Selective breeding and tissue culture

• What is selective breeding?

  Breeding the best plants or animals together
• Why do humans use selective breeding?

  To keep genes for desired traits in the population
• What is the basic process of selective breeding?

  1. Select organisms with desired traits
  2. Breed them together
  3. Select the best offspring
  4. Repeat over generations to strengthen traits
• How long have humans been practicing selective breeding?

  For thousands of years
• How does selective breeding benefit agriculture?

  It improves traits like meat yield in cattle
• How can selective breeding be used in medical research?

  To study differences in alcohol preference in rats
• What is a major disadvantage of selective breeding?

  It reduces the gene pool and increases inbreeding
• What health problems can arise from inbreeding?

  Increased chance of inheriting harmful defects
• What happens if a new disease appears in selectively bred populations?

  There is less chance of resistance alleles being present
• What is tissue culture?

  Growing cells on an artificial growth medium
• What is a benefit of using tissue culture for plants?

  It allows for quick and space-efficient growth
• What are the steps involved in plant tissue culture?

  1. Choose the plant based on desired traits
  2. Remove small tissue pieces from the parent plant
  3. Grow tissue in a nutrient-rich growth medium
  4. Move shoots and roots to potting compost
• What type of organisms are produced through tissue culture?

  Clones that are genetically identical
• Why is animal tissue culture useful in medical research?

  It allows experiments on tissues in isolation
• What are the steps for animal tissue culture?

  1. Extract tissue sample from the animal
  2. Separate cells using enzymes
  3. Place cells in a growth medium
  4. Allow cells to grow and multiply
  5. Store tissue culture for future use
• What is the purpose of using enzymes in animal tissue culture?

  To separate cells from each other
• What is the role of the growth medium in tissue culture?

  It provides nutrients for cell growth
• How does tissue culture benefit research on specific substances?

  It isolates effects without organism complications