Topic 15 Biological resources Flashcards
The Process of Genetic engineering? (6)
- Cut open the bacteria and take out the plasmid. Insulin is removed from a human gene using restriction enzymes.
- The plasmid is cut open by restriction enzymes and the insulin is placed inside.
- Then it is glued back up using DNA ligase. This cell is now called recombinant DNA.
- The recombinant DNA is placed back into the bacteria to form a transgenic organism.
- The transgenic organism is carrying a vector (the insulin).
- The transgenic organism is then placed in a fermenter so the transgenic organism can carry out mitosis. The conditions needed is optimum temp, oxygen, PH.
3 factors that affect the yield? (3)
- light
- temp
- CO2
How can this Factor be Controlled?
(light)
A greenhouse allows sunlight to enter and tap heat via light radiation from
infrared rays. At night time when there is no sunlight the lights can go on (only at night to save energy) so that the plants can photosynthesis
How can this Factor be Controlled?
(CO2)
The greenhouse, can have automated windows so that when the CO2 concentration is low the windows can open and CO2 can enter allowing the plants to continue to photosynthesis
How can this Factor be Controlled?
(temp)
The greenhouse allows heat energy to be trapped inside as it is made out of all glass so the plants can photosynthesis at optimum temp.
Reason for control (light)
So that the owners aren’t using too much of the power so that the electrical bill isn’t to might
Reason for control (temp)
So it doesn’t go over the optimum temp and the plants start to enzymes don’t denature
Reason for control (CO2)
So that the plants can still photosynthesis when the plants are low on CO2 so the plants can grow and yield can increase
Biological control (4)
- Uses a natural predator, parasite, or pathogen to reduce the pest population
- For example, ladybirds eat aphids, and parasitic wasps control whitefly
- Biological control can happen naturally or by introducing a species specifically to prey on the pest
- Biological control avoids the introduction of harmful chemicals
Chemical control?
- Uses chemical pesticides to kill organisms that can reduce plant growth, such as weeds, insects, and fungi
- For example, crops are sprayed with a chemical fungicide to reduce the risk of infection
What are pesticides?
a chemical that kills pests (anything that eats your crops), but does not harm the crop
What are biological control?
Biological control is an alternative to using pesticides and involves using one species or biological agent to control the population size of another species.
What are chemical pesticides?
chemical compounds used to kill pests like insects, rodents, and weeds
Advantages of Chemical Pesticides (4)
- mass scale
- fast action
- easy to apply
- cheap to produce
Disadvantages of Chemical Pesticides (5)
- leaches
- enter the food chain and eventually humans will digest them
- unknown effects on other humans
- enter the food chain and harms wildlife
- resistance to chemicals develop
Advantages of Biological Control (5)
- specific to particular pest
- no chemicals or harmful effects on the environment
- crops safer to eat
- no resistance
- long lasting
Disadvantages of Biological Control (4)
- predator could take over
- organism may eat useful species
- requires though and monitoring to be successful
- slower acting
Yeast in Food Production
Microorganisms can be used by humans to produce foods and other useful substances
talk about the process of Making bread (8)
- The yeast produces enzymesthat break down thestarchinflour, releasingsugarsthat can be used by the yeast in respiration
- The yeast begin to respire aerobically but willswitch to anaerobic respirationwhen oxygen runs out
- When yeast carries outanaerobic respirationit producesalcohol (ethanol)andcarbon dioxide
- Thecarbon dioxideproduced by the yeast is trapped in small air-pockets in the dough, causing the dough torise(increase in volume)
- The dough is thenbakedin a hot oven to form bread
- During baking any ethanol produced by the yeastisevaporatedin the heat, so bread doesn’t contain any alcohol
- The yeast is killed by the high temperatures used during baking
- This ensures there is no further respiration by the yeast
How to test for yeast production?
What is selective breading?
Selective breeding is when humans breed plants and animals for particular genetic characteristics.
Main steps in selective breeding (4)
- Decide which characteristics are important enough to select.
- Choose parents that show these characteristics from a mixed population. They are bred together.
- Choose the best offspring with the desired characteristics to produce the next generation.
- Repeat the process continuously over many generations, until all offspring show the desired characteristics.
Desired characteristics in plants (3)
- disease resistance in food crops
- wheat plants that produce lots of grain
- large or unusual flowers
Desired characteristics in animals (3)
- animals that produce lots of milk or meat
- chickens that lay large eggs
- domestic dogs that have a gentle nature
Benefits of selective breeding include (2)
- new varieties may be economically important, by producing more or better quality food
- animals can be selected that cannot cause harm, for example cattle without horns
Drawbacks of selective breeding include (3)
- reduced genetic variation can lead to attack by specific insects or disease, which could be extremely destructive
- rare disease genes can be unknowingly selected as part of a positive trait, leading to problems with specific organisms, eg a high percentage of Dalmatian dogs are deaf
- creation of physical problems in specific organisms, eg large dogs can have faulty hips due to not being formed correctly
