Cloning and biotechnology

• What are natural clones?

  Produce genetically identical copies of themselves through asexual reproduction.
• How can you produce clones from cuttings?

  Use a healthy shoot and cut stem at a slant

  Dip in rooting power as it contains auxin which is a plant hormone. Place in soil and add water.

  To reduce transpiration cover with plastic bag or remove some leaves.
• What is a form of vegetative propagation?

  Grafting which is joining the shoot of one plant to the growing stem and root of another plant.

  Cut at an angle to increase the surface area for adhesion.
• What are advantages of cloning?

  Cheap

  Quick growth compared to seeds

  Can clone seedless fruit *

  Clones can have a desired genetic makeup *
• What are disadvantages of cloning?

  Low genetic diversity

  Monoculture so less likely to be able to adapt to changing selection pressures.
• How can artificial clones be made?

  Plants can be produced in large numbers by means of tissue culture and micropropagation.
• What type of plants are tissue culture used on?

  • Are rare
  • Are difficult to grow from seed
  • Do not have a natural method of asexual reproduction
  • Have been genetically engineered
• What is an example of a plant that uses tissue culture?

  Orchids- they are difficult to grow from seed but can be grown in enormous numbers for their flowers using the tissue culture technique.
• What is the summary of micro propagation?

  Take a small piece of plant tissue (the explant)

  Use plant growth substances to supports its growth and development

  A whole new plant (plantlet) is formed.
• What is the summary for tissue culture?

  Parts of the plant cells or tissue showing desirable features are removed and used to grow cells, tissues or organs.

  This takes place on a nutrient medium under sterile conditions

  Plant growth substances can then be applied to encourage growth and differentiation of tissue.
• What is embryo twinning?

  Splitting an embryo to create two genetically identical embryos.
• What is enucleation?

  Removal of cell nucleus
• What is somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT)?

  A technique that involves transferring the nucleus from a somatic cell to an egg cell
• Summarise embryo splitting?

  1. A zygote (fertilised egg) is created by in vitro fertilisation (IVF).

  • The zygote is allowed to divide by mitosis to form a small ball of cells.
  • The cells are separated and allowed to continue dividing.
  • Each small mass of cells is placed into the uterus of a surrogate mother.
• What is a culture?

  is a population of microorganisms grown in a controlled conditions.

  A single species culture = a pure culture

  A mixture of species culture= a mixed culture
• What are microorganisms cultured in?

  A liquid i.e a nutrient broth

  A solid i.e nutrients agar gel
• What is a closed culture?

  Closed culture environment, microorganism will grow in population in a very predictable and standard pattern.
• What is kept the same in a closed culture?

  All conditions are fixed

  No new material added

  No waste products or organisms added
• Define primary metabolite?

  Are compounds produced during the organisms normal metabolism for its survival.

  E.g amino acids, nucleic acids and proteins
• Define secondary metabolites?

  are compounds produced that are not essential to the organisms survival. Secondary metabolites are only produced by some cells.

  E.g. Antibitotics
• POINTS FOR BATCH CULTURE?

  • Closed fermenter
  • No added nutrients
  • Growth phase in stationary phase (log phase is short)
  • Secondary metabolite produced
  • Easy to control conditions (adv)
  • Large vessel required waste products builds up (dis)
• Points for CONTINIOUS culture?

  • Open fermenter
  • Nutrients added
  • Growth of organism in LOG
  • Primary metabolite produced
  • Greater productivity as there's no need to empty and sterilize the vessel (Adv)
  • Difficult to control conditions
• Define metabolism?

  refers to the sum of all the chemical reactions that go in an organism

  Metabolism is a process

  Metabolites are the products
• What do metabolic reactions produce?

  New cells and cellular components

  Chemicals such as hormones and enzymes

  Waste products ranges from gases to soluble molecules like urea.
• Describe what occurs in the lag phase?

  • Organisms are adjusting in the surrounding conditions.
  • May mean taking in water, cell expansion, activating specific genes and synthesizing specific enzymes
• Describe what happens in the Log (exponential phase)?

  • Organism has adjusted to their environment.
  • Each have enzymes needed to survive.
  • Each individual has sufficient nutrients and space to grow rapidly and reproduce
  • Population doubles in size every 20-30 seconds
• Describe what happens in the stationary phase?

  • The increased number of organisms use up the nutrients.
  • Rate of population declines
  • Number of individuals dying increases until reproduction rate equals death rate
  • No population growth.
• Describe the death/ decline phase?

  • Nutrients runs out and the concentration of waste products may become lethal
  • More individuals die than are produced and the populations begins to fall
  • All organisms die
• What are arguments for artificial cloning in animals?

  • Can produce a whole herd of animals with a high yield or -showing and unusual combination of characteristics (silk in milk)
  • Produces genetically identical copies of very high value individuals retaining the same characteristics.
  • Effects of genes and hormones can be assessed with no influence from different genotypes.
  • Individuals from endangered species can be cloned with increased numbers
• What are arguments against artificial cloning in animals?

  • Lack of genetic variation may expose the herd to certain diseases or pests
  • The success rate of adult cell cloning is very poor
  • Method is expensive
  • Clones animals may be less healthy and have shorter life span
  • Ethical issues regarding how long the embryo survives
• What is non-reproductive cloning?

  IS the production of cloned cells and tissues for purposes other than reproduction
• What is therapeutic cloning?

  • New tissues and organs can be grown as replacement parts for people who are not well.
  • Skin can be grown to act as a graft over burned areas.
  • Cloned cells can be used to repair damage in spinal cord and produce insulin in pancreas
  • Potential to grow whole new organs
• Define biotechnology?

  Use of living organisms or parts of living organisms in industrial processes.

  E.g produce foods, drugs or other products
• How to ensure a culture grows successfully? *

  • Use aseptic techniques to avoid contamination
  • Provide sources of nutrients (respiratory substrates)
  • Incubate at a suitable temperature
  • Use a pH buffer
  • Stir the mixture regularly
• What are advantages of using microorganisms?

  • No animal welfare issues
  • Biomass produced as very high protein content
  • Production can be increased or decreased according to demand
  • Protein contains no animal fats or cholesterol
• What are disadvantages of using microorganisms?

  • Some people may not want to eat fugal protein or foods that have been grown on waste
  • Microbial biomass can have a high proportion of nucleic acids which must be removed.
• STATE abiotic factors to write about in a plant investigation? *

  • Light intensity
  • Light duration
  • soil type (Soil mineral content or moisture content)
  • Soil pH
  • humidity
  • Air pollution
• What are immobolised enzymes?

  Enzymes attached to an insoluble material so they aren't mixed with the products.
• How do immobilized enzymes work?

  • Membrane separation: Enzyme separated by a partially-permeable membrane.
  • Covalent bonding: covalent or ionic bonds between the amino acids of enzymes sometimes using glutaldehyde
  • Entrapment: Enzymes trapped in a gel bead or matrix of cellulose fibres.
  • Adsorption: Enzymes bind to an immobilising support through hydrophobic interactions and ionic links.
• What are advantages of using enzymes in biotechnological processes?

  • Enzymes remain in the suspension even when the reaction has been completed.
  • Therefore, they are costly and difficult to extract from the product that has been generated