organisms?
Plants/Animals engineered to contain other organisms’ DNA.
- All transgenics = GMOs
- All GMOs ≠ transgenics
What are examples of transgenic organisms?
1: Transgenic corn
2: Human insulin
3: PCB eating bacteria
4: Milk
5: Transgenic golden rice
6: Transgenic salmon
7: Transgenic goats
8: Transgenic pigs
What is transgenic corn?
Herbicide resistant corn made with recombinant DNA tech. Herbicide resistant gene from bacteria was inserted into a corn plant by firing gold particles with DNA bacteria at corn cells.
What is human insulin?
Produced by transgenic bacteria. Bacteria was inserted with human (originally pigs/cows) insulin producing gene, producing large volumes of insulin in short periods.
What is PCB eating bacteria?
(PCB = soil contaminant, damages living organisms)
PCB degrading bacteria genes get inserted into other bacteria that live in soil. More effective and less costly clean up.
What is milk?
Somatotropin treated cows have increased milk production. Somatotropin producing genes were inserted into bacteria to mass produce it.
What is transgenic golden rice?
Rice engineered to contain more iron and beta carotene. Uses genes from maize and soil bacteria. Developing countries receive better nutrition.
What are transgenic salmon?
Researcher produced salmon variants. One has antifreeze genes from other species. Other contains growth hormone genes from a faster growing species.
What are transgenic goats?
Goats with silk-spinning spider genes in their genome. Silk is secreted in the milk for extraction and usage. Also used to produce anti clotting agents.
What are transgenic pigs?
Under development species of pigs which produce human antigens, so their organs may be used for transplants to humans without causing severe immune responses.
What is bioremediation?
Using living organisms to improve the environment.
What are clones?
Genetically identical organisms. Produced naturally via asexual reproduction.
Who created Dolly the cloned sheep?
Scottish research Ian Wilmut, in 1997.
What are cloned organisms prone to?
- High mortality rate
- High incidence of disease
- Metabolic disorders
- Premature aging
How is cloning done?
Nucleus of an egg cell is replaced with a body cell’s nucleus (embryos) and egg is placed inside a female to grow/develop. Often used to produce large numbers of identical organisms for research.
What are the two types of cloning?
Therapeutic: Involves culturing human cells for use in treating medical disorders.
Reproductive Cloning: Development of a cloned embryo.
What are some considerations for transgenic organisms?
Health Canada and Canadian Food Inspection Agency review transgenic products. They consider…
- Potential social, economic, and environmental costs/benefits
- Processes by which products are made (Eg; genetic material sources)
- Biological characteristics of the transgenic product, in contrast to the natural version
- Potential health effects (Eg; potential that product has toxins/allergens)
What are environmental issues of transgenic organisms?
Introducing transgenic organisms may upset ecosystems. (Eg; Genetically herbicide-resistant plants may cause more herbicides in the environment.)
What are health effects of transgenic organisms?
Complex gene regulation processes aren’t well understood, making potential risk prediction difficult. Not enough is known of consuming transgenic organisms’ long term effects.
What are some Social/Economic issues with transgenic organisms?
People say money put into genetic research can be put into helping those in need. Concerned over private corporations’ influence in global food production.
