GMOs Flashcards
plant biotechnology
innovations in the use of plants to make useful products, the use of GM organisms in agriculture and industry
how do humans modify crops
by breeding and genetic engineering
genetically modified foods (GMOs)
plants and animals of agricultural importance whose genomes have been altered
ways in which crops are genetically modified
traditional breeding, mutagenesis, RNA interference, transgenics
traditional breeding
crossing plants and selecting offspring
mutagenesis
exposing seeds to chemicals or radiation
RNA interference
switching off selected genes with RNA
transgenics
inserting selected genes using recombinant DNA methods
Golden rice
a variety of rice that contains the vitamin A precursor, transgenic
transgenic organisms
created when genes are transferred between unrelated species
cigenic
used to describe genes transferred within a species
biotechnology
a wide range of methods that manipulate organisms or their components
diabetes
the body can’t make or can’t use insulin properly
why create herbicide-resistant GM crops
weed infestations destroy 10% of crops worldwide, herbicides applied before seeding can be so efficient they kill crop plants
herbicide tolerant GM crops
contain a bacterial gene that confers tolerance to the broad spectrum herbicide glyphosate
insect resistant GM crops
makes plants resistant to agricultural pests,
bt crops
Bt produces cry proteins which are toxic to insects
biolostic method
uses a gene gun to introduce cells in vitro
agrobacterium-mediated technology
uses bacteria that causes tumors on the plant to insert Ti plasmids into the DNA, the TDNA is then removed and replaced with cloned DNA of desired genes
selectable markers
allow scientists to distinguish between transformed and non-transformed products
negative selection
involves a marker gene that is antibiotic resistant, they are introduced into the plant cells and only cells that express the resistant gene survive
positive selection
involves a marker gene encoding PMI, plant cells that express pmi gene survive and can be positively selected by growing cells on a medium
round up resistant soybeans
resistant to glyphosate, uses agrobacterium technique, farmers can spray roundup and not kill their soybeans
superweeds
weeds that may become resistant to herbicides
