genetic engineering\

• genetic enginnering

  modifying genome of organism by introducing gene from another organism to give desired characteristic
• 1. useful gene isolated from one organism's gene usiong enzymes and inserted into vector
  2. vector ususlaly virus or bacteria plasmid
  3. vector introduced to target organism and useful gene inserted into cell
• • bacteria have been genetically modified to produce human insulin that can be used to treat diabetes
• • geneticlly modified crops have been made to have improved quality or have resistant to disease
• • sheep have been genetically modified to produce substances in milk that can treat human disease
• • transfer of gene can be carried out when organism is recieving gene as egg or embryo
  • so, organism develops characteristic coded for by gene
• pros:

  • GM crops can be engineered to contain nutrients missing in diets
  • golden rice contains beta-carotene - lack of this causes blindness
  • GM crops can increase yield, making more food
• cons:

  • GM crops can affect wild flowers and so population of insects, so reducing farmland biodiversity
  • impact of eating GM crops not fully understood
  • transplanted gene may get into environment
  • e.g herbicide resistance gene may be picked up by weeds